Painting Too Much?

Sometimes  get so involved with painting I forget to share what I have been up to.

Carnations on White, 14 x 11 inches, oil on gallery wrap canvas

I painted this last year and simply forgot all about it.  Sometimes I get so excited about new ideas that all I can think about is starting the next painting.  This is a really nice painting and it is about time it got shared.  Today I varnished, matted and sorted a number of forgotten works.  Although I would rather have been painting it felt good to get a little organized for a change.

Yellow Daisies, 14 x 11 inches

Yellow Lab, 18 x 14 inches

  Thanks for looking

Mary

Comfort Zone

Day 19 and 20 ....

"Ruby Rose"  Oil on stretched canvas 10x8 inches

                                            

Decided to visit my little comfort zone; oil and florals, for this paintings for the challenge.  

Sometimes that comfort zone is a good place to go, to let what you are learning or struggling with sink in.

"Peaceful Energy"  Oil 10 x 8 inches

                                             

    Only a week and a half to go!

Mary

30 in 30

Today is the first day of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge.  This time around I will be some days post paintings that are finished on that day but started earlier, (like this one), other days it will be a painting completed in one day.

Oil on gallery wrap canvas, "Standing at Sunset" Available at Dailypaintworkks.com

   I enjoy the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, but also realize not all paintings are complete in one day.  I always work on more than one painting at a time, so there will be a variety of works posted this month.

Mary
Schirosart.com

Early change

Poppies in a Daisy Vase, Oil on canvas panel, 10 x 8 inches

Starting out an oil painting with an underpainting is a great way to see how well the composition will work.

The first idea was to include a seashell with the flowers.  But after looking at the lay-out, the shell added nothing to the composition. The shell was too centered and actually distracted from the flowers.  At this point the changes were easy to make, to complete the painting.

Just bought I would share the idea, do not be afraid to change your plans, and earlier in a painting is much better than later.

Mary

SchirosArt

Always something to paint

When you need something to paint just look around.  There is a saying "paint what you know".

Oil on canvas, Available at DPWS

Driving around in Michigan this is a common view from just about any road or highway.  The lone barn and Summer green fields.  Painted the barn painting from memory, something I know.

Acrylic on watercolor paper, 14 x 11 inches, Avaialble at DPWs

Some of the first wild-flowers to bloom are daisies, I have worked up many painting from the flowers.  Daisies grow like weeds (maybe they are weeds, pretty ones) all around my yard.  They are always a subject available to paint.

Acrylic on canvas panel, 10 x 8 inches, Red Star,Available at Dailypaintworks

Another flower that grows, again like weeds are the daylily.  Most of mine are yellow, plain boring yellow flowers, but a few that come up look like red stars.  The back side of the flower is yellow, the heart of the flower is yellow and orange with deep red at the edges of of the petals.  These are always a challenge to paint, and each year I take up the challenge.

So to make a long story short, there is always something to paint.

Mary

Schirosart.com

Artwork, a multiple approach

Oil on canvas panel, 7x5 inch

I started this the other day and was having some trouble with the face.  To loosen up and get a better
feel for the subject, I took some paint; transparent red oxide and blue, and tried painting it on a gessoed paper, with a palette knife, (well some finger painting too :)

6 x 8 palette knife painting on gessoed watercolor paper

After I did this one I had a better feel for the look I wanted, but also liked this rough version.  So I photographed it, down loaded the photo and started manipulating it.  And really liked the digital version enough to add it to my FineartAmerica web site.

Digital Artwork

All of my digital artwork is based on an original painting or drawing.  An is an example of how one idea can be worked multiple ways to get an unique work of art.

Thank you for looking

Mary

Tone, values and color

Table Top,  12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

Had the pleasure of taking a workshop with Qiang Huang in AnnArbor Michigan.  It was a great learning experience, and would recommend his work shop to anyone interested learning more about oil painting.

Qiang Huang spends the first part of the day demonstrating and explaining his process, then we spent the rest of the painting.  This is the first step the line and placement on the canvas, from our own set ups.

The next stage is value and modeling out our paintings.  Flowers by color and detail.

Each day a new painting was completed.

Orange Reflection,  14 x 11 inches, oil on canvas

Working from tones to color give such a rich depth to a painting,  something I plan to practice much more in the coming days.

Mary

Schiros Art

Spilled Paint

Ever open a tube of paint, only to have about half the tube come squirting out.  Well,  I have, just a couple weeks ago, Old Holland cad. orange.  But I did not let it go to waste....

Pale Ride, Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 16 inches.  the orange adds a warm glow to this painting.

