Halloween Eyes

Halloween Eyes
5x5 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa
NFS

This is my submission for Alice Thompson's Spooktacular Challenge, centered on a Halloween theme. One of her suggestions was "black cats," and how could I not do a painting of my black cat, Kiki! I decided to change her eyes to orange to make her look especially spooky for Halloween; she really has yellow/green eyes.

These colors are very unlike what I'm used to but after all it is Halloween! My palette colors for the background were Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Light, and for Kiki I used Alizarin Crimson, Phthalo Blue, and a touch of Chromatic Black plus Titanium White.

This is my first time using Chromatic Black by Gamblin. It is transparent and is made from Phthalo green and Quinacridone Red, no black in it. I'm looking forward to experimenting more with this color. Happy Halloween!

Onion Study

"Onion Study"

5x5 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

Now that the weather has turned windy, wet and cold I decided to do a study of what ever I could find interesting in my kitchen. I tried to keep my brushstrokes loose and still capture the feel of an onion. I found onions are not easy to paint but I will be looking forward to trying another. I used a limited palette of Cadmium Yellow Light, Alizarin Crimson, and Ultramarine Blue with a touch a Viridian plus Titanium White.

Sharon's Shed

"Sharon's Shed"

oil on canvas

This cute little Shed belongs to my neighbor down the street. She is an antique collector and always has interesting items decorating her shed. I was meaning to paint this shed when she had it surrounded with flowers this summer but now that it is Autumn I thought the fall leaves added interest to the scene.

I used the same limited palette as the last two paintings which are Kevin Macpherson's palette colors.

Kettle Moraine Firs

"Kettle Moraine Firs"

6x8 oil on canvas panel
Carol Horzempa
Sold

I took advantage of another beautiful day at Kettle Moraine State Forest painting these two little fir trees today. Midday was not the best time to paint though, but the subtle changes in the grassy meadow, and these little firs with dried weeds really intrigued me.

This painting was done on a RayMar Plein Aire Panel. I really love the texture of the medium weight canvas. I used the same limited palette as the last one.

Kettle Moraine

"Kettle Moraine"
oil on gessoed panel
Carol Horzempa

Yesterday was a perfect day for plein air painting in Kettle Moraine State Forest. Not only was it sunny and warm but I was also entertained by the abundant wildlife including a beautiful red fox!

I used a limited palette of Cadmium Yellow Light, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White.