Daub du Jour

Illuxcon IV Painting Demo...

2011-12-29T17:13:00.001-05:00

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

a Little Bit Steampunk...

2011-12-02T14:59:00.001-05:00

HMAS MARS 1

(Oil, 8x10") Framed. Price: $165.00

When I was doodling a few months back, I played around with Steampunk rocket ideas. There's a lot of Victorian science fantasy creativity going on out in the art ether. Since we've become so blase about the instant gratification technological future we're living in, the past has become more romantic. So we're looking backward to find adventure, fantastical machines and places, and a wider imaginative vision. In short, we're bored, and need something 'different' to challenge our imaginations. For my generation, it was the space race of the 50s and 60s which fired our minds and sense of adventure, populated with larger than life futurist heroes as astronauts. "Going out there" meant so much more back then than it does now in our increasingly narcissistic environment. Anyway, I came up with HMAS MARS 1. After all, in the Victorian age, English literature was providing fantastic visions by way of H G Wells and Jules Verne, just to name two. It is primarily to these two authors, that the romantic modern 'Steampunk' genre owes its roots. The Industrial revolution that fed these authors works also takes firm place in it also. So, I decided to do a Steampunk version of my trusty pointy rocket ship...going to Mars, of course. The ship itself has almost insectoid 'fins' with their segmented hydraulic cushion gyros. Portholes resembling those of a diving bell or deep sea diver, lots of rivets and copper/bronze plating, and a pipework 'exhaust' system. The green glowing light and gas lend themselves to the 'mysterious gasses' that would be needed to support life and engines during the long trip to the red planet. The colour scheme is nostalgic oranges, blue green, green and black. Kind of like Steampunk by way of 1950s movie cinemascope adventures.

The palette consisted of: Titanium White, Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Orange Hue, Pthalo Turquoise, French Ultramarine, and Burnt Sienna. The photo above does not do the finished painting justice.

Below, is the original drawing for this painting. I've been having quite a lot of fun drawing up my paintings, lately.

HMAS MARS 1 (Drawing)

(Graphite pencil, 8x10") Matted. Price: $40.00

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. There is one more painting to post, so drop by again soon.
Cheers,
Marianne

A Little Halloween robot...

2011-11-27T14:24:00.000-05:00

The Great Pumpkin

(Oil, 9x12") Framed. Price: $250.00

The Great Pumpkin (Drawing)

(Pencil, 9x12) Matted. Price: $75.00 SOLD

I've always wanted to paint a Halloween robot...and use my little pumpkins as well. This idea surfaced when I was painting another robot earlier in the year, and I was flicking back through the reference photos I took at Mark's house in San Francisco in 2010. This little robot and his pumpkin were rejects from a previous idea...the line up for my MECHANIZED HARVEST painting. He didn't work out in that painting, but I still thought he looked massively appealing and paintable. Orginally, I had the robot looking ominous in a Frankenstein way in the design form while it was still in my head, but when it came to sketching him out, the robot looked kind of nervous and scared. I went with that instead, as it had more feeling. The result is a cute painting that I'm quite fond of. Strangely enough, since I've been doing the recent detailed pre-drawings for my paintings, people have told me that my sketching is way more confident than it used to be. Kind of chuffed about that. One very professional artist asked me why I worked on detailed drawings instead of doing most of the creating with the paint on the canvas. Well, with reference photos, you can't always see the edges of something or the details lost in shadow, so I like to pin those down ahead of time and not hit a bump in the painting process later on. Also, when you're working out a complicated composition, it's nice to have the exact placement of objects that satisfy the artist as well as the viewer - it makes for a tighter final design. And believe me, I can futz around with placement of elements for hours. I usually only start painting without a pre-sketch if I'm working on something very simple, like one of my small bird paintings.

There's a limited palette with this painting: Titanium White, a little Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Orange Hue, French Ultamarine, Burnt Sienna, and a little bit of Pthalo Blue and Alizarin Crimson. Brushes were essentially the same ones I used in the last painting. The Pthalo went into the highlights around the moon and bird, whilst the Alizarin Crimson was used sparingly in the shadows to give them depth. Rule of thumb is: moonlit shadows are warm, and sunlight shadows are cool.

Anyway, there are more paintings to post...so come back soon and see.
Cheers
Marianne

Latest paintings...

2011-11-11T12:01:00.002-05:00

"SLEEPERS"

(Oil, 16x26") Price: $1100.00 SOLD

It's fascinating when an idea takes a full decade to come to fruition. This is what happened with this painting, 'Sleepers'. The robot head used in the background belongs to a Japanese film artifact collector in Koriyama, Japan, and when we were visiting in 2002 and stopped to visit, he allowed us to take many photos. For some reason, this robot head fascinated me - perhaps it was the aged patina hinting at a story - and I snapped it along with a few others. Over the years, I'd take out the photo from my special projects file and look at it again and tell myself "One day, I'm going to use you in something special". Time passed. I re-engaged my love oil painting so that I've been painting almost exclusively in that medium in recent years. Then came my 'Birds and Bots' series - which currently appears to have no end in sight. Since that started, I have taken photos of friends robots, collected some of my own that have become firm favourites, and taken or collected endless photos of birds and bird environs. Last year we visited the Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney again and spent a lot of time in the walk-through bird sanctuary there. I was busily snapping away with my brand new camera that sported a wonderful telephoto lens feature, allowing me to get some great close up pictures. Suddenly, I came up on this sleeping group of mixed birds in front of a shadowy, dome-shaped moss-covered rock. I stared. Epiphany hit me upside the head...and I though "There! There is my robot painting with the Japanese robot head!". Exactly where the hole was in the rock is the same spot where the forehead star is on the robot. This composition followed me home to the USA and sat with me until I painted it. It took awhile as I had other paintings to complete, but here it finally is...

Here is the original concept drawing for 'Sleepers'. In the decades or centuries that the robots have been buried, the local wildlife and birds have become accustomed to their presence and the low, subliminal soothing hum the sleeping robots emit.

Here is the first snapshot of the easel...all drawn up and ready to lay paint. A bit of outline, a bit of shading in a couple of spots - just enough to give me a guideline. I don't believe in putting in every detail of an under drawing. I like to create with the paint on the canvas. There's a certain amount of freedom I enjoy in doing that.

First part of the under-underpainting... The background is loosely put in and blended with a big, fluffy watercolour brush to give it some depth and lost edges.

Background completely painted in and the eye detail of the robot heads painted in. The patina on the heads themselves is completed in this stage as well. Paint is laid side by side in patches and then whisked together with a blending brush. Dots and highlights are added in as well. Add a dot, blend, retouch the highlight...again and again until the finish is satisfactory and there is a certain amount of visual depth achieved.

The large bird and its immediate environment are filled in. Tweaks and additions to the bird's feathers will be done in the next stage, otherwise it is generally complete, worked wet in wet technique.

Bird detail...

Left hand side detail before doves are painted in...

It took me two days to paint all ten Peaceful Doves and the foliage around them. All the birds were painted as I usually do them: wet in wet technique. It was demanding, but a lot of fun. The ducks in the lower right hand corner took a day as well. The last things painted were the leaves in the lower left hand corner and the rough ground in the middle foreground. All in all, this painting is the largest thing I've painted in a very long time, but it has the distinction of being the best painting I've ever done. I'm ever so proud of it.

Palette consisted of: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Raw Sienna, Sap Green, Titanium White, Cadmium Orange Hue, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Lemon, and a tiny bit of Alizarin Crimson in the robot helmets. Brushes ranged from half and one inch Flats, a really great half inch Angular Shader that was perfect for creating edges and lost edges in a very serendipitous manner, small size two and four Rounds, and of course the big Winsor and Newton watercolour brushes for blending. I also have some ragged rounds I use for blending in tight spots as well, so don't ever throw your old worn brushes away: they come in very handy for spreading paint, blending, and also creating speckle effects in space paintings.

Anyway, that's it for this painting. I have two more to post about in the next few days, so please stop by again soon and see what I'm up to.
Cheers,
Marianne

More Rocket Doodles...

2011-08-14T12:56:00.001-05:00

"Red Moon Rising"

(Oil, 5x7") Price: $95.00 SOLD

Here are some more pointy rocket ship doodles.... From left over paint on the palette.
I wanted to experiment with other nostalgic colour themes and went with an almost pulpish feel to Red Moon Rising. I think it worked well for a such a quick little study. I'll be experimenting more with these colours and see what else I can come up with. I rather like this one.

"Ad Astra Too"

(Oil, 6x8") Price: $95.00 SOLD

This seems to be another revisit to the 'Reach' colours from previous paintings. Since it's been awhile since I last painted, and I had these colours left over on my palette, I thought I'd do another one. Also, I wanted to paint the tiny birds again in the launch melee of smoke and drama. It was very popular last time, hence I added this painting to the 'Ad Astra' group instead of the 'Reach' group.

Colours were Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Orange Hue, Cadmium Yellow Light, and Titanium White. Although, I did add some Cerulean into the mix for 'Red Moon Rising'... Brushes included some teeny, tiny detail brushes, a 1/2" Flat, and a big fluffy blending brush.

I had fun with these. I hope you like them too.
Cheers,
Marianne

Red Robo Doggie strikes again!

2011-08-12T20:33:00.000-05:00

"Fetch and Run"

(Oil, 12x12") Price: $600.00

I started this back in June with an idea and a drawing. Drew up the canvas, ready to paint...and then stopped. Life and other obligations got in the way. However, two weeks ago I realised that I had to finish this little guy so my creative flow could move forward...and have something new to show at the upcoming World Science Fiction Convention art show next week in Reno, NV. Rover is such an engaging little tyke, and the ideas just pop into my head like he was a real puppy. So, here is 'Fetch and Run'...the latest addition to my 'Birds 'n' Bots' series. There are more to come, including tin toy robots and more serious epics. Illuxcon 4 approaches...and I must paint more.

Here is an easel shot before I started painting. Blue and Rover decided to re-enact their chase for the photo. Notice the drawing off to the right of the easel. I will be selling that and other robot sketches at Illuxcon...

I'll be posting some more rocket doodles on the weekend.
Thanks for stopping by,
Cheers,
Marianne

Red Saturn...

2011-03-20T20:34:00.001-05:00

"Darkside Run"

(Oil, 5x10") Price: $120.00 SOLD

This is the second latest dabble with a red palette for a Saturn idea. I kind of like the diagonals going on in this composition: almost like the accelerating rocket is using Saturn's dark side like a spring board. An arrow taking flight into the unknown.

The palette is the same as the previous painting, AWAY...and the joy in painting it was just as unique. However, the Cadmium colours took their time drying like they usually do.

Cheers,

Marianne

A new rocket painting...

2011-03-17T22:41:00.001-05:00

"AWAY"

(6x7", Oil) Price: $120.00 SOLD

I love this colour combination for my Saturn paintings. As if the planet is born of fire instead of gleaming in the dead cold darkness of space. Of course there is the pointy rocket ship in flight, soaring...away. I never seem to paint these rockets at rest on a planet surface but instead, roaring away on a chosen trajectory. I'm not sure why I prefer them flying, but it feels like a surety and a freedom of one day going 'out there' to see what's beyond our limited reach. I was born reaching for the stars...but I won't get there in my lifetime. I like to think that our children's children's children might rise to the challenge instead...

The palette used in this painting contained the usual suspects: Cadmium Orange Hue, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Titanium White, Cadmium Red Light, French Ultramarine, and Burnt Sienna. Of the brushes used: a 1/2" Flat, a 1/2" Filbert, a #6 Round, and a #2 Round. And of course a big fluffy blending brush and a worn and ragged old Round to blend small, tight areas.

There is another rocket painting drying and awaiting photography. I'll post that next.
Thanks for stopping by,
Cheers,
Marianne

Another Robot...and a bird

2011-02-15T23:02:00.005-05:00

The Lookout

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

This robot painting is a bit of a departure from my usual tin toy whimsical studies. It still has a touch of whimsy and is based on a robot sculpture by the award winning artist and sculptor, Vincent Villafranca. We've been seeing Vincent at Illuxcon in Altoona, PA, every November for the last three years, where he has exhibited his sculptures to an enthusiastic audience and also purchased some of my bird paintings for his wife, Michelle. Vincent's life long love affair with science fiction and fantasy coupled with his fascination with metal casting, bronze in particular, has produced some brilliant fanciful sculptures, robot and rats included. He does a live bronze pour each year at Illuxcon to the amazement of a spellbound audience. Last November I had an idea to include one of Vincent's robot sculptures in my pantheon of robot paintings...with a bird of course, sticking to the current theme. So he let me take some photos and I came away with the concept for 'THE LOOKOUT'. This painting can be seen one of two ways, at least. Either the robot is striding stealthily out of the grass and the bird is his lookout, or the robot has rusted in a walking position and the bird is using this unusual prop as a lookout post for predators. Any viewer may have another view of course.

This is the final drawing for 'THE LOOKOUT'. I finally settled on a little rusty colored Bewicks Wren for the featured bird. He seems to have the right look about him, and he blends in with the robot just a bit.

This is my easel set up...ready to begin the painting. Not sure how the wildlife book got in the shot.

While I was waiting for paint to dry on 'THE LOOKOUT', I noticed the leftover paint on the palette. I pulled out a couple of small boards and started doodling...hence the names of the paintings below. Nostalgic colors for 'BLUE' by way of the blue, white and orange gold. And 'SATURN' doodle was influenced by a book on Ivan Aivazovsky, a Russian landscape/seascape painter from the 19th century. It was lying on the floor of the studio by Bob's easel and I could make out the colors and shapes but not the details. My reading glasses go blurry beyond three feet. So I made up the Saturn rocket from those impressions of color.

Rocket Doodle Blue

(4x6", Oil) Price: $45.00 SOLD

Rocket Doodle Saturn

(4x6", Oil) Price: $45.00 SOLD

These are some very different results using the same palette. The same palette that I used for my previous painting, 'MECHANIZED HARVEST'.