This is one of the finished paintings from that accident.  After the paint plopped out on to my palette and hands, I grabbed several blank canvases and starting priming them with the orange.  Mixing a little clear gesso with acrylic makes a fine base to paint over with either acrylic or oil paint.

2 of 6 canvas that got primed with the orange acrylic and gesso.

WIP

Some I added more color and some modeling paste and really had fun.
Just because the canvas starts out very orange, often the painting only shows a bit of that orange.

16 x 20 inches

While other paintings I let the orange show in all it's glory :)

16 x 8 inches oil Middle of the Pine

16 x 8 inches Right of the Middle

16 x 8 inches Left of the Middle

So to make a long story short.....never waste your paint :)

Mary
Schiros-art

Using a canvas pad

12 x 16 inches oil

    A way to save space and money, if you paint a lot, is to use unstretched canvas.  Canvas pads are a handy surface to work on.  Fredrix  is my favorite brand, it has a nice texture and can be stretched over wood stretcher bars very easily.  Utrecht is also a very good brand,  has a texture truer to canvas but is a bit more stretchy than Fredrix.
    If you do not plan to stretch the canvas, another surface I like is Canson Canva-paper this one is good for applying to a wood panel, the surface is slightly more absorbent than regular canvas.  For large paintings, canvas roles are great.

   What I like about the pads is you can paint a ton of paintings and not have to fill every corner of your home with paintings.  I have a simple way to let these oil paintings dry without filling up the studio, I pin them to a cork board with tacks till they are dry enough to decide what I want to do with them.

Seven paintings drying!

   Also, I can easily work on more than one painting at the same time, by taping the canvas to a board.

   In this case I worked on two ideas for the same painting, at the same time, comparing them side by side.
    Also, these can be cropped to a different size.  One of these may end up a smaller version, ( I have not decided yet, but it is an option).

,

Just thought I would share some more tips with you, hope you enjoyed them.
Mary
Schiros-art

Introspective painting

Day 18 of 30 paintings in 30 days......

7 x 5 inch oil

Today I thought I would see what I could do with some left over oil paint, a very small canvas, and a one inch brush.  I was also thinking about the idea of a self portrait.  So I started working on a face, not necessarily mine, just a face.  But as I started painting it I realized it looked a bit like my self as a young girl.  When I was young, people teased me about being too pale, even having a ghostly look.  It really bothered me as a kid, so often I would try my hardest to get a tan, ending up with either some freckles or a heck of a sun burn.  Now that I look back at that I realize what a waste of time it is to worry about what others say.

   Interesting how painting can bring back so many memories and thoughts.

Mary

Schiros-Art.com

Daily painting

16 x 12 oil on canvas "Under the Rose"

   Finished and really happy with how it turned out.  Setting up a still life with a busy back ground was a challenge but worth the effort.  Painting from life (no photos) I am finding more and more enjoyable.  I think as an Artist, one learns much more about seeing and painting when, what your painting is physically in front of you.

Mary
Schiros-art

Beginnings and Endings

Rule one of Schiros-Art......always have something to work on.

day one under paintings

I did my daily painting, but also started a painting that simply can not be finished in one day.
This still life I plan to layer, so working with oils, it will take a while.  But I thought I would share the process as I go along.

But to warm up I did do a small daily painting, that counts for day 5 of the 30 in 30 challenge.

8 x 10 inch oil on panel
Two Pear

Even stopped to get a photo of the first step in painting this one...

Mary

Schiros-art

Day 4 of 30 paintings in 30 days

"Evening Reflections"  Oil on canvas panel, 10 x 8 inches

                                                                                                Click to Bid

      Today in Michigan we have snow and ice, and temperatures dropping quickly.  It was a very good day to be inside with nowhere to go.
      As a way to forget about the weather I painted where I wanted to be.

Mary
Schiros-art

Ink and oil painting

"Night Watch" oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches

Decide to try something different, an under painting in ink.   After playing around with ink yesterday, I used one of the ideas and painted the outline of the cat in ink on canvas.  After it dried started putting down some layers of color in oil.

First layer of paint after ink dried.

Think I like this technique, plan to try some more.  Maybe next time letting more of the sketchiness of the ink lines show.

