On the Horizon

A couple of years ago I was given a Canson Montval art board when I attended a workshop. It won't accept oil paints so I decided to do a painting with my acrylics.

Probably because it was free, I decided to try something a little different and more abstract than usual. I also worked to be less slavish to my source photograph using it more for inspiration.

I am very happy with the result.

'Darkening Horizon' 8"x10" acrylic on board.

Flowering Work

I've been painting again and here are the results.

'Solitude Awaits Below' 8"x10" Oil on Board.

'Gerbera Trio' 5"x5" Acrylic on Canvas.

Castaway in Hawaii

'Kona Clouds' 8" x 10" Oil on Canvas.

This is from a photograph I took while in Hawaii (the Big Island) two years ago. I used to live there so it is wonderful to revisit my old haunts and spend time with friends.

It was more overcast than normal the last time we were there which meant I could get some pictures of those beautiful tropical colours in deeper tones.

Island Life

'Treasure Island' 5" x 7" Oil on Canvas.

This is the southern most beach in Laguna Beach and is named for the 1934 film 'Treasure Island' which was filmed here. 

Elephants on Parade

Dana Point in South Orange County has been invaded by elephants in order to highlight and raise funds for the Asian Elephant Foundation. Until 10th November, 37 decorated elephant sculptures are on display at various points around Dana Point.

Here are four of them that I have taken pictures of so far. Check back here for the others that I track down over the next few weeks.

Sunny Flowers

The more I look at this painting, the more I like it. Though small, it really lights up the area around it.

'Sunny Bouquet' 5" x 7" Oil on Canvas.

The Sun of the Parts

'Sunny Cove' 6" x 8" Oil on Canvas. This is taken from a photograph by one of my cousins of a beach in Cornwall, England. Cornwall has beautiful, rugged coastline as well as some quaint harbours and towns. I always visit Cornwall when I visit England as I have friends and family there.

I wanted to keep the painting's complexity to a minimum to stress the simple forms of the cliffs and a sense of depth.

Working Out

Some time ago, I sent a friend a card that featured a cut-down watercolour painting I'd done of bananas and other fruit displayed for sale at a market in Tahiti. As my friend is half-Tahitian, I knew she would appreciate the subject. She appreciated it so much that she chose to have it framed.

Here is the original painting which was 5"x7".

And here it is reduced to 4"x6" and framed.

Recently, my friend contacted me and asked me if I would create two more paintings on a similar theme. I was excited to do it partly because it presented an interesting challenge. I created the original painting from one of my own photographs with only minor creative license on my part. However, my friend asked if I could include certain foods which meant creating paintings from a variety of reference materials. That said, overall, she gave me free rein to do what I felt inspired by artistically.

I began by writing out her requests on a piece of paper where I could easily see what she wanted so I could accommodate them as much as possible in my planning (and to make sure I didn't forget anything). That meant listing the fruits and vegetables she wanted, specific requests about some of the food such as showing an open passion fruit, and that she wanted lots of bright colours. Equally important was the size. She wanted to frame them in the same frame as the original work so the size of the paintings had to be 4"x6". In addition the paintings were to be hung in the same room so the proportions of the objects in the new paintings had to be similar to those in the original.

Next I began collecting together the photographs that she sent me, my own photographs, as well as some some watercolour studies I'd done in years past. 

I started by doing a rough drawing of some compositions to try out ideas and see what I could fit in.

I noted some of the changes I wanted to make when I did the final drawing and what colours I would use. Not only did the compositions have to have a good balance but the colours did too. There are a lot of yellows and yellow-orange, and yellow-greens in tropical fruit and it was important to separate them where possible.

The next step was to draw the final composition, first in pencil and then in pen. You can see more changes I made from the sketches above.
I showed the (L-R) papaya, mango, and coconut open to provide interest since piles of the fruit aren't that interesting

 Another challenge was including the taro plant. It is sold with the leaves cut off but my friend wanted them included, if possible. The way to do it (as it is a tall plant) was to lie it down in the front. This also added some interest to the objects behind sitting side by side.

