Some progress.....

After working on other paintings, I'm back "on" my motorcycle!

This painting is going to definitely challenge me!! Most of my motorcycle paintings are not filled with so many different colors as this one will be. From the bright vermillion cloth underneath to the various golds and glowing blues, this will for sure be a departure from the others!

One thing I have decided is the background will be dark. I'm not sure yet when I will lay in the dark background colors, but I do want to get more of the bike done before I tackle the deep background. Once I lay the background in, I'll have to adjust the values of the colors throughout the piece. It is unusual for me to be working in reflections with lighter colors, and not the normal deep grays and blacks that I've used for most of the other motorcycles.

Man........I must have felt like I needed a challenge! Well, I've got one now!!

Pink hollyhocks....

With all the summertime busyness....I was so thrilled to be able to finish another painting. Not a biggie, but one that is a favorite of mine. I have done a couple paintings from these beautiful hollyhocks that were growing in my friend's yard. So gorgeous! I can picture these growing in many an English cottage garden, along rustic stone walls, or bordering white picket fences in the countryside.
I began by laying down a very light wash of Windsor Lemon, then I used layer upon layer of Rose Madder Genuine. I know that many artists prefer Permanent Rose or Opera, but I adore the specific texture and hue of Rose Madder. One of my favorites, and one the captures the color of these beauties to a tee!
The stem and leaves are Sap Green, along with some Windsor Blue and Lemon Yellow. I also like to throw some Dragon's Blood in the stem and leaves for some interest and contrast.
Now if only I could grow one like this in my garden!! Veggies I can do.....flowers I seem to have more trouble with!

A new hollyhock.....

With the summer art festivals in full swing, I haven't had as much studio time as I would like! With the outside temperature reading 92 degrees right now....I'm happy to be ensconced in my air-conditioned home studio!

The painting in progress on the left here is a commission. A few years ago a client purchased my "Hollyhocks II" to hang in her townhouse in Las Vegas.

She came to my recent show in East Aurora and wanted a smaller companion piece to hang along side the original. SO happy to oblige! I love to paint hollyhocks, and it is so wonderful to know that she loves the original painting so much that she wants another to hang right along side it.

It is about 3/4 done here. Washes of rose madder genuine make up the petals, while my favorite sap green -Maimerblu- is the "go to" green for most of my the stem and leaves. I used some dragon's blood and some burnt sienna as well, in the leaves, stems, and for some of the deeper shading on the petals. I will be finishing the stem and leaves, then adjusting the values to make sure the flower looks as 3 dimensional as possible.

It's wonderful to know that soon this will be going to a new home!

A new custom cycle has begun....

I couldn't wait to begin a new motorcycle painting. That huge cycle show we attended in Toronto this winter was so inspiring! The difficulty for me was choosing which bike to do. I have so many photos of the Toronto Maple Leafs bike, with it's phenomenal airbrush artwork all over....that I almost went with that one. However, I just couldn't stop thinking about the bike I chose to do. I have barely begun to lay down some color, as you can see in the photo on the right. The detailed drawing took quite a long time......with mechanical objects rendered in a realistic work of art you have to make sure to get an accurate representation down. This bike was a custom cycle done for the Blade movie, I believe. The words Blade were airbrushed in various places on the bike. I won't place the wording in the painting, though, as I want the artwork to appeal to anyone without it being tied to the film.

I really liked the coloring used throughout here......silver mixed in with golds and some fiery reds along with the black colors on the motorcycle. I love the custom styling on the bike....the handlebars that resemble weapons, for example! This will be fun to do. And as I am beginning the piece....I'm realizing how hard it's going to be! And I thought the previous custom cycle painting I did was tough! Can I finish it before the snow flies?? I wonder!!

Irises in all their glory...

Ohhhh how lucky I am to have a neighbor with a touch for irises!

The highlight of Spring for me is when I can take a simple stroll down our street and feast my eyes on the results of her green thumb. With the intense heat we are experiencing, these beauties won't last long, so I've had to drop everything and get the photos while they are in their glory. I've done a number of paintings from her iris garden, and I can't wait to tackle some more!

I like the white irises on the left here....painting white flowers of any kind presents a challenge, especially in watercolor! These will be a lot of fun to do.....rendering the shadows and leaving the white of the paper as the brightest, sunlit parts of the flower.

I'm anxious to get back to painting! The Spring gardening chores have eaten up a lot of my time...but once those tasks are completed, I can get back to my brushes. I'll have a lot of fun sorting through all the beautiful iris photos... and saying thanks to the neighbor with the green thumb!

Kauai's Polihali Beach....

I've been working on a series of smaller paintings lately. Getting ready for the summer art festival season (and as I say this, there are frost warnings for this weekend)! The painting on the left is of Polihali Beach on the island of Kauai...the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I wanted to show just the vast expanse of beach here. People always focus on the NaPali cliffs, that are behind me and off to the right. And while spectacular, I wanted to paint just an empty stretch of beach, so this is the view looking out over the water. The island of Niihau, or sometimes called the Forbidden Island, is off in the distance. This smaller sized piece was fun to do. This is a painting that someone can buy as more of an impulse purchase....for themselves or as a gift for someone. Someday I will tackle a painting of those glorious cliffs! But boy....that will have to be a very large painting to do them justice!!

Purple iris is done!

I just finished another one of my smaller "floral portraits." This iris was absolutely gorgeous,, and I couldn't wait to paint it. As I look at the photo on the right, the colors don't look as vibrant in the picture here as they do in the actual painting! Oh well.....guess you've got to see it in person!

For the purple, I used Winsor Violet......such a true and beautiful purple.

I used Rose Madder Genuine for the pink....with a little Alizarin Crimson for some of the deeper values. Indigo and Winsor Blue were mixed with some of the Windsor Violet for the deep purple/blues. I used some Vermillion (boy, I'll miss it when I finally use all of my stash!) for the center, along with Winsor Lemon. The green is mostly Maimerblu's Sap Green, with some of the yellow mixed in.

It's exciting to me to see the iris leaves poking up through the mulch. I can't wait to see the irises again....and to get more photos.