Lily Pads

The challenge of a windy Saturday morning in the park. The reflections in the water kept on changing so rapidly that I had difficulty "to freeze them in time". The fun of painting on location is to put down what is in front and not touch it anymore - even though a million temptations are creeping up..... The key is working rapidly or only for an hour or two if it is a bigger painting and come back another day at the same time and weather condition. I really like the water plants and sky reflections on the water. I plan to come back for those.

Tangerines

Still working with the acrylics. Those juicy fruits are looking even more tempting with the complimentary colored background. Thanks everybody for the support and positive feed back that I have received over the last few weeks. It is very much appreciated. Happy painting to y' all!

Pears in a Cup

... and more acrylics ... I like how the greens of the pears came out. The complimentary color set up is similar to the previous painting, which makes it vibrant and interesting. I plan to paint more fruit and glass still life, hopefully later today. In the meantime a happy day to everybody!!

Prunes in a Jar

Here again acrylics at work. Who can resist the appeal of complimentary colors? Totally fun!!!  I like that the faster drying paints force me to mix the colors more on the palette than on the painting. I feel I have to be more decisive with the values and colors right from the beginning....

Waiting Waffles

My 100th post on this blog!!!  Yay!!! It's time to add something different .... well ... the "something different" is the addition of a new medium: acrylic paints. I thought I give acrylics a try as a collection of donated tubes with acrylic paints accumulated on my desk over time. When people hear that I paint they remember the unused paints they have sitting in a draw. I welcome all donations... and here I am. I added acrylics to my blog's title to reflect my new experiment. Being used to working with oils, acrylics feel stickier and less blendable because they dry faster. The greatest thing however is the clean-up - so fast with water and no smells of paint thinner. Clean-up is the big deal with the oils... so far I still want to explore the acrylics some more but I will not give up the oils. The thing I love about them is what everybody loves: the richness of color, excellent for blending and the consistency.... smooooooth!
Today's subject are 3 left-over waffles from breakfast. They are sitting on a kitchen towel waiting to be eaten with strawberries and whipped cream - sinfully good!

Getting Ready

... and more painting horses in the park under huge oak trees that offer plenty of shade. This horse got saddled and is now waiting to go for a morning ride through the woods. I admire the dedicated horse owners who transport the animals, hay, water barrels and all, to the park every week-end. The county park set up a shaded fenced in area for simple pony rides or longer trips through the woods on special trails. After the horses came back from their excursion it was fun to see how much they liked sliced water melon for a treat.

Crepe Myrtle

These flowers from a shrub turned out to be a challenge in terms of front and back. I learned from observing this still life that it is very important to nuance the colors according to back ground, middle and foreground. When I sat in front of this still life, the pinks of the flowers seemed the same. Now looking at the finished painting I see that different tones, cooler in the back and warmer in the front could have made this mass of pink more three dimensional. Wow, flowers are so amazing!!!

Oak Tree Morning

It is still very hot and humid here in South Florida on this very last September week end. Good thing the weather was nice and I could finish this painting. I like how the early sunrays light up the lower part of the tree.

Plums vs. Pepper

I have had not much time to paint recently - reality gets into my way constantly - urgh! Feeling a little rusty I went back to still life for a warm up or as some people call it back to the comfort zone. The complementary colors are creating some nice action here - I plan to make more time to paint...

Breakfast Rolls

This is painted on the rough, gessoed surface of the back of a masonite board which I really like. My favorite part in the picture is... yes, you guessed it... the reflections in the knife. That was absolutely fun to create.

Early Morning in July

One sunny morning, painting in the park and examining how I can make color perspective work. You can imagine painting outdoors in a shaded, wooded area in July in South Florida = Mosquitos!!! I survived and this is what came out of it - hope it speaks to you.

Dragonfruits

Most likely you have never heard of a dragonfruit that grows on a cactus. When I saw these at the farmer's market the other day they were calling to be painted... The flurescent reds with the bright greens made for a beautiful contrast.

Making Apple Sauce

It was absolutely fun to play with the reflections seen on the silver pot and then being reflected again on the kitchen  counter.

Mango for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner!

It's that time of year again. Mangoes everywhere in South Florida. After posing for this painting they were cut up to be frozen for those "mangoless" months to come :). I am talking here in the name of the mango lovers group, enjoying many types, some as tender, fiberless and aromatic as ripe peaches and just incredible - they will never last in the commercial trade and can therefore only be enjoyed on location from private back yards. Some unlucky people are allergic to anything mango. Touching one and getting the resin-like substance from the stem on their hands makes them blow/swell up like a ballon - poor souls. I heard that mangoes are a distant relative to poison ivy - now that figures....

Angie's Existentialism Moment

- I PAINT, THEREFORE I AM!!! - Just a take from an artist point of view on Rene Descartes famous quote: "Cogito, ergo sum". As you see I am still pondering this meditation, recreating reality and philosophy thing.... self expression, thoughts and feelings... communication, attention getting from others, and representational, recording a point in time.. is it all just in our heads???

Meditation Under Red Umbrella

Here is my friend in quiet concentration, taking it all in, filtering it, putting her personal interpretation on canvas - recreating reality... being in the moment with deep focus... I call it a form of meditation, an incredible experience. This is why we are coming back to paint outdoors. All you plein-air painters out there agree?

Painting by the Lake

I am having more fun to paint the painter - this view seems so quiet and intimate... during a break I found out that my friend was painting a small tree that was fighting to grow through the jungle of reed. Who knew?? I still like the peacefulness of the scene I focused on -

Painting Horses

Another beautiful morning at the park painting. Can you tell we are having fun?

Morning Light 1

A morning scene from our nearby park with the shadows in cool colors. I tried to focus on the light going down the slope of the ridge creating a nice circular movement. I plan to paint this view soon again as I am striving for a looser, less detailed impression. Any comments on this one?

Orange on Blue

This is an example of a bad photo that does not give the real impression of the original painting - too much contrast that causes the slices to look as if they have a white frame around them, all subtle greys and light blues are lost. Unfortunately this has to fill in for today as other things are calling me away from what I like to do most which is JUST PAINT!! .... hoping to sneak in a painting very soon...