Garden Study

"Garden Study"

6x8 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

In late summer there is only a short span of time where I have sun in my garden. My Impatiens don't seem to mind though. I did manage to finish most of my painting before returning to the studio.

My garden is growing a bit wild, almost covering the watering can but I find it more interesting than a manicured garden.

Geranium Study

"Geranium Study"

6x6 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

This has been a draining week trying to plein air paint flowers in my back yard. With the rain for two days, inhaling mosquitos, getting stung by bees and finally the leg on my good easel falling apart, I headed back to my studio (again). Today, round 7 pm I decided to try again, on my deck this time. I set my old reliable French easel next to a Geranium plant that was looking a bit wilted. I thought the touch of orange on a few dry leaves would add color.

This time I really enjoyed the experience of painting fast and even had time to put in a few details and get it done in one hour flat! The sun was setting and I was losing my light so the values are a little off. Now I would like to try painting this plant in sunlight. By the way I love decks, no mosquitos!

Be sure to check all the floral paintings on The Nature's Arrangement Challenge in Daily Paintworks here.

Wildflower Study

"Wildflower Study"

5x6 oil on canvas

Carol Horzempa

I decided to practice painting flowers from a photo in my studio today before another attempt at plein air painting in my garden. After struggling way too long I was tempted to wipe the paint off and start over. In one last attempt I found adding a little red and warm browns seemed to work and will try to use this color scheme in this weeks DWP Challenge. I used the same limited palette of cad. red light, cad. yellow med, and ultra blue plus white.

Begonia Study

Begonia Study

5x6 oil on canvas

Carol Horzempa

This was intended for James Coulter's Nature Arrangement Challenge on Daily Paintworks. He challenged artists to stand between one to six feet away from flowers on the ground and paint them in one hour, (no cheating). A limited palette of Cad. Yellow Med. or light, Cad. Red Light, Ultra Blue and White was also part of this challenge.

To start off I noticed my timer kept stopping and I lost track of my time. I also realized I broke one of the rules of not using white except with blues and purples. My flowers were peach so just red and yellow wasn't working.

After not sticking to the rules I decided to take a picture and finish the painting in my air conditioned studio. Next time I will try Cad. Yellow Light, buy a new timer and not sneak back to my studio with a photo before the painting is done.

This is really a fun challenge but I'm finding flowers are really hard to paint!

The Help Japan Challenge

"Gatekeeper"

oil on canvas 5.5 x 6.75
with solid cherry wood frame
Sold

This is my entry for Daily Paintworks Challenge: "Help Japan Challenge" which is a fund-raiser for those who were affected by the recent disasters in Japan.

The theme for this challenge is "Home." Though I did this painting a while ago I thought it was fitting for this challenge. In the summer I have large Peony bushes growing next to my picket fence near the gate. When they are in full bloom it is such a welcoming sight for friends and family to see them as they drive up to my home.

All proceeds from this painting will go directly to the Japanese Red Cross Society

Update: Here is a photo of the solid cherry wood frame that comes with this painting. The dimensions of the frame are 7 x 8.25.

Rose Study

Rose Study

5x7 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

My roses from Valentines Day have almost expired so I decided to try another shot at painting a rose. I used the same palette colors as I did in my first rose painting for DPW Challenge. I decided I really need more practice and can't wait until my roses start blooming in my garden this spring.

Red Rose Waiting

Red Rose Waiting
6x8 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

I never thought I would enjoy painting a rose until I tried this challenge posted by Qiang Huang who is a master in painting roses. He challenged fellow artists too paint a red rose on the weekly DPW Challenge. This is my second one, the first one I loved too and can't wait to try more. I have now fallen in love with red roses and painting them!

My palette colors were Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Light, Chromium Oxide Red, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White.

Gatekeeper

"Gatekeeper"
oil on canvas
5.5X6.75
Sold

I planted these peonies next to my gate years ago for the main purpose of painting them someday. They don’t get much sun so they are very tall reaching every which way for the sun and practically blocking entrance to the gate. I am sure glad I took photos of them before a hailstorm. Now with the sweltering heat the poor things are faded and drooping over.

I made one attempt years ago to paint these flowers and so this is my second try. I think painting flowers has got to be the biggest challenge for me so far but I did enjoy painting the pickets on the gate.

After spending way to much time on this one, I kept wondering if it pays to work on a painting that seems doomed for the reject pile. This morning I decided to give it one more try with a fresh eye. I realized it only need a little tweaking and then called it finished. I’m hoping that I can apply what I learned and paint more someday.