Two White Peonies

This is for Rookie Painter, August 2011 challenge. It's oil on 11x16 canvas panel.

When looking at the reference photo (ref photo), I wanted to try to capture the luminescence quality of the flowers. Having so many patels made the peonies hard to paint. The values between light and shadow were so close, and thus additional complexity.

When painting the flowers, I actually made the value difference between light and shadow a little more pronounced for ease of painting (still not that easy) and also to give the flower more definition, rather then just a couple of white blobs. I also lightened up the background a little for the smaller flower on top trying to avoid having the painting too bottom heavy. The main colors were naples yellow, coral, Gamblin's radiant red, ultramarine violet, violet grey, sap green, ultramarine blue, van Dyke brown, burnt umber, yellow orchre and white.

We Are So Tired

This is for Virtual Paintout August 2011 Fairbank Alaska challenge. It's oil on 12x12 canvas panel.

While browsing through all the endless tress and big skies in Alaska, I came upon these three people cross-country skiing on wheels (ref photo) (not sure what to call this sport, cross country roller skating? cross country skiing on land? roller skating on skis?) In any case, I looked at these three people on Google Maps for many frames, and they didn't move much. The front two guys held that bent down I'm-out-of-breath position for a long time. This scene caught my eyes because I thought if I were brave enough to do something like this, I would be exactly like them - completely out of breath and so tired.

The main colors for this included permanent green light, lemon yellow, cadmium yellow, sap green, Portland grey, Paynes grey, cerulean, ultramarine violet and blue, alizarin and white. I also added in more sunlight coming through from the trees as much of the picture is in the tree shadow.

Taipei 101 at Dusk

We visited Taipei for two weeks in the summer, and this is view we had: of Taipei 101, one of the tallest building in Taiwan. When I saw the nice sunset, I had to paint this. This is oil on 10x12 canvas panel. I used mostly the left over paint I had used for previous paintings: cobalt blue, ultramarine violet, cadmium orange, terra rosa, coral, cadmium yellow, Paynes grey and burnt umber.

Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard (Larger version)

This is a commissioned work of Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard. It's oil on 32x24" (25P) stretched canvas.

After doing a prototype (see post a couple of paintings ago), I had some idea in my mind on color and composition, so I went onto the larger canvas. Most elements here were similar to the prototype. However, in the larger version, I used more knife work for the cliffs since at this size, I couldn't get the nice edges with the brushes anymore. It took a bit of trial and error and scrapping off before I got something decent. I also gave it a bit more detail with the ocean than in the prototype. The colors used here are similar to those in the prototype: cobalt, cerulean, coral, cadmium orange, terra rosa, Indian red, cadmium yellow, burnt umber, ultramarine violet, violet grey, and Paynes grey. Thanks Phil and Lorraine for your donation into Tzu Chi Foundation for these three paintings: Gay Head, Ethan and Dylan at Farm Neck Golf Course.

Dylan at Farm Neck Golf Course

This is another commissioned work. It's oil on 10x14 (4f) stretched canvas. Dylan is the youngest (6) and the smallest of the boys, but yet he has great concentration, and he gave it his best. Go Dylan! Similar to his brother's painting, the main colors included sap green, cadmium yellow, Paynes grey, violet grey, ultramarine violet.

Ethan at Farm Neck Golf Course

This is a commissioned work. It's oil on 10x14" stretched canvas (size 4F). Ethan was taking golf lessons at Farm Neck Golf Course on Martha's Vineyard. He's got one of the best posture among the boys, even though he's a lefty. It was getting late in the day so the sun was setting while the sky was overcast and a bit foggy. He got pretty good distance on the driving range for a 9 year old! The main colors for the painting included sap green, cadmium yellow, ultramarine violet, Paynes' gray, and violet grey.

Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard (Smaller version)

This is a small prototype before I do a larger commissioned version. It's oil on 11x14 canvas panel.

This is a view from the Gay Head light house observation area in the town of Aquinnah on Martha's Vineyard. Our photo from this year was cloudy. So I searched on the internet for sunnier pictures. The design of this picture is a composite of elements from our own as well several other sunnier pictures, plus a bit of my own liberty. I heightened the color to get the contrast between blue and orange, light and shadows. The main colors included cobalt, cerulean, terra rosa, Indian red, sap green, coral, violet grey, ultramarine violet, Paynes grey and cadmium yellow.