So, thanks for stopping by. I've already started the preliminaries for the next painting...
Cheers
Marianne

You can go and look at Vincent Villafranca's brilliant sculptures and photos of his bronze casting process at:
www.villafrancasculpture.com

Birds 'n' Bots...working to a theme

2011-02-15T00:28:00.001-05:00

Mechanized Harvest

(12x16", Oil) Price: $950.00 SOLD

Well this is the first real epic in my continuing spree with birds and tin toy robots. This time I've included another favourite painting subject: mini pumpkins. I've been wanting to paint mini pumpkins again for a long time now and finally had a brainwave with the above idea. Red Robo Rover was always going to be in the line up somewhere, and the flying saucer guy was from a series of reference photos I took during a visit to a friend's house in San Francisco last year. He let me run, with camera, barefoot through his toy collection at will. After a having a wonderful time playing with the little blue robot, Mark sent him home with me. Rover and Blue have been inseparable and often hang around my easel. Other robots that I took reference photos of that I thought would be the final line up for this painting didn't quite make it but I'm getting new ideas for those as I go along. Meanwhile, I'm pleased with my whimsical version of a mechanized harvest. And of course, the bird is a Black Capped Chickadee...I've been growing very fond of these little birds.

The background was filled in with a large flat brush and a smaller Filbert, and blended a bit with a fluffy blending brush. Detail was added with progressively finer brushes as I worked my way through the robots and bird. Palette included: Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Orange Hue, Cadmium Lemon, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Titanium White, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Cadmium Red Light, and Sap Green.

Painting this took some time and some painstaking brush work in the details, but I'm rather proud how this turned out.

This is a shot of the easel when the painting is almost complete except for the bird and flying saucer and some highlights. Of course Rover and Blue are putting their two cents worth in as usual.

More to come tomorrow...Thanks for stopping by.
Cheers
Marianne

Tufted Titmouse

2010-11-20T18:06:00.002-05:00

"Balancing Act"

(Oil, 4x5") Price: $110.00

Finally finished this little Tufted Titmouse. I started him the week we left to go to Illuxcon III in the Pennsylvania highlands. I sold all but one of my little bird paintings there so I now have to repopulated my study wall with new friends. This is my first Tufted Titmouse. He's clinging to a grass stem in a light breeze, so he really is in a balancing act to stay there.

Palette included: Gold Ochre, Raw Umber, Cadmium Orange Hue, Titanium White, Cadmium Lemon, Sap Green, French Ultramarine, and Raw Sienna. Brushes were few but included: #6 and #2 Rounds and a #2 Flat.

Currently on the easel is MECHANIZED HARVEST...another tin toy robot painting.

Cheers

Marianne

Another Robot Doggie...

2010-10-29T18:44:00.003-05:00

"Bird Dog"

(Oil, 12x12") Price: $600.00 SOLD

Ever since I spotted little Robot Rover, I've wanted to paint him. He's cute, vivacious and funny...just like a real puppy. In this picture a bird is trying to make off with his tail, thinking that it is a giant juicy berry. Rover is entranced and thinks it is a new game. I painted this in close up so the ingenuousness of Rover comes out front and centre. Of course the bird is a Black-Capped Chickadee - one of nature's brave little spirits.

Here is Rover admiring his portrait during the painting process...and yes, he did make sure I got all of his spots and dots right.

With the paint left on the palette, I decided to paint another bird and came up with this little Scarlet Tanager. I haven't taken to him as much as the previous bird painting, unfortunately...

"Scarlet"

(Oil, 4x5") Price: $85.00 SOLD

That's it for this week. I have drawn up the next canvas...'Mechanized Harvest' is finally taking shape. Although it won't be finished for Illuxcon III in November, I'll try to paint a few more smaller works to add to the collection I'm showing.

Back soon,

Marianne

A new birdy...

2010-10-24T18:35:00.001-05:00

Shy

(Oil, 4x5", Canvas board) $110.00 SOLD

Well, I must say that I have missed painting my little birds. I've painted them as part of larger works but have really wanted to do the painting a day style of small 4x5" again. So to use up the paint left on the palette from painting 'Robo Dog Romp', I decided to start painting my small birds again. I started with a familiar face, er beak and have painted the above Black Capped Chickadee. Uncommon for the tough little Chickadees, this one is, well, shy.

I used the same palette as the last painting posted, however I did use some smaller brushes.

Come back soon and see the next robot doggie painting...it also has a Chickadee in it.

Cheers

Marianne

Little Red Robo-Dog Runnin' Thru the Forest...

2010-10-13T18:31:00.003-05:00

"Robo Dog Romp"

(12x16", Oil) Price: $450.00 SOLD

Well, here is the latest robot painting...

I've been on a tin toy robot kick again, with lots of ideas presenting themselves for painting. I started with this one because the background was familiar. I've painted it before in a very small size for my painting a day project a few years ago from a photo I took in the Big Sur Woods on my honeymoon 12 years ago. I found the little robo dog replica in a store in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney in Australia at Christmas. I didn't buy him then but he lingered in my mind. I finally sent a friend back to buy him for me and had him shipped over here. He's rather cute and vivacious and just asked for a painting of his own. So this is his debut...

I used a palette consisting of: Cadmium Red Medium, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, French Ultramarine, Titanium White, and Cadmium Orange Hue. I roughed the colours in with a large Flat, then followed through with a size four Filbert, and two small Rounds. And of course the big blending brushes helped in smoothing the background.

Of course, the Robo Dog oversaw the whole process...

I used the left over paint on the palette to paint a 4x5" Black Capped Chickadee...but I'll post that tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by,
Marianne

A New Little Robot Painting...

2010-03-09T10:58:00.006-05:00

"Repurposed"
(8x10", Oil) Price: $280.00 SOLD

This is my second little robot painting...using an old friend as the model again. This chap has fallen against a tree in one last energy outage and has been abandoned to the fates. However, an enterprising pair of Black Capped Chickadees have found him and think that his head makes an ideal nest. The bright red of the robot's shell will scare off many a predator and keep them safe. The little birds have filled the spare spaces inside the robot's head with moss and grasses against stray winds and the cold. They could not have found a better protector for their eggs than this little robot.

However, my model started to get delusions of grandeur and dreams of artistry when he decided to take a hand, er, claw, er, donut-mitt...to the almost finished piece. Such a little ego...but we love him anyway...

This is my new painting table at our new studio set up. I now have lots of room to paint in. Our original little studio at home was getting really, really cramped. The only thing is that right next to my table is a spongy bit of floor and I literally have to take my brush off the canvas when I hear my hubby about to walk by. The table virtually 'bounces'...which sucks when you're trying to paint fine detail.
Anyway, my palette consisted of: Cadmium Red Light, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Titanium White, Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine and Sap Green. In the initial layer of paint, I used a large 3/4" Filbert brush to lay down the basic lights and darks and play with the texture a bit. I'm road testing a new big blending brush: it is a Cotman 3/4" watercolour Flat. It doesn't lose any hairs thank goodness, so I wasn't hovering over the painting with a pair of tweezers every time I used it. As you can see, though, I left a good part of the tree textured and not too well blended - as a tree should be. For the finer details, I used a Size 10 Filbert, a Size 6 Flat Shader, and a Size 4 Round. I also experimented with a 1/2" Angular Shader (Flat) that I found 'on sale' at an art store some time ago. Don't forget: these brushes are just what came to hand and seemed appropriate to use at the time. As you paint, you find all sorts of tools that become enduring favourites - these are just some of mine.

Thanks for stopping by. Till next time...
Cheers,
Marianne

Born of Light...

2010-02-10T14:58:00.006-05:00

"Born of Light"
(Oil, 14x18") Price: $550.00

"Hey! I Need That!"
(Oil, 8x10") Price: $250.00 SOLD

"Ad Astra"
(Oil, 6x11" ?) Price: $115.00
SOLD

Hello, All,
It has been almost a year since I last posted anything, let alone painted. My dear mother in law, Pauline, died at the end of January 2009 and there was only my husband and I to take care of things. And things did need taking care of on top of our business and personal grief. At that time I also signed a book contract to write "Bob Eggleton's Ice Age America". The research and reading alone on this exercise, is massive. So I've been very busy researching and writing and have found little time to paint until now.

Above is 'Born of Light' which I started last February but didn't finish until now. I have been toying with painting a companion piece to cover the left hand side of the Nebula portrayed. Of course it is one of the many variations of the Orion Nebula. Below that is a recent idea that has spawned further adventures with tin toy robots. This is 'Hey! I Need That' where a cheeky blue bird has pinched the antenna from a passing robot because it is pretty and shiny and will look good in his nest. The tv thingy on the robots chest has suddenly gone fuzzy in 'lost signal' mode. The last, 'Ad Astra', is a revisit to my pointy rockets of the last few years. To start painting again I began with something familiar. Originally this painting was going to be landscape proportioned with the rocket flying left to right. But while I was laying down the first paint, I decided that it would be better as an upright rocket instead. I added the birds because it adds interest to the bottom of the picture and gives it visual weight.

Anyway, there are more to come in future months. In the Fall, look out for a little pumpkins and tin toy robot painting called 'Mechanized Harvest'. Until then, take care.
Cheers,
Marianne

Red Saturn Run...a new painting.

2009-02-20T16:07:00.003-05:00

Red Saturn Run

(aka Red Saturn Flyby)

(9x12", Oil) Price: $175.00 SOLD

I painted this as a part of my new paintings for a science fiction convention art show. The idea came from my little notebook that the last few painting thumbnails have been scribbled in. Pretty simple in its effect, almost monochromatic. But very evocative of the retro rocket nostalgia that's been gripping the SF community in recent years.

The palette was limited to: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Yellow Medium, and Cadmium Red Light.

Note the tiny moon at the far right hand end of the sliver of Saturn's ring...

As usual the photo doesn't do the original painting justice - a lot of subtlety is lost.

So. More paintings to get ready for the next art show next month in New York...
Come back soon,
Cheers,
Marianne

First Dragon of the Year...

2009-01-19T14:49:00.011-05:00

Little Rose Dragon
(Oil, 6x8") Price: $200.00 SOLD

I've been needing to do some small paintings to add to my display at Boskone Art Show next month in Boston. I already had the rocket ideas and such, but I also needed to refamiliarize myself with my paints again...to become confident in spashing about the paint again... As the years go by, I find that it's like riding a bicycle: you never really forget... Anyway, I had some dragon drawing lying around the place from previous projects, so I thought I'd practice on those. Above is this weeks effort: 'Little Rose Dragon'.

Doing this painting in oil has been eating at me for awhile. I had previously executed it in acrylic and prismacolour pencil on Illustration Board - and I'd never been fully happy with it in that medium. That painting had never sold either, for one reason or another. However, I decided to clear the decks by giving the old version to a dear friend for Christmas and promply set up my miniscule easel to re-attempt the painting in oil.

This is the work in progress. The easel is only about 12 inches tall. The best thing about it is that the upright post and foot pieces allow me to upend the painting and do fine detail that I would normally have to be a contortionist to paint. On larger works this is a problem, but I get around it. In this photo, the easel is sitting on my disposable pallete, under my right hand lamp. I use natural colour light globes in my two lamps: it helps smooth out the light and shadow in my small painting corner.

This is the original drawing for 'Rose Dragon', executed on hand tinted drawing paper. In a previous post I told you all about 'Nick Paper'. The pencil is Prismacolour 'Sienna' or 'Red Earth' I think. And of course, no drawing of mine done on 'Nick Paper' is complete without the red Kanji stamp - the symbol is Japanese for 'Ma'.

So, the new 'Little Rose Dragon' painting is done in the same palette and brushes as for 'Escape Velocity' - there's just a difference in emphasis.

Anyway, I'm off to paint something new, so check back again soon...
Cheers,
Marianne

Escape Velocity...a new painting!

2009-01-15T22:58:00.010-05:00

Escape Velocity
(Oil, 14x18") Price: $450.00 SOLD

I had the idea for this painting while in Denver last September. I'd picked up this little blank paged booklet at a previous convention in Memphis, TN a few months before, and been carrying it around for ages. Every so often I'd get an idea and scribble down a thumbnail for it along with some notes. This is the result of one of those scribbles.

It took me a while to work out the robot design as I'm not good at working up technology with out some kind of clue of what I'm doing. So I borrowed one of the little articulated robots that I got my hubby for Christmas and set him up under a light under the Christmas tree for a photo shoot. It's all about the pose and foreshortening. Anyway, the robot was Black Ox - a Japanese one - and my design looks nothing like him. The model was completely black with two big horn/cone things sprouting from his temples...and well, my robot doesn't... But it served the purpose.

It took two sessions to paint this one, and I think I can safely say that I've achieved my goal.

The palette included: Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, a little Permanent Rose, Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Light, and Cobalt Violet. Brushes were the usual array of big flats, small Filberts, and some little pointy Rounds. Oh, and the big fluffy blending brushes - two of them!

These are the two thumbnails I scribbled out when this idea struck.

This was the last of three sketch ideas for my robot that I spent a recent Sunday drawing up. I liked this one the best. I also liked poring over some of our pulp SF magazine art in our reference books. In the end, I created my own robot. Hope you like him...

More paintings to come. I'm currently working on a little dragon painting...stay tuned.
Cheers,
Marianne

And Another Exhibit...The Art Corner

2008-09-28T14:22:00.006-05:00

This October, Bob and I are back at The Art Corner in Salem, MA. Wendy and Chuck are busy with three other exhibits and have given us the run of the shop/gallery space. Wasn't that really, really nice of them? Below are photos of my bit of the wall space. The three bigger paintings are older ones that I've trotted out as anchor points, but the rest are from my painting a day project from last year - some of which have never been exhibited before. I was waiting for a very special show to put them up. This is it! My total is 23 pieces...

