I've been working on my smaller format paintings again but haven't been posting.  So here is my latest. (sorry about the glare)  His name is Kodi.   The painting is a wedding gift to a friend of my son's whose wedding took place a few weeks ago.   I've tackled a few cat portraits but this is only my second dog.  Fur is still a challenge especially with the short haired variety.  I wish I could do my two miniature dachshunds but they are both predominantly black and unless I get lucky with the lighting, they may never get their portrait painted.  A Yorkie may be next.  Lots of long hair and beautiful brushstrokes to describe it.

Kodi

6" x 6" x 2" Oil

Wood cradled panel

I love to paint but I like to cook too.....

Woohoo!  They Draw and Cook just posted my entry to their fabulous website.  I'm so excited!

I started out without a clear plan other than I knew I would do some watercolor illustrations of the main ingredients which is when I discovered a plan is exactly what I needed.  This is a combination of watercolor and digital art.   A fair bit of time playing with the layers in Photoshop adding shadows and
tweaking the artwork and I finished anxious to start more.  Great fun!

So Far, So Good

Still working on my small format paintings.  Except for a few weeks where I switched to watercolors as you have probably noticed from previous blog entries, I have been working on more of the 6" x 6"'s in oil.  The list is growing for all the ideas that evolve from this endeavour and I'm pretty much busy for the rest of 2011.  But I'll always make room for the next great idea.  At this point, I'm collecting ideas for themes with 9 in each category.  Animals are my current theme and seasons were another as you might have noticed from the fruits and vegetables pictured above.  Cherries have been photographed and so have plums and I still want to do something with watermelons....and on and on!  And I did want to do a series of landscapes.....

Catching Up

I've been anxious to get back to my small format paintings.   The summer weather slowed me down a bit but although I didn't work oils I did quite a few watercolors in the last two weeks.  

The painting I'm posting today was 98% finished several weeks ago but I did need to tweak a few things about it and I still might.  It is a study for a larger vertical format painting that I would like to do of a tall vase of white gladiolas and I wasn't sure about the color palette but now that I've done this smaller version, I think I like it enough to continue.

White Jug, Green Apple

6" x 6" x 1.5" Oil on wood panel