Apple Sketch 1 - SOLD

"Apple Sketch 1", 7 x 5 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is one of several sketches I did a couple of weeks ago. Sometimes its interesting to see what can happen in 10-15 minutes.

Two Apples - Sold

"Two Apples", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
When I want to break away from my usual mode, I sometimes paint fast and just leave it alone.

Three Apples - SOLD

"Three Apples", 12 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
Here I am, back to the red roses and this time, three apples.

Red Roses with Apples -- SOLD

"Red Roses with Apples", 12 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
A variation of the red roses with apples--I did several of these from similar setups.

Still Life with Apples - SOLD

"Still Life with Apples", 12 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
Sometimes I set up a still life and paint it more than once. It's an opportunity to get out of my own mindset or to experiment with one particular thing.

Roses and Apple - SOLD

"Roses and Apple", 12 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
I am painting these roses over and over. I am drawn to it, just as I am drawn to painting Zangle Cove over and over. Sometimes I think it is a kind of laziness, but I recently read from some well-known artist that its good to do the same scene or set-up over and over. I've read that some artists will do the exact same set-up more than once during the day, making each subsequent painting of shorter duration time.

Blue Vase - SOLD

"Blue Vase", 16 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
It is odd that each day's painting experience is different--the energy with which I approach the painting and whether the painting quickly comes together or I struggle with it. One thing I was taught that I find myself doing frequently with the bigger panels is to scrape off passages that don't work. This painting didn't paint itself and also did not require extreme re-painting but was somewhere in between--so I will just call it the experiment of the day.

Two Apples

"Two Apples", 9 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
Sometimes I just want someone to tell me what to do, so today I went to Carol Marine's lovely Daily Paintworks Challenge website and took the challenge.

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By the Window - SOLD

"By the Window", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
Another painting I experimented with, scraping and repainting--I was going to keep going but we went up to Mt. Rainier for the day and by the next day, too much of it was beginning to dry. So I left it as is.

White Kettle with Apples

"White Kettle with Apples", 12 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
This painting was an exercise with Carol Marine's latest challenge--to paint every brush stroke with a different color. I love this exercise, partly because when I first start a painting this is frequently how I approach it anyway, though I never thought about it before. But what I discovered is that after the initial lay-in, I get lazy, and that's where the rule to load the brush with a different color makes all the difference.

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White Flowers with Apples

"White Flowers with Apples", 12 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
The daily painting blog is strange. It is so motivating related to getting into the studio with brush in hand every possible day. But it also feels risky sometimes, because the daily painter, at least to a certain extent, lays it all out there. That's why I put the quote from George Bernard Shaw at the top of my blog and why I keep remembering it because being on the risky side of things is in the end, a better learning place than the safe side of things. Sometimes I want to finish the painting less and not worry about it. Sometimes I want to use big sloppy brushstrokes and not think about it. This painting was mainly a result of "6 x 6" size fatigue. Its "12 x 12", four times bigger, but in the scheme of things, still pretty small.

Blue Dish with Apples

"Blue Dish with Apples", 10 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is another painting done with more or less free brushstrokes. I have remembered for many years Henrich Wolfflin's Principles of Art History from my college days. It is an analytical study that I mainly remember being about the difference between the linear and painterly styles of painting--the difference between Durer and Rembrandt, for example. I recently got a copy to read again--and found it to be much more comprehensive and dense than I had remembered! But the impact that it had on my thinking as a 20 year old has stayed with me for my whole life.

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Enamel Pot

"Enamel Pot", 10 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
Sometimes I like to paint by loading the brush and just swishing it around the canvas--sort of like finger painting with a brush. It is therapeutic.

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Blue Vase with Pear

"Blue Vase with Pear", 10 x 8, Oil on Museum Board
Sometimes is it good to just do a really simple composition.

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Bottle Apple Spoon

"Bottle Apple Spoon", 12 x 10, Oil on Museum Board
On this painting I did something I almost never do--paint on it after it was dry.  I painted over one object from the setup that wasn't working, but mostly just played around with variations of neutral colors.

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Yellow Roses with Apples

"Yellow Roses with Apples", 12 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
The experiment with this painting was using mainly cadmium yellows and ivory black. I love painting with ivory black because of the beautiful blues you can make from it, but it is tricky and can overwhelm the other colors.

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Pot with Spoon

"Pot with Spoon", 12 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
Most of the time I paint alla prima--meaning that I do the painting at one go and I don't work on it after it dries. But this painting I continued to work on even after it was dry. Fortunately, rather than being a waste of time, it turned out to be an interesting study in grays.

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Yellow Mug

"Yellow Mug", 8 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board
I did this painting a few days ago at the end of the day after I had gotten fed up with spending so much time on another painting. Sometimes it relieves the painting soul to just slap on the paint and not worry about the result, but it is definitely easier to do this on a small size panel.

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Pot with Yellow Apples

"Pot with Yellow Apples", 12 x 8 In, Oil on Panel
When I paint still lifes I am attracted to painting certain objects over and over, and one of these, strangely, is the apple. There is always a variation in color and shape.  I especially like golden apples, so you will probably be seeing more of these in the days to come.

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White Pitcher with Apple

"White Pitcher with Apple", 12 x 12 In, Oil on Panel

About the Picasso exhibit:
Next to Picasso's work, most contemporary painting seems innocuous, pale and pretty. But that doesn't mean I liked all of his work. There were some works I really liked, including the small portraits of Dora Maar--these were paintings I wouldn't mind having in my house. Picasso apparently painted "classical" paintings when he was around 13 years old, but it didn't take long to give that up. He lived through two world wars and had many relationships, so much of the imagery is not surprising. It would appear that there was not a bone in his body that attempted to please anybody--and maybe that is the most attractive thing about the work for an artist. There is a power in the images and the execution that you just don't see in most current art. The exhibition is definitely worth seeing.

In contrast, see Scott Burdick's YouTube video, "The Banishment of Beauty", which though it is an interesting perspective, seems to have a hint of sour grapes about it. If you've seen the Picasso exhibit, let me know what you think!

Robert Genn's article on the SAM Picasso exhibit includes many different and varied comments.

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