We are having a Grand Opening of our exhibit on Friday, 3rd October 2008, so if you're in the area, please drop in and say hi. It'll be a bit of a party as it is also Bob and my 1oth wedding anniversary. Details below:

The Art Corner

231 Washington Street

Salem, Ma 01970

978-745-9524

artcornersalem@verizon.net

Cheers,

Marianne

New Exhibit!

2008-09-05T09:15:00.004-05:00

After much waiting, and then toing and froing about whether I had the energy to sort out enough artwork for this little exhibit, I finally got my act together and this is the result.

Last year, my hubby and I agreed to a month each of showing artwork at a great little coffee shop at Pawtuxet Village. Bob got January of this year, but I had to wait until now - September. In the meantime, we've just come back from a hectic three week trip across the country which involved the setting up and taking down of artwork in two locations, and getting ready for a larger, more prestigious exhibit at The Art Corner in Salem, Massacheussetts at the end of September. Ugh. Not only was I low in energy, but wondering how the hell I was going to pull together enough existing paintings for not one, but TWO shows. I juggled lists of paintings for two days, dug said paintings out of cupboards and off of walls, and I finally had enough. I did wonder what was going to be the main anchor painting for the coffee shop show as the two I was considering were offsite at a friend's house, and he was away for the week. Pottering around, I found one large one I'd forgotten about - probably because I'd never been completely satisfied with the finished product and have every intention of repainting. This was "Marina" my Mermaid/Unicorn piece: you can see it above the mantle in the photo. So I finally had enough to fill the wall. There's a lot of older stuff there from recent years, but it seems to work as a collection. What would really be nice now, is for some of these works to find a nice caring home, otherwise it's back into the cupboard.

The show itself is at:

Little Falls Cafe

2166 Broad Street

Cranston, RI 02905

More soon,
Cheers,
Marianne

We Are Stardust...

2008-08-04T14:33:00.012-05:00

One of my favourite songs has this line in the chorus: the haunting Matthews Southern Comfort version of the song, "Woodstock". It entirely feeds my more romantic and dreamlike ideas I had when I was a child and longing for the stars. Maybe it was the lunar landing fever of the time - the late 1960s - or the Aquarius movement, but it was timeless. Then and now.

I had to produce something new for my art panel at the forthcoming world science fiction convention in Denver, and over a 48 hour period I managed to finish one painting and complete two more. With Last Farewell, I finally brought to a close an idea I had many years ago. While searching boxes of paper for sorting and chucking, I found a small thumbnail sketch I'd jotted down at random. I looked at it for a long time, and thought "I can finally paint this!" So I did.

Stardust was just a passionate doodle featuring two of my favourite elements: a soaring, swooping pointy rocket ship and a nebulous, hazy background - this time it's a ringed giant. It was kind of blissful to do.

Starstream Camping is an idea I had this year, and had given up on after the first attempt. That initial start had included a big chunk of planet in one corner and the tent being placed on one of the asteroids in its ring. It just wasn't working, and I wasn't happy with it, so I put it aside. That was several months ago. Last week, I had an epiphany of sorts and said to myself "Why does it have to be a planet? For me, it's always been the Stars..." I whipped out a board, and a day and two painting sessions later, I had a painting that speaks volumes. One of my very favourites so far...look for the whales and inquisitive dolphin...

Starstream Camping

(10x10", Oil) PRICE: $275.00 SOLD

Stardust

(9x12", Oil) PRICE: $80.00 SOLD

The Last Farewell

(14x18", Oil) PRICE: $350.00 SOLD

As usual, the photography doesn't do them justice, but it's close.

Palette included: Titanium White, Viridian Green, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean, Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Red Light, Cobalt Violet, Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue. My big blending brushes got a serious workout during this lot, plus a couple of Filberts (big and small), and a couple of pointy little Rounds.
Thanks to author Jerry Oltion and his romantic and sometimes funny outlook on outer space, and to his short story "The Big Two-sided River". River is about a miner who goes camping the old fashioned way on an asteroid in the rings of a gas giant planet. Thanks Jerry, the story and the atmosphere has lingered these past years.
Cheers,
Marianne

Little Panda

2008-06-16T15:46:00.005-05:00

Little Panda

(6x8", Oil) Price: $160.00 SOLD

Well, I finally left the writing behind for a bit and did a painting. There was a good reason though: the Grand Reopening of The Art Corner in Salem, MA. Following a fire there in late April, the store has reopened in temporary new premises around the corner. Bob and I were invited up to 'paint in the window' on the day, so we did. It was going to be a bit nervy for me though, as I hadn't painted in months, and I had to start one cold. Urk. I did it though! This little panda bear started off a bit wonky, but he came out true in the end. I'm rather proud of this one, since I've been wanting to paint a panda for absolutely ages.

Palette included: Titanium White, Cadmium Lemon, Burnt Sienna, Sap Green, Terre Verte, Ultramarine Blue, and Alizirin Crimson. Two Filbert brushes and two small Rounds, plus the usual big fluffy blending brush. 6x8" canvas board, gessoed a couple extra times for smoothness.

Below is the little guy in situ. I still love my litte painting box. I wish I used it a bit more than I do.

To read more about The Art Corner, the fire, and our painting day, go to my other blog, Muse du Jour http://musedujour.blogspot.com/
Cheers,
Marianne

New Balloon Ship...

2008-03-16T18:19:00.005-05:00

Follow The Leader

(10x10", Oil) Price: $160.00 SOLD

This looks a little washed out, I'm afraid. The colours are really deep and vibrant, but I'm still getting used to using our new digital camera.

I painted this at the last minute. I started out with the idea of painting another moon balloon ship piece that involved moonlit waves. The original working title was 'Wavehopping', but the ship looked lonely, and there was a negative space just begging for something to fill it. So I painted a little dolphin. Then I went 'hmmm, this composition needs some last thing'. So I painted the dolphin tail in the foreground. When I stepped back from the easel, I'd found that this little painting had developed a really nice flow and composition. Now the balloon ship looked like it was having fun, and the moon was joining in. Hence, "Follow the Leader".

I painted this in one sitting, as I wanted to get it done fast. The palette was a nice combination of Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Viridian, Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Pale, French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. Lots of fluffy blending brushes, one fine detail Round brush, and a half inch Flat, and a half inch Filbert. I also found out why these paintings were drying so fast: the Cobalt Blue was actually a tube of Alkyd paint (synthetic oil paint) rather than real oil paint. They share the same paint drawer, and I'd mistakenly picked up the Alkyd instead of the oil tube. Doesn't really matter though - it will not affect the paint one little bit. And it will all look the same. Meanwhile, I've dug out the real Cobalt Blue...

More later,
Marianne

And another rocket...

2008-03-13T12:25:00.006-05:00

Swooping
(11x14", Oil) Price: $175.00 SOLD

Here is another pointy rocket idea. I fell in love with John Harris' way of working oils and some of his romantic looking hard science fiction paintings. So I tried one of my own. Unfortunately, a lot of the viridian and pure cerulean tones have been lost to the digital camera. It tries its best, but often fails to reproduce these colours with any true accuracy. I mourn for the kodakchrome expertise of a dying technology: real film. Our local photographic lab has produced no better when it comes to taking photos of our art, because they themselves now only deal in digital photography. Needless to say, we don't visit them much anymore.

Meanwhile, I've been giving thought to my rockets and balloon ships (yes, there is another one), and I think I've figured them out. The rocket ship and the balloon ship represent 'me' - or at least my dreams and goals. So I'll keep painting them, where-ever they take me...

Cheers,
Marianne

Another Retro Rocket....

2008-03-12T09:59:00.008-05:00

Reach III

(9x12", Oil) Price: $150.00 SOLD
Okay, this is the absolute last retro rocket in this colour scheme. I only did this one because I promised a friend I'd do an extra version, and that I actually had an idea for it. Meanwhile, it's open season on other retro rockets with different colour schemes and themes. Unfortunately, the digital photo lost all of the soft tranistional colours and brushyness on this one. I have another one on the easel at the moment, but with a cerulean/viridian green type of high atmosphere, with a highlighted view of Saturn, and with a retro rocket 'swooping' in the foreground. I'll post that one when I'm finished with it. Both paintings will be going to a science fiction convention artshow this weekend.

There hasn't been a lot of time for painting lately, as I've been really, really busy doing writing for a publisher, developing some ideas that would utilize my creative side as well as my husband's.

Anyway, same palette and brushes as the last two Reach rockets.

Back soon,
Marianne

Moonlight Flight

2008-02-18T10:32:00.002-05:00

Moonlight Flight

(8x10", Oil) Price: $145.00 SOLD

I had this idea at the gym when I was thinking about the pointy rocket ships I wanted to paint in the two previous posts. I bravely looked up some viking boat references and with the distant memory of the airship from the movie "The Mummy Returns" set to drawing one up. The ship is empty while it sails the moon paths, ready to carry the viewers dreams and hopes aloft with it. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't do it justice: a lot of soft detail was lost in the cloud highlights and the moon. And I tried to colour match as much as possible.

This is painted thinly and took two coats of paint to get the sky right, because French Ultramarine is a transparent. I noodled that around with Cobalt Blue and Alizarin Crimson with a dash of Titanium White to create this simple background. A tiny bit of Cadmium Yellow Hue was mixed in with the highlights, because the moon doesn't always reflect a cold white light. There is warmth in the shadows, as is usual with moonlight, no matter how cold or slightly warm that light may be. I blocked in the ship in the first session, but completed it in the second session in detail when the first layers were dry. As usual, I made great use of my big fluffy blending brushes.

See you next time,
Cheers,
Marianne

More Cosmic Whales...

2008-02-12T09:58:00.002-05:00

Spotting Starwhales II

(9x12", Oil) Price: $175.00 SOLD

I've been on a bit on an inspiration kick lately concerning pointy rocketships and cosmic whales. Not sure why. But it has made painting rather fun. I'm painting them for myself, so I get to indulge the quirky side of fantasy and science fiction art. Hey, it works for other artists and their personal works, so why not me?

This is an expansion on a theme that I painted for the cover of an Australian fiction magazine, Andromeda Spaceways In-Flight Magazine (that issue edited by my dear friend, Edwina Harvey) a few years ago. I always liked the original painting and wished that I'd accomplished it better. People seemed to like it though, and the orginal painting sold to a film director, so it can't have been too bad. Anyway, I like all of the pinks and purples that go great with the bluish whales and dolphin. And the composition is tighter in this version. The whales themselves look like they're having a blast. I wouldn't mind being in that rocket, looking at them and smiling.

So, what do the whales represent? I'm not sure at this stage. I'm still on the journey with them. However, I get the feeling that they represent 'life' and its journey throughout the realms of time and space. A higher consciousness. Greatness...the 'something better in all of us' to aspire to. I'll let you know when I know...but that could take quite a while. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the ride...

For this painting, I used: French Ultramarine, Alizarin Crimson, Cobalt Blue, Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Burnt Sienna, Magenta, and a little bit of Cobalt Violet. Lots of blending brushes....

Cheers,
Marianne

Reach II

2008-02-09T17:59:00.002-05:00

REACH II

(9X12", Oil) Price: $175.00 SOLD

Welcome to the New Year 2008.

Things got way too busy as we neared the end of 2007, and I managed to work myself into exhaustion. We travelled; I cooked my end of year gifts to send to friends and family around the country; and I spent a lot of time helping midwife a dinosaur children's picture book, along with my husband and a friend, Cortney Skinner. I wrote the book back in November, and the boys are currently illustrating it. It is called "If Dinosaurs Lived in My Town" and will be out Spring 2009, from Sterling Publishing, via Hollan Publishing. Since I'm the techie of the family, I've been liasing with the publisher and constantly transmitting illustrations between Bob and Cort, as well as taking care of other business. This week I decided to stop helping everybody else and do something for myself for a bit. The results are some small paintings with pointy rocket ships in them. In Reach II, I revisited the colour scheme and style for my previous smaller painting, Reach, which I painted last year. It seemed like a good place to start since I hadn't painted since last August. I hope you like the result. Stay tuned for further painted explorations...

From now on, this blog isn't going to be about doing a painting a day. I proved that I could hang in there and accomplish that for a period of months. I'm now just going to post my explorations in paint and post them as 'Paintings OF the Day'. I thank you for your patience, and hope you will drop by from time to time to see what I've been doing.

Cheers,

Marianne

New Art Sale Page!

2007-10-05T15:51:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

Thanks for following my artistic endeavours this year, but I must apologise for the serious lack thereof in recent months. This is customarily our busiest time of the year, usually involving lots of travel, frantic working towards deadlines, conventions, and the subsequent getting ready for art shows. Well the majority of that has come to an end now, for the year, so I'll be getting back to some serious painting and writing real soon now. I have a hankering to continue my quirky still lifes-with-toys-and-pumpkins themes, but bigger.

Meanwhile, I thought about something a fan said to me recently in Japan. He said that although he loved my website, he didn't know what works were still available for sale, because there was no mention of price, availability, etcetera, mentioned there. So, being easier to update my blogsites than to update my website, I have now made up an ongoing blog page to list my works for sale. This includes older fantasy pieces as well as the more recent incarnations. Hopefully you'll drop by to look occasionally, and might even find something you might like. I'll be updating every week or two. When things are sold, they'll be marked as such, so there is no confusion.

The Sale Page can be found at http://artsalepage.blogspot.com/ or by clicking the link 'Marianne's ART Sale Page' at the left of this screen.

Thanks,
Marianne

The Story of Nick Paper

2007-09-11T05:16:00.001-05:00

The surface that these drawings are done on are something we call 'Nick Paper'. Handtinted drawing paper that takes Prismacolor pencil work really well. To find out how 'Nick Paper' came about, and its connection to September 11, 2001 - go to my other blog, http://musedujour.blogspot.com/ and read the full story...

