Field Trip to the Natural History Museum

Not really a field trip, of course, but I thought I'd share. It was actually really cool, and I'm definately planning on doing it again. Maybe the Museum of Life and Science next time, it's a lot closer, and I'll catch the Natural History thing again next time I'm in Raleigh buying art supplies or something.

That happens about once a month. There's something messed up about being so conscious of your gas usage that you plan to make a 45 mile round trip only once a month... but I guess it's a good sort of messed up, yeah? Now if I could just get a scooter for all of my around-town driving.... I would do the bike thing but there aren't enough bike paths yet and I am not one of those inconsiderate dingbat cyclists who think they have a right to ride out in the middle of everything and force cars to choose between going 10 miles an hour or risking a head on collision. I would happily run over every one of hose individuals and never even pause, but I think that might, um, have some negative legal repercussions.

Happy Sunday night! And a happier Sunday night to all of you lucky souls who actually have Labor Day off!

Virtual Sketch Date

and the tale of the decorative cabbage :) It's been a month already! Kinda scary, huh? Yeah, I think so too. Had no idea what to do with the image we were working from, tried a couple things and just couldn't get it rolling, but I went to the Natural History Museum in Raleigh today and stood around like a dork sketching dinosaur skeletons in graphite and white pastel on tinted paper, so I decided to keep rolling with a good thing. Hope you like it!

And now, well, I'm off to play. It's labor day weekend!

Demitasse

Espresso and Gold

4"x4" acrylic on hardboard panel

collection of Victor Papadopoulos

Had so, so much fun with the reflections on this one. Started another suspension, a glass of wine, but it's getting posted another night- this one was just awesome to do with it's really close crop and the weirdness of the gold trim, and all the wonderful colors that happen, as always, in white china. Awesome.

Went to Tylers for a bit too. If you're ever in Durham, give it a shot- over at American Tobacco downtown, they've got the cute little outdoor tables that are awesome, and then the resturant inside, and the bar around back with the pool tables and everything.... and they have fried pickles. How can you argue with that?

#242

Tequila Sunrise

Tequila Suspension

6x8 acrylic on canvasboard

collection of Natasha Marcuard

Bit of a replay here- my first post on this blog, January 1st, was one tequila shot :) I love this one! The suspension thing is great :) I think my setups are getting a bit more... elaborate... as time goes by, you know? A shot glass tied to my lamp with some dental floss, silk hung in the background to diffuse the light...

Anyways, had fun with the pale greyed gold background, the graceful curves of the thread, and the actual tequila itself is just amazing, the refracted lights make for so, so many wonderful curves and little points of lights.... very happy.

Portrait today

Joshua - 8x10 mixed media on hardboard panel

I put up some progress pics over at Moment by Moment, if you want to go check them out :) It's totally politically incorrect to portray him smoking, I'm sure, but it was just such a wonderful, expressive motion, you know? Something I enjoy. And it was fun painting his face all scrunched up and boyish like that. Goodnight, Wednesday!

#240

Fruit with Personality

Dancing Figs
4"x4" acrylic on hardboard panel
NFS

Well, I've seen some artists who do beautiful, beautiful paintings of pears, and will go on about how much personality they have, but I have to say that figs seem just as human to me :) This pair is dancing, and I had a wonderful time capturing all of the unexpected colors and little ridges.

#239

Nude, just Awakened

"Awakened"

8"x10" mixed media on hardboard panel

Happy! I got permission from PhotoScot at Deviant Art to use one of his beautiful pictures of Betcee May for reference, and I'm thrilled with how this turned out- the richness of the shadows, that wonderful little half smile, the playfulness in her eyes, the tumultuous fall of her hair... and the subtlety of the colors, I'm very proud of that too. Such a beautiful inspiration.... happy Monday, everyone!

