#54 'Two Pink Jugs' 6x6"

I finished my colour studies this morning and wanted to use some of the lovely pinks and violets I had mixed. So this is the result of it! I didn't have many pink pots or jugs in my supply so adapted what I had, see photo below to what they really looked like!

They had unusual shaped spouts which made it interesting to paint. I also accenturated the size and shapes of the jugs to make a more pleasing composition. The main colours I used are: Magenta and Ultramarine with a little Cadmium Yellow Pale.

Colour Mixing Studies 'Green & Violet'

These two sets of colour charts took me two and a half days to complete! Very labour intensive but worth it, as it tunes up my mixing skills and I will use the charts for years to come for my own practise and in teaching.

They complete the Secondary colour mixing using all the colours on my palette (mainly Primaries.)

The above mixes are VIOLETS the colours I used are -

Cadmium Red, Crimson, Magenta

Mixed with:

Cerulean Blue, Pthalo Blue, Cobalt, Ultramarine, Blue-Violet & Violet 

Because Violets tend be naturally dark in tone I have marked a lighter tone next to some mixes.

The above mixes are GREENS the colours I used are - 

Cadmium Yellow Pale, Cadmium Yellow, Camium Yellow Deep, Yellow Ochre

Mixed with:

Cerulen Blue, Phathlo Blue, Cobalt, Ultramarine, Blue-Violet

You can see there are crisp acidic greens compared with the Cadmium Yellow Pale mixes and earthy-dirty greens with the Yellow Ochre mixes.

Colour Mixing Studies 'Oranges'

I am using my time off teaching this Easter to work on colour mixing & studies for my own painting progression and as an teaching aid.

The above is my palette with 4 yellows and 4 reds all mixed together to create -
ORANGES, 3 versions: Yellow-Orange, Orange & Red Orange

I want to improve on speed of colour mixing when I paint and having a chart to help me with colour combinations and comparisons at a glance. 

I will do more charts for my other 'Secondary' Colours - Violets and Greens.

Colours I used today are:

YELLOWS

Cadmium Yellow Pale

Cadmium Yellow 

Cadmium Yellow Deep

Yellow Ochre

REDS

Cadmium Red

Crimson

Magenta

Burnt Sienna

I used 24 different brushes to do these charts! - Which keeps the colours clean 

#53 'Terry's Chocolate Orange' 4x4"

This is my "Easter Egg' from my husband so I thought I'd paint it! - and of course eat it later :-)

Some tough areas to work out, simplifying the silver foil wrapper but still showing the complexity and tones of the crimples. I haven't painted chocolate before, to get the rich chocolaty colours but also show the segments. I especially liked doing the label and the rich yellow-orange of the wrapper. The writing on the label only needs to be suggested and not properly written as it still looks like writing when it's a squiggle!

My dog Matte has been really poorly after his op last week hence not much painting, he's now hopefully on the mend.

#52 'Yellow & Blue Jug' 4x4"

A small painting today as I am looking after my dog who had an op on Monday. 
Loose brush and emphasising the shape of the bellied pot.
I used Blue-Violet and Cadmium Yellow Pale, plus some Cad Red, limiting the colours helps to add harmony.

Matte in my studio with his red electric blanket!

#51 'Adidas Boots' 6x6"

These boots were a challenge to paint especially the laces! But I enjoyed all the different elements. 
I set up a casual composition as though they'd been taken off and left. The material is suede so there wasn't a shine or highlights. I worked on the different tones and undulations of the material. 
I could have kept tweaking and fussing but didn't want to overwork it and you got to know when to stop! I am pleased with the outcome.

#50 'Earthenware Pots' 6x6"

I like the chunky earthen ware feel to these pots and not colours I usually choose.
They not fine china so I painted them quite loose and brushy. I decided on the blue background as a last minute after I'd painted the inside of the yellow pot, it seamed a good colour base to expand on.
Happy to make it to 50 paintings! Getting quite a collection in my studio now, I'm enjoying the variety of subjects and still the challenge of painting them :-)

#49 'Bramshott Common' 4x9.5"

I was out early painting this scene, it's one I see when I walk my dog. I did a sketch of it a while ago.