Hugs,

Marianne

Day 64

2007-08-10T09:32:00.001-05:00

Little Pumpkins Too

(6x8", Oil) Price: $275.00

Well, I'm still dealing with dinosaurs. I'm trying not only to settle the contract but settle the final details of what the dino book will be called, etc. with the publisher I'm working with. Who knew that it would be so tiring and time consuming. Meanwhile, it's almost done, and now I'm packing for us to go to Japan in two weeks. I'll be taking notebooks and sketchbooks with us while we're travelling, so we can get creative during long waiting and flying times.

Meanwhile, here is another dinosaur painting. I really have to get back to painting toys...

Cheers
Marianne

Day 63

2007-08-02T08:49:00.000-05:00

Little Pumpkins

(6x8", Oil) Price: $275.00 SOLD

Dang! I didn't realise I hadn't posted in so long. This painting seems appropriate though, as I've spent the last several weeks developing a dinosaur children's book for Hollan Publishing for Sterling Books. Only I'm not illustrating it, I'm writing it.

I swiped one of Bob's dinosaur toys for this painting. He's got hundreds, so he didn't notice that one went on holiday for a bit. I also have a passion for the visual effects of little pumpkins - the bitty ones that everyone uses for decoration over here. I want to paint more with little pumpkins. Maybe I'll add tin toys - robots of course. My bow to Eric Joyner's wonderful paintings of whimsy.

Painting seems to have been put on hold at the moment. Anytime that I try and paint a full blown fantasy piece, it just doesn't feel right. I've abandoned one painting, and am twiddling with an old unfinished one as well, but neither of them are moving me at all. However, I am feeling pulled back towards painting whimiscal still lifes like 'Little Pumpkins'. We bought a couple of tin toy robots recently, and my mind is looking for things to put with them to paint. So I've started poking around good will stores to find old stuff to compose compositions with. We'll see what happens. I really need to get back to painting again...

Cheers
Marianne

Day 62

2007-07-09T21:59:00.001-05:00

Brandy Tea Roses

(4x5", Oil) $150.00 SOLD

Here is an0ther early tea rose painting - the same vintage as the ones from Day 61. I've been having some battles with inspiration lately, and finding myself blocked somewhat. Dental problems and busy business stuff, notwithstanding. We're going to Japan next month, so I'm hoping to get some fresh input from the new surroundings.

Unfortunately, the image here doesn't do the painting justice. The background is lush smoodges with some of the orangey background showing through, matching the warm shadowy areas of the roses. I really enjoyed the looseness of painting this little thing. The oil paint did its legendary blending thing on the canvas that makes painting in this medium like no other in my experience.

Bests,

Marianne

Day 61

2007-06-27T09:13:00.000-05:00

Tea Roses

(6x8", Oil) Price: $110.00

Okay, this is another 'ringer'. I've been working on a larger work that doesn't seem to be reaching it's potential, and I've been feeling guilty that I haven't posted anything for awhile. So here is a little painting I did last year. It was the original version of all that I wanted to do for this blog: painted wet into wet (alla prima) in a single session. I was always kind of proud of this one.

So, until next time,

Marianne

Day 60

2007-06-12T08:41:00.000-05:00

Sarah

(8x10", Oil) $275.00

Sorry I've not posted in awhile, but I had some 'inspiration block' things going on, and we got really busy with one thing and another...

However, here is the first real portrait that I've done in years. Sarah is a dear friend who did some modelling for my husband Bob, when he needed some specific references for a couple of personal paintings he wanted to work on. When he finished getting his photographs, I darted in with my camera and took some of Sarah in portrait poses for future reference - nicely draped in the diaphanous gauzy things she'd dragged out of her costume and sewing closet. A girl after my own heart - there's something so indulgent about luxurious fabrics. Anyway, of the forty or so photos we got, this one was my favourite - so I painted it.

I began the painting about two months ago. It was complicated by the fact that I was trying to paint a real person, which I hadn't done in many years. I surrended to my painting insecurites after painting in the base layers, forming the face, scarf and background. Part of the problem was that I didn't like the colour tones - they were mainly derivative of greens. So I put the canvas aside. I really don't like to throw away something that I've started, because I never know when I will see promise in it again - enough to transform it into something worthwhile. And this is what happened with 'Sarah'. On Sunday, I told myself that I really had to paint something so I wouldn't completely lose my momentum. After a bit of thought, I dragged out the discarded canvas and had a good look at it. I figured that I needed to change the colour tone, take a deep breath, and lay paint. Within a very short amount of time, I'd found the soul of the painting, if not Sarah.

For the palette, there are the usual suspects: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Titanium White, Alizirin Crimson, Cadmium Red Light, and Cadmium Yellow Light. Brushes consisted of three Filberts: Sizes 8, 6, and 4, and a Size 2 Round.

When I get to painting faces, I usually smooth the surfaces so that they look like they've been airbrushed. I've been trying to rid myself of this habit, as there is wonderful freedom in knowing where to put a dash here and a dab there to form the planes of the face. When you step back and look at the result, the human eye automatically blends the various dabs and daubs into a cognizant whole. I've tried for that, but a lot of it has been lost in translation to the digital image. I even had to digitally airbrush some of the reflection off the top of the painting and lost some of Burnt Sienna dots and daubs from the background. This painting is much more luminous in real life.

So, I think I'd better go find my muse and have a serious talk with her.
See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 59

2007-05-30T12:54:00.001-05:00

Little Dust Devil

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

Sorry the reproduction quality of this image is a bit rough.

I finished this rather quickly last night. The preliminary painty sketch of the baby elephant had been done several weeks ago - before I put it aside in a fit of 'feeling useless' pique. I found the canvas again this week, while I was looking for something else. So last night, I thought I'd better put the little chap out of his misery and finish him. I swirled in the dusty background and foreground with a big Filbert brush and a soft blending brush. Tweaked a couple of anatomical points, and laid in fresh paint. It did hit me that this kind of painting needs to be done in stages rather than one single session. That's probably why I felt frustrated with it before: everything else in this series has been done in one sitting - albeit long sittings.

So I finally painted a cheeky baby elephant. He's having so much fun blowing dust everywhere and running around in it. Maybe I should work this up into a bigger painting sometime.

Palette consisted of: Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Transparent Gold Ochre, and Titanium White. Some big brushes and some little brushes: mostly Filberts and Rounds.

I guess I'd better go find something else to paint.
See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 58

2007-05-27T15:34:00.001-05:00

Got My Grump On

(Northeastern Bluebird)

(4x5", Oil) Price: $160.00 SOLD

I painted this a couple of days ago. I wasn't terrifically happy with how it turned out, but it has grown on me since then. It's a very quick - for me, that is - painterly sketch of a fluffed up Northeastern Bluebird. Okay, so I think fluffed up birds are so cute - so sue me. It's probably a girl thing. Anyway, this little chap had such grumpy expression on his face when I first saw the photo, all I could think of was 'Got My Grump On' - hence the title. I changed the bird's circumstances and placed him in some foilage I took reference shots of two weeks ago in a friend's backyard.

Using the usual pretinted canvas, my palette consisted of: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Lemon, Cobalt Blue, and Titanium White. I used a Size 2 Round fine brush, a Size 2 Flat, a Size 4 Filbert, and a Size 8 Filbert by way of brushes.

I do like painting birds. There's another budgie one in the mix, but I'm not sure where my muse is taking me at the moment. I guess we'll see.

Cheers
Marianne

PS: There's a new link on my links list today. My beautiful cousin Annie has a blog called Dyed To The Bone, and it is dedicated to her own extensive creative pursuits and her lovely family. Why don't you stop by for a look...

Day 57

2007-05-20T16:42:00.000-05:00

The Grass is Always Greener

(6x8", Oil) Price: $100.00

I loved the look on this goat's face: very paintable.

I took a few different elements and placed them together in a new context. This was all painted in a single sitting. However, if I was doing this as a larger, multi-session work, then I would take several steps in glazing the fur on the goat to create the layering look. Also, I'd take more care with the flowers - in this case peonies. I did have fun smoodging the background as per usual.

The palette consited of: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Titanium White, Sap Green, Transparent Gold Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Hue, and Permanent Rose.

I think I'll go back to painting birds tomorrow.
Cheers
Marianne

Day 56

2007-05-19T19:47:00.000-05:00

The Puddleduck Family

(6x8", Oil) Price: $250.00 SOLD

Well, I've been trying to get back into doing several paintings a week, but it's been difficult with intermittent distractions. However, I managed to paint this little family of ducks... The original is a bit brighter than this image - for some reason, images post a bit darker on Blogger.

Anyway, it was a single session work, working wet paint into wet paint, so I got to smoodge the background and feathers to my heart's content.

The palette was made up of the usual suspects: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Alizirin Crimson, and Titanium White. As usual, I paintin on a prepared and dry tinted surface: the Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, mixed and blended together.

What I haven't mentioned in the past, is the type of oil medium I use. For the last several years I've been using linseed oil with a dryer in it. Commercially it's called "Drying Linseed Oil" put out by Winsor and Newton. If I need to make the drying time faster, I add a little English Turpentine.

Anyway, another farm animal tomorrow.
Cheers
Marianne

Day 55

2007-05-16T10:12:00.000-05:00

The Great Migration

(14x18", Oil) Price: $980.00

Okay, so I've been away for awhile. I got busy with business stuff, bad allergies, and painting THIS...

I've had this painting in mind since I saw the vacuum chamber nebula effects from the movie, THE FOUNTAIN last year. However, I only wanted to paint small uncomplicated pieces that weren't too demanding, so the more dedicated paintings fell by the wayside. Stress will do that to anyone's creativity. Things are improving, though.

The Great Migration took nearly ten days to complete, since I worked in extremely thin glazes and had to wait for each one to dry before doing the next. This is how I've always achieved luminosity in my paintings - whether I've been painting water or space, or just trying to achieve depth.

Stage 1 - Basic Tint. After gessoing and sanding back the canvas board, I began to tint the board with Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine. I used the Sienna in the light spots where the nebula and other light bits are situated. The combined Ultramarine and Sienna created the luminous black of space. Let dry...

Stage 2 - Underpainting. This sets up for the whole composition and tone for the nebula and surrounding space. Still painting thinly, I use Permanent Rose, Alizirin Crimson, French Ultramarine, Titanium White, and a little Cadmium Lemon to lay in the nebula and nebula off shoot. This covers any patchy coverage from the initial tint layer: you need to layer 'transparent oil paint' to get the semi opaqueness of space or other scenes needing depth. Except for the white, the colours above are all varying transparent paints. Let dry...

Stage 3 - Layering. Continue to develop the last details, brights and darks of the nebula. Spatter some yellowy-white for stars. Blur those gently with a blending brush. Paint in some stars, and spatter some more. Nebula basically now finished. Let dry...

Stage 4 - Whale Stream. Using Cobalt Blue and a little Titanium White, glaze in the blue whale stream, and blur with a blending brush. Takes about half an hour, but takes 24 hours to dry.

Stages 5 & 6 - Painting Whales. I took my time choosing references and painting each whale into the stream. They needed to be transparent or semi-transparent, to work the way I wanted them to. Painted in a dolphin too!

Painting in glazes is time consuming and sometimes finicky. One problem is that the paint dries flat and patchy, so before beginning painting on each new layer, you have to use a soft brush to lightly wipe oil into the surface to make the whole image uniform and bring out the real colour. However, too much oil will drip through the new paint if you're not careful, and ruin the effect when it dries: so be vigilant and use the oil sparingly.

Well, the now finished painting is still a bit sticky from the oiling in process used in the last few layers, so it will now take a week or so to dry properly.

Meantime, I should get back to the usual painting practices until the next big inspiration hits...

Cheers
Marianne

Day 54

2007-04-30T12:40:00.000-05:00

Spiritual Light

(8x10", Oil) Not For Sale

I discovered a new author - Victoria Laurie - two weeks ago. Her books are about a psychic who reluctantly gets involved with murder investigations. I found these books compelling, and also that they punched my own intuitive buttons on several levels. I sat down and wrote an extensive review of the aforementioned protagonist and each book in turn - which you can read on my Muse du Jour blog at http://musedujour.blogspot.com/ Together with that inspiration, came the fully formed idea for this painting. I nixed trying to paint this image in a multi-session attempt, or in a greater size: I'm having enough trouble starting the small one-session paintings I post here. Also, I haven't painted a human figure in a good long while as they are quite demanding to do. I tried last week to start painting this image - on a smaller canvas, as the support I wanted to use wasn't ready - but it wasn't working out, and I scrubbed it out three times. Deciding I wasn't ready to paint it then, and being dog tired, I gave it up till this week. So, with the right sized canvas, and sick of endlessly painting the darn thing in my head, brushstroke by brushstroke, I painted it yesterday. With a migraine...

Still it isn't too bad, in spite of the washed out face - trying to photograph a dark glossy surface is hell.

Palette consisted of a slightly larger array than usual: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Titanium White, Cadmium Red Light, Permanent Rose, and Cobalt Violet. Brushes were a 1/2" Filbert, a Size 2 Round, a Size 6 Round, a Size 4 Filbert, and a big fluffy blending brush.

Whew, now that's over, now I can get back to painting something else. The universe wasn't going to let me paint any other subjects until I'd gotten this one off my chest.

So, see you tomorrow!
Marianne

Day 53

2007-04-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

Mini Magnolias

(5x7", Oil) SOLD

Since I've been a bit distracted lately with business, I haven't been painting as much. I'm about to remedy that today. However, while waiting for paintings to dry again, I thought I'd put up this older painting. At the beginning of the month, I donated this little piece to the Alzheimer's Charity Benefit Art Show at Spring Bull Gallery in Newport, Rhode Island. The show is run like an auction, and I'm pleased to find that the bids on it are now over $200. At 4pm tomorrow, the final bids will be taken. The money raised will be donated to the Rhode Island Alzheimers Association.

