A struggle for a girl reading

It was a rainy day. I wanted to paint a girl curled up in a chair, reading.....

So I bit off quite a bit, putting in a window and more wall under the window ....

She was this far along after a 3 hour class.....I worked on her a lot. Sought input.

She grew, the chair shrank and straightened up. A plant appeared beside her , shadows were blue violet.

I collaged papers above her and under the window. I worked on her face, hands and feet (only one foot shows!). I took her back to class for more input.

It was decided that red/ coral is the dominate color, that blue violet and orange were fighting for second place, followed by green then white....so more orange less blue violet! Also more light around her as the center of interest...

So that is better...time to move on...the next painting will be a blond outside on a hillside by a small lake.

She is almost done now...awaiting final tweaks!

 

Contemplative knitter

A 16x20 acrylic on canvas. Some art papers add texture.

Love this domesticity and peace!

 

Celia Thaxter's Garden

Series of three paintings for our bedroom wall...

This is how I spent my day.....on the back porch painting my heart out!

Mr. Pear was wanting something to hang on the newly painted wall in our bedroom...I thought it must be something I would love to "wake-up to", so remembering articles about Celia Thaxter's "Island Garden", I found photographs and was inspired!

First, getting 3 canvases started, 2 "portrait" orientation and one "landscape" for the sailboat in the sea. It is important to get the backgrounds in and the canvas "covered" with paint....details come later...

[Sorry if this makes you dizzy...photographed on a glass table top, it seem to "float" at an odd angle! Then a ladder improvises as an easel!]

The center panel of the sailboat and fence (from a photo in La Vie Claire...Claire Murray's periodical) requires the most detail. The flower panel on the left is focused on the flowers themselves, seen more or less at ground level.

This next panel is of holly hock and poppies. From a photo on Monet Giverney calendar.

I have more details to complete these paintings before they are hung together on our yellow wall, but that will be another day's "work"!