Copper and Onions

This is the most extensive "onion" painting I've ever done.  I used the studies I completed of the red and yellow onions and the copper tea kettle.

 A fresh start on a newly stretched canvas.  It doesn't get better than that.

Last Light

We had a great sunset here in San Antonio.  Luckily I was out there to catch it. I think about all the sunset opportunities I've missed.  Mostly it's a distance thing.  I don't want to drive 20 miles out of town to paint a sunset and risk not finding a place.  As pretty as San Antonio is, I think the Hill Country is a lot prettier with mountains off in the distance.  The Hill Country is closer to Austin.  I just need to find more places close to home.  This painting was done almost a block away from where I live.
I used a different linen than I normally use.  That's why it probably looks different than my other work.

Copper Tea Kettle - SOLD

I was really happy with the way it turned out.  Midway through a painting I tend to have my doubt.

 The beginning of a painting always fills me with hope and excitement.

 I'm getting that loose brushwork in the background.

 I decided I need to go darker in the background and incorporate some of the green I was seeing..

 Blocking in the tea kettle.

 I'm starting to wipe away my lights with a paper towel.

Pretty much done at this point.  I may have skipped a few steps but I tend to get engrossed in my work.

Red Onions

This is my red onion version of the last onion painting.  I set them up virtually in the same way.  It's been over a week since I bought these and set them up to paint.  However, I've been working on other things like cleaning my studio.

 The setup.

 The block-in and establishing my darks.

Evening in San Antonio

This was a 30 minute sunset study at Mission San Juan in San Antonio.  I was trying to paint the Mission when I decided to stop and paint this tree instead for half an hour.

Here's my set up at the Mission.  I was still an hour away from sunset so I walked 10 feet to my left and saw a great subject ready to be painted.

Evening Rain

This was long before the San Antonio hail storm that happened at 10:00pm.  I was out painting around 5:30pm and got back home at 7:00pm.  I was originally going to wait for sunset but I figured the storm clouds would cover it up. We had a windshield break on our car and some damage to the car exterior, but luckily that was the worst of it.
SOLD.

Yellow Onions

The first time I painted from life, I chose onions.  Now I've been painting onions off and on for 10 years.  They remain one of my favorite subjects.  I think you can tell by this painting how much I enjoy painting them.  I was going to crop this to a 6"x6" but decided to keep it the original size of 7"x7".

Sunflower in Warm Light

This was painted with a direct warm light on the sunflower.  I really wanted to focus on the light and how beautiful this sunflower was.

SOLD

Roses and Gold

I like to play around with different lighting. This was a warm yellow/green light. I turned down the intensity because I wanted a more harmonious color scheme. These roses are probably the same ones from the last painting.  I bought four roses on Tuesday and I've used them for two small paintings.
SOLD

Rose Study - Cool light

 

  On Tuesdays it's dollar roses at Central Market.  I've made that an informal tradition for a couple of years now (I don't go every Tuesday but I think about it).  I generally prefer the bigger roses.  The ones they sell in a bunch are the smaller buds.
   I didn't start painting these roses until today. I woke up at 7am and made coffee.  The cat actually wakes me up by walking over me and jumping off the bed, making a loud "thud". Then once I'm up she wants her treats and if it's cold I have to hold her.
  Once I got in my studio, I looked at the setup and chose an aqua green light.  Two hours later I wiped the painting away because I could not recreate that color on my pallet.  Sure I should have seen that in the beginning but I thought I could get away with it if the values were correct. So, what I was painting was not exactly what I was seeing.  I then switched to a soft cool white light. After that the painting went a lot easier.

  Mine are in there somewhere.

Lighted Tea Cup

As I scrutinized this tea cup before I started, I asked myself "what is it about this tea cup I want my viewer to see?" The challenge is to find beauty in a subject and transfer that to your canvas. I thought some more and played with different lighting. This time I chose a soft green light.
SOLD

Cincinnati Radishes

 

If I'm going to paint vegetables or fruit (rarely together), I'll probably visit Central Market in Alamo Heights.  They keep their produce in a more fresh from the farm state.  As I walked around, a purple colored bunch of radishes caught my eye.  I said to myself "that might make a great addition to a still life".  Hours later, in my studio, I placed them next to the copper bowl and it looked a bit contrived.  Instead, I picked them up and let them fall naturally.  Then I placed the bowl where I wanted it.  

SOLD!

This was taken as I was blocking in the darks and drawing out the composition.

  

 

Now I've got everything blocked in.  I did my first hard edge on the bottom of the lower middle raddish. 

I took this picture so I'd remember the exact name of the vegetable I bought.