Please note that “Peonies and Pears” will be on auction for five days instead of my usual 10. Thanks for looking.

Old Master Paintings with an Expressionist feel by Susan Martin Spar who creates original oil paintings every day. These daily paintings consist of still life, figure art, and landscape art.

Floral Oil Painting of Pink Peonies and Pears, 11" x 14" on Canvas Panel

“Peonies and Pears”
SOLD

I was in the mood yesterday for something a bit more complex, so I chose to do a full bouquet of Peonies in a pretty detailed vase. I wanted to give a good painting lesson and demo on my other blog and this seemed a good way to do it. The flowers have some great thick paint on them and were glazed to bring them to life. I was really happy with the way they came out. The satin cloth came to life here as well. As complex as the design on the vase appears, it really only took a few minutes to get it in with a glaze. The overall effect is quite convincing though. Hope you enjoy it. Check out my other blog to see how this painting was done.

Old Master Paintings with an Expressionist feel by Susan Martin Spar who creates original oil paintings every day. These daily paintings consist of still life, figure art, and landscape art.

Pink Peonies and Pears, Painting Lesson, 11" x 14"

So here it is Saturday and I bounced out of bed – well nearly, went for my morning walk and came back eager to finish “Peonies and Pears”. Not a very inspired title, I’ll admit, but when you do as many of these as I do, it’s easy to run out of creative ideas for titles.

The first thing I did was mix a glaze of Maroger Medium and Alizarin Crimsen with a touch of Ultramarine Blue. I used this glaze to create the flower pattern on the vase and to deepen the color on some of the petals. It’s important to know that form in such a vase takes care of itself once you add the pattern. The pattern or design actually helps to describe the form of the vase. Next I mixed some other glazes for the vase which consisted of Viridian Green with a bit of umber to tone it down. There is also some blue – Cobalt in the flowers as well as yellow. Then using a liner brush, I accented some of the smaller flowers in the design to heighten the sense of detail in the painting.

I used some Naples Yellow and a touch of white to scumble in highlights on the pears (there’s a bit of Sienna too) and then used some Naples Yellow, white and Raw Sienna to scumble in highlights on the satin cloth. Some more of the same mixture was used to heighten the stems of the pears and create the stems on the grapes. Lastly, I added a highlight to the vase. Viola! The finished piece. Second session elapsed time, 45 minutes. Phew. The grapes look a bit purple here. Having some trouble with Photoshop today.

“Peonies and Pears”
Click here to bid.

Painting Less on Pink Peonies and Asian Vase, 11" X 14"

Pretty huh? This is the set up for my next lesson. Now the challenge is to paint it. I decided that because it’s so complex, I would give myself two short sessions for this painting. I also determined that a little glazing was in order for the vase. So I shook out the cobwebs, stirred up some paint and got down to business.

In the photograph on the right, you can see that again, I have transferred a drawing to the canvas and toned it with a little burnt umber. I used acrylic here after fixing the drawing and just applied a light wash. For most of my daily paintings, I use Fredrix unstretched canvas pads. This is not paper, but actual primed canvas. I just tape it to my board. If the painting sells on EBay, then I trim and back it for the customer’s convenience. If it fails to sell, I leave a white border and put it in my print bin at the gallery for sale. I only work on hardboard or stretched canvas for pieces I plan to frame.

Using raw umber, I laid in most of the shadow tones. I did this just using a wash to indicate where a shadow will be. Then in the next step (see the photo below right),I used some cadmium yellow and a bit of Naples yellow to cool the umber for parts of the background.

I like to lighten some of the “air” around the flowers as this adds some atmosphere and lends depth to the space. For the cloth, I just indicated where the darker shadows would be. I left them warm in temperature. On the vase, just a thin wash of umber was used to indicate where the shadow pattern would fall. It’s important at this step – and the next – to establish the color of the shadows. This is both cast shadow and the mid- tone of the objects themselves. I use a little of the background color in the shadows and objects themselves as this brings atmosphere to the painting and creates color harmony. I’ve done this in the shadows of the blooms too. Remember that too much color will quickly overwhelm a painting. Grays and subtle tones will make just a small amount of color sing.

I’ve also used some of the background color to make the shadow side on the vase. I’m using thicker paint on the lighted side of the vase here but I’m mixing some Maroger Medium into it to facilitate drying. I plan on painting the design in glazes on the second pass tomorrow. I’ve also now added the deeper shadow tones of the flowers – all but obscuring the details of the petals. These were just a guide line for me anyway. To paint each detailed petal would have belaboured the piece. In order to get atmosphere into the pears, I have dragged some of the background color down into them. The grapes, rather dark at this point, were done with some Alazarin Crimsen and a touch of cad red with a drop of ivory black. “Gasp…BLACK????”, you ask. Yes black. Where would Valasquez have been without black. Anyway I never NEVER use black in the shadows. I figure what was good enough for Valasquez and David Leffel is good enough for me.

OK. Moving on. Things are beginning to shape up a bit.

