A Winter English Robin...

Snowbird

(Oil on Stretched Linen, 6x6", Unframed)  Price: $160.00  SOLD

Well, here is another English Robin, with toes in the snow this time. The image is a little on the blue side instead of light gray. Anyway, this is a really brushy, impressionistic background and the Robin himself is soft brushstrokes as he has puffed up feathers because of the cold. The blues are a little more grayer in reality, and the whites are brighter and unsullied. I rather enjoyed painting this little fellow.

Palette included: Titanium White, Cadmium Orange, French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, and a a tiny bit of Alizarin Crimson. I used a 1/2" Sloped Wedge brush for the background, along with a worn #4 Filbert, and of course, a big fluffy blending brush. Fine rounds were used for the bird himself.

 I painted this on my little 12" easel. The top of the post is good for picking up in the left hand and swinging it around to paint odd, tricky details.

Well, thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne

A New Bird Painting...

English Robin

(6x6", Oil on Stretched Linen)   Price: $ 180.00  SOLD

I painted this little bird at Illuxcon 5 at Altoona, Pennsylvania two weeks ago. A public demo in fact. I seem to be getting better at painting in public, even though I spent the first half of my life deathly afraid of public performance of any nature. I guess we all grow up and outgrow certain things. Anyway, this is my little English Robin...aka Robin Red Breast... and he was a joy to paint. The subtleties of his brushy feathers are a bit lost in this photo, and the whites have muddied slightly. Sorry about that. I toyed with the details on Photoshop, but to no avail. I'll try again another time.

Meanwhile, this is me, using my little Guerrilla Painter Box again. I love that box. Everyone else in the show was painting large canvases with complicated subjects...presumably, some of the artists brought their day job to Illuxcon so they wouldn't miss out any work time on them. Mind you, I got asked so many times during the weekend, about 'did I finish my bird painting?' and 'is it for sale?' that I think half of the convention attendees must have stopped by to watch me work. That's entirely too flattering for words, considering how many Art Gods and Art Godlets were showing the most gorgeous paintings in the same hall.

I will probably paint a few more little birds in the coming weeks. They are a joy to do, and I have a stack more little linen canvases to work my way through.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers,

Marianne

Interference

(Oil, 8x10", Framed)  Price: $ 200.00

And now for something completely different...

I've had this idea hanging around in the back of my brain for some time now. However, I was held up by trying to find the perfect robot and the perfect bird to go together to make the idea work. Well, I solved it right before going to Illuxcon two weeks ago. The paint was only just dry as we left on our Illuxcon road trip. This painting kind of follows in the goofy footsteps...or robotic footpads...of one of my first paintings in my Birds 'n' Bots series, "HEY, I NEED THAT!" And, too, I wanted to get away from using my red Rover Space Robot dog a bit. He's getting way too prevalent in my paintings. He can't help being cute, but I want to lash out into using other robots - tin toy or otherwise. I used the same palette from the last painting, "TELLING SECRETS".... but with highly different outcome.

Thanks for stopping by again. I'm going to take a little break from the more complicated paintings and just paint a few little birds now and then between writing projects that are demanding my undivided attention. And, because I've had a few requests for them... :-D

Cheers,

Marianne

Lost in Nature...

Further on the theme of lost technology in nature that I used in a previous painting, SLEEPERS, here is a slightly more truncated idea....TELLING SECRETS. The little Yellow Warbler is singing or talking into the ear bud of the buried, rusted robot. I considered several titles for a time when I was developing this idea, but one seemed to settle into the back of my mind. I watch old Mission Impossible episodes when I'm working on my computer or sewing, among other things, and in one episode, Cinnamon Carter tells her 'husband' - "Not now, darling. We're telling secrets." I've seen the episode many times, and the idea stuck. So here is my version of TELLING SECRETS...

Telling Secrets

(Oil, 11x14" on canvas board)  Price: $600.00  SOLD

Below is the original drawing for this painting. It was a lot of fun to create...

