Lovin' the Anemones

 

Anemones in Glass, 6"x6", oil on panel,
©2013 Cindy Greene

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I took the reference photo for this a few weeks ago — a florist shop, with glass vases of anemones on a glass tabletop. Brilliant, literally. I've been quite taken with anemones lately. 

Other than the green stems, everything in the painting is grey. My monitor is showing the background more blue than it is. Oh, the flowers have a few bright white areas, and the glass of course has highlights, but the rest is just grey. I had quite a good time mixing all those greys out of yellow, red and blue. Oh and sometimes white. 

Why Hello, Pacific Ocean!

Hello, Pacific Ocean! 6"x6", oil on panel, Sold©2013 Cindy Greene

My daughter's friend Jacq posted a gorgeous photo of one of her friends and her baby enjoying the warm weather last week at Torrey Pines Beach. Jacq captured the moment perfectly, and I borrowed her photo. Thankfully, she didn't mind.

Evergreen Pear Blossoms

Pear Blossoms, 6"x6", oil on panel, SOLD
©2013 Cindy Greene

This week Southern California is dotted with gorgeous Evergreen Pear trees, Pyrus kawakamii, covered with white blossoms. The blooming period is short, because we get either a winter Pacific storm or a warm Santa Ana wind that blows all the blossoms away. When our girls were small, they loved to pretend it was snowing while they danced around under our trees.

I brought a sprig of blossoms in the other day to paint. They last better inside than out!

Plein Air in Laguna Beach, and other frogs

Laguna Morning, 5"x7", oil on panel,
©2013 Cindy Greene

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First off,  I am very happy with this painting. There, I said it.

My husband and I have a saying, "If you have to eat frogs, eat the biggest one first." This has morphed into "Anything I don't want to do, or am procrastinating, or am even nervous about, is a frog. Okay, I'll eat it first." This has been a week of frog-eating. 

Thursday morning was my last scheduled plein air class with Kim VanDerHoek. We were going to Heisler Park in Laguna Beach, and the day was promising. But painting at Heisler Park is a sort of mecca to plein air painters, the ultimate gorgeous seaside spot. What if I really made a mess of it? Therefore, it became a frog.

I'm happy to say that the fog lifted, I had a great time, I'm happy with the painting, and all is well. 

Ribbetttt!!

My Heart Like the Ivy Twineth

My Heart Like the Ivy Twineth, 6"x6", oil on panel, SOLD
©2013 Cindy Greene

I love old postcards, and always dig through them in antique stores when I get a chance. I especially like holiday cards. The Valentine's Day card below is one of my favorites.

When I saw the ivy heart topiary last week at Roger's Gardens, this phrase kept running through my mind. This was really fun to paint — and had a title before I even started! I tried to find where the phrase originated, but evidently "the ivy twineth" is in the Christmas carol The Holly and the Ivy, and was a familiar phrase a century or so ago.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Back to Real Life

English Breakfast, 6"x6" oil on panel

Well, the whirlwind week of the Carol Marine workshop at Balboa Island is over. I think every one of us was sad at week's end. Tired, but sad. Actually, I'm sure Carol was relieved to be going home — she taught, laughed, critiqued, painted, ate, lectured, and patiently answered our hundreds of questions. She was always cheerful and patient — I can't imagine how she does that. She's an amazing teacher and artist, and so much fun.

It was a wonderful week. I learned so much, and now need to work through my notes and paint a couple of hundred panels while I assimilate everything. Every painter in the workshop was talented, and the room was always full of interesting paintings as well as the combined energy of about 20 people doing what they love.

I've spent the weekend reconnecting with family, Lily (our elderly cat), and the laundry. I painted some today, and look forward to painting this week. Still a lot of home-work to catch up on.

Workshop Wednesday

Pink #2, 6"x6", oil on panel

Well, the Carol Marine workshop is over the hump, and there are only two days left. 