The gallery allowed each artist who donated something to put in an extra painting to sell for themselves. Bob's extra painting sold on opening night. I'm hoping that his replacement one and my little pansy painting might have attracted buyers as well. It always feels good when you sell something, but even better when the money goes to a good cause.

Cheers until tomorrow

Marianne

Day 52

2007-04-24T14:06:00.000-05:00

Lunar Duet

(Moonflower and Lunar Moth)

(6x8", Oil) Price: $125.00

Okay, I've been a bit slack lately. I got sidetracked by a new author and had to write a long review of her body of work for my Muse du Jour blogsite. Go look if you like mysteries...

Anyway, it seems I'm graduating to more complicated compositions. The moonflower came from a friend's garden last year, whilst I already had a reference photo for the Lunar Moth. The moon figures large in my astrological sign, Cancer, so it seemed an appropriate theme. Besides, the colour schemes complimented each other nicely. And of course, I did enjoy smoodging the background again.

The palette conisted of: Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Lemon, Alizirin Crimson, Transparent Gold Ochre, and Titanium White.

Now all I have to figure out is what to paint next. The more complicated arrangements take about the same time to paint - give or take an hour - but the concentration it takes to actually paint them take a lot more energy and mental alertness. We'll see.

Cheers 'til then,
Marianne

Day 51

2007-04-10T14:12:00.000-05:00

Courting Budgies

(6x8", Oil) Price: $120.00

I am getting ambitious!

I found out last week that budgerigars - which are native to Central Australia - are called Parkeets over here in the USA. A bit of confusion for me, I assure you, when confronting a photo of a 'parakeet', I thought "Well, that looks like a budgie, to me."

Anyway, this is a contrived setting in this painting. I found two delightful references for budgies - one male and one female - and placed them together in the framework of some Cherry Blossoms that bloom in our garden every Spring. The painting itself is a bit brighter and clearer than produced here, and I'm quite proud of it. The elements themselves, work well together, although I thought something was missing in the top left hand corner before I finished it. I thought of adding some floating blossom petals behind the birds, but concluded that that would just make the painting look too busy. In the end, I just darkened that corner with some Ultramarine and Yellow, to complete the framework and lead the eye back to the birds.

Palette included: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Lemon, Permanent Rose, Transparent Gold Ochre, Titanium White, and a bit of Cobalt Blue. Brushes were: a very raggedy 1/2" Flat, a Size 4 Flat, a Size 8 Round, a Size 4 Filbert, and a very pointy small round one.

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 50

2007-04-07T10:57:00.000-05:00

Mourning Dove

(4x5", Oil) Price: $100.00

Yes, it's another bird. I tried something a little more complicated than usual with this painting. I used the head of a statue that a seagull was gracing in another photo, and then chose a photo of a mourning dove to supplant said seagull. I changed the background entirely, and noodled lots of happy smoodges in green to give the dove's warm colouring a chance at standing out against it. Unfortunately, there is a bit of light reflection from the camera in the photo I took of it, over the dove area, washing him out just a bit.

I used the left over paint from yesterdays palette to paint this little guy and his perch. However, with a tight time constraint and not enough paint on my brush, the dove isn't quite as finished as I'd have liked. That's an old habit of mine - not enough paint on the brush. I'm learning to gauge amounts of paint needed for each brush stroke, and when to let the undertint of the canvas show through. It changes with each painting. It's funny, when I was young and learning to use oil paint, I was very impatient - as youth is - to see a finished product. Of course, my canvases were overly large and things got messy as I tried to complete each painting in one sitting. As years progressed, I began to paint in very thin layers with lots of glazing and blending. There was still room for happy accidents on the canvas, but I'd formed the habit of not using nearly enough paint on the brush. In these recent months, I've been having fun correcting that and working my little paintings up in one sitting again - just like I used to when I was young. The size, content, and paint are a lot less messy and a lot more controllable. Strangely enough, I've been consistently painting my birds on 4x5" canvasses. So much so, that's a bit daunting to go back up to using 6x8" canvasses: they now seem so big.

Anyway, more tomorrow I guess. I can't believe I've reached fifty little paintings. Wow. That's a helluv an achievement for me. Thanks for hanging in there with me.
Now, back to painting...
Cheers,
Marianne

Day 49

2007-04-06T11:34:00.000-05:00

Swanning Around

(4x5", Oil) Price: $100.00

I was so tempted to call this painting of a Mute Swan "Cranky Cob". The day we took the reference photos - at Lake George in New York State several years ago - this male swan was vain, arrogant, pushy, and just a bit cranky. A male swan is referred to as a 'cob' while a female is called a 'Pen': I have no idea why. However, ole cranky boots chased off his mate when she swam near us and planted himself decorously there instead. He followed us all around the tiny pond and posed for pictures. It's a good thing he was beautiful and the sunlight was stunning that day. Bob sketched him and I took photos with both of our cameras for maximum effect. I might just paint him again: some of the other photos from that Fall day aren't too bad either.

Anyway the title is apt, as the term means - according to the Oxford American Dictionary - "casually moving to and fro in an arrogant or aloof manner". I think my generation refers to it as 'posing'.

I'm trying to use a great deal of my own reference photos for my subjects, as I don't like infringing on the copyright of professional photographers who make a living from their product.

The palette consisted of the usual suspects: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Transparent Gold Ochre, Cobalt Blue, Titanium White, Alizirin Crimson, and Cadmium Yellow Medium. Brushes included: 1/2" Filbert, Size 4 Filbert, Size 1 Round, and small fluffy blending brush.

So, I guess I'd better go and see what else there is to paint. Things got decidedly frantic this week, and I'm behind again. So what else is new?
Cheers
Marianne

Day 48

2007-03-30T13:50:00.000-05:00

Between Worlds

(6x8", Oil) Price: $100.00

Okay, it's another rocket...

I had this idea yesterday morning, and although it didn't turn out quite how I'd seen it in my mind, it isn't too laughable. The original glows in the light, but this image doesn't do it justice. Face it, no painting ever looks good in anything but its original canvas.

So, the nebula is reflected in the lake along with the space ship, and a tiny figure - NO it is not stick figure, he's in a space suit - stands on the firmness of a world, looking up at another world (the nebula), while both are reflected back into the water, which offers yet another world. I guess this could be considered a sketch for something larger. Hopefully, it doesn't look too goofy in this incarnation. It scratched an itch, anyway...

Palette was: Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine, Permanent Rose, Titanium White, Burnt Sienna, and Cadmium Lemon.

Brushes: 1/2" Flat, Size 8 Round, and a Size 1 Round.

I'm not too confident about this one, so I think I'll get back to birds. There's this swan I want to paint...

See you tomorrow,

Marianne

Day 47

2007-03-30T13:38:00.000-05:00

Bottlebrush Leaves

(4x5", Oil) Price: $45.00

Well, it wasn't my intention to paint this image this week. However, I was tossed a challenge from David McMahon in Australia in his attempt at tag-team blogging. He took the photo and posted it and the challenge on his blog, my task was to paint it and post the result on my blog. Not sure what happens after that. It kind of resembled working with an Art Director, though. Sorry the photo doesn't do this sketch justice. Maybe he'll send me a flower to paint next time, or birds...

Anyway, David is a photojournalist and carries his camera EVERYWHERE. He and his observations on life, news and the world around us, can be found on his excellent blog 'Authorblog' at http://david-mcmahon.blogspot.com/ Go tell him what you think...

The palette: Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Yellow Light, Titanium White, and a teeny bit of Alizirin Crimson to dab into the background and do the redish highlights on the leaves and stem. Pity both have been kind of lost in the digital translation.

Meanwhile, I got rockets and birds, and lots and lots more to paint...
See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 46

2007-03-28T10:33:00.000-05:00

Reach

(6x8", Oil) Price: $120.00 SOLD

Well, it's 'pointy rocket week' in the Plumridge/Eggleton household this week. Bob has to paint some classic space scenes for his own Painting a Day blog, Bob's ART du Jour (see link at left), at the request of Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle. They are having a big science fiction show next month, and the curator wanted to some small classic pieces to fill out Bob's display, and in general. Those pointy rockets certainly are popular. I suppose they speak to a lot of us who were born just before or during the 'space race' era. I remember watching a lot of movies as a kid, that had those sleek and wonderful rockets ferrying men and women into space. You could almost hear the whispers of people's dreams as they watched. Something to strive towards, and reach for their dreams of doing something important and impossible; reaching out to touch the stars; and wanting to get out and explore those stars. There are times today when I can still reach out and touch my own personal feelings about those visions, even though many labour under the burdens of everyday life. I am not alone in this. With the paintings that Bob and I do, we can keep the dreams alive somewhat - for us and for others.

So here is my offering. Possibly not as streamlined as I might have wished, but it satisfied the vision I woke up with yesterday morning. Hope it reaches you too.

The palette was: Cobalt Blue, Permanent Rose, Cadmium Lemon, Titanium White. Yeah, I know - 'girlie colours'. Brushes included: a Size 6 Round, 1/2" Filbert, and a Size 4 Flat.

Anyway, I'll get back to birds real soon now.
See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 45

2007-03-27T09:15:00.001-05:00

All Puffed Up

(Vermillion Flycatcher)

(4x5", Oil) Price: $110.00 SOLD

Okay, so Vermillion Flycatchers are supposed to be well, more red... but this one is a lady Vermillion Flycatcher. The female of the species don't have the bright and brilliant plummage that the males do, because it's the males who have to catch the female bird's attention - enough to make her want to be his mate. Cardinals - the birds, that is - work the same way. Normally, this little lady is svelte and thin, but in this painting, she's fluffed up her feathers and now looks like a sweet, puffy soft toy. Perhaps she's cold, or trying to make herself larger to discourage a lurking predator.

Anyway, she was fun to paint.

Same palette as yesterday, but with the addition of a little Cadmium Red Light to help the 'vermillion' bits along.

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 44

2007-03-26T12:03:00.000-05:00

Oregon Sea Lion

(6x8", Oil) Price: $100.00

And now for something completely different...

I wanted to take a breather yesterday and do something fairly quick. I flipped through our photos from Oregon from a few years back and discovered the bay seals and sea lions all over again. Bob and I stayed at Newport in Oregon, on the coast ,and visited the 'Cannery Row' like waterfront in the old town. Below one of the piers was a floating platform that a about half a dozen or more extrovert sea lions came and lounged upon for the attentive audience above. They sunned themselves and struck poses of attitude in vying for good positions, and were quite often very funny doing so. Bob sketched, and I took photos with both of our cameras. This was one of them. Don't you love the arrogant 'here I am, aren't I beautiful?' pose of this chap?

So here I've rendered him in paint. The result is kind of stark, but all of the smoodgy detail is centred in his face and whiskers.

The palette: Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, and Transparent Gold Ochre. Brushes: Size 6 Filbert, Size 1 Round, and a 1/2" Flat.

Back to birds tomorrow!
Cheers
Marianne

Day 43

2007-03-23T09:37:00.001-05:00

Kookaburra

(4x5", Oil) Price: $140.00 SOLD

I was really, really tired when I started painting this, so it's a bit of a contrast to yesterday's flashy white peacock. I wasn't even sure that this one was going to turn out, but I persevered. Just as I was putting the finisheing touches to the beak and tweaking feathers, it sort of suddenly all fell into place, and I rather like it after all.

The kookaburra is a famous Australian native bird, and forms the Aussie branch of the Kingfisher family. Colloquially, it's called the 'laughing jackass'. It's got a very distinctive call that sounds like racous laughter, so I suppose it is apt. The subject for this painting was a photo I took at a small wildlife park in Sydney, which I took Bob to on his first trip downunder. The bird seemed really calm amongst all of the wandering humans, as did most of the birds and animals wandering free or fenced in. I remember one young emu thought Bob was soft touch. It followed him around, and when Bob's attention was elsewhere, the emu snuck it's head under Bob's arm and it's beak into the open seed bag Bob was holding. Sneaky bugger.

Anyway, the palette was: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Cadmium Lemon, a tiny bit of Alizirin Crimson, and Titanium White.

Well, on to the next birdie!
See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 42

2007-03-22T08:59:00.000-05:00

White Peacock

(4x6", Oil) Price: $100.00 SOLD

I took reference photos of this beautiful white peacock nearly ten years ago when I was showing my soon to be husband around the local sights in Australia. However, I'm not sure if this bird and its stunning mate of regular colours were strutting around the Ettamogah Wildlife Sanctuary on the New South Wales border, or a similar place in Sydney. I fell in love with the bird's uniqueness of colouring and the way the sunlit surrounding colours bounced off the white feathers.

I took this photo of the painting in the studio, so it's not the greatest. I'll retake it in sunlight when next the sun decides to put in an appearance. It's grey and overcast outside at the moment. The painting and photos make me feel warm when I look at them - reminding me that at this time of year, the incredible heat of an Australian summer is fading fast.

The palette consisted of: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Hue, and Alizirin Crimson. Canvas board, gessoed with an extra coat, sanded back and pretinted with the usual burnt sienna mix, and allowed to dry before painting. Brushes: Size 4 Filbert, 1/2" Flat, and a Size 8 Round.

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 41

2007-03-19T13:55:00.000-05:00

Spindrift Moon

(8x10", Oil) Price: $80.00 SOLD

This is the painting I mentioned a couple of days ago. And yes, there are parts of it that are still drying - the impasto white bits, of course. Anyway, although this is not a good reproduction, it's the best I can do for the moment. 'Spindrift Moon' is an extrapolation of the initial idea I used in the little 'Moon Fantasy' piece from a few days ago. The same palette and idea, and just added the dolphins above water and underwater.

Unfortunately, the white highlights have become light blue - so much for the distinction of the Digital camera. I believe the technology has a long way to go before it perfects the capture of Pthalo Blues and Greens.

In the right light, this painting - like its predecessor - glows.