 Telling Secrets - Drawing

(Pencil on paper, 9x12", Matted)  Price: $65.00

My painting techniques haven't changed much. I still like to use a limited palette: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Titanium White, Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Red Medium, Sap Green, Yellow Ochre and a tiny touch of Pthalo Blue. The brush sizes occasionally differ, but the big fluffy blending brushes are always to hand.

I really enjoyed painting this one, and I have more along the same theme planned for next year.
Thanks for stopping by...

Cheers,

Mariane

ROVER SNAPSHOTS

I found a whole heap of 6x6" stretched linen canvases on sale at our art store a few months back and couldn't resist buying a good quantity of them for future projects. I stashed them away and spent time mulling over what I could paint on them: birds, small robot paintings, tiny fantasies, sleek pointy rocket ships, etc. came to mind. All hummed with possibility. However, what rose to the surface were memories of the photos that friends and acquaintances kept posting on Facebook: goofy snapshots of their dogs and cats and birds, etc. Sometimes even spiders. And since I have too many allergies to ever have pets of my own, I live vicariously through other people's pets and pet photos. So while I can't post photos of MY pets, I can paint and post some of my favourite little robot doggie and his friends. Here are some of my robo-dog Rover snapshots...

Rover and Chickadee Snapshot
(6x6", Oil on stretched Linen)  PRICE:  $160.00  SOLD

 

Rover and Indigo Bunting Snapshot

(6x6", Oil on stretched Linen)  PRICE: $160.00  SOLD

Stay tuned for more snapshot paintings containing Rover, and some paintings that don't.
Thanks for stopping by...
Cheers,
Marianne

New Year's Rockets...

Cloud Scout 
 (6x8", Oil, Framed)   Price: $130.00  SOLD

I've been a bit burned out this last several months. Trying to squash too much into a limited amount of time between the end of year art shows. Finally, I overcame that this week... Boskone is coming up this weekend and I have little left over in the way of paintings after last years sales. So to fill some holes on the large art panel at the show, I've had to make myself paint again. It wasn't actually as hard as I thought it was going to be. Interesting how the human mind can shutter a first step towards beginning something...procrastination often gets in the way as well. Still, I did begin something...several somethings, in fact. Here are some new rockets for the new year... perhaps I should have painted dragons on them.

Rim Shot

(6x8", Oil, Framed)   Price: $130.00  SOLD

Distant Sun

  (6x8, Oil, Framed)   Price:  $110.00   SOLD

I have more substantial paintings planned for the summer, but first I have to get back to writing... But I hope you will come back and visit again soon.

Cheers,

Marianne

Illuxcon IV Painting Demo...

Bow Shock Runner

(Oil, 6x8")  Price: $120.00  SOLD

I painted this little rocket image at my table at Illuxcon IV this year...  I'm still a bit nervous about painting in public, so this was quite an achievement. The title comes from the spatial anomaly that is called a space 'bow shock wave' near the Orion Nebula, caused by gaseous bursts. I like the idea of the pointy rocket ship shooting the bow shock wave, and it makes a nice painting.

Here are some photos of it sitting and drying in my 6x8" pochade Guerilla Painter Box from Judson's Plein Air supplies online. I got asked so many questions about my painting box, that I ended up writing down Judson's website information for them, and also demonstrating the box's many attributes. I love my painting box. I could have sold at least half a dozen of those... 

This was my table at Illuxcon IV this year. At the absolute last minute, I got offered space in the Main Show at the Heritage Center at Altoona, PA. I got to set up next to Bob, and this is how it looked. I ended up having to plunder my study walls for extra art to fill the board.

Usual limited palette included: Cadmium Orange, Titanium White, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Yellow Hue, and Cadmium Lemon. Brushes included: a 1/2" Flat, a 1/2" Angle Shader, and a very small Round.

I will be back to painting soon, so please stop by again... 

Cheers,

Marianne