Women

Trying to advance on the field and clouds.

Women progress

Still adding color.

Women planting

I worked on filling in more of the blank canvas. I am enjoying all the bright colors.

Plein air in Etla

I went plein air painting today with my friend Judith and another painter, Mary Jo, who teaches painting at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. She is on sabbatical. It is beautiful out there. You would remember it, Jane. It is where we painted the haystack.

Putting on paint

I more or less finished the sketch and couldn't help myself from starting to add color (no self control!). I am excited to get into the painting.

Sketch on canvas

I am trying to work out a sketch for a new painting...I am using different photos of the women from different angles which makes it a little tricky.

Still on clouds

A new version of the clouds. Still working on it.

Sketch

I am trying to use elements from different photographs to come up with a composition for a new painting. This is of the women planting flowers.

Continuing the dog portraits ...

This shows the second and third day of painting. I didn't take a photo of the first day but it was just the drawing blocked in with yellow ochre and burnt sienna. I didn't like the darker background on the first one.

Cloud progression

Thanks Gay for your encouragement. I am continuing to try and make the clouds look realistic. I find it very difficult. I am looking at actual clouds, photographs of clouds and paintings of clouds to get inspiration and ideas.

Big Clouds

I tried subtle clouds but when I looked out my window I realized that Oaxaca IS big clouds so I have to put them in...in some shape or form.

No clouds

I became frustrated with the heaviness of the clouds so I have taken them out to start fresh. I plan to put some subtle clouds in when the sky dries.

First Day on Funny Face

Red Earth

The red field seemed too red and too dark...

New Approach

Felt that the sky was too overcast for such bright land so am trying a brighter sky.

Sky

Working on the clouds and mountain.

Land

Working around the painting on color and details.

Clouds

Am working on the sky.

The Road

Working on the road.

And yet another dog.....

Jim's sister asked me to paint Sonora as a Christmas gift for her good friends there in Tucson.

Road to San Bartolome

I decided to try and get back into painting by doing a landscape without any people. This is in the same theme as the series with the corn but I've decided to expand the series to include different aspects of the village and village life. I want to paint the women who plant and tend flowers, the men who make adobe bricks, roads to and from the village and people in the village and in their homes.

Lolly again

I had made notes of changes I wanted to make.  I did the best I could.  It is almost finished.  David does not like the red outline.  I do.  What say you?

Lolly

When I went to visit my grandmother I realized that she was so in love with her dog that the best present would be a portrait of Lolly.  Thanks to Gay, I had seen colormutts and loved the way the dogs looked with the red outline and underpainting so I am trying it.  I did a sketch, then painted red around it, though I now realize it would be better to do the red first.  Let it dry and then did a pass with color.  I will let that dry and do another pass tomorrow.

Cosechando

This is almost identical but for a few details in the clothes and corn.  I need to finish it by Wednesday to be framed so if you have any thoughts, they would be really helpful now.  Thanks.

Cosechando

David took the girls to the zocalo while I painted.  I am still trying to add detail to the landscape and the women.  And get the contrast right without loosing too much color on their clothes.

Harvesters 2

I put all the colors in and now I am trying to correct them and add detail.

Harvesters

I did the drawing from the sketch and then started putting in the colors.

Cloud over Bear Mountain

Another small study - I'm trying to keep my colors clear since I tend to muddy them so often!

Moon Rise Sunset

A small study in warm and cools 6 x 8.

Gleaners

Using my small sketch and the union jack I drew out the "Gleaners".  I will give it more detail before starting to add paint.

Sky

This morning I saw a painting with a sky I really loved so I decided to try an early morning yellow sky.  The yellow does not come across in the photograph very well.  I also muted the green field in the background to match the time of year.  It was too green.

Putting aside

I am going to put this one aside and work on the women "gleaning" and then to return to this to finish it.  

Man and ground

Still trying to give detail to the face and ground as well as the right values.

Man's Face

I worked on making the man really look like Senor Amador.  My picture came out blurry but you can get an idea.

Layering

Now I am trying to layer the ground with different colors but I have to wait for each to dry.  I am also trying to get the man's face to look more  dimensional.

Background

Working on the mountains and the man in front.

Working

Adding detail and trying to get man's face right.

I am working on adding more details and getting the palette right.

Palette

I am now trying to work out the color palette.  I really love the colors of the little painting on my easel that is Diego Rivera's so I am using his palette as a model.

Test Photo

Actually, I'm painting on this again right now. It will probably still be wet when I give it to my cousin - ha! Elizabeth, I just signed in as usual and clicked on new post and it seemed to work fine so not sure what's happening. Try it again and let me know. ~Gay

I just added the top photo after I sent you the email about Draft versions. Not sure I like the rug better or not but I'm running out of time....

Zacate

When I got home I had a sketch that I really liked and wanted to copy but I had already started the painting with a pencil drawing on a 60x70 canvas.  I first tried to accomodate my new sketch to the 60x70 canvas but the proportions were wrong.  I was impatient and did not finish the drawing before adding color.  It was not working.  So I decided to start from scratch, get a canvas made with the correct proportions and do the "union Jack" technique of making the grid on the sketch and the larger canvas and that way copy the sketch exactly.  It feels right now.

Okay guys ....

I want to see some paintings from you two! :-)

Yellow Tulips 2

More tulips ...

Diana's Christmas Ornaments

I've been picking at this one for a long time - it's definitely time to stop and move on. This collection of ornaments belongs to my friend, Diana. The bell is over 100 years old and was her mother's favorite. This is a long overdue Christmas present to Diana.

Birthday Cupcake

Birthday lunch tomorrow for my friend, Rebecca. Decided to attempt a "quick" study of a cupcake - that meant 4 hours for this 6 x 8. I started with only one cherry on top but liked doing them so I got carried away and kept adding more. At least I painted today.

Yellow Tulips 1

When I got together with Jane last week, we felt we needed to just get back into the feel of painting without thinking too much so we picked small paintings to copy. This one started out as one of Julian's daffodils but when I got home I bought some tulips and painted them in. I'm going to do another one of the tulips with a light background. I'm interested in practicing on the hard shiny quality of glass along side the soft edges of the flowers. I'm going to have to work on a better arrangement of leaves in the next one.