Author mayhewjnm

New Paints!

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Some of my sons gave me a new set of paints for my birthday, (something they’d noticed from my birthday wish list)!

They are the Essential palette of Geneva Artist Oil Paints from Geneva Fine Art, made by Mark Carder in Texas. I had been watching videos by Mark Carder on DrawMixPaint.com, and on YouTube. I liked his limited palette ideas, his method (drawing on a mid-toned neutral background, careful paint mixing and placing color shapes in their right place from the beginning), description of his paints (high pigment load mixed with slow-drying medium), and his finished painting results and those of his students. I have been using them ever since then and am very pleased with the results.

Here is the first painting I did with them:

More about this painting in the next post!

Street Reflections

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Main Street, Holland, MI, at sunset.
8 x 10, oil

I took the photo behind this painting because I liked the striking light patterns on the side-walk in front of the shops. It’s easy to think it is light coming from within the shops, but in fact it is the late afternoon sunshine reflecting off the shop windows. It gives me a pleasantly warm feeling.

Landscape Tutorial II

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Beach Scene

Beach Scene, 6 x 8 ins, oil on canvas sheet

This was another tutorial by Paint Coach Chris Fornataro, from his Patreon site. I like the Patreon system; you can find good instruction at whatever level or tier suits you and the artist directly benefits. I’m a ‘patron’ of Paint Coach at the lowest level ($5/month) which lets me see one new video a month. That seems to be plenty for now. Since I became a patron his number of patrons has doubled-so also has his income.

The tutorial was emphasizing the use of thick paint and was a lot of fun to do.

Beach Talk

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Oil on Canvas panel, 12 x 16

I loved painting this picture of my husband and grandson. Everything about it felt sunny and happy. I took the photo at the end of a very pleasant week that the grandchildren stayed with us, at the end of which we delivered them back to their parents on this beautiful beach on the shore of Lake Michigan.

My favorite part of the painting is my grandson’s fingers and their shadow. His pose is so characteristic of him, including the way he is concentrating on pushing his foot into the wet sand. I also enjoy the shadows and their part in the composition.

My husband’s Tilley hat features again!

Arts Illiana Small Works exhibit

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Three small pieces (less than 12 ins in any dimension) were accepted for the 2020 Arts Illiana Small Works Show, Dec 4, 2020-Feb 19, 2021.

‘One of A Pair’ and ‘Red Pepper’ are each 6 x 8 ins, oil, matted and framed to be 8 x 10 ins.

‘Lenten Rose’ is 7 ins square, watercolor, framed to be 8 x 8 ins.

All pieces in this Show had to be for sale and to my delight, One of A Pair and Red Pepper have both sold!

A White Mug

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The next still life adventure was a white mug from my pantry and four pieces of colored paper (see the still life set-up below). I followed the guidelines by Carol Marine in her book ‘Daily Painting’ for the set-up and painting the ‘vulnerable’ areas first (the white cup). I loved painting the colors of the paper reflected in the white mug. My favorite is the lower right painting. (They are each 6 x 8 ins).

Then I tried a square format (below). The shape was interesting but i felt it didn’t add anything to the painting. I also changed the pink color, and I didn’t like this one as much (not so bright).