Look on the Bright Side

"Look on the Bright Side" 8x8 oil on canvas

 

 

 (On hold for gallery event in November.)

Imagine all the people living life in peace.
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one. 

As some of you know, I sometimes look to Beatles lyrics for my paintings titles and inspiration so I wanted to note John Lennon’s birthday yesterday. Also the most enjoyable art event I've ever took part in was a John Lennon birthday gathering so October 9 holds a special place for me. 

Because I’ve been so busy painting for an upcoming show and nursing my foot injury that I’ve missed the last few DPW painting challenges which I love to do.  But, I couldn’t pass up this week’s challenge posted by one of my favorite DPW artists talented watercolorist Jo Mackenzie—Emotion was the theme. If you check out Jo's blog you'll see she was kind enough to answer my "what's on your palette" question for all my watercolor students and fans out there.

I started a mostly green abstract (since that’s probably my favorite color family) with the idea of envy—which I think is a fairly common emotion in the art world.  But then I remembered this strong light and shadow sunflower I had in my paintings “to do” queue which I’d really been looking forward to since sunflowers always cheer me.

Also, since my last painting had more of an autumn palette it was fun to return to some brighter, more summery hues.  Quick color tip: You know how you change out your wardrobe colors when the seasons change? I tend to do the same with my pigments. For example, my “fall” palette tends to have more earthy richer pigments like ochres (yellow and red), indian yellow and red, crimson, violet, etc. 

Last Saturday, I managed to hobble on downtown and got to see an amazing line up of three master oil painting demos at Gallery 1261 which is currently hosting a gorgeous Western Regional OPA show. Jeff Legg, Theresa Vito, and Quang Ho demoed a still life, portrait, and figure respectively.  It made for a long day (almost 8 hours) but  it was highly informative and enjoyable. Plus, I had the pleasure of meeting several of the artists in the show. I’ll have some pics and thoughts on that to post soon.  In the meantime, time for some hot cocoa and more painting.  In the meantime keep imagining!