Definitely a Chicken-Painting Day

A Painting in One Night

Last Friday night I found myself with nothing to do and an abundance of energy. I looked around for a painting to paint over and found "It's About the Clouds", which was a fine plein air attempt but nothing special.  Also, being only 12x12, I thought I could take this on in one sitting. Below is the metamorphosis. I worked looking at a photo from the Dunes State Park. I was very warmed up from working on "Three Pines" all day and this little landscape just about leaped off my brush! I started around 9 and was cleaned up and in bed by midnight.

The original "Its About the Clouds"

Michigan Scene

"Three Pines" gets a makeover.

So here is a painting I did this summer.  It was in the gallery from late summer till we closed for the month of January.  Several people thought seriously about buying it but the more I looked at it, the less I liked it. Initially, I just wanted to make the tree trunks brown, because they looked like birch trunks instead of pine.  Once I did that, I could not stop adding color. New life for a sickly painting... feels so good... !

"Laurie's Chickens" 12x12 oil on canvas

I went out last week to photograph Jeff and Laurie's chickens.  It was a cold day but sunny and Jeff stepped outside to feed them peanuts so that they would stand in the sun. They are beautiful birds!

First Still Life of the Season

Like hunters, skiers and outdoor people of all kinds, I look forward to the autumn/winter and its colder weather.  Not, however, to be out in the cruel elements, painting, but to be inside painting, hugged by the heat of my wood burning stove.  This is when I turn to still lifes for inspiration. It is easy to be excited by the sand and the dunes and big open skies. It is much harder to get worked up over lemons, limes and pitchers.  However, I did my best by setting up a crowded table, throwing tons of wood on the fire, drinking plenty of coffee and pitching forward, head first. Here's the first of the season, a large oil, 30x30.

Another Landscape Takes Shape

I decided to use a fresh canvas for this painting, mainly because I actually had one.  I was sick last week and spent several evenings stretching and priming canvases. Feels like a waste of time but it is nice to work on a white surface now and then.  This time I decided to work from a late-summer pastel as I just can't face up to still lifes yet. They feel so wintery. Following is the progression from drawing to finished painting.  What I don't know is if it looks better at the next-to-the-last stage or the last one.  I am open to input!!

A Small Landscape Takes Shape

The other day I decided to paint pears as a change of pace.  I drew them in sepia paint, life size, on an 8x8 canvas and added a red background.  It was rich. I highlighted the bright yellows and put dark brown shadows under the pears. I touched greens and blues in the bodies. Then I lost interest.  The more I painted, the less I was able to concentrate.  It was not long before I scraped all the paint off and then rubbed out the images with a rag.  Of course a landscape immediately started taking shape. The blue of the water gave me great peace. I kept one eye on a pastel I did this fall while sitting on a tall dune, looking north from the Saugatuck Dunes State Park.  Ahhh... there is nothing like the beach to keep one grounded and calm.