Early Morning at Bay Furnace

"Early Morning at Bay Furnace"
6x8 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

This is the second painting I've done of Bay Furnace on Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula. My family camps up there every year and I again brought my paints hoping to paint along the shore. Instead I spent most my time either in the water, which was unusually warm this year or walking along the shore with my camera. This is a scene painted from a photo I took during my early morning walk.

Color Study of Tree

Color Study of Tree
oil on gessoed paper 3x5.5

I found this little tree while walking the dog near a man-made pond. The area is not much to look at but I wanted to see if I could make something interesting out of this scene while working on my greens.

I have scraps of watercolor paper from years past that I gessoed for these little studies. I used the same palette as the last one.

Last Farm Field

Last Farm Field

oil on gessoed watercolor paper
4x6 

This farm field is surrounded by subdivisions just outside my village. The farmer still has sheep so I hope to get some more photos when the sheep are in the field.

This started out to be just a small color study on warm and cool greens but I had fun painting the fence and field and spent more time than planned. My palette colors were Cad. Yellow Light, Cad. Orange, Cad. Red Light, Alizarin Crimson, Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Ivory black and Titanium White.

Painting Trees

Study
oil on gessoed watercolor paper
6x7.25

I thought I would share with you what I have been doing in my studio lately. I decided I needed a refresher course on painting trees. I would love to go out to the main source and paint directly from nature but the mosquitoes are more ravenous than ever in Wisconsin this year. Even repellent doesn't help much so I'm confined to my studio for now.

With this painting I followed a painting demo in Elizabeth Tolley's "Oil Painter's Solution Book Landscape." This is a great book on landscape painting with step-by-step demos and tons of valuable information.

Garden Shed VI

"Garden Shed VI"
6x8 oil on canvas
©2010 Carol Horzempa
NFS

Finally I'm back in my studio or should I say forced to be here. This is the only room in my house that is air-conditioned. This summer has been hectic with out-of-town trips but now I have time to focus on studio projects until another camping trip up north.

Buried away in my studio are several plein air paintings of my garden shed I've done in the past that I never was quite happy with. This time on my sixth try I finally got the result I was shooting for.

I love how the late afternoon sun cast dramatic shadows on my shed. I have been painting it in my mind so often this summer that I finally decided to paint it from a photo, since I'm too pokey to try and capture this fleeting moment.

My palette colors for this painting were Cad. Yellow Light, & Deep, a touch of Cad. Lemon, Cad. Red Light, Transparent Oxide Red, Cobalt Blue, Viridian and Titanium White.

Tishie Trouble

"Tishie Trouble"
6x6 oil on Masonite panel
Carol Horzempa
NFS

This little dog is an American Eskimo who belongs to my 96-year-old mother-in-law, Estelle. I have been taking care of her "baby" for a couple of months while she is recuperating from a fall in her home.

In this painting I tried to focus on capturing Tishie's spirit and that mischievous look he gives me every time he's about ready to get into trouble. He will hopefully be returning home to his "mommy" the beginning of June.

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.

Self-Portrait

"Self-Portrait"
6.5x8 oil on linen

This is my contribution to Alice Thompson's first challenge on her new blog, "Calypso Moon Artist Movement." She has invited fine artists to do a self-portrait using only one color of their choice along with black and white.

I have been thinking about doing a self-portrait and decided this would be a good time to try since I haven't done one in years.

I had no problem in deciding what color to choose since I have been using the Zorn palette lately and have been fascinated by the rich browns I can get with just Cadmium red light and Ivory black. Also when Ivory black, which is a cool color, is mixed with Titanium white it looks blue next to the warm red. In this portrait I was pleasantly surprised that I could get nice flesh tones with the three colors minus Yellow Ochre that I had been using in the Zorn palette.

Thank you Alice for coming up with this wonderful creative challenge and inviting other artists to participate.

Gesture Portrait Study III

"Gesture Portrait Study"

7x10 oil on linen
NFS

I'm back to painting another gesture portrait from the Jeffery Watts DVD. I followed along as before but put more detail into the hat and clothes than Jeffery did in his demonstration. (He ends his demos switching to a palette knife, making flamboyant strokes with thick paint which is a little scary for me).