Mary

Schiros-art

"A Stand of Blue"  Oil, unframed, 14 x 11 inches

           
    Today starts the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge by Leslie Saeta.  I have been doing these challenges from the very first one, even have a separate page on this blog with post from the challenges.  So I decided to keep going and do this one.
    The game plan for this month is simple, play, paint, and play some more.  Each day I will do a painting, it may be a finished work, or simply and idea that may get worked up into another painting. I plan to share them all, either as a main part of my blog or as a general posting on the 30 paintings in 30 days tab.
    Today is a finished work in oil on 300 lb arches watercolor paper that was pre gessoed.  This started out as a test of 2 new tubes of paint, an umber and a new brand of cobalt blue, but quickly progressed to a finished work with additional colors of yellow and orange.  What I like about this one is the vase has a sassy look to it.  Looks like a lady with her hand on her hip ready to tell you what you don't know:)
Mary
Schiros-Art

Memories

It is freezing here, Winter in Michigan is beautiful but very very cold.  So the last few days I have been thinking about last Summer, and decided painting a few Summer paintings would warm me up.
    This one is from a photo in Linden Michigan, at the Mill-pond in town.

14 x 11 inch oil on wood panel  The Cruise

    This one is of one of my cats "Boots" out in the yard on sunny Summer day....

Oil on canvas 16 x12 inches
Shadow Walk

                                                                      Click to Bid
Started Boot's painting with a combination of tone and underpainting....

   The yellow underpainting is a great way to add extra warmth to a painting.....just what I needed :)

Mary

A Change of Mind

"A Natural Still-life"  Oil on panel, 12 x 9 inches

Click to Bid

   I know one should have a firm idea in place, a plan, or outline of what is to be done.  At least that is what I have been told.  And I often do know exactly what I plan to paint....but not always.  In this case I had a textured panel all set for a landscape, and I started that way, (more than once).
   I started a landscape did not like it, wiped it off, then started a seascape...really did not like it, and wiped off the sea.  I decided I was just not in the mood for land or sea that day, but still felt like painting.  I just finished Carol Marine's newest book and thought I would try one of her suggestions to paint forms thinking of them as islands.  Painting by islands is basically to work from the middle out.  So I started with the apple, then moved on to the vase and flower, planning to do the background last.  Well I changed my mind when I saw how the still-life looked and fell in love with that sky behind it.  In fact I think I see a future series here :)
  Sometimes a change of mind is a good thing.

Mary

Using all the paint

When I am painting there is always paint left on my palette.  If it is acrylic, no big deal, let it dry and peel off the paint skin for collage work, watercolor let it dry it can be rewetted later.  But when it is oil I just have to do something with it.

Sometimes I start a new painting using the left over for my rough sketch.  Other times I just play.  The photo above is an example, some doodling with left over oil on some Arches oil paper.  Kind of liked it it so I saved it.  After the next painting I finished added that left over oil to the doodle....

So far so good, did the same thing after another painting.....

Ok now this doodle is getting serious, decided to finish it up as a painting...

Once this is dry I plan to mount the oil paper to a panel.  That is unless anyone has any info on how to frame Arches oil paper, I am new to this material.  Any suggestions please send them my way, would be greatly appreciated.
Mary
Schiros-art.com

About Alkyd Oils

"Sunflower Mini" Oil on canvas panel, 7 x 5 inches
Click here to bid in auction

Thought I would share my views on Alkyd oil paints.  Alkyd oils are fast drying oils that I enjoy.  After painting for many years in watercolors and acrylics, the drying time for oil painting drove me a bit crazy.  Alkyd oils dry  to the touch in a day instead of several days.  After finding these paints I tried several types; Gamblin FasMatte,  C.A.S.,  Griffin Alkyds, and Da Vinci.  Each has pros and cons.
 

"Copper Study" Oil on stretched canvas, 10 x 8  inchesClick to bid

My favorite is C.A.S AlkydPro.  CAS has the highest pigment load, a professional level.  The paint is smooth and creamy and has mediums available for thick application.  The oil base is a sunflower oil alkyd resin which I prefer to linseed.  CAS is also the fastest dry of the brands I have tied. The down side is paint will form a film after opening.  You will need to keep a large nail handy to brake through the film with following uses.  Copper study was painted with the C.A.S.

My Second favorite is Gamblin FasMatte.  The pigment load is a bit light than CAS, but the paint dries to a matte finish, which visually makes it easy to determine color.  FasMatte dries completely matte but you can finish it with any varnish you like and change that you choice.  Sunflower Mini was painted with the Gamblin.

Next is Griffin Alkyds,  there is a noticeable difference in pigment load, about if you are use to Winsor Newton paints it would be fine.  Griffin has a semi gloss finish when done.  On the bright side they are the most reasonable priced.

The last brand is DaVinci,  I was not satisfied with this brand because I noticed a slight color shift after drying, and I am very fussy about color.  Not all the colors shifted, seems to mainly be a few of the blues.

If you are an Acrylic painter thinking of trying oils, but avoid it because of the drying time (like I did), this type of oil paint my be something you will like.