Still Life

More ArtRage Vitae… Copying a Master

| cathmary1030

Today I tried painting a Christmas ornament in ArtRage Vitae, and I used as a reference a painting by Teddi Parker, which you can see here.

As with the sketch of Simba, I struggled a bit. In the Simba drawing, I used the felt pen tool; in this case I used the square flat brush, and widened the stroke.

It should be obvious that Teddi’s painting (master copy) is on the right.

The funny thing is, it actually felt like I was painting, despite using my finger tip! But I want to get back to the brush tomorrow.

Getting Back in The Groove

| cathmary1030

It’s been 7 weeks since I’ve picked up a paintbrush… just busy doing other things, (like reading for a book club, Ancestry DNA analysis of my mom’s matches, and some day trips w/ hubby). I had this red-toned 8×8 canvas lying around so decided to do a grayscale version of a coffee cup (image from Unsplash).

Red Onions… After Vicki McGrath

| cathmary1030

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

| cathmary1030

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.

Cups of Coffee.. After Teddi Parker

| cathmary1030

I discovered Teddi Parker after listening to a podcast at Learn to Paint Podcast. And then I found her Instagram, and her website. In looking at her work, I was struck by one with 4 cups of coffee: black and bubbly, mildly creamy and one quite milky. I believe hers was done using acrylic house paint. In any case, I wanted to copy her different coffee colors, the bubbles, the shadows in the mugs, and the highlights.

This was done strictly as a study, on an 8×8 canvas.

Golden Apples… After Carol Marine

| cathmary1030

I own Carol Marine’s book Daily Painting: Paint Small and Often To Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Artist and admire her style. (She has paintings for sale on the Daily PaintWorks website. ) Anyway, now I can’t remember where I found the original image for this copy: either her book or the website.

My main focus in trying to copy here was my brushwork. I wanted my brush strokes to follow the form of the apple, or the length of the cloth, or the direction of the shadow, etc. I painted this on a 6×6 birch panel which I gessoed before drawing the image. I used burnt sienna, Mars black, cad-free yellow medium, and Titanium White. The 2 brushes I used were fairly small; hence too many brush strokes!