Tag: painting

  • Branding Day

    Since before I moved to Michigan, I lived in Texas, I saw a lot of cattle. I even grew up on a cattle farm on the east coast. So, I decided to paint a picture that reflects some of my memories. Just so ya’ll know, my ex was a real cowboy who rode a horse…

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  • Dog Portrait

    A few months ago, I painted a portrait of a friend’s dog. She is a beautiful golden retriever, who sticks her tongue out to the side as a habit. Here’s the portrait, based upon a photo she provided. Because this dog swims constantly in the summer, I put the lake behind her: I had a…

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  • Pink Bouquet

    A week ago, a friend sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers, to cheer me up during the…LONG….Michigan winter. I decided to paint it, so here it is: The deep background is a mix of ultramarine blue, olive green, burnt sienna, and lamp black, in several glazes. I  created the basket with mixes of burnt…

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  • Moose: Another Christmas Painting

    In my last post, I mentioned that my other good friend wanted a painting of a moose. Why? Because her house is literally FILLED with moose things: moose towels, cups, figurines, coasters, etc., she is just nuts about them. So, when I gave her a gift certificate for a painting, she said, “A moose! That’s…

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  • Wild Loons (Christmas Present Painting)

    For Christmas, I gave out two gift certificates good for a painting of their choice to two friends. One, who is a birdwatcher like me, immediately said, “I want a painting of Loons” (which show up on her lake, they visit every fall and spring here in Michigan). The other said, “A moose!” (I’ll show…

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  • Birds of Michigan: Canadian Geese (in process)

    I love Canadian geese. Here is my latest in my “Birds of Michigan” series; it’s the painting with the geese and reflections almost finished. There was a ton of glare in the photo of my painting that I took; I don’t have a polarized filter, so I tried to blacken in the necks of the…

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  • Lake Michigan: Symphony in Blue

    I love painting water, and in this one, I wanted to play with the range of blues in the evening (I went semi-abstract). I used cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, alizarin crimson, burnt sienna, cad. red light and titanium white; along with sap green and cad yellow light for the palette.

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  • Birds of Michigan: Blue Jay

    It’s snowing a lot today, and the Blue Jays are feeding on corn that gets scattered on the ground, as well as seeds the other birds drop from the three seed feeders on our front porch. I enjoy their color and curiosity, in spite of how aggressive they are.  So, this inspired a painting: The…

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  • Portrait Day 7

    The portrait is finally done. For some reason, my camera picked up more yellow than is in the original. I added yet more details to the face, softened transitions, added more details to the dog’s fur. The pit bull was painted with raw umber, burnt sienna and ultramarine blue for darks; and yellow ochre, burnt…

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  • Portrait Day 3

    Today, I added some highlights, shadows, and more detail, especially to the girl. I am also adding more colors to the dog’s coat. I am trying to keep my light consistent in the background and on the objects; it’s a warm mix of cad. yellow med., yellow ochre, and titanium white. It’s starting to come…

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  • Birds of Michigan: Greeting the Morning

    I love finches, because they add color and liveliness to the landscape. This painting catches a finch clinging to a twig as the morning light shines on him. I painted the grays with a mix of ultramarine blue, transparent oxide red, black and titanium white;  I used these colors and added cadmium yellow for the…

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