Primary Colors

Primaries

4"x4" acrylic on hardboard panel

collection of Lynn Fontana

This one was the most difficult- I suppose it makes sense that it was the most satisfying, in its own way. Swirls within marbles are so graceful, and the distortion from the glass surrounding them only adds to that effect, so it was certainly something that required a lot of observation :) I'm happy with the end result, though.

#237

Reflection and Refraction

Reflections

4"x4" acrylic on hardboard panel

collection of Lynn Fontana

See the marbles reflected in the curved surface of the two marbles towards the back? And the way you can see two of the marbles turned upside down through the foremost marble? So proud of that, along with the light shining through them and on them and all around.... happy. They're a delightful subject, yes?

#236

Four Marbles

Four Marbles
4"x4" arylic on hardboard panel
collection of Deb Keller

More happy little marbles. So proud of the highlights on the bubbles imbedded in the glass, and the delicate, graceful swirlies. Happy.




#235

Losing my Marbles

Three Marbles
4"x4" acrylic on hardboard panel
collection of Lynn Fontana

My first time painting marbles, and I love them! Adorably small, and the light comes through them so wonderfully.... and then in the little super-dark purple one, there's the reflection of the greenish marble with the swirly in it. Trying showing detail shots for the first time, too. Happy.

I discovered that the slightly greenish ones I have are pretty close to turquis, and the golden one is mostly quinacridone gold and quinacridone burnt orange.

Pussy Cat

Just some doodling- pretty little kitty, isn't she? Halfway through the week, everybody!

#233

Pepper curlique

I want my camera back. I'll get a decent image of this up tomorrow night, hopefully. As it stands- part of the Cutest Veggies Ever series, apparently. Most wonderful little curlique of a red pepper I just had to get from the farmer's market. Enjoy!

*I did post a new pic. Scan, actually.

Eating your Vegetables

Let me introduce you to the Cutest Eggplant Ever! It's a little roundish one, with the pale pink and white areas where the cap protected the actual eggplant part, and a gently variegated purple elsewhere. Eggplant is one of those things that's just so pretty I feel like I ought to really like it, you know? Weird, but true. And practice must make perfect, because I'm actually getting better at cooking with it.

Happy Monday, everyone :)

#232

Stargazer Lily

Stargazer Lily
6"x8" acrylic on canvasboard
collection of Catherine Ziehl

Another fuzzy pic. Yep, definately reposting tomorrow. Forgive me?

This is from my most recent trip to Duke Gardens, and turned out very pretty, if I do say so myself :) Thank goodness for the ability to take reference pics, though, because this was a delight to paint but I can't abide lilies as a general rule- they look beautiful, but smell like a funeral to me.

Aren't I cheerful tonight? Oh, well- lame it on being almost-Monday. Goodnight everyone!

#231

*I did post another image.

Waterlilies

Waterlilies
6"x12" mixed media on hardboard panel
available through the Distinct Appointments Gallery

Wow, this camera takes such dark, fuzzy images.... still, this is a painting I'm enormously proud of. I'll post again with a decent pic once I get a chance to take one with the sun on this side of the earth... The flowers are the most wonderful color, and you can almost feel the water pooling on some of the leaves.... *happy sigh*

#230

*I did upload a new image. It's a bit better.

Nautilus

Well, we have a camera again, but I definately need to develop a knack for it. We'll see.

Either way, delighted with this piece so far. Got the most wonderful grey figured out for the shell, and I love the drawing the way it is in the background.

Doodle

People are such funny, unpredictable, wonderful subjects. I'm thinking I need to set up to take some reference images of myself- surely I could make some beautiful lines out of my hair, and I'm overdue a self portrait. Hm. Giving myself one more idea for a weekend activity...

All tied up :)

"Satin Ribbon"

8"x8" acrylic on canvasboard

collection of Janie Brown

Okay, I really, really, really don't like scanning may paintings as opposed to photographing them. Hopefully my camera will be all better soon....

