Small Works

Beach Boy.. after Ali Kay

| cathmary1030

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m a VIP member of Fresh Paint, an online art class/community led and taught by Ali Kay. This painting, which I did on an 8×8 canvas, is based off a template and black & white reference photo that I downloaded from the Fresh Paint site in December 2024. (I can no longer find it on that site!)

In any case, I had already toned this canvas with an orangey pink; Ali Kay uses a magenta as her background. Basically, I copied her painting as far colors are concerned. For the skin color, I used Raw Sienna by Liquitex, mixed with Titanium White. The blue is Light Blue Permanent, in Liquitex Soft Body format.

Toddler Wearing Bunny Ears

| cathmary1030

This was done on an 8×8 canvas panel in shades of Golden’s Burnt Umber and Liquitex Raw Sienna. The actual color of the background is not turquoise, but rather a mint green (Phthalo Green Blue Shade and Titanium White) along the lines of the green color in the Adobe “Cutouts” image below.

I cropped the original photo to focus on the face, then used the Cutouts option within Adobe Photo Essentials, and then transferred the image to the canvas panel. What is most off from the photo is the nose and mouth; I’ll have to redo that and see if I can make it more exact to the contours of the child’s face.

Photo by Zena Ghosn on Unsplash

Puppy At The Window

| cathmary1030

I painted this dog on the sofa based on a reference photo by Alyssa Fleischer, part of a January 2022 “painting party” at Acrylic University. It is also viewable on YouTube here.

This was painted on an 8×8 canvas panel. The dog was done in Titanium Buff (aka Unbleached Titanium (PW 6:1) and Burnt Umber. For the window panes I used the same — but added a touch of Mars Black. (I am going to go back and redo the panes, painting with a straight-edge 🙂

The greenery base was Chromium Green with some Ultramarine Blue, Titanium White, and Cad-free Yellow Light. The sofa I painted using Liquitex BASICS blue-gray and since it’s a “student” color, it darkened a whole lot after drying, but I think I’ll leave it as is.

Aspen Forest in the Snow.. After Jed Dorsey

| cathmary1030

Earlier in January I watched a paint-along by Jed Dorsey of Acrylic University for their Bloom Membership level. He painted this scene from one of his own photos, and his painting was striking in its use of color, reflecting a golden sky from the sun setting behind the trees in the distance.

I was all set to try that myself. But when I downloaded the reference photo and a photo of his painting, on a whim, I set the saturation to zero — and found I absolutely LOVED the black and white version. So I decided to try painting it to play with the values.

This was done strictly as a study, on an 8×8 wood panel that I had gessoed a while back. The sky, in fact, is simply the white gesso. (It’s more yellow here in the photo than it is in real life.) I deliberately painted the snow thick just for the heck of it.

“Low Tide” – Calling It Done

| cathmary1030

For what it’s worth, I’m done with this painting from Acrylic University‘s 2024 Summer Challenge based off a photo by Doug Greenman of a Puerto Rico beach.

I’m not super excited about it. I don’t like the orange — but come to think of it, I really didn’t like the magenta tone on the board to start with. (Maybe I should’ve started by painting over that!)

One thing I AM happy with is the father and child figures, and their reflection.

“Low Tide” – Work in Progress & Painter Notes

| cathmary1030

I am working on a painting from Acrylic University‘s 2024 Summer Challenge which Jed Dorsey painted using a photo by Doug Greenman of a Puerto Rico beach.

The first thing I did was crop the reference photo fully square and reduce the contrast significantly, as well as brighten so that the sky and sea look mostly orange.

I am using an 8×8 wooden panel which I had toned in a magenta color months ago, The cliff, the distant shore, and the reflections of the figures are all painted in shades of Raw Umber & Titanium White. Then I added Ultramarine Blue to that mixture to paint the sand, the bank of low dark clouds above the horizon, and the wisps of clouds above. The bright spot is a yellow and white mix; the orange is Naphthol Crimson, Cad-Free Yellow Light (Liquitex) and white.