luminescent pastel poppies 32

Hi! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! I'm trying to paint everyday so the brush strokes and color combinations become second nature. I recently attended a costly art workshop at Scottsdale Artists' School. As I was trying to justify the cost in my mind, I realized I did learn valuable information even though I didn't walk away painting like Monet ;) Probably the most valuable pearl of wisdom I learned was that one may attend workshop after workshop from all the masters in art but you still have to put in the time and practice, practice, practice. I relate painting to nursing and think of how scared to death I was more than 20 years ago when I first graduated from nursing school and was responsible of taking care of multiple patients at a time. After all those years of experience behind me, it has become second nature and I'm really hoping painting will be the same, second nature that is. Hopefully it won't take 20 years before I can proudly hang a piece of art that I painted in my home :) 

Today I have a 12" x 12" gessoed art board to share featuring a couple of luminescent pastel poppies inspired by a lesson in The Beauty of Oil Painting book by Gary Jenkins.

The poppies were rather challenging for me. After the third attempt on each, I decided to call it a night and move on. 

I'm joining along with this month's Creative Carte Blanche creative art adventure where the theme is Winged Things.

I'm also linking to the current Paint Party Friday post:

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Be Sweet ;)

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a luminescent white Iris 24

Hi there! I hope you had a great weekend! While Scott and I were in the Los Angeles area for a weekend get away recently, we visited the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. We photographed so many beautiful flowers including the white Iris shown below: 

I've seen so many beautiful paintings featuring various Iris's which inspired me to try to paint this magnificent flower. I referred to one of The Beauty of Oil Painting books by artist Gary Jenkins as I painted this luminescent white Iris on an 8" x 8" gessoed board using acrylics for the background and oils for the rest:

I was pleasantly surprised with my first attempt but I can definitely see where I need to make stroke improvements. I squeezed out more than enough paints on the palette so I'm going to make good use of it and have another go.

Here's what the background looked like before I painted the Iris and foliage. As you can see, I sketched the Iris prior to painting the background:

For color inspiration, I joined along with the Color Throwdown color challenge:

I'm also linking to Paint Party Friday:

Many thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you have a great day!
Be Sweet ;)

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A Vase of White Roses 36

Hi there! I've been practicing painting impressionistic roses and various flowers. Today I have a 12" x 12" oil painting to share that was inspired by the current Color Throwdown challenge not only for color but also for subject inspiration:

 Here's my take on the beautiful vase full of flowers:

I'm also linking this up with the current Paint Party Friday blog:

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Be Sweet ;)

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having fun 22

Hi there! Last night I had fun painting! Finally took the time to paint the assignment from week 5 of the 6 week online painting workshop that I'm currently taking with one of my favorite artists Dreama Tolle Perry. Our focus was a small jar of pretty blossoms. Here's my first attempt on a 12" x 12" gesso board:

One of the many things I'm learning in the course, is how to be "loose" with the brush, not painting in uniformity and embracing abstract paint brush strokes. I'm going to paint this again and again until I'm satisfied with the final outcome where I can proudly hang it in my studio along with the others from previous weeks :)

I'm linking this up with Paint Party Friday:

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ I hope you have a great weekend!
Be Sweet ;)

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playing with abstract geraniums 14

Hi there! I had the day off from work so I had fun playing with some oil paints! It's week 4 of a 6 week online painting workshop that I'm currently taking with one of my favorite artists Dreama Tolle Perry. This week we are painting a chair with a pot of geraniums perched in / on it.

Here's my first attempt on a 9" x 11" canvas board. I got a wee bit carried away with all the shades of reds and pinks! LOL

One of the many things I'm learning in the course, is how to be "loose" with the brush, not painting in uniformity and embracing abstract paint brush strokes. I'm going to paint this again and again until I'm satisfied with the final outcome where I can proudly hang it in my studio :)

I'm linking this up with Paint Party Friday:

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ I hope you have a great day / evening!
Be Sweet ;)

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a sunflower and love 23

Hi! I hope you had a great weekend! I had a lot of fun hiking, biking, painting and paper crafting. It's week 3 in the online painting workshop that I'm currently taking with one of my favorite artists Dreama Tolle Perry. This week we are painting a sunflower along with carnations in a blue jar:

Here's my sample on a 9" x 12" canvas board. I'm going to give this one another go on the same size panel then jump to a "20 x 20" canvas to hang in my studio.

 I also created a Valentine's Day card featuring a variety of die cuts, flowers and pretty patterned papers from my stash:

I'm linking my painting to the Paint Party Friday site:

For card sketch inspiration, I'm joining along with the MOJO Monday sketch challenge:

I was inspired by the hearts, shades of pretty pinks and kraft at the Card Concept challenge using a Clean and Layered style:

Thanks so much for visiting ~ I hope you have a great week!
Be Sweet ;)

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