#283-287 Five Paintings in One Day - Beware the Ides of March!!! 3/15/2020

I never got out of my pj's today.  There's a pandemic afoot, the president said stay home, self-quarantine, so I never left the living room or kitchen really.  I'm sneezing, but I think it is due to the pollen, not Covid19.  Dave went to Safeway and Cosco - thinking that perhaps he should bring home some meat.  We're good on toilet paper, so I think he felt like he needed to be doing something to prep for the "disaster of the pandemic".  The only meat at Safeway was 3 expensive cuts of beef - a porterhouse steak and 2 packs of short-ribs.  The meat department was cleaned out, the cleaning supplies cleaned out, the bottled water cleaned out, the TP an PT cleaned out.  So, we'll be eating well the next few nights with our expensive beef cuts.

I started painting today with the sea turtle.  I love the underwater photo, with the reflections on the water's surface.  This one took the longest of the 5 that I painted today, so it's a good thing I started with it, otherwise I likely wouldn't have finished it.  I wanted to paint all the rocks on the bottom, but just couldn't do it.  Hopefully, without the reference photo nearby, viewers won't see the missing details.

Next up was the kitty that lived at our hotel in Key West, a beautiful Siamese cat with blue eyes.  I left this one to be as simple as possible, and I'm tempted to touch it up - but I'm going to resist and leave it as it is.

Third, these two bears - perhaps grizzlies?  I found this photo on the internet, and it screamed "paint this one"!  So, today it did - and I really like how it turned out.  After I took the photo of the painting however, it seemed the "speaking" bear's teeth were a bit too white....so I'll be taking a look at that next.

Fourth - another pair of friendly animals, this time elephants.  Same deal - saw the photo and it screamed "paint this one"!  I started with red canvas, because if you look at the ears, there is a red reflection there....there must be a red sky or something.  And the background colors morph nicely from beige to orange to yellow up to green - I liked that part too.

Last, the cutest boy in the world - my grandson!  He got his first haircut, and his Momma sent me this picture to show it off.  He changed from a baby to a boy!  I finished it up and texted a photo of the painting to the Mom and Dad, and Dad says - yikes the eyes are scary!  Mom, replies how lovely it is, then Dad replies again and says "never mind, looked at the eyes again and they're fine"  At which point I laughed - I'm pretty sure Mom gave Dad a whack over the head and said "How dare you insult your mother's painting of our son!"  I worked on the eyes and the shadowing on the shirt, and sent another photo.  I still think the eyes might be a bit too dark, but tomorrow is another day to play with these things!

scary eyes

#282 Orange Tabby 3/14/2020

Ahhhh, a weekend with nothing planned!  Except for maybe getting called into work due to the pandemic.  I decided I would paint, just paint.  No side-gigs.  Just paint.  So I prepped 7 canvases, in case I got on a roll.  I selected 7 photos and put down the tracings. (Yes, yes, I know, I could have sketched these, but the Wallace painting still stares at me with that contorted face, the bad chin saying "Why didn't you just trace my outline, then I wouldn't look so freakish!")  I decided to start with the orange tabby from the internet - he is a super-chunky cat, much like BatMan.  The painting is a bit cartoon-ish looking, but still, I like how he turned out.  His eyes seem to be saying "You'll be sharing that chicken with me, right?"

tracings, then some values, completed

Kitty Cat from the internet

additional work done on Wallace, causing him to look worse

Today's Painting

#281 Magnolia Blossom, 3/4/2020

I started this painting a month ago...sketched it, and started painting.  I only got as far as the stems/branches.  Then it sat.  While I stressed over things at work.  And then I took a break for a week and went to our now-yearly sojourn to Key West, Florida.  Ahhhh, it was wonderful!  I came back somewhat refreshed, and jumped back into working on the 300.  Finishing the Magnolia Blossom was first on the list.  It was difficult to get the white petals against the white petals to show up.  Other than that, it came together pretty quickly.  I was painting on a red canvas, which I like because there is a nice warm undertone.