At any rate, this one was fun to do, very proud of myself with the color green I managed to get (green is always so tricky), and the sheen on the cloth.... always room for improvement, but I really do feel like I've improved a lot with this daily painting thing. Happy.

#227

Seashells

Nautilus

6"x8" acrlic on canvasboard

collection of Lois Sharpe

Wow, this one was wild to paint. I was focusing on the colors, and found so many of them, arranged with such seemingly careless beauty.... I love this shell. Officially. :)

I got the shine of it really well, and the wonderful pattern of the ridges, but in bringing out the colors more I lost some of that delicately silvery aura that the actual shell has... Still, I love the result. Well worth the time I spent on all those little ridges and threads of color. Happy, and can't wait to do it again.

If you want to check out Mark Adams gorgeous Nautilus painting, it's at http://markadamsstudio.blogspot.com/2008/06/nautilus-shell.html . His wife just put up a post saying he's had his appendix out- stupid little thing- but I really hope he's up and running again soon. I really admire his work, and he has the most wonderful sense of humor.


#226

.... and finally....

Waves

This is me trying to puzzle out what to do with the millions of pictures I took of beautiful, beautiful waves while I was down at the beach. Graphite, acrylic, a little bit of charcoal- wondering what those colors really are and how I really see the ocean, you know? Anywho. We'll see what I can manage- it's about the journey, right? Happy.

Sunday

Conch

Saturday

Naptime

Friday

Flip and Flop

Demitasse

Just a sketch, getting to know this new little demitasse cup- cutest thing ever. Happy. Just doodling with graphite and colored pencils and, well, just doodling. Happy tonight.

Oh, and Mark and I are leaving for the beach in the morning. Hopefully I'll be able to post sketches or whatever from there- maybe not. Forgive me?

Pretty flowers....

Poppies
6"x8" acrylic on canvasboard
private collection

A huge benefit to reorganizing my reference photos this week- I'd forgotten about these! I had this adorable bouquet of poppies, and for some of the pics I was rolling around on the floor, using a skylight to backlight the flowers.... well. But the transparency of the petals, the blueish grey where they overlap against the delicate pink where the light shines more strongly, the golden color where the pollen has fallen, that weird way the dark, fragile stems twine upwards.... happy.

#221

Presents

Periwinkle
4"x4" acrylic on hardboard panel
collection of Catherine Ziehl

Hehe, now I know why people voluntarily work on such tiny paintings sometimes- they're impossible while you're actually painting, but the end result is the most adorable thing ever. I'm cooing at it and making little rasberry noises... lots of fun.

#220

There we go!

Blush
8"x10" mixed media on hardboard panel
collection of Colin Hall

Yay! Love how this one turned out, so subtle on the toned surface, and loved every minute of working on it, and am just generally happy about the whole thing. Happy Monday, everyone!

Really, though, I think my favorite part of the whole thing is her mouth, even though I'm pretty proud of how her hair turned out, too. I've been wanting to bring more drawing into my painting but hadn't been sure how- this certainly looks like an answer. You guys have a wonderful day!

And again

just a study, just learning the contours of a new face, a young one- what they don't tell you in those drawing books, the ones that emphasize proper proportions and have you parcel out the forms in loose egg shapes sized perfectly relative to one another... they don't tell you just how different a child's face is. And so, knowing it and not knowing it, I'm practicing. Happy, tonight.

#217

Back to people again

and they're always such a challenge.... have you gotten tired of me using that word? And yet no others come to mind.... Perhaps I'll consult a thesaurus before tomorrow's post :) From the farmer's market- it's always swarming with children, most of them eating some sort of fruit. Very cute.

#216

Work in Progress

Really, really enjoying this one, feel like I got a lot done with it.... and yet there's a distinct feeling of something lacking, at this point. Not sure what or how to fix it, yet. We'll see.

Other than that- happy Friday, everyone! And a happy birthday to my two little brothers!


#215