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Red Wing Blackbird: acrylic painting
Read more: Red Wing Blackbird: acrylic paintingOne of the signs of spring in Michigan is the red-winged blackbirds calling as they nest in the wet areas. This inspired my painting of one in acrylics. I combined a photo I took a few days ago of some wetlands nearby, with the blackbird to show him in his native habitat. The palette was…
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Plein aire sunny day study: Garden Statue
Read more: Plein aire sunny day study: Garden StatueIt is a sunny day in Northern Michigan, so I decided to do a quick acrylic study of my friend’s garden statue. The daffodils are up; but my acrylics dried really too fast (even with a Stay-Wet palette). So, there were a few lumps in the paint in the end. But I love the garden…
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Learning to Paint Impressionism: Sunny Day block study
Read more: Learning to Paint Impressionism: Sunny Day block studyI am in the pursuit of color. That means that I am doing what is considered a basic study in art school: block studies. Because I want to learn impressionism (a la “Charles Hawthorne” method) I am following the suggestions in Lois Griffel’s book, “Painting the Impressionist Landscape”. So, I decided to do the sunny…
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Painting Impressionism: color block study
Read more: Painting Impressionism: color block studyI have been reading an outstanding book by Lois Griffel, who follows the methods developed by Charles Hawthorne at the Cape Cod School of Art (where some of the outstanding American impressionistic painters have studied). She shares the importance of doing studies with color blocks, so here, I will share how to do a simple…
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Hope
Read more: HopeI decided to paint a friend of mine in a meadow (I love meadows, and am currently on a kick painting them), portraying the emotion Hope, which is what I am calling this painting. It represents the need to take time to look up, and see that there is hope during this time. This was…
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Colt in a Field
Read more: Colt in a FieldI love horses, used to own several and ride a lot. I wanted to paint a colt, so I did: I put him in a lovely field of flowers. I used a limited palette of ultramarine blue, hooker’s green, burnt sienna, burnt umber, yellow ochre; napsa yellow and titanium white. This one was tons of…
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Quick Goose sketch
Read more: Quick Goose sketchI was visiting a friend on Lake Huron last week, and saw geese and seagulls everywhere; I did this very quick plein aire sketch of a gander watching over his mate while she fed. The white dots are seagulls in water. I had to do the sketch (in acrylics) in 5 minutes, because he was…
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World’s Strangest Looking White Flower
Read more: World’s Strangest Looking White FlowerI decided to give myself a challenge, and paint a white flower that really does look like this. Okay, some of you will think “Darn, that’s an ugly flower” (like my friend did), but it was a great painting challenge, with lots of lights and darks. I used a limited palette (titanium white, ultramarine blue,…
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Titmouse revisited
Read more: Titmouse revisitedSince I am learning acrylics now, after years of working in oils, I decided to re-paint my titmouse painting in acrylic. This was a fun project, and I learned some things about acrylics doing this. As usual, I used a limited palette (titanium white, hansa yellow, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, burnt umber and burnt sienna).…
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Trees in Winter
Read more: Trees in WinterBecause it is winter time, and there’s lots of snow on the ground, I decided to paint an acrylic picture of trees just as the snow has stopped and the sun is getting ready to come out. Trees in Winter, acrylic and sand collage, 2/24/20 painting As usual, I used a limited palette: yellow ochre,…
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Bouquet of Flowers: acrylic painting
Read more: Bouquet of Flowers: acrylic paintingI love flowers, and decided to take a photo of some beautiful ones I saw at a friend’s house (with her permission). I found that acrylics are perfect for capturing the lights and dark values. The colors used were ultramarine blue; alizarin crimson; yellow ochre, Hansa Yellow, sap green, titanium white, burnt umber and burnt…
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Egret Painting
Read more: Egret PaintingI love water birds, and have enjoyed seeing the egrets near Lake Huron in North Michigan. I decided to create a painting to show the beauty of this bird. I used a limited palette (as usual) with this painting: ultramarine blue, Hansen Yellow, yellow ochre, Hooker Green, Titanium white; Burnt umber and burnt sienna.