Loading Dock Oil 8x10

I wanted to keep this painting fresh by not overdoing my paint application. I like an orange underpainting (which was dry) because it really vibrates the sky color. I used a mixture of Ultramarine, Viridian and Alizarin to lay in the dark shapes in one take. For some reason, I have strayed from this mixture and it feels like coming home to use it. It's a very versatile transparent dark and you can lean it towards any of the three colors. By adding white and some orange you get beautiful harmonious grays throughout the painting. I used an appropriate amount of red in my greens to push them back in the frame, and applied my paint stroke by stroke, wiping my brushes in between to keep the color fresh. I was never a one brush painter because some colors just need to be separated, but there is something to be said about limiting brushes to a few to keep the color harmonious. My husband thinks that the building needs some windows on the right side, but I just want to darken it with very carefully placed brushmarks to set it back more. It's too light to be the shadow side of the building. Maybe another stroke on the truck too. What do you think?

Cedgie 8x10 watercolor

This is a little Brussels Griffon doggie named Cedgie who belongs to my friend JoJo.

The Daily News

I did this little watercolor in conjunction with Karin Jurick's Different Strokes from Different Folks blog. Go on over and check it out. See my paintings for sale at Daily Painter's Marketplace.

Loading Dock Watercolor 8x10

Another homage to old factory buildings. I can't help myself. Anyone want to weigh in on the tree shape in the middle? It started as a tree from the foreground and I later realized that it wasn't as logical as I'd like it to be. So I cropped. This is a scene I'll do again when those trees start turning.

The Full Monty

This sweet little cottage colony in Dennisport, Massachusetts, started out as tents in a campground, circa 1940's, and morphed into charming one or two room seasonal cottages. Here I am trying to work the cloudy gray day into a marvelous painting. Didn't happen, but I had fun. The real highlight was meeting Monty the sweet bulldog, whose photo I also posted at Not Really A Cleaning Lady.

The Ocean State

The great thing about New England is that the entire six state region is about 70,000 square miles which is only a bit larger than the State of New York. You can drive to destinations by the ocean or to rivers, lakes, mountains and forests in a matter of hours . It's all here. Yesterday was a picture perfect day to paint in Rhode Island, about an hour South of my home. Tiverton and Little Compton are located along the Sakonnet River. which abounds with rolling farmland with river and ocean views, incredible stone walls of yesteryear, old barns and sheds, Farm stands, harbors with boats, lots of livestock and rolled up bales of hay. We spent the day like tourists exclaiming over the light, the views, the animals, the water! I managed to get this small (2.75 x 2.75) sketch done before the boat pulled away from the dock and later on I managed to just catch the sunset over the marsh using a real cigar box palette that I picked up at a tobacco store. No set up. Put your stuff on the trunk or open hatchback and stand there. I keep it in the fridge in between uses. This was a perfect day.

Sunflowers #3 Oil 9x12

I started this one last summer and stayed up half the night putting a finish on it after practicing Sunflowers all week. This beautiful embossed pitcher was a bargain at Nobles Camera and Gifts in Hingham last summer. I love it.

Sunflowers in Aqua Glass Pitcher W/C 8x10

My Sunflowers are still robust after a week. I am trimming the stems every other day and using the flower crystals, but really, a week is long for Sunflowers. That being the case, there was only one choice of subject matter today.

Sunflowers Watercolor

I started this watercolor a few days ago and finished it this morning. The sunflowers that are modeling for me are spectacular. I bought them last Thursday and the heads are still magnificent. So I better paint faster. I'm listing this over at Daily Painters Marketplace.