30 in 30 - Day 30 - Garlic Emerging with palette knife

"Garlic Emerging"

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

$100.00 

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2 years ago I took a workshop with two fabulous painters, one painted with bright, transparent colors and the other with a palette knife. I did great with color and I was horrible with the palette knife.  In spite of the demos I couldn't hold the knife or move the knife correctly - I had palette knife block!  Since this 30 days of painting had a lot of experiments in it, I thought I would try another emerging painting using the palette knife and I loved it!  So, Leslie Saeta, it only took two years but I now "get" the palette knife.  Thank you for this 30 Day Challenge and for your patient palette knife training long ago.

30 in 30 - Day 29 - Gerbera Emerging

"Gerbera Emerging"

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

$100.00 

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For a while I have been thinking about doing a painting where the object looks like it is materializing out of the background. I made a few piles of paint in different shades and then painted the flower in first, starting with lightest shade first.  After I put the flower in I started on the background, starting next to the flower and working out to the edges of the board.

30 in 30 - Day 28 - Wicked

"Wicked"

Ink

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I was interested in exploring  some other colors in the Halloween palette - olives, grays and black. The other day I was wearing green and black with striped socks and a friend told me I looked like the Wicked Witch of the West.  Perhaps that is what inspired this piece.

30 in 30 - Day 27 - Pumpkink

"Pumpkink"

Ink

Print available.

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I wanted to see if I could do a combination of drawing in ink and the abstract and this is what I came up with.  I applied the drawing first and waited for it to dry before I added the abstract elements. At some point it reminds me of stained glass.

30 in 30 - Day 26 - Painting on Furniture

"Audrey on Red Stool"

Oil, 8", on wood stool.

This 30 day challenge has had me doing a lot of experimenting.  Today I thought it would try using furniture as my canvas.  The flower is a small version of a large piece I did earlier this year. The stool is 8" across and 9" high so it it pretty small. Painting on this piece was a bit awkward at first as I tried to figure out the best angle to paint at and where to put my materials.  What do you think about furniture as a canvas?

30 in 30 - Day 25 - Pears on Tile

"Pears on Tile"

Oil, 4" x 4" on tumbled tile.

Today I decided to try using a different surface for the painting, tumbled tile. I used a smaller brush to accommodate the reduced surface area.  The bumpy surface was definitely interesting to work on.  I let some tile peek through the blue background and left it exposed around the edges. I had no idea what to expect but I now have some ideas about next time!  

30 in 30 - Day 24 - Green Shades

"Green Shades"

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

$100.00 

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I was reading about the Metropolitan Museum of Art's opening today, "50 Years of Collecting Islamic Art". With the story, an image was posted of a circa 1700 tapestry from India, "Chand Bibi Hawking with Attendants in a Landscape". The detail in the landscape is beautiful - hills of cream, brown, pink and green - so many different shades of green. The many greens in that landscape are what inspired this abstract piece.

30 in 30 - Day 23 - Just Peachy

"Just Peachy"

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

$100.00 

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You never realize how many colors are in an object until you paint it. This peach has reds, oranges,  and yellows - nature is just marvelous.

30 in 30 - Day 22 - Equinox

"Equinox"

Ink

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Fall is here!  Hard to believe that summer is over. Even though nature is starting to go dormant, it does so with such vivid color.

30 in 30 - Day 21 - Candy Corn

"Candy Corn"

Ink

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When you think of Halloween, you think of candy, and when you think of Halloween candy, you think of the candy corn. The Halloween stores are popping up all over the county and the stores are stocked full with candy.  What a wonderful time of year!

30 of 30 - Day 20 - Ring Around the Rosy

"Ring Around the Rosy"

Ink

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Emerging from the burst of color is a mysterious black ring. What do you see?

30 in 30 - Day 19 - Tulips up Close

"Tulips up Close"

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

$100.00 

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How close could I get to these tulips and you would still know they were tulips?  I love the variety of purples in the flowers especially against the sage green background. The challenge was making the tones different enough for you to see the variation.

30 in 30 - Day 18 - On Halloween Night

"On Halloween Night"

Ink

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Once again, the ink gods have spoken.  When I set out to do this ink painting, what you see here was not my intention. I was thinking about Halloween but I was also thinking about stripes. What I ended up with is an amazing web of Halloween colors. Let your mind go and the ink will follow.

30 in 30 - Day 17 - Gerbera Gold

"Gerbera Gold"

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

$100.00 

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Not only the reflection but the different colored reflections in the flower and the stem attracted me to this piece along with the multiple shades of yellow and orange.  I love the simple subjects that have so much going on.

30 in 30 - Day 16 - Alizarin Gerbera

"Alizarin Gerberas"

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

$100.00 

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I could not resist buying these flowers when I saw their gorgeous color.  I brought them home, put them in a vase on the counter, and the cat tried to eat them.

30 in 30 - Day 15 - Blue Bubbles

"Blue Bubbles"

Ink

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Today I purchased this great color of copic ink called Antwerp Blue so I had to use it in a piece immediately.  I like the shape contrast between the darker and the light blues.