I’ve added more tones to the cloth and have used a bit of raw sienna and cadmium yellow medium, cooled with white to bring out it’s lights. Using Alazarin Crimsen and a touch of Cadmium Red Light, I’ve made two mixtures for the flowers. One lighter and one half-tone. I used a large filbert to do the petals and laid the paint on pretty thick there for texture. I also went back in with a bit of Alazarin Crimsen mixed with some Ultramarine Blue to put some depth on the the flower on the right. I’ve inceased the volume and height of the top flower as well. You can also see that I’ve leveled out the vase, smoothing in the highlighted area. It’s tough to see it well,here, but I’ve also added a bit of glow to the grapes. A tiny touch of Cadmium Red Light to the grapes brings out a nice glow. Don’t forget that even grapes have turning edges and a core shadow is useful even on a small object like a grape. I’ve used some warm and cool highlights on the grapes and the tail of a brush to create some texture. The pears are beginning to shape up. I’ve pushed back the pear on the right and tomorrow will glaze into the one on the left to bring it around to where I want it. Same for the flowers. The paint is quite wet and thick at this point and I need a bit of drying time to glaze into them. Most of my edges, except for the flower on the right, are soft. The pear still needs work. Elapsed time 1.5 hrs. Drop by tomorrow for the finale.

Painting of Double Bass Player, Pastel on Board, "24 x 36"

“Hot and Saucey”

Yeah! Not in a classical way today. Turn up the voluuuuuume! This piece is gallery bound so, at least for awhile, its NFS.

Old Master Paintings with an Expressionist feel by Susan Martin Spar who creates original oil paintings every day. These daily paintings consist of still life, figure art, and landscape art.

“The Filigree Stone Vase”
Available direct from artist for $45.
Click here to e-mail Susan

I’ve had this Asian stone filigree vase for a very long time. It was my mother’s. Because I grew up with it, I was accustomed to seeing it on the shelf but never took the time to examine it. Until I tried to paint it. It’s amazing the amount of detail the artist who carved this vase was able to achieve. But what is really amazing is that it is made of stone and yet appears so willowy and light. I couldn’t get all the detail this deserved but did manage to capture most of what was obvious to the eye.

I know that the audience for classical realism is not as extensive as that for abstract and contemporary pieces. But this vase taught me something important. My work, like the vase, takes patient observation and a quiet soul to appreciate.

Old Master Paintings with an Expressionist feel by Susan Martin Spar who creates original oil paintings every day. These daily paintings consist of still life, figure art, and landscape art.

“The Filigree Stone Vase”
Available direct from artist for $45.
Click here to e-mail Susan

I’ve had this Asian stone filigree vase for a very long time. It was my mother’s. Because I grew up with it, I was accustomed to seeing it on the shelf but never took the time to examine it. Until I tried to paint it. It’s amazing the amount of detail the artist who carved this vase was able to achieve. But what is really amazing is that it is made of stone and yet appears so willowy and light. I couldn’t get all the detail this deserved but did manage to capture most of what was obvious to the eye.

I know that the audience for classical realism is not as extensive as that for abstract and contemporary pieces. But this vase taught me something important. My work, like the vase, takes patient observation and a quiet soul to appreciate.

Old Master Paintings with an Expressionist feel by Susan Martin Spar who creates original oil paintings every day. These daily paintings consist of still life, figure art, and landscape art.

“The Filigree Stone Vase”
Available direct from artist for $45.
Click here to e-mail Susan

I’ve had this Asian stone filigree vase for a very long time. It was my mother’s. Because I grew up with it, I was accustomed to seeing it on the shelf but never took the time to examine it. Until I tried to paint it. It’s amazing the amount of detail the artist who carved this vase was able to achieve. But what is really amazing is that it is made of stone and yet appears so willowy and light. I couldn’t get all the detail this deserved but did manage to capture most of what was obvious to the eye.

I know that the audience for classical realism is not as extensive as that for abstract and contemporary pieces. But this vase taught me something important. My work, like the vase, takes patient observation and a quiet soul to appreciate.

Old Master Paintings with an Expressionist feel by Susan Martin Spar who creates original oil paintings every day. These daily paintings consist of still life, figure art, and landscape art.

Still Life Oil painting of a teapot and poppies, 11" x 14" on canvas panel

“The Crystalline Teapot”
SOLD

I love crystalline glazed pottery but can hardly afford to own much. This teapot was a gift from some friends and I treasure it. It’s quite difficult to paint in an ala prima session, so I took a little extra time with it and applied the glaze and design on a second session the following day. This allowed me to get the more subtle changes in light and temperature on the delicate finish. The flowers were painted pretty much ala prima on day one with only a touch up on day two. Enjoy.

Old Master Paintings with an Expressionist feel by Susan Martin Spar who creates original oil paintings every day. These daily paintings consist of still life, figure art, and landscape art.

Floral Oil Painting of Roses in Cut Glass Vase with Nectarines, 8" x 10" on Canvas Panel

“Roses and Nectarines”
Click here to bid.

Felt like roses today. After my students left, the light was sweet and cool coming in from the north windows of my studio, so I set this up. Oh…and look at that! I found Nectarines at the market! So in they went for a little color. The painting looks a lot brighter in life. I don’t seem to be able to get my server to make them appear as lively as they are in person. It looks perfect on photoshop and then just doesn’t cut it once I upload them. Well…I hope they look good on your screen. Here’s a little detail.

Old Master Paintings with an Expressionist feel by Susan Martin Spar who creates original oil paintings every day. These daily paintings consist of still life, figure art, and landscape art.