Red, Ripe, Delicious

MMMMMMM, tomatoes.  Yesterdays were green, todays are nice an ripe.  Still working on making round objects round.  The tomatoes are a prefect test for me.  Not only are they round, but most tomatoes have some yellow, orange and red all mixed together.  So I get to see how well I can allow the paints to flow into one another. I think I did a fair job of this.  Please let me know what you think.

Tomatoes anyone?

I wanted to accent the green of the leaves and tomatoes with a nice blueish/purpleish color, but I think I got it too dark.  Well, it does really set off the green and make it pop off the page.

This one was really fun to paint.  It was a challenge to try to get all the greens side by side so that you could actually tell where one leaf or tomato stopped and the next started.  Im really happy with this.  I didn't need to line everything in black and you can see all the shapes and make everything out.

Hope you all enjoy this one.

PAC Center

This is a quick little painting I did of the PAC.  The Performing Arts Center.  People seem to call it the PAC Center for some reason.  Really they ought to call it the PA Center.  There are some dorms that really should be behind the trees on the left hand sid, but I took a little license.  And there should be some mountains behind the trees as well, but......  I think i did  a great job with everything I did put in.  Looking back a t the picture, the only thing i forgot to put on are some shadows across the sidewalk.  enjoy it.

Morro Bay City Limits

Yes, this is Morro Bay.  I know there was some question about what this painting is.  This was painted from a picture taken in Morro Strand.  You actually have the city limit sign with some bushes behind it, and the rock in the background.

The thing I like least about this painting is the sign.  I thought for sure I would like it best when I was drawing it.  As it turned out, painting around all the letters was pretty difficult.  I think I'm getting much better at letting the paint mix on the paper.  If you look at the bush behind the sign, there are lots of different colors, brom yellows to greens, blues and purples.  They all seem to work together to give you the feeling of a huge bush.  and if you look at the ground around the bush, it is blue at the top, which pushes it back, and has a reddish tint on the bottom which serves to pull that area forward.

Hope you all enjoy this.  It was fun to draw and paint.

Campus Market

Can you guess what this is a picture of?  Yes, you got it, the Campus Market.  And guess what else, they have a potato bar.  Woooo Hooo.   I love the look of the metal, stone and glass on this  building.  I tried to do it justice.  In reality there are a few picnic tables in front of the building, but I tried to draw them and it got to be just a bit too much, so I left them off.  Looking back now, it really could use something in the lower right hand corner to balance the picture out a bit.

random weekend sketching

These are just some pictures that I painted over the weekend.  The top of a chair with a red box on it.





The lamp hanging in the corner of the living room.



These are some of the plants growing in my front yard.  Not sure what all of them are called.

 These are some of the plants growing in my front yard.  Not sure what all of them are called.







This is the tree from across the street.

This is the lamp from the dining room.

Can you spot the glaring problem with this painting

There is one huge problem with this picture.  Can you spot it?  I know that technically There are some problems with the picture, but there is one huge problem.  I didn't realize I had done it until it was time to scan the painting.

I on looking at this painting again, I think I need a shadow from the large pine tree on the left hand side.  I could go back and add that in later.  It's funny what you notice while you are painting and what you dont recognize until later.

buffalo wings

Today the Cal Poly Urban Sketchers met in the Biological Sciences Museum to do a little sketching.  After looking around at all the animal heads on the wall, I settled on this.  It is an African Buffalo.  It is really a dark brindle color, but I didn't want to make it quite that dark for fear of it becoming too dark.  I think this way it gets the point across.

As you can tell, it's really just a head.  It is hanging over the door, which i neglected to put into the picture.  From the size of the head, I have to believe that the beast is enormous with the hind 3/4 attached.  I definitely think our group will be back to paint again really soon.

Cotchett Education Building

This is the Cotchett Education Building on Cal Poly's campus.  In the foreground you can just see the word Design, which is on the Architecture Building.  Expect to see a picture or two of that building in the coming weeks.

I love the way the trees turned out on this picture.  They look like they have movement and life too them.  I also like the purple plants in the planter in front of the word design.  

In judging this one I think I should have made the shadows on the building darker. I think that would have given more definition to the building.  Also, I think I am gonna start to draw in pen so that I can get leaves on the trees.  As you can see I have loose drawings underneath the paint.  Drawing it this way allows me to have a general shape to the tree, but not get bogged down with a "tree" shape so that I can then just put the color on and let the tree become a tree.    Hope you all enjoy this.

Vineyard

I was asked by a friend to paint a vineyard, barn, or boat.  I've done a few of each with varying degrees of success.  I decided to take up the challenge of a vineyard for her.   This is one attempt.  Actually this is a picture of a vineyard in the Paso Robles area, about 40 minutes from where I sit typing this.  It won't be my last attempt at painting a vineyard.  Like with all of my paintings, I think that I am getting better at painting them.  I might end up just doing a bit of pen outlining on this one to give some definition to the grape leaves in the foreground.  If I make any changes, I'll repost.  Hope you enjoy.

Another Clock

Here is the latest clock to come from Dabfly Arts. This one, as you can see, has a microchip where each number on a traditional clock face would be.  There are 12 hard drive controllers around the outside.  A piece of clear plexy holds the hard drive platter in place so it appears to be floating in the center of the clock.

Anyone Recognize This House?

Yes it is the pride of west Michigan.  It is, of course, The Buckeye House.

Natural History Museum

This is, as the title says, the Natural History Museum in Morro Bay.  It really does sit atop a little cliff overlooking the bay.  It has stunning views and when the tide is out, like in this picture, the rocks at the the base of the cliff are visible.  I think I made the building a little small in this picture, but I'll get it all right at some point.  Just gonna keep working at it.  If I were to turn about 160 degrees to my right from where I was standing to take this picture, I would have Morro Bay rock directly in front of me.

I really like the look of this building sitting up there and am going to keep painting it until I get it right.  Oh, and by the way, until the 1950's, this was the clubhouse for Morro Bay Golf Course.

Gus's Grocery

Ok, I will admit, Gus's isn't in Morro Bay, it's in San Luis, but its an institution and everyone knows it.  I had to give it a try.  Incidentally, if you want a great sub, Gus's is the place to go.

Some good and some bad on this one, just like the rest.  Seeing the scanned image, i can tell my perspective is still off a bit, but I don't think it really takes away from the picture all that much.  Some good coloring on the trees, and a bit ont he brick on the front of the store.  The stucco, I feel like I am having trouble with.  Soooooooooooooo many of the building here are all stucco, and if you know me, you know that i think stucco is like the laziest way to finish a building.  It rarely ever looks good.  Maybe I feel I am having a little trouble painting it because of the way I feel about it.    After painting the Bayside, I was told that if I made the windows totally dark, or black, that they would be much more dramatic.  I have to say, That was some good advice.  Well, I hope you all enjoy the painting.