an arting life
Last evening’s sunset was another rich tapestry of colors. Mostly, I wanted to capture the delicious lavender colors in the sky, accented by pinks and yellows. More and more, I’m introducing intense colors and odd juxtapositions as I see them. Sketches – including this one – look absolutely amazing at 30 feet. Up close… the…
This is one of my few recent oil sketches. That’s partly because the skies have been either overcast or cloud-free, and not very interesting for my approach to landscapes. Also, the past few weeks have been a little somber for me. Last Friday (March 11th) was my late mother’s birthday. I’m still getting used to…
A recent, surprise snowstorm presented another opportunity to paint the frosted scene outside my window. The painting — not yet finished — is an oil painting on 9″ x 12″ canvas board. Before I say that this painting is completed, I’d like to try indicating the falling snow. However, I’m not sure that’s a good…
The wooded landscape across the street from our home is intriguing. It offers such depth, I haven’t been quite sure how to capture the trees as well as the colorful skies behind them, especially in the afternoon. In early January, I tried a quick sketch in oils. That’s it on the lower right. It was…
Lately, I’m drawn to the wooded landscape on one side of our home. During the afternoons, the sunlight gleams through the trees. Often, it’s almost a pure white light, with just a hint of yellow. It can be so bright, I have to look away almost immediately. However, the shadows — especially on a snowy…
After reading Whistler’s defense of his Nocturne series*, I was inspired to paint exactly what I saw outside my living room, after dark. The sketch isn’t elegant or detailed, but it does convey the impression of the scene that night. My husband commented that it was probably the best that streetlight had ever looked. Okay,…
This painting began as a sketch on March 2010. It was okay… but not great. A couple of weeks ago, I decided that it wasn’t a complete waste of a canvas, but it could be improved. With a few tweaks, revising the painting, I was pleased with the results. Then, during this past weekend, I…
Sunrises in NH can display the most amazing colors. The peaches and sherbet-pink colors from the rising sun… they’re often astonishing. This is an 8″ x 10″ oil painting of the sunrise on February 3rd. For just a few minutes, the clouds seemed to come alive with color, like a daytime aurora borealis. When I…
Sometimes I forget that others — even those who work with color studies — may not “see” the art in some of my more urgent, sometimes fragmented works. Here’s how one color study is leading to a series of landscape paintings. The large photo shows my nearly-finished oil sketch. I painted it this morning. It’s…
Yesterday during the late afternoon, a snow storm brushed us. It didn’t leave much snow, but the clouds had looked ominous as they passed overhead. As the sky began to clear, revealing a very pale pink sunset, I grabbed an 8″ x 10″ canvas board and quickly captured the colors in oil paints. The photo…
As an artist, this is interesting. I feel as if I’m finding my personal voice in terms of influences: Impressionism v. Tonalist & Luminist art. (Those links open in a new window and take you to Wikipedia.) For me, Impressionism includes apparently disconnected colors & textures (at least, up close) that create the visual and…
Sometimes I look at an older painting and it’s lacking something. Oh, it’s often “nice enough,” but… well, that’s not enough for me unless it was just a quick sketch. My March 2010 painting, Spring is on the way, was like that. It just didn’t have the oomph that I wanted; that may be partly…