30 in 30 - Day 14 - Blue Violet Storm

"Blue Violet Storm"

Ink

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I just love how this ink painting turned out.  I used four shades of blue violet and a cool gray to get this stormy effect.  Some of you may look at it and not see a storm at all.  The fact that we can look at the same image and get something completely different from it is one of the great things about painting with inks.

30 in 30 - Day 13 - Fire Ink

"Fire Ink"

Ink

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I had no idea what this ink painting would turn out to be when I started. Whenever I try to plan too much, I am never happy with the result.  Best to let the ink do the work. When I look at this I can smell the smoky air of a beach bonfire.

30 in 30 - Day 12 - Ode to Yusuke Yonezu

"Ode to Yusuke Yonezu"

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

Yusuke Yonezu is an illustrator and I saw his work for the first time last year in the Kinokuniya bookstore where they were selling a calendar of his illustrations.  The title of the calendar translated to "Simple Life".  His seemingly simple lines say so much.  I did not do him justice but I enjoyed trying.

30 in 30 - Day 11 - Spooky Gray Palette

"Spooky Gray Gerberas"

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

$100.00 

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Here we have Gerberas in gray tones.  I was hoping to evoke something spookier this time around.

30 in 30 - Day 10 - Halloween Palette

"Halloween Gerberas"

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

$100.00 

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I seem to be in the Halloween mood so today I thought I would experiment by doing a painting I had done previously of pink gerberas using a Halloween palette of black, gray, purple, green, orange and yellow.  How do you think Halloween translates to the Gerberas?

30 in 30 - Day 9

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

This is a study I did of a Cripps Pink apple. My goal was to do a quick study with as little color mixing as possible to see if I could capture the essence of apple.

30 in 30 - Day 8

"Skeletea"

Oil, 6" x 6" on gesso board.

$100.00 

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We have an amazing plant nursery and gift place near by called Roger's Gardens.  They go all out with amazing Halloween merchandise.  One of the items I could not resist was the skull and cross bones ice cube tray which I had to try out immediately.  I think adding these ice cubes to green tea makes a perfect Halloween refresher.

30 in 30 - Day 7

"Spooky Landscape"

Ink

Print Available

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Halloween month is right around the corner so to start getting you in the mood I did a Spooky Landscape. This landscape is painted with ink on Yupo paper. I decided to use a Halloween palette of black, gray, orange, green and purple and then go with the flow!

30 in 30 - Day 6

"Hart Park"

Oil, 8" x 10" on linen panel.

$125.00 

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This is another really neat location in Orange County, Hart Park in Orange.  Next to a beautiful mission style swimming facility sat this little shed.  The colors of the shed were nice and bright against the luscious green background.

30 in 30 - Day 5

"Petulant Pitcher"

Oil, 6" x 6" 

$100.00

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This pitcher has taken me about 1 1/2 years to get right. I tried to paint it at a workshop last year and I could never get it to look right.  There was always something about the color or shape that just wasn't working.  I attempted to paint it again several months later, recreating the set up exactly.  Consequently, I replicated the failure as well.  I decided to try it again this week, shaking up some colors and doing a lot of visual editing as I worked.  I think I have finally conquered my nemesis, the petulant pitcher!

30 in 30 - Day 4

"Experimental Calla Lily"

Oil, 6"x6"

$100

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This calla lily was all about the experiment.  Normally I do a photo shoot of what I am going to paint. Inspired by my plein air experiences, I painted this flower from life.  I used a walnut oil based paint by M. Graham which I have been using for plein air and I painted this on a gessoed board instead of a linen board.  Not bad for an experiment.

30 in 30 - Day 3

"Back Bay"

Oil, 8" x 10" on linen panel.

$125.00 

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The Back Bay the inland delta in Newport Beach, California. It connects the Upper Newport Bay with the Newport Harbor. It is a nature reserve home to several species of birds with hiking and biking trails. I have driven past this place for years but this was my first time to stop and consider it as an artist. I look forward to meeting the Back Bay again with my easel many more times.

30 in 30 - Day 2

"Balboa Island at Topaz"

Oil, 8" x 10" on linen panel.

$125.00 

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Welcome to Balboa Island!  This is a wonderful place in Orange County with adorable beach cottages and lots of boats.  The streets are historic and many locals can look at a photo or painting from the area and tell you exactly what street you would have to be on to see that view. For this painting, I was standing at the end of Topaz.  This painting was mostly completed on location, with a few final details added in the studio.  A beautiful and peaceful place to work for the day!

30 in 30 - Day 1

"Irvine Regional Park"

Oil, 8" x 10" on linen panel.

$100.00 

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Well here we are again with another 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge hosted by palette knife artist, Leslie Saeta. This painting was started au plein air (out of doors in natural light) and completed in the studio. It is a lovely view from the vast and gorgeous Irvine Regional Park. I have recently started studying plein air painting with a fabulous artist, Kim VanDerHoek, and let me tell me you, plein air and studio painting are completely different in approach but they complement each other each other in the end.  When I am in the studio, I make most of my editing choices before I pick up the brush.  When I am outdoors, I am continuously editing what I see in front of me.

Thank you for following me in the challenge once again!