Yesterday was fairly intense, as we had timed paintings and then stroke-limited paintings (also timed). The 10-minute painting exercise is fun, and a great way to loosen up and just paint what you see.

The stroke-limiting exercise was interesting. Carol announced, "Painting is like golf. The fewer strokes, the better." To help us get to the essence of our subject, we had to plan out how to paint it first in 20 brushstrokes. We complained, but it wasn't too bad. I actually didn't use my 20th stroke. Then another 10 minutes and 15 strokes. Still looked like a pomegranate. Last, 10 strokes. There were a lot of curved strokes in the room. I ended up with time left, but no strokes. Since I had a fourth square left, I did a quick painting not counting my strokes, but trying to limit them to what was necessary. I like this last one best.

Pomegranate Study, 6"x6", oil on panel

Today was full. Another demo (my very favorite part of the workshop), studying composition and then an exercise on laying down a mixed color, leaving it, and then choosing another mixture, laying it down, and so forth. We took some time setting up our subjects, quite some time actually. I scored a lovely pink gerbera daisy and enjoyed the process. I finished two different views by quitting time.

Pink #1, 6"x6", oil on panel

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Wow.

Today I started a five-day workshop with Carol Marine, and I'm whooped. And we only painted about 90 minutes out of the day!

Just trying to absorb the knowledge flowing out of Carol is exhausting. Fortunately, she is funny as well as smart, and she is an expert at feeding her students information in an organized and entertaining way. There is just so much to learn, and as she says, painting is hard.

We had about an hour this afternoon to set up a still life and paint it as we wanted to, as Carol walked around the room getting an idea of each painter's style and skill. Some of us fiddled with the lights and objects too much, which ate into our painting time. Guess who.

This is a iPhone photo of my set-up. I love red bell peppers. Yeah, there are a lot of bumps.

We then did an assignment to study value — doing a quick painting using only one dark color, and three main values in varying proportions. I finished this pomegranate in about 15 minutes, and then returned to my bell peppers. 

I was able to sort of finish the peppers, although I wasn't happy with the result. Ever notice how bumpy peppers are? Lots of planes, each with a reflection and/or shadow. I couldn't get a good photo, as the room lighting was challenging, but here's an idea. I do like the greens.

©2013 Cindy Greene

I'm very excited about tomorrow. I know it will be another full day, and I can't wait.

February — a new month!!

30 in 30 January 2013

Leslie Saeta recommended using PicMonkey to create a custom collage of our 30 paintings from January. Since it is a free service (very cool), there is no help page, so it took a while to figure out how to create a custom collage. I thought about just using my favorite paintings (there are some here I'm a bit embarrassed by), but decided to be honest and include them all. 

I'm pleased with my progress in January. I can look at each of these with a critical eye and see what could be improved or what I learned. 

I love the first day of the month. Happy February!

30 in 30, #30! — High Noon at the Back Bay

High Noon at the Back Bay, 8"x8", oil on board

#30!! We did it! I started a day late, used a watercolor sketch once, and doubled up a few times, but I completed 30 paintings in 30 days. Kudos to Leslie Saeta, who created this challenge!

This was painted today at my plein air class with Kim VanDerHoek, at the Newport Back Bay. We shared the small area with about 200 elementary school kids who were on a field trip, so it was a bit noisy. But it was a gorgeous sunny day, and painting outside was a good way to spend it.

It's been a crazy month. With all the painting going on, not a lot of other stuff has been happening. We did get the Christmas things put back in the garage (the last box was yesterday) but it took a while. I'm pretty sure the bills have been paid. There have been a lot of nights when at 7:00 pm, I said "How about if we have a salad for dinner?" and my husband has been a trooper.

I have learned so much. I've learned new things I like to paint, and new surfaces, and tried new colors and mixtures. I've painted en plein air, and I've painted on the dining room table in a vacation condo. I like painting in my studio best, and I LOVE my new 27" monitor. I can zoom in and rotate reference photos, and best of all, I can see them clearly.

