Snow Progression

Two paintings - first on the easel and then then finished versions.


Fall Snow 18" x 24"


Winter Grasses 24" x 36"

Orangs

Working with sketches I've done of orangutans at zoos I started a painting I intended to be an exploration of orange.



The photo above is for scale. The canvas is about 34" H x 72" W.


As I painted I lost my initial layout lines. I like lines. So I repainted them (below).


But it looked funny - not right. So I watched it for a few days, and thought.

I'm more comfortable with yellow and white. It is my solution when a painting doesn't feel finished/concluded. And I added more orangs over the whole painting. My husband says he has to look really hard to see any orangutans. All I see is orangutans...and one gorilla (which I didn't put in the painting - he just showed up).

Life Drawing

I've been life drawing intermittently since 1994; there are year long pauses between the sessions I attend. I hardly ever have enough time to finish drawing a pose and after 17 years I still can not fit a whole person on a sheet of paper - something gets cut off - often the head or feet - sometimes both. I have advanced, though, from an HB pencil to softer pencils and even pastels...

Yellow Maples

These first two paintings won't ever be finished; they are part of my search with the brush to catch autumn color this October.


This last painting is shown early and as a final version. It had a different energy early on the easel.

New

I've listed these new paintings in my etsy shop. They're from this fall - drawn from nature. Except the last one; it is a view of the Maumee River that I did from a sketch.

Gorillas

Burnt Sienna is the only color in my usual acrylic palette that approaches red.
Last time I ordered art supplies I bought a bunch of small tubes of reds; this is the painting where I tried them all.

I thought if I used my gorilla sketches from the zoo and painted on the wall I might feel less inhibited to use color.
I've never done a more direct painting - from start to finish - without completely changing the composition and colors.
Finished size approx. 62" x 70".

Gerd

My husband's uncle had a plastic skeleton stored in his garage. I brought it in, named it Gerd and drew from it for weeks.
I went to illustration school in Hamburg, Germany and I asked about taking anatomy classes but I seemed to be the only one interested and teachers didn't see a need for it. Life drawing was obligatory, but it didn't include muscle or bone study.