Miss Piggy as Carmen Miranda

Miss Piggy as Carmen Miranda, a photo by Gayle Bell on Flickr.

This is the oil painting I submitted for the weekly challenge on Daily Paintworks.

Portrait from Friday's open studio at Crealde

John, 12" x 16" oil on canvas

Open studio at Crealde is from 1 to 3:30 on Friday.  Being able to paint/sketch the models in one extended pose is helpful for the portrait artist as well as figurative artists.  And the $10 charge, whether you're a member of Crealde or not, is the best deal in town.    

My entry into the weekly painting challenge

"Three Paint Tubes"  10" x 8"  oil on canvas

Here's my entry into the weekly painting challenge at DPW.  It's good practice to try and do the challenges and great to see how other artists approach a similar subject.  Great site! 

Oil painting portrait of Jenny

 Portrait of Jenny, 16" x 20" oil on canvas

I went to my second portrait painting class of the semester yesterday and painted this portrait of Jenny. I'm painting on canvas panels now for space and cost considerations so perhaps the urge to wipe everything off that doesn't agree with me won't be so strong.  I only have one painting to show from last semester because of my chronic dissatisfaction with my painting technique.  It may be instructive to save this batch of portraits to see whether I'm making any progress.  My teacher, Don Sondag, suggested I look at Sorolla's paintings for some tips on warm/cool shadows.  Here's a good site with a lot of his images.

My first entry into the DPW painting challenge

I've been doing some of Daily Paintworks painting challenges for several weeks now and having fun and learning a lot. I haven't posted any yet, but decided to overcome my fears today and post this picture of "Ollie" our orchid-dwelling frog. He's a real cutie who has been residing in our orchid plant outside the bedroom window for months now. He loves to get a spray of water when I mist my plant, especially during these never-ending drought conditions. I had just started setting up a still life of a lovely gift bag I've been admiring on my desk for a while, and, lo and behold, painting a gift is the challenge this week. I can't wait to have a go at it.

Oil study of three apples

Three apples
Originally uploaded by Gayle Bell

In an effort to simplify and focus, I'm thinking about doing a series of still life studies of three objects. I did this a few weeks ago and now I've got three pumpkins to work on. I'm also trying to decide what Frans Hals painting to copy. My painting instructor wants me to loosen up my brush strokes (something I've wanted to do for some time now) and he felt I could learn a lot from Hals. Hals is an outstanding master and I've been marveling at his technique while trying to decide what picture I could possibly come close to being able to paint. I'm not sure if I could come close to any of them.

New still life painting of three candles

Three candles
Originally uploaded by Gayle Bell

I think I'm finished with this still life painting, although the picture turned out darker than the original.  I've been looking around at still life paintings on the internet for inspiration and found a really great artist here.  I have quite a ways to go before I'll ever be that good!

Still life painting--Apples and Moroccan pot

Apples and Moroccan pot
Originally uploaded by Gayle Bell

Another still life painting in oil. I'm working on reflections and also wanted to incorporate this cool pot my neighbor brought back from Morocco.

Homage to Seraphine

Homage to Seraphine
Originally uploaded by Gayle Bell

This is an original 18" x 24" oil painting on canvas. It was in the Creative Spirit Art Gallery show a month or so ago. We're going through a rearranging/cleaning out phase at home. One way to organize things, Jerry has decided, is to group my paintings in rooms by subject. This painting was just hung up today in our "abstract gallery".

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New abstract oil painting and request for help

18" x 24" abstract oil painting on canvas

Here's the latest painting I'm working on.  I'm not a big fan of greys, but I'm trying to get used to tones.  I'm learning they do have their place and can help to make adjacent colors look that much brighter.

On another note to all artists and art-lovers, please take a look at the petition below and sign and forward it to all your friends and family.  This petition will, hopefully, ensure that changes are not made to the Maitland Art Center (MAC) which might jeopardize its unique status as a charitable public trust.  MAC is not just a cultural necessity and gem here in central Florida, but it's a beautiful experience for many visitors--both nationally and internationally--to our city.  While working in art classes at MAC, I've met quite a few wonderful people from various parts of the world who have stopped in for a visit.  I encourage anyone who visits central Florida to look up this hidden treasure and stop in--you won't be disappointed.

Petition to save the Maitland Art Center

Oil portrait of Wade

Wade, Oil on canvas, 16" x 20"

Jerry and I finished up with the art auction to benefit Doctors without Borders (MSF) in Haiti, although we're still selling some art here and there.  We sent a check a few days ago to MSF for almost $6,000.  We still have quite a bit of artwork left over and are trying to work something out with one of the donating artists to have a sale at his church (with the stipulation that all sales of the art would continue to go to MSF.)  As long as he's willing to put together a team and handle most of it, that's fine with us.  We're too pooped to try and spearhead another event on our own, but we'll help out if someone else wants to take the lead. 

