Lady from India

 When I mentioned that I was looking for resources for practicing head or portrait paintings, my friend Pam offered to let me pick a few images from her travel photos. This lady was in a group of people and I was attracted to her beauty and her lovely yellow sari.  Lady from India is oil on an 8 x 10 canvas panel.

Another Head Study - Large Strokes

 This is an 8 x 10 oil on canvas panel.  Still trying to simplify and use larger brush strokes.  I enjoyed working on this one.  Again derived from an image on Jie Gao's website.

A Period of Learning and Listening

 Although I haven't posted in several months, I have been busy watching videos and lessons on line.  I've been using the time of seclusion to upgrade my skills.  The art community has been very generous and amazingly adaptive in offering online learning.  

I have visited and revisited some favorite artist's websites and one site that includes art that I love is Jiegaoart.com.  I am doing some "master studies" of his art with the goal of capturing some of the broad strokes, lost edges and color nuances that he produces.  Jie Gao was kind enough to give me permission to post my drawings/paintings from his originals for this learning endeavor.

BackLit Lilacs

I think this is probably my final Lilac painting for this season.  I put the lilacs in front of my window which has a macrame curtain.  It gave the set up a bit of an ethereal feeling and I tried to capture that.  This is Backlit Lilacs and Macrame Curtain - 12 x 12" - oil on canvas panel.

Backlit Lilacs and Macrame Curtain - 12 x 12" - oil on canvas - ©Kay Dewar

Hunter - the older brother

I almost forgot to post the painting of Hunter.  Hunter is Colten's and Leighla's older brother.  They are all fun kids who love the outdoor activities.

Colten - oil painting

Colten is Leighla's younger brother.  I like this pose from a photo taken by his mother.  He looks a bit apprehensive, but also appears to be resisting a smile.  Oil on linen canvas 8 x 10"

Leighla - oil painting

I decided to try some oil painting of faces so I asked granddaughter-in-law Melissa for recent candid photos of their children. I like to try to see if I can accomplish likenesses.  It is a struggle, but I hope that practice will help to make it come more easily.  In any case, I will keep trying!  Leighla has two brothers and I will try paintings of them next.

Leighla - at 5 years @K.Dewar - oil on 16 x 20 canvas

Spring with Lilacs and Desert Rose

Our neighbor was kind enough to give me a bouquet of lilacs which I arranged in my favorite cobalt blue vase.  It seemed appropriate to pair these flowers with the Desert Rose dishes and some stemware.  This piece is 12 x 12" - oil on on canvas panel.

Spring with Lilacs and Desert Rose ©K.M. Dewar 2020 - 12x12" - oil

Desert Rose China with TeaPot and Pears

This time I combined the Desert Rose with bosc pears, a teal colored teapot and a brass pot.  I've been trying to gain more skill with portraying metals and shiny surfaces.  This piece is 12 x 16" on an oil-primed canvas panel.

Day 5 and Day 8 for Sktchy 30 days

Two more quick sketches for Sktchy 30 day image practice.  About 10 - 15 minutes on each.  Using images provided by Sktchy artists.

a new oil painting

I love to feature some of the china and special gifts from friends and relatives.  It's specially nice now that no entertaining is happening during this social distancing time.  The title for this piece is "Tea Party Dream" and is 12 x 12" -  oil on panel.

Tea Party Dream ©Kay Dewar - 12 x 12" - oil on panel

Another Stay Home Painting

Again I'm working on an older photo of a set up and sharing it with Barbara Newton.  It is a good stimulus for me to upgrade/improve my painting skills.  Just knowing that Barbara will come up with a beautiful painting encourages me to try harder to produce my best!  This image which I am calling Dahlia and Bottles is on a 9x12 unstretched canvas.  I may still work on it further, but for the time being, this is what it looks like.  Barbara's painting is here: http://barbaranewton.blogspot.com/

Dahlia and Bottles - 9 x 12 - oil

Tulips & Clay Pot

I learned something with this still life set up.  I thought a red focus would make a good image, but working on it showed that the red cloth that I used for a surface was too intense and everything looked too much the same.  So I ended up going for a much softer surface color and value.  I've included the photo and the first try as well as the 2nd attempt.  I'm not sure that either achieves what I hoped for, but at least it was good practice.

Photo

First Try - darker background

2nd Try - lighter background

Still Life 2 - Yellow Cup and Lemon

This image was again provided by my friend Barbara and was a definite challenge for me.  Yellow is not a color that I have worked with very much.  In addition to working on the shadows and highlights for the yellow objects, the foreshortening of the spoon was difficult to render correctly.  I don't feel entirely successful with my finished piece, but I do feel good that I finished it.

Yellow Cup wth Lemon - 9 x 8" - oil on unstretched canvas

Still Life 1 While Social Distancing

My friend Barbara invited me to share a still life subject with her and to "paint together while social distancing." Since we both reside in WA state we are highly aware of the need to keep our lives going while being responsible for health considerations.

So this piece, which currently does not have a title other than "Still Life 1" is a set up which Barbara kindly shared with me.  My version is oil on canvas and is 12 x 12". 

©K.Dewar 2020 - oil on canvas - 12 x 12"