Mr. Pepsi Head

"Mr. Pepsi Head"   6 x 8" Oil      NFS

Today's post is just for the fun of it.  I painted this for a friend with whom 

I share a Pepsi One obsession.  Every time I run across a photo of this guy, he 

makes me happy.  I'm hoping that he'll make you smile today too!  I may need

 to paint a happy couple of Mr. and Mrs. Pepsi Head for myself....

To see more of my paintings, visit my website and my Daily Paintworks gallery.

Trimmed With Sunlight

I completed this painting several weeks ago, but have held off putting it up for auction because I wanted to enjoy looking at it for awhile!  

"Trimmed With Sunlight" is a 5 x 5" oil on panel.  Auction begins tomorrow on Daily Paintworks.  If you'd like to bid on it, click here.

Day 5

Carol demonstrated glass today and I enjoyed painting this little jar and daisy. I loved painting glass and reflective surfaces in watercolor, but have stayed away from those subjects in oil. I think I'm ready to get back to them now though.


I highly recommend Carol's workshop to anyone who enjoys painting still life, and if you are interested, she'll be teaching a streetscape workshop in San Francisco this upcoming October. The students going will include many of my classmates here in Sedona, and I can recommend them as a great group to paint and play with.


Stop by my studio on the first Friday ArtWalk (June 1) and see in person the paintings I did this week as well as the work I do between now and then.  I'm pretty excited to get back to work tomorrow!

If you are interested in purchasing this painting, click here:

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/julie-kirkland/trimmed-with-sunlight/62733

Day 4

I'm very happy with this strawberry painting and accomplished it on my own with only one comment from the instructor. Carol pointed out that the background strawberry on the left was blending in too closely with it's shadow, but that was an easy fix.


We did a color mixing exercise using the warm and cool primaries. Carol doesn't use the terms "warm" and "cool" though; she instead likes to talk about a color "leaning" toward red, green, blue or yellow. I talk to my students about this "leaning" when trying to explain what colors are warmer or cooler than others, but personally will probably always think in terms of warm and cool as I did when painting these strawberries. Cool reds in shadow and distance, warm reds closer and in warm light. If you look at the painting, you'll be able to distinguish reds with more blue in them and reds with more yellow.

Day 3

2 paintings today, but I forgot to photograph the second one. Carol's emphasis today was on brushwork and composition. Those skills are ones that I've spent a lot of time on, so I was able to focus on painting whites. I think that I tend to paint shadows and things in shadow too colorfully, so I struggled to neutralize my colors a lot more. In the end, I may just prefer sticking with luminous shadow colors, but the other students really responded to this piece, so I'n paying attention to that...


By the way, this was a brushstroke exercise. Every single brushstroke had to be a different color. No dipping into previously mixed piles; every stroke had to be altered somewhat. Looking at the photo now, I'm happy to see that my edges are coming along.

Day 2

After thinking more about why yesterday's painting seemed so easy to paint, I realized that it was because of the canvas panels and the brushes that Carol Marine recommends. Normally, I would take my usual canvas panels and the brushes I like to a class, but a few weeks ago, I was listening to the Internet radio show "Artist's Helping Artists.". The topic was how to get the most out of a workshop, and they highly recommended using the supplies that the instructor calls for, simply because you may discover something that you really like. Well, I REALLY like the smooth canvas Raymar panels and the brush Carol recommends! I think that painting has been easier the last two days because I'm not wrestling the paint onto the canvas; there's a greater ease in application. I'm definitely switching to the Raymar panels. If anyone is interested in buying my current supply of panels, let me know!


Tuesday's focus was on values and an afternoon of 10 minute paintings.

Workshop

Lately, I've felt I'd reached a plateau in my work, as though I was stagnating a bit. I knew that it was time for some new input. I've had a couple of terrific oil instructors on a regular basis, but their primary subject matters aren't still life, the subject that still appeals most to me. I've been following a painter named Carol Marine for the last six years and admire so many things about her work that her workshop was an easy choice. Easy to choose, not so easy to get into. She's an excellent instructor as well as painter, and her classes fill up rapidly. A year and a half ago, I registered for this May 2012 workshop in Sedona, Arizona, and here I finally am!


This afternoon's assignment was to paint anything that we wanted, just to give her an idea of our levels and to see how far we could get in an hour. I looked at my paint and the canvas, and decided that I'd forgotten
how to even hold the brush (I hadn't painted at all in the last two weeks and had workshop jitters.) I just had to close my eyes and go for it without thinking too much about it, otherwise I may have stood there paralyzed for the rest of the week. The resulting painting was actually a pleasant surprise. I don't think that any of my little paintings has been that effortless. Go figure...


I've come this week to learn more about color mixing, edges, and composition (as well as marketing.). After today, I've figured out that I could coast this week if I wanted to, but instead I'm going to challenge myself. I stopped at the grocery store this evening to buy a lot of white items to paint. White still stumps me, so I'll try to work on that this week. I'll try to post all of my paintings, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Forgive me if my pieces look like Carol Marine's, but I always start by trying to duplicate what the instructor is doing and then by using those skills consistently, it doesn't take long to make my own twists on technique and color.


Here's this afternoon's painting.