Back Yard Snow ...

Back Yard Snow 8" x 6" Oil

With only a few days left until 2011 comes to an end I wanted to paint one last painting before the new year, something wintery.  Looking through a stack of old photos I found a view of our back yard in a house we lived in before we moved here, a winter scene filled with snow.  Our back yard (at the time) butted up to a 20 acre forest and a trail from our back yard ran through the forest and led to a creek then on back home.  In the summer time the forest was a cool place to hike when it was hot outside.  This view is just to the left of the trail.

All comments and critique are welcome.

Before the end of the year...

I'm pretty happy with myself in the fact that during this busy time of year I have not used that as an excuse not to paint.   I am still going forward and working toward becoming a better oil painter.  During this last week ... well, since I completed the red ornament painting, I now have another finished oil to add to the first.

Reflections of Silver ~ 5" x 7" ~ oil

After I completed the red ornament painting I thought I should start another one right away so that what new skills I had used wouldn't be forgotten.  Again, I'm happy with what I've produced.  Although the painting I did with the red was nice, I think I'm liking this one better.  Maybe its the warm browns and blue combination.  Then again maybe its because I had so much fun seeing shapes and painting what I saw.

I think I may try one more holiday painting before the end of the year ..... but not until after some gifts are wrapped.

On another note, one of  the blogs I frequent is by a wonderful Oregon artist named Marla Baggetta, her work is beautiful and I love the way she writes.  In this post I really felt she was talking to me ....

Being Kind to Yourself

We beat ourselves up most of the time. If only we viewed ourselves like we view our own friends, we'd be better off. Quieting our voice of judgment and giving ourselves credit for what is working in our work and building on that. We are quick to find what is "wrong" and then discount the whole. We are fast at niggling away at those areas in our work and in life that aren't perfect. Well, perfection is a state of balance that to me, simply does not exist... Be nice to yourself, be slow to find error and quick to find the good. Be as patient with yourself as you would be to a good friend. You are your own best friend. Then, remember to paint, paint some more and then after that, paint!!!

Do you think she was singling me out?

I'm happy ...

Reflections ~ 5"x7"~ oil

I've painted a holiday painting and I'm happy with it.  Two amazing things when you think about it.

I have two of these small inexpensive panels measuring 5" x 7".  I thought it would be nice to use them both for ornament paintings.

Its amazing all the reflections you can see in a round object.  It really makes you focus your attention on shapes, not named objects.  I really enjoyed painting this one.  I'm happy .....

Reflecting ...

Reflect :   Verb  

1.  The snow reflects light ... (send back).

2.  Their expressions reflected their feelings .... (indicate).

3.  He reflected on his responsibilities ... (think about).

Lately, I'm sure it's because of the holidays, I keep seeing more and more artists painting reflected surfaces in their work.  Bright, shiny objects. Pretty sparkling reflections in shiny objects.  Being new to oil painting I thought I'd better do some practicing before I attempt to paint a reflection on canvas so I decided to do the 10 minute exercise to get me use to painting reflections.  

oil on paper

In the first group of painting exercises I didn't even start out top to bottom or left to right.  I had this lone red ornament sitting on a white paper towel.   Looking back on these now I see my number #1 wasn't as bad as I originally thought and my number #4 wasn't as good as I thought.  I like the reflection in  number #1 best I think.  "Reflecting" on it now, seeing the results, I'm more confident in giving this another try.  Maybe on canvas this time.

oil on paper

Hmmm, what can I say about this second group of reflected surface exercises?  When I showed this to my husband he said he was glad I told him what it was because he didn't recognize it as our sterling silver pepper shaker.  I had placed a piece of cardboard behind the pepper shaker and it was sitting on a paper towel.  Remember that in these exercises you are allowed 10 minutes and no pre drawing, so that is my excuse for having them look like they were bent and broken.  Needless to say, #4 was no better than number #1.  I'm gunna leave these out of my painting.  If you own it and you still don't recognize the object after it's painted ... its best to move on.