Bonsai Club Gift

Coastal Live Oak (5 v 7 Oil on canvas board)
I have been painting a small Oil each year for our End of Year club party. I usually like to feature a tree in the painting. This year I selected a coastal live oak, on the Laetitia Vineyards.


Here is the framed painting.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND PAINTOUT

This is my August entry to Bill Guffey's VIRTUAL PAINTOUT.
I decided to include a couple of photos of my painting process in this post.


This photo shows my pencil sketch with the reference photo on the computer. I preserve the sketch with a spray fixative. Then when I start painting with thin washes of paint the sketch shows though the paint.


Here is the first pass laying in some of the local colors .

Saint Paul's Anglican Parish Hall (14x11 Oil on canvas panel).

It is not signed yet as I like to go over it with one more coat of paint, making minor adjustments. Ref Photo

HONG KONG PAINTOUT

Laundry on Third Street (12x16 Oil on canvas panel) [Ref Photo]

Love to paint old grungy buildings, and if they have some bright colors in the sun all the better. The bright clothesline made this scene interesting. I think the hot pink flowered shorts are the focal point. I could not recreate the color of these shorts. I started with cad red and anything mixed with if tends to gray down the results.

Here are the LINKS to THE VIRTUAL PAINTOUT and to its creator BILL GUFFEY

HAWAII PAINTOUT

Tropical Rush (11x14 Oil on canvas panel) [Ref Photo]

I found this surf shop on the north shore of Oahu at 62 Kamehameha Hwy, Haleiwa. This image was cut in thirds by two trees trunks. Also there were several benches which complicated the composition. I wanted this painting to be about the surf boards so those distractions were removed. To get the design of the long board on the far right I had to step up one click on the Google Map to see this board. As usual I am not quite finished with this one, and think there needs to be a little more work on the slab and gravel.

CZECH REPUBLIC PAINTOUT

Ladies of 9 Siroka Prague (12 x 9 Oil on canvas panel) [Ref Photo]
This is my second painting this month, featuring art deco sculpture which is prevalent in this section of Prague. I warmed up the color of the building to complement the blues in the door. My pallet was simple: ultramarine blue, yellow ocher, burnt sienna, raw umber, ivory black, and flake white. I used a 1 inch grid to help get the drawing correct. Not finished but close.

This is my May entry to Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout.


Hanging Out (16 x 12 Oil on canvas panel) [Ref Photo]
I found this site in Nebusice, north of Prague. When I stumbled on to this site, I was taken by the bright sun lit laundry contrasted against the dark buildings. The texture and colors in the walls were really fun to paint.

I found Prague to be a beautiful city with wonderful art deco features on many of the buildings. I am working on a painting of one of these buildings, and hope to post it soon.

CANARY ISLAND PAINTOUT

This is my April painting for Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout blog.
The bright colors of these row boats make the painting.


This first image shows my painting in progress. I was reusing an old canvas panel and in the past sketched in the image with a Sharpie pen but found the black pen hard to cover over. With this painting I did a rough in with washes of flake white, raw umber, burnt sienna, yellow ocher, and ultramarine blue. I used a 1 inch grid on the reference photo, and used thread to grid the canvas panel. You can see some remnants of the thread at the bottom of the painting. I think next time I may use fish line for the canvas grid, and may eliminate some of these marks.
you can see some of the boats on the right side are nearly complete.


Row Boats (9 x 12 Oil on canvas panel)
I have not signed this painting yet. I want to clean up some of the muddy color in the water. and would like to get the green oars to be more of a teal green. You can not get a good teal with the standard pallets which usually include a warm and cool of the three primary colors and some of the earth colors. Anyone out there have a good recipe for teal green?

SAN FRANCISCO PAINTOUT

"WORK IN PROGRESS" (16 x12 oil on canvas) Ref Photo

I hope Bill Guffey will accept this unfinished piece for his Virtual Paintout blog. I thought the Columbia Building would make a good painting with the complimentry colors of green and red. I am recycling an old painting hence the bull looks like he is standing on the light pole. I used a Sharpie and ball point pen to make the drawing. I then use a fixative to ensure the drawing does not bleed into the oil paint. The only paint so far is on the first floor of the building and the two poles. The rest of the color is remnants of the old painting. I will post images as I progress with this painting.

CORSICA PAINTOUT

Mom & Junior (8 x 10 Oil on canvas panel) Ref Photo

This month Bill Guffey has selected Corsica for his VIRTUAL PAINTOUT Blog. I spent most of my time virtual hiking around this beautiful island. The snow covered mountains in Northern Corsica are spectacular. If you scan to the left in my reference photo and look due west you will see what I thought was the best view of these mountains. I did this sketch of the cows with the intent of doing a larger painting of the mountains. I still may paint the mountain scene. I had great plans to paint the cows Alla Prima, but fell short of this goal. It was a noble try and will keep trying this technique on small sketches.