Pinup

I'm back again with another pin up girl.  This one is sitting outside on a picnic blanket.  She has a basket of fruit a jar and a lollypop.

I'm totally stoked about the blanket, her skirt, legs, and the jar.  I had a bit of trouble with the color of the shadow on her arms and so it is a bit of a drawback for me.  Also, I like the shading of her top, and her bangs.

I tried really hard to make her pretty lifelike.  I think I really got it, save her face.  I know thats a somewhat important part of a painting.  I don't think it turned out too bad, just not quite right.

This one won't be my last, so stay tuned for more pinups.

More Sketching

Another lunchtime sketching session today!  We all walked across campus to the market and sat at picnic tables.  I didn't have the best view, so i decided to paint what was right in front of me, literally.

Ed was busily painting the CAMPUS MARKET sign above the doorway while I was painting him.  When we were done and comparing paintings, we all had a good chuckle over my painting of Ed.

Yes, I know that the painting is completely bisected by the umbrella pole, that is kind of the point.  We are trying to paint exactly what we see.  I could have looked around the pole to paint Ed, but for what we were doing this is much more accurate, fun and funny.

I'm having just a bit of trouble with this paint kit.  I feel like the paint is either too strong or too weak, and I can't quite get it right.  The background in this painting should have been weaker to push it back further, and the cement table should have been a bit darker to bring it forward.  Well, live and learn.  It was still fun.

Camping, VW Style

SOLD!

Yes, Yes, Yes, I know I have painted this picture before.  I originally saw the photo that this was taken from and thought of my neighbors Jim and Karen.  They have a VW very similar to this, and go camping once a month or so.  The first rendition of this was OK, but that was the problem with it.  It was just OK.  There was nothing special about it at all.  This one is far and away better. Im working hard to allow the paint to mix on the paper instead of in the palette and I think I accomplished that.

I started this painting by putting down a light wash of yellow and green.  It covered everything except the person sitting at the picnic table and the posts.  After looking at it I panicked.  I needed to have the roof of the camper white.  I put a second layer on everything except the van and the person and the posts.  Still the roofline looked yellow.  I painted the van.  Still the roof looked yellow.  Everything looked yellow.  I painted the trees. Suddenly, not everything looked yellow.  The van actually stood out away from the background.  and there was a clear break between the hills in the distance and the camping space.  The trees worked great to break up the picture and give it the depth it needed.

After painting the posts, the picnic table and the person, I looked again.  Not too bad.  I might actually be getting the hang of this.  I put the shadows on, and the grass around the posts and that's a wrap.  I like the way it look.  The mostly brownish grass is exactly what we have out here.  It really looks like this could be a campsite on the central coast.

I'm hoping to see Jim and Karen this weekend so I can give this to them.  Hope they like it.  Hope you all enjoy it.  I had fun painting it.

Camping, VW Style

From the moment I saw this picture I thought of my neighbors.  They are quite old, and only live in California half of the year, but while they are here they do a fair bit of camping.  They have a brown VW Vanagon in their garage, and about every other weekend they get away for a little camping.   I don't really know if theirs is a pop up or not.

I painted this picture to give to them when they make it back to the Golden State.  But now that I am looking at it, I'll never be able to give it to them in this state.  I seem to ha ve forgotten to put shadows on this painting.  Shadows are always the last thing that you add, and oops....  Well, it wont take to too long.  It really is amazing how much interest a few shadow lines will put into a painting.

Well, I hope you all enjoy it, I'm off to add sahadows.

New Sketches

Two buildings from the Engineering complex here on campus.  I couldn't tell yo the names of them, but I can tell you they have some fun angles to try to paint.  I think these are really fun and I can't wait to get out and paint more of the campus.  While I was painting, a student happened along and stopped to look over my shoulder for a few minutes.  Truthfully, I was getting a little annoyed, when he said, "Those are looking pretty good" and went about his way.  

Hope you enjoy them too.