Meanwhile, it's back to birds for tomorrow I think.
See you then,
Marianne

Day 40

2007-03-16T15:12:00.001-05:00

Baby Lily Trotter

(4x5", Oil) Price: $85.00 SOLD

Awww...ain't he cute? This is a baby Lotusbird and is an Australian native bird. Colloquially, he's a 'Lily Trotter'. Sounds Victorian, doesn't it? Anyway, I needed to paint something for this week that I could actually photograph and post. I did another painting, but because it resembles the 'Moon Fantasy' piece from a few days ago, it's been difficult to capture in digital. I'll have to wait until it drys well and try and scan it.

Meanwhile, this little birdie caught my eye this morning and inspiration struck, so I painted him in all of his fuzzy glory. Those elegant extra-long toes were fascinating to detail in overly wet oil paint. When he gets older, he'll grow into them, more or less, and he'll happily skitter across many lily pads. I placed the half open Lily flower behind him to give an idea of how little he is, and give an homage to what his life's pursuit will be.

The palette for this one is the same for yesterday, however, I added some Permanent Rose for the flower, and exchanged the Cadmium Yellow Light for Cadmium Lemon. The Cadmium Lemon makes a really nice fresh green with the Cobalt Blue. Brushes were: 1/2" Flat, and a Size 4 Filbert. I did a bit of blending with a soft fluffy round brush.

The reason I've had time to do this today, is that there's a blizzard raging outside as I write this. We've been getting ready for a convention all week, and were supposed to have been on the road to Rye, NY first thing this morning. However, the weather had other ideas, and we'll leave tomorrow morning instead. Hmmm. Think I might go paint something else...

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 39

2007-03-12T19:46:00.000-05:00

Indigo Bunting

(4x5", Oil) Price: $85.00 SOLD

Yes, and Indigo Bunting is a bird. A songbird to be precise. However, I can't get past the fact that the name sounds like an 'old boy' from an Agatha Christie murder mystery.

This little chap was a joy to paint. He's in 'who's there?' mode, looking back over his wing/shoulder. I like birds, and I've found that I rather like painting them as well. Lots of smoodging in painting the feathers, and lots of happy accidental smoodging in the background. I've been having fun creating 'edges' with the edge of the brush - soft or hard - instead of lines. Building up splashes of colour in form rather than painting an outline first. It takes some getting used to, but I find it's rather liberating.

The palette was changed just a little for this painting: Cobalt Blue, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, Transparent Gold Ochre, and Cadmium Yellow Light.

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 38

2007-03-11T09:54:00.001-05:00

Black Capped Chickadee

(4x5, Oil) Price: $110.00 SOLD

Okay, I took a sideways detour to paint a few birds this week. Don't worry, I'll get back to waves and mermaids soon. Anyway, this little chap caught my eye, and then the cute factor cut in. So I just had to paint him. This is a dark little painting, and unfortunately the photography wasn't the greatest: it was artic cold outside when we took the shot and my knuckles were aching something awful. I was trying to photograph a whole bunch of stuff at one time, so this one just slipped through. I will attempt to remedy that really soon, now that the weather has warmed up considerably.

Palette consisted of: Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Yellow Light, Titanium White, Transparent Gold Ochre. And whatever was left on the palette from the Moon Fantasy painting from the day before went into the smudgy background behind the bird. Brushes were: Size 4 Synthetic Filbert, 1/2" Flat, and a Size 1 Round.

As usual, this painting was done in one sitting, 'alla prima'. This means that the painting was completely still wet while I was putting the finishing touches on it. Wet in Wet technique in oil painting takes a while to master, to control the paint, but it was the first way of painting that I learned when I was 12 years old. This painting a day thing helps me to regain not only a sense of purpose and achievement, but helps me to revive my neglected control over oil paints in situ. Therefore, every painting is a learning curve or a nudge to forgotten ways of doing things. At least for me. I hope you're enjoying this journey as much as I am. As gruelling as it may be some days for me, I enjoy it just the same.

Thanks for stopping by,
Marianne

Day 37

2007-03-10T11:35:00.000-05:00

Moon Fantasy

(4x6", Oil) Price: SOLD

While I was on the fantasy wave theme this week, I let loose and painted this little thing. I love this kind of simple fantasy work. It can be both evocative to paint and to look at if done well. I do try...

Unfortunately the photograph that I took of this painting lost some of the crispness of the white wave tops. The blue is richer and deeper too. Oh, well.

The palette was: Pthalo Blue, Pthalo Green (Blue Shade), Titanium White, and Cadmium Yellow Light. Incidentally, the canvas was tinted with the Burnt Sienna mix I like and let dry before I started painting the image.

More tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 36

2007-03-09T14:50:00.000-05:00

Fantasy Wave Study

(4x6", Oil) Price: $65.00 Framed!!

This is the second wave study I did. It ended up being a fantasy one because I wanted to extrapolate a fantasy element from my reference photo. Yes, another photo reference of waves from Nausset Beach up on Cape Cod.

I painted this under a lot of emotional duress, so it's not as 'just right' as I'd like to have made it.

Same palette and brushes as yesterday.
See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 35

2007-03-08T16:39:00.000-05:00

Wave Study 1
(4x5", Oil) Price: $65.00 Framed!!

Well, I'm finallly back into painting mode again! I was completely exhausted after getting back from Dallas last week and found it difficult to paint at all, what with business stuff to do, 'n' all. I tried to start a woolly mammoth painting last Thursday - but after the fifth scrub back to canvas, I decided to give up for the time being. However, I began some harmless wave studies, the first of which you see above. Over the next few days, I'll be posting more waves, a fantasy moon/wave thingy, and a bird or two.

The palette for this one was: Pthalo Blue, Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Light, a bit of Ultramarine Blue and a tiny skerrick of Burnt Sienna to deepen the darks. Brushes were: 1/2 inch Flat, a Size 4 Filbert, and a Size 1 Round.

Although it's a bit sketchy, and really brushy, I think I got the point across in this being a wave. I really enjoyed painting it too.

However, see you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 34

2007-02-28T09:55:00.000-05:00

Kelp Wraith

(8x10", Oil) Price: $250.00

Okay, we're back from Dallas...so, back to work.

This painting is a 'ringer' as we call it back home in Australia. A painting I did some time ago. I'm posting it until new ones dry enough to be photographed.

Anyway, my usual marine art is much tighter in style than this painting. It was originally an experiment along the lines of what I'm painting for Daub du Jour now, only with thinner paint. The Kelp Wraith line of experimental painting didn't get very far back then, as it is now. I wouldn't mind trying the same image but with thicker paint and a more brushier look to it. More mysterious, perhaps - invoking some artists from the 1930s and 1940s. I'll let you know.

Meantime, I sold my Snowy Mammoth painting from Day 32! I want to paint another one but in a different context, before I move on to other inspirations. So check back and see...

Gotta go do something creative.
See you tomorrow
Marianne

Day 33

2007-02-15T18:00:00.000-05:00

Tiny Pansies

(3x3", Oil) Price: SOLD

After the gargantuan personal effort of painting the Woolly Mammoth yesterday, I wanted to paint something a little smaller and easier. So, I painted a very small work of pansies. I took the photos again in Nick's garden last Fall, and have waited this long to paint them. I love the colours!

The palette consisted of: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Cobalt Violet, and Permanent Rose. Small brushes of course.

NOTE: Since I've been getting artwork and business things ready for a convention in Boston this coming weekend, I'll be taking a few days break from painting. After that, we have to fly to Dallas for another guest appearance that my husband is making there at another convention. I always knew that business would get in the way some day, but it's only temporary. I hope you'll hang around and come back and visit the site, soon.

Cheers
Marianne

Day 32

2007-02-14T11:25:00.000-05:00

Snowy Mammoth

(6x8", Oil) Price: SOLD

Okay, here is the latest woolly mammoth study. This is a huge improvement over yesterdays. And, it came out exactly like I wanted it to.

The palette is exactly the same as the study from yesterday, only with a bigger canvas. I do so love my 6x8" canvases!

Brushes: Size 6 Filbert, Size 4 Round, and 1/2" Flat. Yeah, I got 'brushy wi'd it'.

So, I'd better go find something new to paint.

Cheers

Marianne

Day 31

2007-02-13T10:43:00.000-05:00

Young Woolly Mammoth Head Study

(5x7", Oil) Price: $75.00

Here is my first attempt at painting a study of a Woolly Mammoth head. The canvas was way too small, because I'd run out of prepared 6x8" ones. Got plenty now. Anyway, I was more interested in paint effects and brushstrokes than making a proper portrait. This is one of the very woolly versions of mammoths. He looks a bit like he's wearing a shaggy hat. I'll grab one of the others off our mammoth shelf - yes, we have a Mammoth toy display shelf - and try painting other versions of the species. Bob likes dinosaurs (I do to, really) but I do like the mammoths. Elephants, too.

I think with other attempts, I'll continue to try to paint the essence of the beast as opposed to painting a still life of a toy. But those look good too, so who knows.

Anyway. Palette consisted of the usual suspects: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, and Transparent Gold Ochre. The canvas support was tinted with my favourite Burnt Sienna/T. White/Transparent Gold Ochre blend, and allowed to dry before use. Brushes were: 1/2" Flat, Size 6 Filbert, and Size 4 round.

So, till I have to go dig another woolly mammoth out of a snowdrift tomorrow. See you then.
Marianne

Day 30

2007-02-11T14:02:00.000-05:00

Sandra's Gargoyle

(6x8", Oil) Price: $125.00 - SOLD

Bob and I went up to Salem, MA, yesterday to do a painting demonstration at The Art Corner framing shop and gallery on Washington Street. Well, we set up our brand new Guerilla paintboxes and painted while various patrons peeked over our shoulders, anyways. This was an enormous hurdle for me to get over: painting in public. My internal mantra was 'if I can do this at home in the studio, then I can certainly do this here'. The shop was genial. So was the company and the visitors. Mind you, we did pause occasionally, paintbrushes poised, and waited to see if any passers by the window would stop and lick the splendid ice sculpture outside the door. I think the boys wanted to see if anyone's tongue got stuck on the ice. My painting partners were Charles (aka, Chuck) Lang and my husband, Bob Eggleton. I managed to paint the gargoyle above, Chuck worked on a painting of lots of green and red apples, while 'whiz bang Bob' got two splendid landscapes done. See his blog for those.

Anyway, the gargoyle in question is a casting of a sculpture created by friend and fellow artist, Sandra Lira. Sandra sells various sizes of this gargoyle through various catalogs and shops. This one happens to be in situ, in the garden of another friend, Robert. I took these photos in early Fall about four years ago, and have wanted to paint it for a long time. He's got great attitude - the gargoyle, not Robert. There was no suitable place to set up the still life stuff that I'd brought with me to the shop, so I pulled out one of the photos I'd packed at the last minute. So there will be toy mammoth paintings another time...

The palette was French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Sap Green, Cadmium Yellow Light, Transparent Gold Ochre, Titanium White, and a little Permanent Green Light.

Here is my 'you beaut' little paint box - only 6x8" big - set up in the shop.

Anyway, more tomorrow!
Cheers
Marianne

Day 29

2007-02-08T13:11:00.000-05:00

Sunny Spot

(4x6", Oil) Price: $55.00

This isn't quite a landscape per se, but one of those little quiet spots I like so much. I've been hanging onto the reference photo for this little painting for about eight or so years, telling myself 'one day I'll paint it'. Well, yesterday I did. Finally! It's a little brushy study of what it might become when it grows up into a big painting. The place itself exists (at least, I hope it still does) on a forest trail just up behind the Big Sur Lodge on the California Coast. The same place we stayed at for the painting of 'Muir Beach' from a few days ago.

The palette consisted of the usual suspects: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Light, Transparent Gold Ochre, and a bit of Sap Green.

I'm so happy that this has turned out well. I've been carrying the photo around so long, and looking wistfully at it and saying 'one day'. I have even thought of painting a translucent white dragon coming out of the patch of sunlight on the ground, just for something otherwordly. Maybe I'll do that later in the year. Meanwhile, I'd better get back to painting.

More tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 28

2007-02-07T18:59:00.000-05:00

Falls End

(4x6", Oil) Price: $55.00

Okay, it's another landscape! Sorry, I'm on a roll... This is the bottom of a waterfall we saw in Seattle, Washington some years back. I just love the sun hitting the foreground, while the falls and pool lurk in the background shadows.

The usual suspects were swimming around on the palette for this one!

I've rather enjoyed doing these little studies. They're not as easy as they seem, and can be just as complicated as working on a larger, more complicated version.

Oh, well...back to work...
See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 27

2007-02-06T14:52:00.000-05:00

Last Light

(4x6", Oil) Price: $55.00 SOLD

Okay, this is the second of my teeny landscapes. My parents' house in rural Victoria, Australia, faces this scene every evening. We took lots of photos when we were there last.

I used the left over paint on the palette from the painting in Day 26, and only added Cadmium Red Light. The other colours were (of course): French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, Transparent Gold Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Light, and Alizirin Crimson.

Another landscape tomorrow!
Cheers
Marianne

Day 26

2007-02-05T17:03:00.000-05:00

Muir Beach Sunset

(4x6", Oil) Price: $55.00

Finally got down to using smaller sized canvases! I lurk and post on an artists site called WetCanvas - www.wetcanvas.com - in the Miniature Art section. Well, one of their moderators, Val, threw out a 'let's do this' thread on miniature landscapes. So I did some. This is the first one. The photograph unfortunately doesn't do it justice or capture all of the detail: it was bitterly cold outside today and made my fingers ache in the few minutes it took to take photos of paintings. They were still wet from yesterday - too much so to put them on the scanner.

Anyway, this is Muir Beach somewhere along the Big Sur in California. Bob and I went there for three days back in 1998 just after we got married. We were there for a convention, but kicked back with no phone or tv for three days, and sat in front of an open fire each evening. Days were spent walking the beaches, meeting seagulls, and taking many, many photos.