I used the Zorn palette again that I have fallen in love with. Check below in "Portrait Study II" about the colors and Anders Zorn. You can NOT mix mud with these four colors. It is a great way to study values and learn to draw with a brush according to Jeffery Watts.

I also must add that these gesture portraits are suppose to take only 30 minutes but I haven't come close to that. I do find painting this way does go a lot faster and I can do them in one sitting.

My Tribute to Karin Jurick

My Tribute to Karin Jurick

oil on canvas

A couple years ago Karin Jurick created Different Strokes from Different Folks blog. Every three weeks she challenged artists to paint, draw or sketch in their own way a photo she posted on her blog. Because of Karin's devotion to her blog and participating artists, she has helped connect artists from all over the world.

Jill Polsby, one of the 180 artists who participated in Karin's year-end Portrait Swap came up with a great idea. She asked fellow artist if they would like to paint a portrait of Karin as a way of thanking her for all her "wonderfully fun challenges." 118 artist accepted the offer and as a result, Jill printed all the portraits in book form to present to Karin as a gift.

You can see all the wonderful variations of Karin by fellow artists on Jill's photo page here. Be sure to stop by Jill's new blog where she has a link to Karin's You Tube montage of all 180 paintings in the 2009 Portrait Swap.

Gesture Portrait Study II

"Gesture Portrait Study II"

7x9 oil on canvas
NFS

In this portrait study I worked with a limited palette of Cadmium Red light, Yellow Ochre, Ivory black and Titanium white, which is also called the Zorn palette named after the late Anders Zorn. Click on his name to see a gallery of his amazing work and learn more about this celebrated painter and print-maker.

I have a lot more to learn using the Zorn palette but so far I am surprised how many colors I got from just four tubes of paint! I realize now that I should have used more Yellow Ochre in the flesh tones.

I followed along with Jeffery Watt's demonstration using the same colors and subject he painted from and paused the DVD every so often to keep up. He shows a lot of color mixing on a glass palette with gray paper underneath. I tried the same thing and what a pleasure it is to mix oil paint on glass! Now I am sold on this kind of palette.

Update: Another thing I would like to share; I use a Masterson Sta-Wet Palette Seal that is a very durable 12 x 16 x 1-3/4 flexible plastic box with an airtight cover to keep my palette in. I was previously using a disposable paper palette that fits in the box. Now with glass cut the same size, it works out even better. I can also put the container in my freezer if I have unused paint. It will stay fresh for quite a few days.

Gesture Portrait Study

"Gesture Portrait Study"
7x10 oil on canvas
NFS

I did this portrait in less than two hours. Usually it takes me three days of struggling away with details and ending up with an over-worked painting.

A couple weeks ago I discovered a great 5-hour DVD by Jeffery R. Watts demonstrating Gesture Portraits and decided to give it a try. He does nine portraits each taking only a half hour. I of course am slower and had to put the DVD on pause every so often but so far I'm very impressed with his teaching method. There is also a lot of teaching on palette colors on four different levels.
So this is my first gesture portrait. I followed along doing the same portrait he did using Burnt Umber and Titanium White. The eyes are a bit off but I sure had fun painting them in a loose style! Whether I can do a gestures portrait without following along with a master remains to be seen.

The Neighborhood

"The Neighborhood" 
 5x7.5 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

Here in Wisconsin it's been so cold all week that I can walk on top of the snow without sinking in. Since I have been getting cabin fever lately I decided to paint the neighborhood with it's hard crusty snow piled up everywhere. This is the view I see from my back door.

In Memory of Holly

"In Memory of Holly"
6x7 oil on canvas

Carol Horzempa
NFS

This little Border Terrier will be truly missed by my sister. Below is a poem she has written that best described her little companion that kept her company for the past 10 years.

