Vineyard Afternoon

Vineyard Afternoon, 6x6", oil on panel,
©2013 Cindy Greene

Look familiar? Yup, same scene I painted and posted on Thursday. In the spirit of last week's Daily Paintworks Challenge, I painted the same thing two different ways. 

I enjoyed this — I kept this one a bit simpler, since it is a much smaller size. Makes me want to be there.

Koehler Vineyard, Late Fall

Koehler Vineyard, Late Fall; 8x10", oil on panel,
©2013 Cindy Greene

Confession: I really enjoy Fauvist art (along with many other types). Think Matisse, Derain, Marquet and sometimes Van Gogh. I stumbled upon Kathleen Elsey's website a couple of years ago and have enjoyed following her work since. She paints landscapes and interior scenes in bright, fun colors, and considers herself a "new Fauve."

So today, being fairly frustrated with my recent paintings, I decided to be wild and crazy, and paint a landscape in a fun, colorful Fauv-ish style. Above is the result. I put out a palette of brighter colors than I usually use and gave myself permission to use them. The reference photo was taken last November at the Koehler Winery in Santa Ynez.

Evidently, it's not easy for me to throw caution to the wind. Other than using quite a bit of purple, I'm not sure this qualifies. My conservative self is fairly strong.

But it was fun and I enjoyed it. I think I'll keep experimenting.

I'd love to hear comments!

30 in 30, #19 – Up the Road

Up the Road, 6"x6", oil on panel

Well, it is a challenge to get a painting done when you are on vacation, especially when you are staying in a condo with friends and doing lots of other things. After sightseeing all day yesterday, we stayed close to home today. The guys wanted to watch football this afternoon, so I took the chance to paint a scene from our drive yesterday. Yes, the grass was really that shade of green; our winter rains and this week's warm weather turned the world chartreuse. IPhone photo did something weird to the sky color though.

I talked Leslie into painting with me, and she painted her first oil painting, using a size 4 filbert brush and a rigger. We improvised: her palette was a couple of paper plates, and her canvas was taped to a cardboard.

Leslie did a great job! Here is her painting; it is of the same corner of the Demetria Estate Winery patio that I did a sketch of yesterday.

Demetria Corner by Leslie Fagan, 5"x5", oil on canvas