South of North Studio: Still Life

Showing posts with label Still Life. Show all posts

Dick's Drill

"Dick's Drill"

oil on linen panel 6x6

This painting is part of this weeks Daily Paintworks Challenge. Eileen McCoy challenged artists to paint a drill or any tool while observing reflected light and edges...soft edges on form shadows and hard edges on cast shadows. This was a good challenge since this is something I need to pay more attention to.

Meat & Veggies

oil on canvas 5x7

Sarah Sedwick of Daily Paintworks challenged artist to paint raw meat. I found this subject very challenging at first. Once I figured out the colors for raw meat I found it quite enjoyable to paint. Thanks for this great challenge, Sarah!

Waiting For Toast

"Waiting For Toast"

6x6 oil on canvas

Carol Horzempa

Shelly Ross on DailyPaintworks challenged artists to paint their toaster in this weeks challenge. This was an opportunity for me to work on reflections and paint some more tomatos. Even though I got a little carried away with detail, I'm pleased that my toaster looks shinny. Thanks Shelly, this was a fun challenge. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Mini Pumpkins on Red

Mini Pumpkin on Red

6x6 oil on canvas

Carol Horzempa

For several weeks these two mini pumpkins were sitting in my studio waiting to be painted. I decided to set them on a red background and see if I could get them to stand out and be noticed. I found painting these little guys a real challenge but a lot of fun! This is part of the DPW Paint Your Pumpkin Challenge hosted by Carol Marine. Thanks Carol!

Nature Study

"Nature Study"

oil on gessoed panel 6x6

Carol Horzempa

Ann Feldman posted a Fall Challenge on Daily Paintworks last week challenging artist to paint something pertaining to nature with a fall theme and using bright colors.

In this challenge I painted on a gessoed panel with a bright orange undertone and used Manganese Blue Hue for the background. Ann suggest turquoise for one of the colors so this is the brightest blue I could find in my studio. I hardly ever use this blue, made by Winsor & Newton but with this challenge I discovered a wonderful intense blue and plan to use it more often.

I really love this time of year! My studio is getting cluttered with acorns, leaves and other fall gatherings. Unfortunately this season goes way too quickly.

Early Girl

"Early Girl"

4x5.5 oil on gessoed panel

Carol Horzempa

Another tomato painting, this time all by herself. I'm really starting to enjoy painting tomatoes and hope the frost doesn't get them before I can paint a few more.

No Makeup Please!

oil on canvas 6x4.5

I painted my makeup (which I rarely use) for the Limited Stroke Challenge in Daily Paintworks. We were challenged to plan our painting by counting the number of strokes we would need to paint each color shape. I tried to stick to 32 strokes but lost count after I reached 40. I had fun with this challenge though and will try again.

Turning Red

"Turning Red"

6x6 oil on canvas

The larger tomato was literally turning red while I was painting. That is how slow I was with this painting. I kept changing the colors which was not a smart thing to do. Hopefully I will speed up on my next tomato painting.

Tomato Studies

"Tomato Studies"

6x6 oil on canvas

Instead of 10 minute studies, I took my time and focused on trying to make these tomatoes look round and heavy like they are. The stems started drying under the light but I liked how they curled up. This year I have a lot of tomatoes growing in my garden and hope to paint more before the frost.

Neglected Tools

"Neglected Tools"

oil on canvas 6x6

Carol Horzempa

I've always wanted to paint my painting tools and finally found time to join Carol Marine's "Paint What You Paint With Challenge," on Daily Paintworks. This was a fun challenge but I really struggled with the tube of paint and especially the cap. Finally I scraped the cap off and tried again. If I don't look too close I'm actually pleased with the whole painting.

I feel rather guilty about the care of my tools as you can see but manage to paint with them the way they are.

Sweet Bell

"Sweet Bell"
6x5 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

Another Carol Marine Daily Paintworks Challenge and what fun this was! Carol challenged fellow artists to paint one stroke of color at a time. We were to mix a new color for each stroke and not worry about edges.

I had to drag out my old easel since part of the challenge was to stand and step back often while painting. I've forgotten how much I love standing at my easel! Been doin' to much sitting lately.

Some of my colors mingled when I had to adjust the values with another stroke of color over the first stoke but I loved working this way and found it very liberating. I have a zillion brush strokes...got to remember to squint more often. Sometimes old habits are hard to give up. Hopefully my next one will be painted with fewer strokes and less correction of values.

We were supposed to use a 1/2-inch or larger brush. I found my number 6 & 8 bright brushes worked well for this challenge, using the side for smaller strokes. My palette colors were cadmium yellow light & medium, cadmium orange, cadmium red light, chromium oxide red, ultramarine blue and titanium white.

Be sure to check here to see all the great submissions to this challenge.

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.

Zippo

6x6 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

This is my submission for this weeks DPW Challenge. A really great artist by the name of Michael Naples posted a reference photo of a Zippo lighter for this weeks challenge. He invited fellow artists to paint the Zippo using only burnt sienna, ultramarine blue and titanium white. This was a great lesson in values and quite challenging!

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.

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.

Little Traveler

"Little Traveler"

4x6 oil on canvas

Carol Horzempa

I love antiques and nature. My house is full of old things I've collected through the years. I also love collecting interesting things I find every so often on nature hikes. Every fall I collect acorns, nuts and pine cones. I noticed acorns have the same shape as a Kewpie doll head and with the right lighting I thought it would make an interesting composition.

There is a story behind this little bisque Kewpie doll called "Little Traveler." My husband found the 3 1/2 inch bisque doll buried in a construction site the first year of our marriage. Other than a few marks, it's in excellent condition. It is hard to believe this little figurine survived all these years buried underground in an ancient city dump along with cinders and antique bottles. Now it has an honored place on display in my china cabinet.

Pear Studies

"Pear Studies"
4x8 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

My favorite subject is the still life, especially studies of fruit. I've been away from my studio way too long so I decided to do a couple small studies of a pear. I find myself returning to fruit studies when I feel a bit rusty and need to get my creative juices flowing

Wait, Hold the Sprinkles!

"Wait, Hold the Sprinkles!"
5.5x10 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa
NFS

I hate sprinkles! I can't think of anything worse than biting into a soft, delicious cupcake piled with sweet fluffy frosting and then biting into hard crunchy sprinkles to spoil the whole experience.

In Karin Jurick's DSFDF challenge she included a video of Wayne Thiebaud. I was fortunate enough to see a Thiebaud exhibit years ago and fell in love with his paintings of common foods and cityscapes. What an amazing artist, he is 87 years old and still paints every day!

In this challenge I used Classic Artist Oils that has linseed oil mixed in with thickeners which has the consistency of butter. I've only used these paints once before years ago and thought it would be perfect for this challenge especially the frosting. I ended up using my palette knife and applying the paint like I would as if frosting a cupcake along with some brushwork. I was almost tempted to lick my fingers.

Vegetable Medley

"Vegetable Medley"
6x8 oil on canvas
NFS

This painting is my interpretation of Karin Jurick’s reference photo for the DSFDF challenge. I haven’t been working in oils for several months since I got sidetracked with pastels. It was hard getting back to oil painting and after several tries I decided to try again on canvas instead of a gessoed panel. I also was surprised to find that I didn’t forget how to paint and actually enjoyed this challenge!

Garlic & Asparagus

"Garlic & Asparagus"

oil on canvas

6x8

I was asked by Candy Barr to post more of my work on my blog, even some from the “olden days.” I need to photograph some of my older works but here is one I did last spring. This is a study of a still life I had set up in my studio under controlled light.