"Holly"

So cute you are little Border Terrier

Whether closely shorn or hairier

Rain, snow, sleet; no matter what pours

Kin from Northumberland's harsh shores

My life you fill with joy and hearty laughs

In the house; teasing, kissing, snuggling naps

Out the door; a wild predator, oh so fun

Chasing squirrels, rabbits, bugs in the sun

Roll over tricks for a doggie bone

You keep me young and not alone

You take me places I would never go

Dog companion, sniffing weeds, exploring a hole

For this little pet thank you God; I do

She depends on me for everything, and I on You

By Elaine Schneider

Great-Grandmother

"Great-Grandmother"
12x14 Conte Crayon on paper

Carol Horzempa
NFS

Thirteen years ago I did this portrait of my mother-in-law Estelle meeting her first great-grandchild, Casey Ray. It was a moment in time that I was able to capture with my camera and later as a drawing with Conte Crayon on Bienfang paper. Casey of course is a teenager now. You can see a painting of him titled "13" done by his mom (my daughter) on her blog.

Estelle is ninety-six years young now and is able to remain independent in her own home with the help of family members taking care of her needs.

This is going to be a busy year for me but I hope to focus on doing more portraits in the near future.

Portrait Study

"Portrait Study"
7x7 oil on Masonite

Carol Horzempa

This is my contribution to the year-end portrait swap on Karin Jurick's Different Strokes from Different Folks blog. Thanks to Karin Jurick this has been a great year of challenges for fellow artist.

I had a lot of fun with this challenge and tried not to labor over getting a perfect likeness. My main goal was to keep it fresh and try to capture this artist's spirit. This study was painted with Raw Sienna and a touch of Ultramarine Blue on a gessoed masonite panel.

I think I know who this artist is and had a great photo to work from. He will be doing my portrait in exchange and I can't wait to see it.

Going Forward

"Going Forward"
8x8 oil on Masonite
Carol Horzempa
NFS

I decided to take my time with Karin Jurick’s Different Strokes From Different Folks challenge. I focused on the perspective, values and painting “just what you see” like Karin suggested. I used just three colors, Winsor Newton Cadmium Red, Rembrandt Yellow Ochre Light and Ultramarine Deep, plus Utrecht Titanium White.

Using a ruler with a small brush and thin wash for the lines made it easier for me to get the figures drawn in the right places. This was a slow process but with a lot of checking proportions, measuring one shape against another and correcting the values every so often, I was pleased to see that my figures started to look believable.

Someday I must make a goal for myself to do these challenges with less brushstrokes, limit my time spent and not get caught up in the detail. Aside from that I feel I learned a lot from this challenge and am quite pleased with my results. Be sure to check all the amazing submissions on the 52nd-54th week challenge on DSFDF blog.

Update: I've had this blog since the first of the year and participated in DSFDF challenges each month since. Thanks to the dedication of Karin Jurick and all her hard work on her DSFDF blog, she has made it possible for artists near and far to connect and be challenged.It has been a humbling experience to receive so many encouraging comments on my work from artist whom I admire and respect. Thank you so much!

Ductwork Blues

"Ductwork Blues" 
 4.5x5 oil on Masonite
Carol Horzempa

When I first saw Karin Jurick's posting of her photo of San Francisco rooftops for the DSFDF challenge I was intimidated by the jungle of rooftop ductwork. I'm glad I decided to try the challenge anyway. I found as I got into the painting that the abstract shapes and cast shadow along with pushing the colors kept my interest and was more fun to paint than I expected.

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

Trying to Paint Plein Aire

Carrie, Shawna & Gypsy

My daughter Carrie and I went plain aire painting today. Now that the the fall colors are starting to show, it is a great time to find exciting landscapes. I am such a novice at this and thought an overcast day would be easier than trying to chase the light and shadow on a sunny day. Well my painting turned to mud but my daughter came away

with a beautiful painting! She is such a natural at this!

The day wasn't a complete waste for me, I found a great place to go mushrooming next fall and my spouse filled his trailer full of oak logs for burning this winter. So today was a great day!

My Mud Painting

I am surprised the colors look so drab now that I'm back in my studio. My main focus was to try and match the colors. I have much to learn about plein aire painting! Be sure to check Carrie's painting on her blog, her colors are awesome!