Sanctuary again

acrylic and oil on canvas 16"x20"
I really liked this painting the first time I did it, so I did it again on a larger canvas, I'm keeping this one to hang on my wall.

Sunset

acrylic on paper 11"x14"

I loved painting this, capturing the vibrancy and the detail. This was from a book, with step by step instructions, so I could learn to better represent light and distance. This one took a long time to finish - four sittings, across six weeks, and I got in a hurry at the last sitting, so the foreground bushes don't look that good, but you know they're bushes and you know they're in the foreground, so what the heck! I signed it and called it done.

Lavender Valley

Terye sent this beautiful picture to me, and I loved it and saw it as a challenge, which I truly enjoyed painting:

Oil on canvas paper 11"x14"
Thanks, Terye!

Butterfly

acrylic and oil on canvas paper 8"x10"
This was my first attempt at impressionism - I wanted to give the impression of the blurry background of a photo focused on the butterfly. Details are difficult, though - especially such small details.

Dillon Beach

This was my first plein air painting, which I painted at Dillon Beach a few weeks ago. The lesson I learned here was to buy good paint and good brushes, without them, you can only paint a mediocre painting! It was fun, though, painting outside, and I hope to have more opportunities to try. I'll buy better supplies before I do.

Beach Combers

acrylic on paper 8"x10"
This is a little better, definitely need to work on painting rocks. Unless I say they are sand dunes, which could also be improved! I will be going to Dillon Beach Nov 12 and hope to bring my paints with me and get a chance to paint in the open plein air

Reflecting

Reflect

acrylic on paper 8"x10"
Yeah, it's pretty bad, but I won't get any better if I don't keep practicing!

Walk in the Park

oil on canvas paper 8"x10"
This was just practice

Windows

Mary took this picture:


And I painted this:

acrylic&oil on canvas paper 8"x10"

Sunlit Farmhouse

oil on canvas paper 11"x14"
I had a few extra moments, so thought I would practice on an old theme. These types of pictures don't really stretch my skills, but they do help me to get out of the moment and relax.

Inner Sanctuary

acrylic and oil on canvas paper 8"x10"
I wish I had done this on a bigger canvas - probably I will. I can feel a sense of tranquilility, of quiet strength when I view this painting - these are the feelings I had when I painted it.

Forest Cove

I probably should keep working on this painting, perhaps add more color and highlights, but every time I tried to improve upon it, I just seemed to make it worse. So, I ended up signing it and calling it done. I call this Forest Cove
acrylic and oil on canvas paper 11"x14"

Water color - Teepee

Yeah, water color is not easy! But, fun to try, and maybe if I keep trying and practicing I might get better at it.

strolling down the lane

IIt's been a long time since I've posted any of my work. I've been practicing with paintings I'd already posted, so didn't want to bore you with repeats. Since then, I thought I would try my hand at water colors, but it's a very different medium and will definitely take some practice. Perhaps because I have a little more experience with oils, I find I prefer them and will likely go back to using oils, but I'll keep practicing with water colors from time to time.
Being my first attempt at water colors, I think I did a fairly good job, I like the composition, but need to work on crisping up my edges, and perspective. The two figures on the trail were suppose to be adults, but perhaps they are my two dogs that escaped from the back yard instead.
This painting was an exercise in using just two colors, it's not as easy to mix the right amounts, without knowing how much water to add. I might try this one again in oil or acrylics.

Indian Summer

acrylic and oil on canvas 16"x20"
This was a fun painting to paint; although I should have drawn it so that the creek behind the fall took up more space on the canvas rather than the water in front of the fall, but overall I'm happy with the composition and the colors. It reminds me of a warm day just as autumn is really showing her colors and I can't decide if it's truly warm enough still to go swimming or if I should just sit and listen to the sounds of the water gurgling and splashing...

End of Day

oil on canvas paper 12"x16"
This painting reminds me of my childhood, having spent the day frolicking on the beach, swimming and building sand castles, then abandoning the castle to the rising tides at the end of the day...

Sutter Butte Sunset

16"x20" acrylic and oil on canvas paper
This is one of my all time favorites. It doesn't look so good up close, but from far away I think it is stunning. This one I did on commission for one of the ladies at work who brought in a photo and asked if I could paint it. It came out wonderfully. I will bring it to her this week and see how much she will offer to pay for it - I'll probably only ask $20, but if she wants to pay more I wouldn't object.

Irish Ruin

I thought this would be a good subject, and perhaps it is, but I need to work on perspective and the coloring is all wrong. I plan to re-do this one soon.

Giraffe

This was just a quick exercise I did for practice. I'm not happy with the colors, I think I need more contrasting colors to make the giraffe stand out more.