From now on, my blog posts will be published on http://www.marymayhewfineart.com
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If I can figure out how to import my previous blog posts to the new site, they may appear there sometime in the future. For now, the WordPress site is still open, but I will not be adding to it.
I have been doing these studies to work on drawing & value accuracy.
They are shown in the order that I painted them, left to right, top to bottom.
Numbers 1, 5, 6, 8, and 10 are copies of Masterpaintings; the others are painted from photographs, either mine, or from http://www.Unsplash.com
Most of them are in oil paint; # 8 &9 are in gouache.
This has been very instructive and helpful. I like seeing the progress through them. I know that I’ve become more accurate in my drawing, as I can do a check using the Procreate app on my ipad; I overlay my drawing at a reduced opacity on the masterpainting or photo, and can see how they line up (or don’t!). I’m making fewer adjustments for the later paintings.
This painting was awarded Third Place in Oil Painting at the River City Art Association Annual Juried Show in August.
12 x 16, oil paint on linen panel.
We went to Madeline Island, WI this past week for an anniversary trip. We spent 4 nights in a cabin with a Lake Superior view, and did lots of kayaking and cycling.
I spent 30 minutes each day painting a local scene, all 5 x 7 inches, in my sketchbook. My gouache kit was very portable on bikes; I didn’t try in the kayak!
Our Plein Air group from the Fall of 2024 decided to go indoors for Nov-April, and practice drawing or painting people from life. In the absence of a paid model (we’d still like one!), we have been taking turns to portray each other.
We sit for each other for 35 minutes each, thus my sketches above were done in 35 minutes. We usually achieve 3 models in our 2.5 hour time. It’s a great opportunity to experiment; I’ve tried different surfaces, different ground colors, different paint color combinations, and different application methods.
I moved from brush to palette knife, mainly because the knife is quicker and cleaner. It works OK for getting down the basic values and colors, but I prefer the brushes overall.
We started the first couple of weeks with an immobile, silent model, but it was so quiet that we all felt sleepy! We decided to have the model free to talk, and move slightly—it became much more interesting and enjoyable for all of us!
From April onwards we have been alternating indoor work like this and plein air work around the town. I appreciate having a group of artist who show up to paint and draw together.
I painted this for the Library Big Read 2025 Art Exhibit at the Vigo County Public Library, Indiana, which was based on the book ‘Sitting Pretty’ by Rebekah Taussig. I read the book, and found it enlightening and thought provoking.
From her viewpoint of life in a wheel chair, she thinks that mobile people view the disabled as either heroes to be admired or victims to be pitied. I wanted to illustrate what can be possible in a wheelchair, I hope not in a heroic sense but in the same sense as celebrating anybody else’s achievements.
This painting received the People’s Choice award.
I was delighted to receive an Award of Merit for one of my paintings from the Swope Art Museum Plein Air Event, at the awards ceremony yesterday evening.
The juror was Julio Suarez, professor of Art at Hillsdale College, MI. He gave an enjoyable and interesting plein air demo yesterday evening, accompanied by thunder, but we never felt rain.
This was painted in one session on the morning of 6/24/25. The main part of the building pictured here is the Dining Hall in the Union building.
I painted from the small beach on the side of the lake— a great way to spend a morning!
I love painting outside! When the Plein Air event is in my home town, it is so exciting! This is the third year it’s been held and the third year I’ve taken part. I had a great time!
It was intense in time and heat; I tried to get out early on 4 mornings to catch the morning light. I aimed at 7 am, but usually hit 8 am. By 11 am the temperature was in the mid 90s, so I came home and went out to paint again on 5 evenings, 7-9:30 pm.
I like to choose a theme to reduce the time I spend deciding where to paint. This year my theme was the campus of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, which accounts for 5 of the 6 paintings. The other one is a farewell to JoAnn Fabrics, before they take all the signs and wording down.
I had great interactions with the public (someone even wanting to buy one of the paintings!) and fun talking with the other artists. This for me is a very positive side effect of painting outside.
I’ve been away from the blog for 6 months—where has the time gone?
I’ve been busy though.
This continued to be an informative and valuable course. I found the instruction and the feedback to be excellent.
Week 4 was some work on 2 value heads:
Then some work on Eyes in week 5:
marymayhewart 