Red Umbrella

With the beginning of a new school year, unfortunately time to paint came to a halt. To fill in, I am posting this painting  from almost 2 years ago. I still like its peaceful mood. At the same time my friend's red umbrella pops out and creates interest. In my opinion this is a great image to get lost in or to meditate with - just imagine you are the person under the red umbrella looking at nature.... relax!!

Crepe Myrtles in Morning Light

I am still working with acrylics here, trying to find a way to be more spontaneous with this medium. An additional challenge is that the colors darken after they have dried. Despite all technical challenges, I find it came out as a pretty happy picture. Hope it brightens your day!!!

Pappy

This comes from my daughter's stuffed animal collection. I like the human-like expression in their faces.... Cuteness Alert!!!

On the Lookout

The weekly challenge for the Daily Paintworks website was painting this crow from a given photo without using black paint from the tube. I am one of the artists that do not have black on their palette as black can easily become dull, appear isolated and "dirty" other colors. Also, to me it is more fun  creating a "cool" or "warm" black with a mix of other colors (usually blues and reds) to better tie the black/dark into the entire painting. An additional challenge here was that I painted this with acrylic paints. I really missed the smooth blending that is so great with oil paints. I think it came out OK though...

Best Buddies

Motivated to enter a pet painting into Daily Paintworks - Weekly Challenge, I finished this from a photo of our oldest hens. I wonder what they were chatting about so early in the morning....