A new link

I added a new link to the side bar. She is an artist I found through twitter and I really like her work. I think you will too. http://www.lenorecohen.com/ She has an upcoming exhibit in Manhattan, so if you happen to be in New York Dec 4th you may want to check it out.

My Teddy Bear Still Life (WIP)

I started this project in June. Then there was a death in the family and the desire to paint left me. I started a new job shortly after that and didn't start to pick at it again until the end of October. To be honest I didn't know if I ever would finish it.

I started painting this using The Carder Method. He recommends starting with a still life. Fruit was out of the question. Frankly anything perishable was out of the question given the inability to devote hours a day to paint. I was looking around the house for objects when I came across this Teddy Bear given to my mother from my nieces. I also had the jelly bean jar and was trying to arrange them when out of frustration I dropped the bear in the jar and I liked it so now I had a subject. It still isn't done but It should be soon. Here is where I'm at. The shadow needs work and I am not done with the bear as I wanted to get the background and foreground done to help with the values on the dark side of the bear. I also have to re-do the letters in bean as I dragged yellow paint over it when blending the jar.

 

My Set up has changed since I took the reference photo (several times) and the camera tends to bleach out the shot. 

Update

I decided to tinker a little more. I wasn't happy with the lighting and highlights. Here is the result.

Update

I did some more work on my latest cloud study. Have yet to fill in the tree line at the horizon but that is not the object of this exercise.

More clouds

Being fascinated by clouds and the desire to paint realistic clouds, I am trying yet another cloud study. This one unlike the rest is from a reference photo. I have been driving to and from work with my camera. When I see an interesting cloud formation with interesting lighting I snap a shot of it. This is my reference photo.

This is my work on progress. I am going to let it dry because my highlights seem to be getting absorbed by the blue contrast.

Keep in mind this is just a study. It is on a 6x8 canvass board. Had this been an attempt at a real painting I would have broken out the proportional dividers and done it proper. Will post more as it is done.