Blue Day

"Blue Day" 
oil on canvas 6x9
© 2009 Carol Horzempa
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Shawna broke her dewclaw after running through some brush last week. After a trip to the vet she had to spend the rest of the day laid up with a bandage on her leg. She looked so cute with her blue bandage and so sad I had to take a photo of her and tried to capture the moment in my painting.

Winter Run

"Winter Run"
oil on canvas 
6x8

I never painted a dog so small before. I had to paint Shawna’s face with a small palette knife to keep from doing too much detail. I always wanted to paint her running through the woods in the snow, something she does everyday. That is her favorite thing to do especially in the winter. I’m looking forward to painting a larger image of Shawna in the future.

painting in progress

It's still too cold to paint outdoors so I used a photo of my dog Shawna running in the snow. This was taken last week at Kettle Moraine State Forest, not far from where I live. I hope to finish this tomorrow if I get the chance. I will be back out in the forest tomorrow taking more pictures of Shawna. Maybe it will be warm enough to paint out there too!

Winter, Garden Shed

"Winter Garden Shed"

oil on canvas 
6x8

Signs of spring are here! The snow started melting the next day so I had to finish my snow scene in the studio from a photo. I had trouble photographing the painting because of so much white in it. This was the best I could do. I will try posting a better photo when I figure out my new camera.

Plein Air Painting

Adebanji Alade has inspired me to try Plein Air painting in the winter. The temperature was up to 41 degrees and sunny today. I was surprised I didn’t need gloves.

I’m a very slow painter and with the sun moving it was a real challenge for me. I could have picked an easier subject but decided to be comfortable and sit in the swing in my backyard and paint what ever looked interesting.

I forgot to squint my eyes to block out detail through three fourths of the way. I left my small brushes in the studio and found using large and medium forced me to focus on the masses. After a little over an hour the shadows changed too much to continue and my feet needed warming so I called it a day. I took a photo before I started so I can finish it in the studio or paint on location tomorrow if the weather cooperates.



I saw flocks of geese flying north so maybe this is a good sign that spring is coming! I think I could become addicted to Plein Air painting even if my results aren’t that great yet.

Abandoned Farm

"Abandoned Farm"

oil on canvas
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I took a photo of this farm near Black River Falls, Wisconsin in early April a few years ago. I was attracted by the monotone colors of an overcast day during the dormant season.

I started out with the idea that I would only use large brushes on this painting in hopes of painting nothing but loose brushstrokes. I got so intrigued with the barn and fence that I couldn’t help but paint all the detail.

Tomorrow is going to be a warm day in Wisconsin, almost 38 degrees so I will try my luck at plein air painting and only bring large brushes, Ok maybe one sort of smallish medium brush. By the way, this painting is 5x7. I still haven't figured out how to put the size under my paintings.

San Francisco Victorian

"San Francisco Victorian"

oil on canvas

This is my submission for Karin Jurick’s DSFDF Challenge. What a challenge this was, but I did have fun painting the sky and windows. I might try painting architecture again but not three story buildings.