I'm still trying to keep up with painting, in between trying to catch up with everything else that was neglected during the fundraiser.  The painting above was done at a 2 1/2 hour life drawing session a few weeks ago at Maitland Art Center.  I'm sort of pleased with it, in a rough kind of way.  I'm hitting a dry spell now, though.  It seems that everything I've attempted since has been totally inept and I've rubbed out quite a few paintings.  The thought that maybe one day soon I'll produce something I'm happy with is the only thing that keeps me coming back to my easel. 

New still life painting

Copper Pot and Lemons, 16" x 20" oil painting on canvas

We finished the taxes today and dropped off the paperwork at the accountant's office this morning--whew!  This certainly isn't my favorite time of year, but at least with all the lousy weather lately (cold, rainy, etc.) I haven't felt nearly so bad about being cooped up inside gathering and sorting and itemizing tax documents.  Tomorrow is the opening reception at Casselberry Art House for the ALOC group show.  I put this still life in, along with another one. 

New oil painting portrait

 Jennie, oil painting on wood panel, 12" x 16"

I stumbled across this great artist, Daniel Green, while perusing a book at Sam Flax art supply store today.  It's hard to believe this is pastel--the colors are as rich as an oil painting.  Besides awesome still lifes, he's a wonderful portrait artist as well.  My stabs at painting don't come close, but somehow I feel the need to keep trying.  Here's my attempt at the portrait at Crealde's Friday studio session.

Nude male oil painting on canvas

 

Nude male, oil on canvas, 12" x 16" 

Latest oil painting from Crealde life studio yesterday.  The room was rearranged with the model on one side and everyone semi-circle around.  I kind of struggled to see the model since he was farther away than the usual set up and when I got home I realized his head seemed too small.  I wiped out the bottom part of the canvas and sketched in something that looked kind of rightish, moving the arm and leg into another position and leaving some things to the imagination. 

New portrait oil study

12" x 16" oil painting on canvas board

I've been getting into the life drawing/sketching club at Maitland Art Center the last few weeks. Last time I was there, I met a really talented artist who is also a roofer and he encouraged me to try out Crealde's open studio on Friday. I'm interested in refining my technique in portraiture and he said the model there holds the pose for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours so it's worth it to get out the paints. I concentrated on the face and, even though it leaves something to be desired (my technique, not her face LOL), I'm anxious to get back at it in the coming new year.

New Still Life Painting with Peacock Feathers

Still life with peacock feathers, 16" x 12" oil on canvas

I wish the photo would have turned out better, but I guess it gets the idea across. I'm going to try and finish up a self-portrait tomorrow and clean up my art room--not necessarily in that order.

New Still Life Painting

Bean pot with squash and bottle, 20" x 16" oil painting on canvas

Not sure if I'm totally done with this, since I have a propensity to work, rework and overwork. But somehow I feel I need another little glaze on the pot and perhaps some more work on shadows.

New still life painting

Still life painting of eggplant, peppers and tomato, 11" x 14" oil painting on canvas

This is the painting I've been working on in class at the Maitland Art Center. The green pepper gave me fits for some reason, but I feel it's time to move on and let this go. I'm working on another one at home with peacock feathers and peaches on my antique sideboard. It's proved to be a challenge getting the fine detail painted on the peacock feathers, so I made another trip to the art supply store (!) and got a different type of medium (Gamblin Galkyd). The store clerk seemed to know a lot about paint and convinced me this was by far the best medium, when thinned appropriately with spirits/turps, to use for detail work. Of course, a number of other items made it into my cart and my wallet gave up another 50 clams (sigh). This sure is an expensive undertaking.

Copy of Velazquez's Madonna finished

"The Immaculate Conception" after Velazquez, 16" X 20" oil on canvas

It's usually a good learning experience to copy the masters and one of my all time favorite painters is Velazquez. I worked on this in one of my classes at Maitland Art Center recently and had intended to do some more things to it, although I wasn't quite sure what. It was done in the style of grisaille and I never quite got back to it after my last post on glazing. I finally feel it's time to let it go. After a while, interest and momentum tends to dissipate, boredom sets in and an unfinished painting (or one that you feel is unfinished) can become a sort of albatross around the neck, zapping energy. The painting served it's purpose and I learned quite a bit from it. There will always be more paintings and learning experiences waiting in the wings.

New still life painting

Still life with peppers and scarf, 12" x 12" oil on canvas

I've been fooling around with this oil painting off and on for a while now. The peppers have long ago dried up, so I tried to remember what they looked like in order to touch them up. I was experimenting with Liquin medium, which does make the oil paint dry very quickly--usually overnight. That's a plus for an impatient artist like me. I had quite a bit of trouble with the background and finally decided to make it very dark after reading a book by Gregg Kreutz called "Problem Solving for Oil Painters." He had a lot of good pointers and his art is wonderful, but an especially good idea for still life (which I'll do next time around) is to light the arrangement with one light source. It simplifies the painted planes and, with the proper brushwork, background and focus, can lead to a sense of mystery in the painting, rather than a painted laundry list of assorted objects. He also gets a marvelous surface on his paintings by using not just brushes, but palette knives also.