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6″X6″ Oil in panel

It is very frustrating to spend a couple of hours struggling to get the blues and mauves right and then to be dissatisfied with the way they render on the computer. Violet does seem to be one of the hardest colours to reproduce.

This is a new format for me, I have wanted to try square for some time but I haven’t found a local source for square panels. I ordered some from Karl Heerdt at Twelve Oaks Studio Supply as well as some more of the standard 5″X7″ size which I have used before and like very much. They work out a bit expensive for me by the time you factor in extra shipping costs to get them over the border, but what else is new?

As I was painting this I was thinking about my inability to maintain a consistent style. Should I just give up worrying about it I wonder? I was hoping that this blog would help me find a style that I could be happy with but I really don’t think I have it in me. I get bored doing the same sort of thing over and over. I know there are daily painters out there who have built a good business out of producing hundreds of paintings of fruit and vegetables or flowers or local landmarks. I can keep it up for a while and then I need to do something else. Today’s painting was fun because the colour was so challenging, the landscapes are enjoyable but almost too easy. What I really enjoy the most is figure sketching so maybe I should try to do some serious portraits.

I bought a couple of very large canvasses yesterday, so I will see if I can think of something to use them for. It seems like such a commitment to embark on something that I will need to work on over several days, or even weeks, as I really can’t paint much during the week.

3.5″X2.5″ Oil on paper

No time to write today.

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5″X7″ Oil on board

No, this isn’t a detail of yesterday’s painting but a whole other painting done at the same time and from the same place. I am already feeling nostalgic for my lovely weekend alone, anyone would think that I didn’t like my family or something.

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5″X7″ Oil on board

So this was a fairly productive weekend. If I didn’t have to work, and lived alone, who knows what I might achieve? Probably not a clean house, I don’t seem to get any housework done even when I have the opportunity. I did get a fair amount of gardening done and made a good start on scraping and painting the east wall of the house. I also managed to paint eight small paintings. I probably should have taken the opportunity to paint something larger but all I could think about was getting some of these miniatures stashed away so that I can be a bit ahead of the game. I have decided that I have to be at least one day ahead so that I can do my posting and then relax into my daily painting. Sometimes I can paint or draw at lunch time and that is OK, but the days that I am trying to paint something at nine o’clock at night and then post it are just too stressful. There have been days when I have been posting at 11:45 p.m! Oh and I managed to swim 1K too.

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4″X5.5″ Pen on paper

In the interest of maintaining my sanity, I am going to be posting some even simpler drawings during the week. I think it is probably good for me to do these line drawings anyway, I used to do them a lot. These irises are on the greenroom patio. We are very fortunate to have a lovely sunken garden outside the greenroom, it is part of the new addition to the theatre so it is just getting established.

5″X7″ Oil on panel

This feels like the beginning of Spring. Finally we have temperatures in the teens (Celsius) and the spring flowers are bursting forth. You can almost see them growing. These irises were in tight bud yesterday, there are big daffodil buds today that were still underground yesterday. I am going to have to take lots of photographs this week, most of this stuff will be gone by next weekend, but replaced by plenty of other stuff I hope.

This painting is available through Etsy