One of the things my friends had requested were tropical fish. As you can see they didn't make the cut. The fish are sold on ice on separate stalls so it didn't make sense to include them among fruit and vegetables on colourful cloth-covered tables.

 I made the drawings a little larger than 4"x6" because my friend lives in another state and I don't know how much overage was needed for framing.

I included the blue patch in the background in each painting to link them to the original.

I made some of the passion fruits purple for colour balance. The photos I had were yellow on the outside but that would have been too much yellow and I saw photos of purple ones on the internet.

The final step was sending images of the finished work to my friend who thankfully loved the paintings.

Feeling Blue

I've been working on a private commission, in watercolour, for a friend since I returned from my trip so haven't been painting with oils until this week.

This was painted from a photograph of a sunset at Doheny Beach.

'Blue Heaven' 5"x7" Oil on canvas.

Northern View

Following the workshops on painting with a palette knife, I was excited to try some of the things that I had learned.

I went through my own photographs from the Point Lobos area of northern California and chose this one to try out my new skills. I've been working a lot in the 5"x7" lately so it was refreshing to work on a larger painting again.

'Rocky Cove' 8" x 10" Oil in Board.

New Painting

My latest painting 'Sweet Spot at Main Beach' 5"x7" Oil on Canvas.

I've spent many occasions doing exactly what the subjects of my painting are doing, sitting in the sun on a bench watching the ocean and what is going on at Main Beach in Laguna Beach.

Better Safe Than Sorry

When I took the decision to paint largely on board and canvas, rather than paper, I chose acrylic paint rather than oils because I didn't want to use turpentine, for my own health's sake and my hubby's since he can't tolerate strong smells. At the time we were living in AZ and my studio did not have enough ventilation (due to needing the windows on and the air conditioner on so much of the year) to dissipate the fumes.
Eventually I took the plunge into oils with water-soluable oil paints which wash up with water and don't require the use of turpentine.

While these actions took care of our safety I also wanted to do what I could for the environment which meant tackling what to do with the water I used during painting. I didn't feel comfortable just pouring it down the sink with the flecks of pigment from the paint in it. So what to do?

I am not an inventor, I am not useful with my hands in a handyman sort of way, but I came up with a very simple and inexpensive solution which I have been using for years now and want to share with any artists out there.

I start with an empty 32 oz yogurt container. Now there are several types of such containers and not all of them are suitable because some have a wider mouth. I measured the mouth of the container shown at its widest point and it is four and a half inches wide.

Next you need a shorter container whose mouth is also four and a half inches wide. There is more choice available for this container. The one shown is a 16oz container bit I also use one that is 15oz and a little deeper. The main criteria though is that both containers are the same width across.

Turn over the small container and draw the following lines with a pen.

Then carefully cut out the two shapes. So far I have managed to do this without losing a finger or cutting the wrong part.

Next, get yourself a coffee filter. I don't drink coffee so this was something I had to go and buy especially. I didn't like how much they cost so I went to a dollar shop to see if they could be bought there.

One hundred and fifty filters for $1 sounded like a good bargain to me.

Put the cut small container inside the larger container.

Then put in the coffee filter.

Pour your dirty water into the container and listen to it drip through the filter collecting the paint fragments install container (as on the right.

When the filter is new the water will drip through very quickly. How often you change the filter is up to you. I try to use one as long as possible. I have found that, even though it appears no water is dripping, after leaving the pot overnight I found more of the water had gone through.

I personally found that I could use each filter longer when using acrylic paints than my oils. Since I use less water with oil paint It takes longer to dirty my water than when I use acrylics.

If you let the filtered water settle for several hours and then pour it out carefully you will find the the water looks almost clear while the paint fragments stay in the large container staining the inside walls and bottom.