February will be different, for sure. I'm hoping to paint most every day, but won't finish a painting every day. I want to do some studying, and will be taking an amazing workshop for five days next week. I'll post about it, since I know it will be something I want to remember.

Thank you, everyone who has looked and/or commented, and been so kind. I'm very fortunate to be doing something I love.

30 in 30, #29 — Highway 38, Early Summer

Highway 38, Early Summer, 6"x6", oil on panel

I find landscape painting quite challenging, although I love it. I took a series of photos over 10 years ago, from the car window while whizzing down Highway 38 from Big Bear to Redlands, "down the mountain." The sky was stunning with fluffy but heavy clouds coming in and throwing a shadow over the mountains. There had been quite a bit of rain that year, so the shrubs were still bright green. 

I found the photos the other day, and pulled a composite together for this painting. It reminds me of many years of going "down the mountain" after a weekend at the cabin. 

I will be double-dipping today — this is #29, and #30 will be posted tonight. I started this challenge a day later than most, but am determined to finish in January. Happy last day of January, everyone!

30 in 30, #28 — Patience

Patience, 7"x5", oil on gessoed board, SOLD!

Evidently, I'm a slow learner. Today I picked up a new type of panel that I had gessoed with the same gesso I used on yesterday's canvas. And yep, it reacted the same way to the paint. I've used this same jar of gesso for a year or so and never had any problem, so evidently something has changed. Painting on this surface reminded me of gouache, but at least today I knew what I was getting into, and being stubborn, finished the painting.

This panel is a hardboard I found at the local art supply store. It's charm is that it is 3/8" thick, and has hanging holes built into the back, so it can be easily hung without a frame. I painted the edges very carefully, and as I was turning to put it in my drying area, it flipped over and landed face down on the floor. Floor and painting were rescued. Since the painting was a commission, it had to be!

As my husband (famously) said when he was a child, "Patience will never hurt you!"

30 in 30, #27 — Humility

Humility, 6"x6", oil on canvas, NFS

Lay first the foundation of humility.  — St. Augustine

Well, another challenge. I thought I was painting a fun "mums in my window" view, but it didn't turn out that way. I'm starting to run low on my 6" panels, so I grabbed a 6" canvas that I had "wiped" a while back. I had put a couple of coats of gesso on it and thought it would be fine.

Oops. Something weird happened. The surface was like painting on clay — the oil in the paint was absorbed within minutes, leaving matte color. After an hour, paint was almost dry to touch. Not normal with oil paints. Nothing was working like it was supposed to. A good "frosting" with a painting knife saved me; at least I could get the paint to look like paint instead of chalk. I'm afraid to go back and look at it in case the paint has disappeared.

I was frustrated, but kept going, determined to have something to post for my 27th painting. This is about learning. I do not like painting on canvas. I ordered more Gessobord panels tonight. Yay!

(Next morning; the paint is still there. I took it outside and got a much better photo.)

I should have realized something strange was happening when I had to go over the sketch twice.

30 in 30, #26 — Ruddell's

Ruddell's, 6"x6", oil on panel

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This one was a challenge, indeed. 

Ruddell's Smokehouse is a tiny place in the tiny town of Cayucos, California. Once you have eaten one of Jim's smoked pork loin tacos, you will be happy to drive 30 miles out of your way to get another one, like we did last November on our way north. I've never had anything else like it, and it is one of my favorite "road food" stops. I have quite a few photos of Ruddell's, but as you can see, it's not the kind of painting I usually do.

So that is the challenge part of today's painting. I wanted to capture the tiny building with the signs and the red trash can, and well, what else can I say? I think what I really want is a smoked pork loin taco. I will tell you that it has apples in it — have you ever had a taco with apples before?