Next one tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 25

2007-02-02T14:30:00.001-05:00

Baby Elephant Walk

(5x7", Oil) Price: $85.00 SOLD Unfortunately this reproduction hasn't come out the best. It's snowy and gray today, so I had to take a photo of this little painting under lamps in the studio. It was still too wet to lay on the scanner.

Anyway, I found this little chap in the toy section of the craft store the same day I found the tiny plastic grapes I painted yesterday. He's not terrifically anatomically correct, but he has the cutest expression on his face. Like life is a joy of discovery to him. I positioned him on the canvas so he had plenty of space to bounce into if he needed to. Seriously. And, I wanted to practice a little foreshortening technique.

The painting style is deliberately on the loose side. The palette consisted of four of the usual suspects: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White and Transparent Gold Ochre. The canvas was previously tinted with the same colours as the canvas from yesterday.

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 24

2007-01-31T12:22:00.000-05:00

Shell and Grapes

(6x8", Oil) Price: $100.00

Here is a more formal setting that I thought was kind of pretty. I found the shell whilst rummaging around in my box of shells, and I found the fake plastic grapes at Michaels Craft store over the weekend. I did say that I liked to paint small, didn't I? Well, both the shell and the spray of grapes are approximately only three inches in length each. They looked so cute together, and the colours so luscious. So inviting to paint... There really is 'something' about arranging the backcloth 'just so', and then placing the objects. Cool.

I used a canvas board tinted with what has become my 'de rigeuer' colour: Burnt Sienna blended with Titanium White and either Tranparent Gold Ochre or a little Cadmium Yellow Light. The palette consisted of: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Sap Green, Alizirin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow Light, and Transparent Gold Ochre.

I really enjoyed painting this - a really formal still life 'set up'. Therefore, more than one item to paint. I should try a few more of these.

Meanwhile, see you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 23

2007-01-31T12:07:00.000-05:00

Rose Sketch

(5x7", Oil) Price: $65.00

I was feeling a bit depleted in energy on Monday after all of the running around dealing with my 'Madame K' painting and getting it to the gallery in time for the show. So, I chose to do paint something quick and sketchy, like this rose. Small board, and size 10 synthetic Filbert. I worked reasonably fast - for me - and it came together quickly. I'd almost call this a 'field sketch', if I had to classify it.

The palette consisted of: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, Permanent Rose, Sap Green, and a little Cadmium Yellow Light.

See you tomorrow for something a little more adventurous.
Marianne

Day 22

2007-01-29T15:00:00.000-05:00

Madame K

(After John Singer Sargent's 'Madame X')

(9x16", Oil) Price: $200.00

Okay, so I painted this yesterday in a mad panic that I wouldn't make the deadline at Spring Bull Gallery in Newport, RI today. Spring Bull holds an annual show each February called "Fabulous Fakes and Forgeries" where the artists paint or sculpt a copy of a famous work, or a parody of one. The choice is up to the artist. I've been planning this one since last year, but time got away on me - I thought I had another week! So, sketched up on Saturday night and painted yesterday. Used probably too much turps in with the medium, but I baked the finished product under two hundred watt lamps, and it was dry this morning when I went to spray retouch varnish on it. Sigh. Framed it and ran it over to Newport. Bob drove. He'd happily finished a nice little homage to one of his own heroes, Albert Bierstadt, yesterday too.

Why was I panicking? Well, last year, people were ringing up from all over the country to get into this show well after the midweek deadline and the show had filled up to capacity. I just squeezed in to that one too - and won a prize to boot. Best Humorous! Yes, I painted a Koala then too. To see that one, go to my Muse du Jour blog (link at left) and go to the New Years day entry. :-D

Meanwhile, I'd better go find something simple to paint this afternoon.
See you tomorrow!
Marianne

Day 21

2007-01-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

Rose Heart Box

(6x8", Oil) Price: $100.00

I got inspired to paint this yesterday! I'd been looking for something, and my eye fell on this. A dear friend sent it to me for Christmas, from Australia. According to the little note inside it, it's a vintage tibetan silver heart jewellry trinket box. Hmm. I thought it was pewter. But no matter, it painted up just lovely. I'm rather pleased with this painting. The box itself is only about two and a half inches across, but I wanted plenty of space for it to react with the red cloth I used as a back drop. Lots of nice juicy reflections.

Only four colours used: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Alizirin Crimson and of course, Titanium White. Brushes were: half inch Flat, Size 6 Filbert, and a very small round - a '0' I think.

Loved painting with such lush colours!
See you tomorrow
Marianne

Day 20

2007-01-28T13:48:00.000-05:00

Sea Stack

(6x8", Oil) Price: $ 80.00

These rock stacks appear off the southern coast of Australia, round the corner and up the coast road a 'bit' from a place called Geelong in Victoria, Australia. This is one of the 'Twelve Apostles' ('cause there were originally 12), but is now just referred to as 'The Apostles'. Some of them have collapsed into the sea. My Grandmother loved these rock formations. Anyway, in looking for something 'simple' to paint late night, I ended up pulling out a photo from when we visited some years ago. I don't paint landscapes very well: something about rocks and trees as a whole - or group - have difficulty when I'm trying to paint them. Fortunately, I got to noodle water in this one, so it doesn't look to bad. I think I have a 'landscape gene' missing from my make up - Bob's probably got it, since he's a masterclass landscape artist.

Anyway, I had to change out my usual French Ultramarine for this painting, because it just wasn't going to cut it for the sky. Yes, Aussie skies are really that Cobalt! So that's what I used - and added Permanent Green Light to help with the water. This was painted with one brush only: a Size 10 Filbert. I wanted to see if the big brush strokes would allow me to loosen the style a bit.

So this is my token landscape, er, seascape.
More tomorrow,
Marianne.

Day 19

2007-01-25T15:05:00.001-05:00

Magnolia

(6x8", Oil) Price: $135.00 SOLD

Here is today's flower...a magnolia.

I had to paint rather a 'quickie' - well for me anyway - so I threw up a photo I took in a friends garden in New Jersey several years ago. I love magnolias almost as much as I love roses. That candle-flame elegance of form is just beautiful.

I managed this painting sandwiched between obligations yesterday. Five colour palette: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Yellow Light, Titanium White, and Alizirin Crimson.

See you tomorrow.
Marianne

PS: Life is taking on the seriously frantic pace of what consists of 'normal' for us, and I'm contemplating holding out doing paintings a day for as long as I can, then back pedalling to two or three a week. I know, it's a cop out, but most male artists have wives who take care of the domesticity so that they can paint in peace. Well, my husband who is a professional, does have that: ME. So, I've got to make some choices or go crazy...

Day 18

2007-01-24T14:02:00.000-05:00

Rose Quartz Bear

(5x7", Oil) Price: $85.00

This has posted a little dark, but it still looks as it should. A two and a half inch bear carved out of rose quartz. That is a jade fish in his mouth - and is actually brighter in the painting, than this image.

He's a cutie and I've been wanting to paint him for awhile. I just had to get my druthers up to attempt painting something shiny, let alone translucent. Anyway, the palette consisted of: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Alizirin Crimson, Titanium White and Cadmium Yellow Light.

More tomorrow,

Marianne

Day 17

2007-01-23T11:25:00.000-05:00

Old Fashioned Roses

(5x7", Oil) Price: $75.00

Sorry for the delay. I was waiting for paint to dry...

More roses! I haven't been able to identify these yet, but they looked so pretty climbing up someone's fence, I had to take a photo in passing. They look old-fashioned, because of the multitude of petals and full blooms. Reminds me of Victorian ruffles. However, my knowledge of flowers is patchy at best, so they really could be modern hybrids. But I like my romantic notion better...

Anyway, it was painted with another huge interruption in the middle: we had some friends over and held a model shoot/photography get together - with sushi! Got some nice reference photos for future use, and my husband is now happy that he has a references for a personal work he wants to paint. However, I finished the piece at midnight, and wasn't completely happy with it then. After a good sleep, it looked better in the morning light, I'm happy to say.

The palette was limited to: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Red Deep, and Titanium White.

Must get back to the easel!

See you tomorrow,

Marianne.

Day 16

2007-01-21T12:09:00.000-05:00

Unicorn Head Study

(5x5", Oil) Price: $65.00 Framed!! SOLD

Last in the current horse theme...

Here is an idealized version of the head of the same toy horse used in the last two days paintings. Only this time, I reveresed it, so we're looking at the other side of the head, and in profile. I added the horn to turn the horse into a unicorn, enlarged the eye slightly, and smoothed the features. The hair in the mane is probably more than what's really there, as well. More fanciful.

I painted on gessoed panel this time, tinted with a blend of Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, and Cadmium Red Light. It shows through a bit, in the horse neck and background. I used a restricted palette again: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, and Cadmium Yellow Light.

I might do some more horse paintings, but not right now. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

See you then,
Marianne.

Day 15

2007-01-20T15:11:00.000-05:00

Waverunner Study

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

Continuing on with the horse theme...

I painted this using the same toy model from Day 14 - Horse Head Study. This time I loosened the rules of strict interpretation and applied imagination to come up with this little painting. Yes, we are allowed to 'interpret' our models as our creative eye sees fit. It all depends on your style of painting and application of paint and/or imaginative expression thereof. In a nutshell, it's commonly called 'artistic license'.

For this painting, I used a reference photo I took of a wave on Naussett Beach at Cape Cod. The breaking wave fit nicely with the angle of the toy horse's head. Without planning too much - explains the slightly unplanned look of the piece - I used big brushes to make sweeping colour curves and curlicues with lots of soft edges to create the wave. I only wanted the impression of water, not an exact replica of the photograph. And as 'whitecaps' only suggest the flying manes and horse heads, I didn't want to overly define the head of the horse itself. It's supposed to be a day dreamy rendition; a fantasy. My only criticism of this effort, is that the 3/4 angle of the head itself lends to a misinterpretation of the horse's noggin being too chunky. Most 'waverunner' horses are usually defined as delicate with thin noses, not with the slightly aquiline bent that this one has.

The palette consisted of: French Ultramarine, Cadmium Yellow Light, Transparent Gold Ochre, and Titanium White. The canvas was pre-tinted with a combination of Burnt Sienna, T. White and Cadmium Red Light - dried before using.

Well, there'll be another horsie type tomorrow, in a fresh interpretation.

I'll see you then,
Marianne.

Day 14

2007-01-19T14:57:00.000-05:00

Horse Head Study

(4x5", Oil) Price: $65.00 SOLD

I've been gearing myself up to complete some unfinished paintings lurking around the studio. One of them is a 'wave runner' piece containing three white horses as the white caps on ocean waves. It's not that complicated, but I got interrupted by 'business and life stuff' after I started it last year, and it has sat staring at me since then. Well, we're attending a local Science Fiction and Fantasy convention in Boston in February, and I realised that I have very few pieces to put in the art show. So, I'm herding my artistic ducks into a row and getting some pieces together for it. In preparation, I thought that painting a few test horse heads might be a good thing. This is the first study I did, using a toy white horse by the same German company that made the Clydesdale toy horse in Day 6. Palette consisted of the usual suspects.

In the next few days, I'll be doing more fantastical variation studies using the same toy horse in different positions. After all, extrapolation and interpretation are what we artists thrive on. I don't like slavish copying of anything.

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 13

2007-01-18T14:12:00.001-05:00

Flamingo 59

(5x7", Oil) Price: $100.00 SOLD

Meet 'Flamingo 59'. He, or she as the case may be, lives at the zoo at Waikiki in Hawaii with lots of other flamingoes. I've called him Flamingo 59 because that is the number on his leg tag, and he posed rather prettily for several photos that I took the day we visited. So beware of at least another flamingo painting or so, down the track.

I'd been finishing up another painting that's been lurking on my easel since late last year, entitled 'Cosmic Greenman'. So I used the left over paint on the palette to paint this chap. It's a bit of a mix of the different blues, greens, sienna, and of course two reds as well as the usual Titanium white. Again, it was a lot of fun smoodging the background water and noodling 'almost reflections'.

You can see the 'Cosmic Greenman' painting on my other blog 'Muse du Jour'. The link for that is in the side bar of this page.

Hope you like this one,
See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 12

2007-01-17T13:58:00.001-05:00

Tin Toy Robot

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

Yes, it's another toy! I'm surrounded by new and vintage toys, thanks to my husband who is an avid collector. There are also many dinosaur figurines and toys as well. Ditto for dragons...so I hope you don't get sick of them any time soon.

I've been eyeing off this little tin toy robot for some time. Wistfully thinking of the personal works of fellow artist Eric Joyner, I've always wanted to paint one. Eric is a wonderful illustrator, but his personal works involving tin toy robots, spacemen and spaceships, giant attacking donuts, and recently, giant Japanese monster toys are terrifically funny and endearing. You can see more of his work at www.ericjoyner.com. In the meantime, you can view my paltry effort. Sorry about the reflection on the canvas - it was still wet and hard to handle when taking the photo.

It was interesting to paint, I'll give it that. Lots of reflections, reflected colour, and straight lines. Straight lines are a bugger to paint with a big brush, so I used a couple of little ones as well: size 6 filbert and size 2 small synthetic Flat. Palette contained the usual suspects, but with two Cadmium Reds - Dark and Light.

On to the next one!
See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 11

2007-01-16T16:02:00.000-05:00

Opening Rose Bud

(5x7", Oil) Price: $100.00

Another late night painting! I'm going to have to do something about that time-frame.

Okay, another rose, and rather an awkward angle to paint it from, so it was a bit of a challenge. The bud itself is drooping, and I took the photo looking up into it. Another 'gem' from our friend Nick's garden, and first cousin to the rose in the painting from Day 3 - Ailing Rose. The bud is just starting to unfurl its petals, beginning with those closest to the sun. The petals had a wonderful glow about them, so I tried hard to capture that. I removed the bits of sky that were in the original photo and continued the dark foiliage up into the top of the painting. It makes the rosebud 'pop' much more: because the sky was a distraction, what with all of the little puffy clouds, that would have competed with the focus of the picture - the rosebud. The background was painted wet into wet, with lots of lovely smoodges.

