Crow

I did this painting on an 8×8 canvas which I had months ago applied modeling paste to, without knowing what I was going to do with it. So I decided to paint the crow (based on an image by mycol from Pixabay). After a while, it gets tiring to paint other people’s work from class, ugh.

I enjoyed painting this.

52 Mini Paintings Challenge: Week #16

This is the week 16 painting for Jed Dorsey’s Mini Painting Challenge at Acrylic University. It’s called “Canyon Shadows” and is based on a reference photo by Jacob Jolibois, supposedly somewhere in the Grand Canyon area. 6×6 canvas panel.

Surprisingly straightforward, although when I looked at the reference and my painting in gray scale, I had to adjust my values for the cliff at the left, and the sky just above it. As well as the distant canyon walls.

Red Onions… After Vicki McGrath

I discovered Vicki McGrath on a “Learn to Paint” podcast, and then followed her on Instagram. After my first attempt at the red onion from my Acrylic University lesson, I attempted to copy Vicki’s work, although I changed the background from green stripes to a solid mint green via phthalo green yellow shade. She paints in gouache on watercolor paper; I used acrylic on an 8×8 canvas. Her version is available as a print here.

AU: Simple Shapes… Week #4

A few weeks ago I signed up for an 8 week class at Acrylic University called “Simple Shapes” taught by Dianna Shyne. I wasn’t overly interested in painting the still lifes for the first 3 weeks, despite watching the videos and downloading the reference photos, but I did want to try painting the red onion.

This was on 6×6 acrylic paper (SoHo brand). The first time, I put too many of the colors Dianna used, and the result didn’t look much like an onion! (Hers did, mine didn’t.) So the next day I painted over what I had before, and tried again. I think the second attempt is much improved. I also used smaller brushes, especially for the onion roots.