Entries from January 2008
“Sunshine on a Winter’s Day”, 8″ x 10″, Oil on Canvas Panel
Click here to bid.
Click here to see how this painting was done!
It snowed last night! Not a lot but even a couple of inches can keep me stuck as my care doesn’t have snow tires. Dumb, you say? Well, maybe, but it hardly snows here at all so it doesn’t seem worth it to put out those dollars for one or two days per year. Anyway, I retreated to my studio and brought a little sunshine into it. Honestly, it’s amazing how many different kinds of flowers are available in the supermarket these days! My husband got these at Costco, of all places.
I’ve just started a new blog, called “Susan’s Musings and Painting Tips”. As one of my first posts, I’ve put a step-by-step, photo by photo, of each stage of this painting. Thought it might be fun to share my technique a bit. Look for more of these kinds of posts in the future.
Categories: ala prima · daily painting · floral · oil painting · original · original oil painting · sunflower painting · susan martin spar · yellow flowers
“Sunshine on a Winter’s Day”, 8″ x 10″, Oil on Canvas Panel
Click here to bid.
Click here to see how this painting was done!
It snowed last night! Not a lot but even a couple of inches can keep me stuck as my care doesn’t have snow tires. Dumb, you say? Well, maybe, but it hardly snows here at all so it doesn’t seem worth it to put out those dollars for one or two days per year. Anyway, I retreated to my studio and brought a little sunshine into it. Honestly, it’s amazing how many different kinds of flowers are available in the supermarket these days! My husband got these at Costco, of all places.
I’ve just started a new blog, called “Susan’s Musings and Painting Tips”. As one of my first posts, I’ve put a step-by-step, photo by photo, of each stage of this painting. Thought it might be fun to share my technique a bit. Look for more of these kinds of posts in the future.
Categories: ala prima · daily painting · floral · oil painting · original · original oil painting · sunflower painting · susan martin spar · yellow flowers
“Sunshine on a Winter’s Day”, 8″ x 10″, Oil on Canvas Panel
Click here to bid.
Click here to see how this painting was done!
It snowed last night! Not a lot but even a couple of inches can keep me stuck as my care doesn’t have snow tires. Dumb, you say? Well, maybe, but it hardly snows here at all so it doesn’t seem worth it to put out those dollars for one or two days per year. Anyway, I retreated to my studio and brought a little sunshine into it. Honestly, it’s amazing how many different kinds of flowers are available in the supermarket these days! My husband got these at Costco, of all places.
I’ve just started a new blog, called “Susan’s Musings and Painting Tips”. As one of my first posts, I’ve put a step-by-step, photo by photo, of each stage of this painting. Thought it might be fun to share my technique a bit. Look for more of these kinds of posts in the future.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Uncategorized
It’s been awhile since I posted here. I’ve been so busy trying to keep up with my other work, that I let this one slide. I’ve been wondering what it is I’d like to write about so I asked myself what I talk about the most. That’s easy. My business – the art business that is. And I love to teach. So here it is, my very first on-line teaching snippet.
I did an quick ala prima (that means “all at once”) painting today that I posted on my Daily Painting blog and I’m going to show interested parties – whoever you are – how I painted it.
So…first comes a picture of the actual setup I use. As you can see here, I use a back drop made of cardboard with some plain black, non reflective, wool clipped to it. I’ve arranged it next to a north facing window to bring cool north light onto the set up.
I prepared a piece of 8″ x 10″ unstretched canvas which I then taped to a piece of board. If this were a larger more detailed or finished piece, I would actually prime the canvas with a thin layer of burnt umber oil color and then lift out the highlights. But here I just toned the piece with a little red ochre gesso.
Next, I did a quick indication with a few lines of umber oil paint where I wanted the bouquet to fall. I figured I only had an 8″ x 10″ format within which to make a statement and I wanted the flowers to take full stage, so I made them a bit larger and reduced just slightly the size of the green glass vase. The cloth is just the stage on which it all sits here, so I minimalized it in the block in.
Below you can see the actual color block in. This was done with thin color. I use local color here – that’s the obvious color of the actual object – green, blue, etc. I had some premixed violet and purple from my last Hyacinth painting left and figured it would work well with the yellow blooms. That’s because violet is a compliment to yellow and helps to set off the yellow and make it appear more vibrant. As you can see, the flowers are not actually painted in here. I save them
for last. There’s no highlights or detail yet either. More detail is added in the next phase.
Here you can see the details starting to come to life. I’ve added the petals and refined the vase a bit. I’ve worked on the background here too by making some areas darker and others lighter.
In the final phase of the painting, I’ve refined the petals by adding some darks to the inside edges, put in more highlights with some pretty thick paint and added brights to the cloth. The vase is more refined as well. Viola “Shinshine on a Winter’s Day”. Once dry, the canvas will be trimmed and mounted on board.
Categories: ala prima · art lesson · daily painting · oil painting · paint tips · painting lesson · painting technique · realist · sunflowers · susan martin spar · yellow
“Hyacinth”
Click here to bid.
I love painting these guys. No matter how you display them, they’re always lovely. I plunked a bunch into a cut glass vase for this painting. There’s tons of thick paint on these. It’s so thick, as a matter of fact, the paint actually helps to create shadows on the canvas. Take a look at the detail.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Uncategorized
“A Day at the Lake”
To purchase this painting with PayPal, E-mail Susan.
It was sunny today and the lovely light just filled my studio. No way could I pull down those blinds and sit in the dark for a still life. But it was freezing out there! So I pulled out one of my photos from last summer at Crescent Lake and took myself to a nice warm place. Don’t you just want to join these folks?
This painting measures 15 1/2″ x 11 1/4″ unframed. It’s currently framed in a simple wood frame and double matted. The price framed is $325. If you are interested in having it unframed, the price is $285. Shipping is extra. I ship unframed pastels in their own protective case so nothing touches the painting. I also put framing instructions in and suggest that it be done by a professional framer. Should you desire a picture of the framed piece, just e-mail me.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Uncategorized
“Peonies and Grapes”
SOLD
Just had time for this piece today. I was in the mood for Peonies and thought combining them with the silver vase would be interesting. I used to paint a lot of highly reflective objects and transaparent glass in pastels. I was using a very realistic technique. But over the past year or so, my technique – especially in oils, has changed. I rather like the way this came out but think I’ve a ways to go yet before I obtain the look I am striving for. What do you think?
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Uncategorized
“Offerings II”
SOLD
I have a friend who owns lovely Asian things. She lent me this statue. I really enjoyed painting this piece and it shows. I put lovely thick paint on the statue in order to “sculpt” it. Take a look at the detail piece below. I especially like the way the objects reflect on the glass topped table. Enjoy.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Uncategorized
January 14, 2008 · 1 Comment
“Magnolias and Persian Vase”
SOLD
A friend lent me this Persian vase. It really deserves more time than an Ala Prima Painting can give it, but here it is anyway. Still a pretty thing. The Magnolias seemed to fit right in. I put a floral tapestry under it and hung some behind also. I like the way the painting holds together. Hope you do too.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Uncategorized
“Roses and Clemintines”
SOLD
Tangerines are one of the nicer things about Winter. I love their rich color and the way they glow in the light. I decided to place them with some roses to bring a hint of promise to the studio today. I haven’t painted ala prima in a while so this was a bit of a challenge and warm up for me. The vase is a loaner from a friend. Enjoy.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Uncategorized
