Portrait of Tom

Tom 10 x 8 acrylic on gallery wrap canvas  NFS

This is a portrait of Tom, painted as a gift for his birthday this weekend. Please keep it to yourself -- it's a surprise.

Here are some progress shots -

Light sketch in dilute acrylic paint

Begin to place darks

Define shadow side of face

Delineate features

Add midtones/further refine features

Cover rest of canvas to judge balance of color

Add more midtones and begin lights

Balance and refine fleshtones

Final portrait 10x8 acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

Demo in Acrylics

Demo at Muskoka Arts & Crafts Spring Show 8 x 10 acrylic on gessoboard

This little painting is the demo I did at the 39th Annual Muskoka Arts and Crafts Spring Members' show held this past weekend. The show features hundreds of pieces of artwork and runs from Friday evening through Sunday night. It was great fun and I was thrilled when my three acrylic still life paintings received the show's penultimate award for Best Use of Media. 

I often do a demo at the show. It's very informal, and really involves painting between chats and QandA with folks who attend the show. Usually it's a three-hour session of painting/chatting, but this year  -- to my dismay -- I accidentally left home with everything EXCEPT my paints! Fortunately, I'm married to a treasure of a husband who dashed home again to retrieve my paintbox. Here are some photos, including some shots of the little painting in progress.

Clivia and Shells

Clivia and Shells 30 x 24 acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

This is the third of three paintings I'll have at the Muskoka Arts and Crafts 39th Annual Spring Members' Show. The show begins with the opening reception and awards presentation Friday night and runs through the weekend. I've been part of this wonderfully-diverse showcase for more than 15 years. Sunday afternoon I'm doing a demonstration -- something I always enjoy because people come by to chat as I paint.

Petite Nude

Petite Nude 7x5 oil on stretched canvas

After working a great deal in acrylics, I'm getting back into the swing of using oils again. This is just a little nude, only 7 x 5, done in water-mixable oil on canvas.

Fruit and Bowl

Fruit and Bowl 8 x 10 oil on stretched canvas

This is water-miscible oils on stretched canvas. I've not used my oils in a while, but lately had a hankering for that soft, juicy texture. The subject is a familiar favorite, but what I painted was beside the point. It was the medium not the message that concerned me. I wanted to 'play' with oils for a change.

I paint a lot in acrylics, and there's so much about them that I like. Clean up is quick and easy, no solvents needed, and layers can be added in minutes. Even painting white over black is no problem. I use heavy body acrylics, and keeping them from drying on the palette can be a battle. I get focused on the painting and forget to "spritz" with my spray bottle. The stay-wet palettes don't work for me. In spite of my efforts to get just the right degree of moisture, my paints soon become too fluid.

So, every so often I long for the buttery richness, and slower-drying blendability of oil paints. But since I'm spoiled by the easy clean up of acrylics, I reach for my water-miscible oils.

Daydreamer

Daydreamer 10x 8 acrylic on gessoboard

This is based on a photo of one one my favorite models, but not intended to be a likeness. It was a quiet moment when she appeared to be lost in thought. I wanted to capture that faraway look and my aim was to achieve an expressive and painterly image. Below are some progress shots.

Initial sketch on toned gessoboard

Placed Darks

Mid tones and some lights added

More midtones and finer details added

Refining and trial background

 

New background and Final Touches...Done!

Sunshine

Sunshine 18 x 14 oil on stretched canvas  NFS

This lovely young woman came to interview me for a local magazine. As we chatted, I was captivated by how the sunlight just kissed her cheek and forehead. I asked if I could snap a few photos and perhaps paint her.  She agreed and this was the result.

Trio Plus Quartet

Trio Plus Quartet 10 x 10 acrylic on canvas  SOLD

This is a demo I painted during one of our local art guild's group shows. We find it's a great feature to have various artists show how their work is created, and I really enjoy chatting with folks who attend. Happily, this little painting also found a home.

Black and Gold

Black and Gold oil 12 x 16 on gessoboard  SOLD

Rich tones and luscious textures -- that's why still life paintings are such a joy.

Sunny Breaks

Sunny Breaks 9 x 12 oil on canvas board  NFS

A very Merry Christmas from Muskoka, Canada to all the wonderful artists on Daily Paintworks! Here's to a New Year filled with the joy of making art together. Thanks for the inspiration, the motivation, and the mutual support.

Blue Mood

Blue Mood 16 x 12 soft pastel on Canson paper  NFS

For short time I worked in soft pastel, but rarely do so now. This is one of several small classic nudes done as studies. As you see, I was enjoying playing with complementary colors.

Hello There

Hello There 12 x 12 acrylic on gessoboard  SOLD

How can you go wrong painting a face like this? Deer are plentiful where we live, and occasionally venture through our backyard. They aren't timid, at least at a distance. They just raise their lovely heads, as if to say hello, then carry on munching. I understand they can decimate a garden -- it's a salad bar to them. Fortunately for me and my flowers, the ones that visit us seem to prefer the wilder parts of our backyard.

Curled Up

Curled Up 8 x 10 acrylic on gessoboard  SOLD

This sweet little fawn is all curled up and tucked in for a nap. When they gather up those long legs, they're just so very small. See below for photos of the painting in progress.

"Curled Up" 8x10 acrylic in progress ...

the initial sketch in acrylic on black-toned gessoboard

beginning to define the face and some tonal masses

further refining the features and form - including the distinctive "spots"

playing with background to determine how much dark I wanted

added background color and texture as well as final touches to face and fur

Black Lace

Black Lace 24 x 18 oil on stretched canvas  SOLD

This oil painting will always be special to me. It was part of my first solo gallery show in 2009. It was also the image used on all the promotional materials, and the first piece to sell at the show. Today I'd likely paint it differently -- perhaps better, I'd hope -- but I'll always look back at it with much affection.

Abundance

Abundance 10 x 8 acrylic on gessoboard  SOLD

I know what you're thinking... another brass bowl with grapes, Helene, really?!  Can't help it; I so enjoy painting the varied tones as light passes through grapes, and a brass bowl just adds more sparkle. Gotta lo-o-ve those textures!

Winter Snack

Winter Snack  10 x 8 oil on canvas board  SOLD

One of my favorite backyard visitors -- winter or summer -- is the Blue Jay.  Big, bold, and devastatingly handsome, they're a visual delight.  This little oil sketch was fun from start to finish. 

The Braid

The Braid 8 x 8 oil on gessoboard

This is a quick portrait sketch in oil done in a two-hour session -- good exercise! 

Brass Bowl and Onions

Brass Bowl and Onions 11 x 14 acrylic on stretch canvas  NFS

Two of my favorite still life subjects -- onions and this little brass bowl. They offer such wonderful color harmony and a range of textures that are just plain enjoyable to paint. This is an 11" x 14" acrylic painting on 1.5" gallery wrapped canvas.

Whitetail Fawn

Whitetail Fawn 6 x6 acrylic on stretched canvas  SOLD

This sweet little fawn is my contribution to a December charity art sale. "Small Art, Big Cause" is a Christmas fundraiser with all proceeds going to the Children's Foundation of Muskoka. For several years local Muskoka artists have donated 6 x 6 canvases to this enormously popular event. Sales are so brisk that the paintings are gone in less than two hours.

The Humidor

The Humidor 16 x 12 acrylic on gallery wrap canvas NFS

This is one of several paintings I'll be exhibiting in an upcoming Muskoka Arts and Crafts Members' show. I'm happy to say that a smaller, similar version sold earlier from DPW, so hopefully this one will fare well in the show.