30 in 30, #25 — Welcome to Seal Beach

Welcome to Seal Beach, 6"x6", oil on panel, $100

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This 30 in 30 Challenge is all about two things for me: painting consistently (daily), and challenging myself with each painting. The first couple of paintings this month were just getting my brushes wet again after a long holiday. I've done a lot of flowers, tried a few new paint colors, some new paint mixes, a boat on a blistering hot beach (literally), and some interior bed and pillow scenes. I've really enjoyed painting things in my kitchen window.

Today I painted a scene that I see at least once a week, the City Hall of Seal Beach. Our church is across the street, so I see this view most every Sunday. It's a charming building, and my reference photos encouraged me to push the sky color a bit, but it really looks like this. To make it more of a challenge, I used a new brand of paints, and a very limited palette of five colors plus white. I had planned to use only four plus white, but had to add a touch of pthalo blue to get the sky color where I wanted it.

Seal Beach is a great town. The best day of the year is the last Saturday in April, when about 550 classic cars are parked along Main Street and Ocean Boulevard, and about 30,000 people descend on the little town. It's crazy, but so much fun. Maybe I need to paint some scenes from the car show. Hmmm.

30 in 30, #24 — Good Morning!

Good Morning!, 6"x6", oil on board, Sold

The amount of sleep required by the average person is five minutes more. 
~Wilson Mizener

More shapes; more pillows — I'm having a lot of fun with color. Wouldn't it be fun to have a closet full of accent pillows and accessories, and change up your room according to your mood? This one gives me energy and sort of a "good morning, now let's get to it!" feel.

30 in 30, #23 — Naptime

Naptime, 6"x6", oil on panel, SOLD

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O bed! O bed! delicious bed!
That heaven upon earth to the weary head.
~Thomas Hood, Miss Kilmansegg - Her Dream

Plein Air class was cancelled today, because of — yes, rain. Here in California, in January, imagine. Our heat wave is over and it was a lovely day to stay in and paint. But no lovely sunshine to paint, so I had to get creative.

I've been saving some reference photos for ages, and one of them gave me this idea. I love the shapes the pillows make — this could be a series!

30 in 30, #22 – Jungle Lily

Jungle Lily, 6"x6", oil on panel, sold

I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers, and not pick one! — Edna St. Vincent Millay

I have loved daylilies for years — I've done many watercolor studies of them, and taken hundreds of photos. Last summer, we were at the Los Angeles Arboretum at prime daylily season, and I was in a spot of heaven. The daylily garden there is really amazing. I did not want to leave.

This is painted from a photo from that day. Red daylilies are pretty exotic, and this painting reminds me of a jungle. Leaves going every which way, deep colors.

30 in 30, #21 – Canyon Sycamore

Canyon Sycamore, 6"x6", oil on panel, $100

Last October, my husband and I went for a walk in Laguna Canyon. We came around a corner and saw this sycamore. It was really the only one that was golden (the others had either lost their leaves or were more of a tacky beige). I brought back several photos, but this is my first attempt to capture the beauty of that tree. It was a glorious spot.

So good to be back to painting today! I so appreciate all the wonderful comments and encouragement.  

30 in 30, #14 – Reaching for the Light

Reaching for the Light, 6"x6", oil on panel, $100

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Every moment of light and dark is a miracle. — Walt Whitman

Mums again! I loved the view of these little mums as they were sitting in the sunny kitchen window. Instead of looking head-on at the flowers, my view was of the bottoms of the blooms reaching up toward the sun. 

I put a bit of a wash on the panel before sketching

I have a south-facing large kitchen window. For many years, we had large trees facing the window that shaded the house from the low winter sun. The trees are gone, so now the sun streams into the kitchen for a good part of the day. It's pretty annoying when you're trying to cook – the glare drives me nuts. But this window is where I am getting such great reference photos for these daily paintings! I am loving the lights and darks I am seeing in these.

Blocked in the darks, started the shadow shapes of the petals