I'm currently sticking with the palette you've become familiar with since I started posting, this time containing Cadmium Red Dark in the array.

Doing this everyday it gruelling stuff! Hope you don't get sick of toys. Tomorrow is a tin-toy robot...

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 10

2007-01-15T14:33:00.000-05:00

Toy Sabertooth Tiger

(6x8", Oil) Price: $100.00

I'd been fighting to find painting time the day I painted this. I also was feeling a bit disgruntled about having to go out the same evening. So between things, I grabbed yet another toy - this time from one of Bob's paleontology shelves - and feeling a bit under duress, I set to. It's not quite how I expected it to turn out, but in gaining some distance from the day I painted it and the residual emotions, I find it isn't too bad an effort. This image is a little dark, and there is a bit too much red in the shadows, but it's close to the painted result.

The palette is the same as for Day 8 - Bright Spot. I hope you're enjoying this variation on a theme regarding palette choices - or lack thereof.

The weather is playing havoc with the drying times of the oil paint, so I hope you don't mind the odd delay in posting.

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 9

2007-01-13T23:33:00.000-05:00

Two Rose Study

(5x7", Oil) Price: $100.00

Here are some more roses...

I felt a bit ambivalent about this when I was painting it, but it seems to be growing on me. No pun intended. I took a series of photographs of some flower still-life arrangements at home about 18 months ago - playing with different colour backcloths and rose colours. This combination really didn't appeal to me until I had to translate it into paint. Funny that. You never really look at something until you have to transcribe its features and elements into paint or sculpture. In being forced to look deeper into something, you gain a whole new appreciation for it.

The palette consisted of the same colours as Day 8 - Bright Spot, except that instead of using Alizirin Crimson as the red, I used Cadmium Red Deep.

Anyway, it's late.
See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 8

2007-01-12T14:19:00.000-05:00

Bright Spot

(6x8", Oil) Price: $100.00

We were in Silverton Falls in Oregon just over a year ago, on a much needed weeks vacation. During our travels, we spent several hours exploring the natural crater that contains various waterfalls, rainforest types of vegetation and a visual feast for the senses. I took many photographs, one of which was this spotlit branch high up in a tree. It gives a beautiful sense of serenity when you look at it, so naturally I had to have a go at painting it. The result is this rather impressionistic little daub. I had so much fun painting the background vegetation 'wet into wet' and 'smoodging' happy accidents. One day I might go back and paint a bigger, much tighter version to satisfy the perfectionist in my soul, but at the moment, I am content.

My palette consisted of the usual suspects: Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Titanium White, Transparent Gold Ochre, and Cadmium Yellow Light. I was forced to add the tiniest touch of Alizirin Crimson to the array because the tiny pink flower bud needed it.

Hope you like it!
See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 7

2007-01-11T13:53:00.001-05:00

Shy Squid

(5x7", Oil) Price: $100.00 SOLD This little chap has been lingering in the back of my mind for the last year or two, as a subject or centrepiece of a still life project. So I set him up against a blue oceany backcloth and set to work. Since he's only about three inches tall, the painting called for a smaller canvas, hence the 5x7" size. Also, too, the little squid is of a shy nature, so a more intimate size of painting helps to showcase his element.

It didn't help that I had an unexpected three hour interuption in the middle of this work. By the time that was over, I had the unique task of trying to rebond with my subject - took about half an hour of noodling paint around before I hit my stride again. I like the outcome, despite being hit sideways by the interuption. My mother calls it 'character building'; I call it 101 Painting Obstacle Course practice.

Anyway, I used the following limited palette: Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow Light, Titanium White, and Transparent Gold Ochre. This is the exact same palette as the Gargoyle painting in Day 5, but with a radical different coloured result. You'd be amazed at the array of colours that can be mixed from a limite palette. People are stunned when I admit that I haven't used a tube 'Black' paint in many years. I prefer to mix my blacks - from warm to cool - using only Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. A little Titanium white added to the mix provides a myriad of grays to play with. Either 'burnt' or 'raw' 'umbers' or siennas' can produce an almost limitless array of deep shadowy darks and 'blacks' - all it requires is a bit of experimentation. And my combination of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna produces a deep velvety black that's difficult to find in a preproduced tube. I just haven't looked lately.

Anyway, see you tomorrow!
Marianne

Day 6

2007-01-10T10:02:00.000-05:00

Toy Clydesdale

(6x8", Oil) Price: $100.00

Well, the Clydesdale is dry at last.

I love the rich warm brown backcloth, so I've been using it a bit, and will probably use it more in the future. It's a perfect accompaniment to still lifes. Anyway, the horse in question is a plastic toy made by a German company, and I kind of liked the way he looked like he was moving. He didn't look static or stiff at all, which means the sculptor of this animal was very gifted. Hopefully, I've translated it fairly well into paint.

I used only four colours for this painting: Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Transparent Gold Ochre, and Titanium white. It was a nice exercise in restraint. Two brushes: a small size 6 synthetic Filbert, and the same 1/2" Flat (synthetic) that I used on the Gargoyle painting from Day 5.

One thing about these small canvasses, aside from being oil-painting practice, it proves just how dexterous an artist can be using only minimal tools. One can surpise oneself, if only one will try.

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 5

2007-01-09T14:32:00.001-05:00

Gargoyle

(6x8", Oil) Price: $120.00 Framed!! SOLD

Here is the Gargoyle! I'm so pleased with how this turned out. Although, it looks dark here, the original looks quite luminous.

6x8" seems to be my size de rigueur lately. It's such a comfortable shape to use when painting small still lifes. Not too big and not too small. Not too wide and not too thin. Well, I limited my palette to only a few colours this time: Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow Light, Transparent Gold Ochre and Titanium White. The background base was formed using the 'Sienna, Ultramarine, and T. white, and allowed to dry first. You know - all those backgrounds I create using left over paint on the palette? Well, I was starting to run out of them, so I've been happily making more in a variety of sizes after I finish painting each day. I've noticed that a dry oil base allows for less drag on the brushes when laying paint. A smoother tooth, so to speak. I tried using an acrylic tinted canvas as a base for the Pumpkin/Skull painting a few days ago, but I didn't like the feel of the surface beneath the brush. I really like my oil backgrounds!

Oh, and by the by: I only used one brush for this entire painting - a 1/2" Flat (Synthetic).

Hope you like today's result as much as I do.

See you tomorrow
Marianne

Day 4

2007-01-08T09:14:00.000-05:00

Wave Study - Nausset Beach

(4x6", Oil) Price: $75.00

Last year, Bob and I spent three days at a little hotel right on Nausset Beach at Cape Cod. The tourists had left and it was nice to get a bit of peace and quiet, and some peace of mind. Better yet, remnants of a hurricane caused some mighty spectacular waves down on the beach. We scurried down with our gear - me with a sketch book and Bob with his paint box. Okay, I'm inexperienced and nervous at painting in public, but Bob's fearless. He painted two canvasses that day - one in the afternoon and one in the evening. I watched wave patterns and sketched them. I also took lots of photos.

This little study is from one repetitive curlicue wave pattern that I loved. The photo's I took were a great back up to my sketches. Anyway, it's 4x6" and was a joy to paint.

Lessons learned:

1. Paint more water scenes.
2. Big brushes don't always work on teeny canvasses - but Filberts rule!

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 3

2007-01-07T14:26:00.000-05:00

Ailing Rose

(5x7", Oil) Price: $100.00

I painted this rose from a photo I took in our friend Nick's backyard. It was a well-formed, gorgeous bloom, except for the brown edges and spots that marred its perfection. Hence the title, 'Ailing Rose'.

I love roses, so you'll probably see a fair few of them on this page as time goes by. Elegant, imperious, romantic, and commanding. They have such history, and a history of lore spreading behind them all the way back into antiquity that makes fascinating reading. They appear as symbols in many a heraldic form, religious symbol, and warrior's banner - be it as a symbol of strength or of purity. Both are represented in the Rose's pantheon of symbology. Mind you, it's my birth flower, so I'm partial, I guess.

Anyway, I painted this rose on a 5x7" gessoed panel. The smoother tooth of the panel was a joy to paint on, but the paint itself is still drying four days later. I took it outside in the sun and photographed it - now it's back to the drying shelf for this little daub. Speaking of which, I always have a fun time painting the foliage around the blooms. Even some of the Burnt Sienna based background still shows through in spots.

So far, I seem to limit myself to about 5-8 colours on the palette while I've been painting these, and mixing from those what I need to. Painting time itself, seems to be rounding out to about two hours per painting. I used a size 4 soft Filbert brush, and size 2 Round brush to complete this piece. Filberts are my favourite brushes!

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 2

2007-01-06T13:34:00.000-05:00

Little Pumpkin and Skull

(6x8", Oil) Price: $75.00

Sorry for the canvas texture on the image, but the scanner insists on highlighting the crossweave, and with the canvas being so small, it's hard to get rid of. I'll work on that. Meanwhile...

I made a mistake with this little chap: I started way too late at night - nearly 10pm - and chose a subject that was something more of a challenge than I realised. I always like to spend quality time painting skulls, if I have to paint them at all, because there's something intrinsic in them that I have trouble translating into paint. Not sure why. This isn't a real skull, anyway. It's a two inch souvenir that my husband picked up when we visited Kents Cavern in Torquay, England last year. Now he really LOVES skulls, and has no trouble painting them at all!

The other problem was the pumpkin. It's one of those mini ones that make great decorations throughout the Fall. However, last year I didn't get to choose the pumpkins myself. So although it's the colour I wanted, the shape wasn't quite 'it'. I persevered until midnight and called it quits because I was getting really sleepy. The painting itself is what I call third-stage-finished - if it had been a real painting created over a few days instead of just a few hours, this would have been the underpainting. An0ther couple of two hour sessions would turn it into a much finer result. However, it's just a sketch, and I'm just getting the hang of this.

Lessons learned:

1. Don't start painting too late in the evening.
2. Don't start painting a complicated subject too late in the evening, unless I'm planning on working on it again the next day.
4. Block off the secondary light source on the other side of the easel, so it doesn't add a backlight to the subject - unless I really intend it to be there, of course.
3. Gesso and sand the canvas supports so they'll be smoother to work on, and to scan.

See you tomorrow,
Marianne

Day 1

2007-01-05T13:43:00.000-05:00

Jaunty Spider Conch

(6x8", Oil) Price: $100.00

Well this is the first of my 'Painting a Day' series. It's a 6x8" oil sketch of a Violet Spider Conch sporting a snipped off peacock feather. I'd had this composition idea for twenty-four hours before I actually set it up to paint - from life. That was a big hurdle for me: steeling myself to do this. It took about two hours of noodling paint around and getting comfortable with it. I deliberately did NOT want to overwork it, so it kind of looks a bit rough. I'm really quite pleased with how it turned out, though. Kind of looks like a lady's spiffy hat, hence the title.

Lessons learned:

1. This can work if I just let myself 'go with it'.

2. Even roughly finished paintings have their charm.

3. Big brushes and little boards can be a lot of fun.

See you tomorrow,

Marianne

INTRODUCTION...Painting a day

2007-01-04T16:07:00.000-05:00

I’ve been watching my husband, Bob, creating a painting a day now for the last 20 days or so and helping him post them on his new blog – Bob’s ART du Jour. And I’ve been asking myself, ‘why can’t I do that too’? Over the last week I’ve looked at my painting table in the studio and been telling myself that I can produce a painting a day too – just a lot smaller. I’ve had a long-standing fear-hurdle of painting from life, and shied away from working on life studies or still life subjects. With the onset of the New Year, I decided to face down that fear and deal with the fact that whatever I produce might not be polished, but it will help discipline my work routines – or should I say, current lack of.

Fear of ‘the blank page’ or fear of ‘the blank canvas’ is something that causes a lot of creators to falter when starting a new project, quite often not starting at all. ‘It’s too hard’, ‘I’ll fail’, or ‘I’m not good enough and it’ll look terrible’ are among the main barriers that I face. And quite often I won’t start a painting or illustration because there’s a heap of reference to get through or I can’t find the right reference or model photo that’s exactly ‘it’. And too often, ‘Life’ gets in the way. Or I’m interrupted at the height of painting fervour and the painting stays on the easel for months waiting for that last lick of a brush to carry it to the ‘finished’ line. So in the last year, I started experimenting with non-genre subjects on a very small scale. Say, 6x8”, 5x7”, and smaller. Now I intend to amp up the ante and produce one a day.

To get the ball rolling and past the procrastination stage, I spent time using up oil paint left over on the palette by creating ready-made ‘backgrounds’. I take a big brush and daub different colours onto a board until I cover it and get a combination I like, then I take up one of my favourite brushes – a big fluffy blending brush – and whisk it lightly over the surface. This blurs and smudges the paint, and looks mysterious. In doing this, I have a backlog of painting surfaces that I can use as a mid-ground for starting a painting – and not have to face the ‘blank white canvas’ fear. The colour combinations tweak my painting senses and I forge ahead. Quite often the background gets painted over completely, but sometimes I work it in with the colours I’m painting with and the ground colours show through. It creates a depth I’m really happy with, especially when painting foliage.

Which brings me to flowers.

While I will experiment with painting objects from life, I will also work my way through about a zillion photos I took of flowers last year. For some reason, I have found that painting flowers, particularly roses, to be very soothing. I’m not sure why. But I rather enjoy painting ‘wet into wet’ in a single session using flowers as a subject. The painting of the yellow Brandy Tea Roses above was the first I actually painted in this fashion – a year ago. Now I’ll be using that technique to carry on with the current daily project.

So check in occasionally and see what I’ve been up to. You’ll be most welcome.

Cheers
Marianne