I was hesitant when I first arrived this morning as the scene was quite subdued with muted colours and no direct sunlight. See the photo below.  I decided to still paint it but intensify the colours that were there. I really like the shape of the silhouetted pine trees so made them a bit bigger than they were.The sky was nothingy so I put a warm apricot - a colour from some trees and put it behind the pines this also emphasised them (the camera didn't pick up this colour very well.) 

I am pleased with the final result especially considering what I was looking at!

'Waggoners Wells' Sketch 7x9"

It was such a sunny day I had to get out and enjoy it. I didn't have the energy to do a painting after teaching this mornings class so I thought I do a sketch in preparation for a painting later.
Waggoners Wells are down the road from us, some lovely reflections in the 3 ponds there. 
I liked the wooden old bridge and shapes of the silhouetted trees. I drew it in a charcoal pencil which is great for dense darks and not to fine details. I will definitely go back and paint this scene.

#48 'Mushrooms' 4x6" and 4x4"

These paintings are an aid for my students in next weeks class. They will be painting mushrooms and practise mixing greys and browns from the 3 primary colours - Red, Yellow & Blue and focusing on tone, the light and shade of an object.

They were a good challenge for me too! Observing subtle tonal changes and I enjoyed the rounded shapes and cut in half mushroom :-)

#47 'Frensham Little Pond' 6x8"

I waited till the fog had cleared where we live and drove the 15 minutes to this pond. It was still foggy but actually looked really atmospheric and pretty. By the time I was ready to paint a lot of the fog had cleared but I still kept it quite tonal. I simplified the tree shapes and little house. The reeds were a a lovely yellow ochre colour - which I mixed with my three primary colours. 
It felt a very tranquil spot even with the many dogs and people passing and I will definitely do more in this area. 

#46 'Turquoise Pots' 6x6"

I love these colours! I decided to harmonise with a similar colour background. The composition isn't one I usually do from above, I will experiment from the side view too. 
I used a colour I haven't tried before 'Phthalo Blue' a very strong turquoise great for these sorts of colours. 
I'm pleased with the loosenes of the brush work, not being to fussy but still getting some finishing detail.

#45 "Red Onions' 6x6"

This one is for my students and our class next week. We'll be working on Complementary colours of Red-Violet and Yellow-Green they go together well and tone (light & dark) in colour.

I peeled one layer off the onion to revel a shiney richer surface. I like the top and bottom of the onion and they were the fun bits to paint.

I painted a red onion in the beginning of my daily painting no.6 nearly 40 paintings later there is a difference! Painting small and often definitely improves your skills :-) 

#44 'Sky Studies' 3x4"

These two little studies I painted from my studio window. Great light, with scudding clouds across the sky, although each time I looked out to observe them they had moved! I quickly sketched the main shapes in with the lightest tone and then built from there.

Fun to do and will do more, it's great practise to paint skies from life.

#43 "Devil's Punch Bowl' 6x8"

I started this with bright sunshine and fluffy clouds and as I finished it started to snow! (V. Bitter!)
My emphasis was on the sky today, so I made it a bigger proportion of the painting. I did the clouds first and then the sky around them, see pic below. 
I wanted to give a feeling of space and distance. I also made sure you could see the light shining on the trees.
I feel blessed that this National Trust 'beauty spot' is only a few minutes drive from my house, it's great for sky scapes :-)

#42 'Mary Janes' 6x6"

I enjoyed painting these shoes. Although I felt a little daunted in the beginning as I have not painted shoes before but I just broke them down into shapes and didn't think of them as shoes! And then as I'm painting the shoes appear - and the're so cute :-) 
Patent material is very shiney but also quite dark in places, and interesting shadows too.