Another Happy Face

In my last post, I mentioned a dog painting I did that I called Happy Face.  This is it, although, I am afraid it is a little washed out from the original.  I wish I knew how ro adjust the color in photoshop to add more gold and tone down the blue a bit..  No matter, I am not selling it here....
It was fun to paint.  Have you ever seen a Golden Retriever without a happy face?  They are always smiling. 

Happy faces

I recently  finished a painting of a Golden Retriever that I called Happy Face, (because Goldens are always happy!)   But after painting these flowers today, I decided "Happy Faces" would be a good title for this one too!  One of the artists in our co-op gallery had brought these sunflowers in, and as I had to work there today, I took my paints with me and did a couple of quick little paintings of them.  I don't very often do flowers, but these were fun! 

One day I will take a Karin Jurick workshop!

I started out painting landscapes, mostly because it scared me to paint people, but now I really enjoy figurative work.  I would love to take a workshop from Karin Jurick or from Michelle Torrez.  One of these days! 
When we were in New Zealand in March and April, we visited an island bird sanctuary called Tiri Tiri Matangi.  Lots of schools take groups of kids there on field trips as they have a lot of native birds there that are very threatened.  As we were getting ready to leave on the ferry, these kids from Parnell school were killing time by "chucking stones into the sea".  I took lots of photos of them and was taken with this little boy as he seemed to be a bit left out by the older girls.  Note the school uniforms and the hats, a required part of the uniform.   New Zealand is right under the hole in the ozone layer and melanoma is a concern there. 

Another from New Zealand

I have been back from New Zealand for about a month now and am getting ready for my month as featured artist at my gallery in Breckenridge. This is a little 6x8 called Angry Seas that I did in NZ. It will be on display and for sale at the gallery in June. I am running around picking up frames, framing paintings up and trying to paint new ones too. But I am managing to get some new work done. My sister Adele Earnshaw will be here at the end of June and we are doing an outdoor show together, so with both shows going on, I will be needing plenty of work.

A figurative painting for a change

I have been going through the photos I took in New Zealand as I want to do a few pieces from there, but paintings that could be anywhere.  I watched several little kids with an eye to getting some good reference, and got some shots of this kid as he played with his boat in the water.  I was hoping no parents noticed as I didn't want to have to explain why I was photographing their kids!    It is just a little 6x8.  I really enjoy painting figurative work. 

A quick oil sketch

I have been participating in a group who is trying to paint from life, every day. The every day part is tough and I haven't been good about doing it that often. It is still a bit cold in the mountains of Colorado to get outside to paint. I have three cats, so decided they will be good subjects during nap time. Today I must have been too noisy as they kept moving. I wiped off two starts when my subject left, and started two more which never did get finished. This one isn't finished either, but I liked my start so won't wipe it off. I just wish I had wiped out the sketch lines of the parallel angles in the bottom center. I didn't notice them until I photographed it. It is amazing how many things show up in a photo that you don't notice while you are working on it.

New Zealand in summer, a great time to paint!

We have been in New Zealand for almost 6 weeks now and will be leaving a week from today.

I have loved being here and plan on coming back next year to do it all over again, but it will be good to get home. I have tried to paint every day, although it has been very rainy and I cannot paint inside in our rented house, so it has limited me. Still, I got a couple of dozen small paintings done. I don't necessarily want anyone to see them all, but this is one that came out ok. The photo is a bit washed out and perhaps I should have darkened it before posting, but I really don't like to manipulate the photos and prefer to just post what I get. If I want a better photo, I should get a better photographer! ;)