A Big Chicken

 12 x 16 oil on linen

This was a fun one to paint because I was painting on linen!  It is all the difference in the world as it accepts paint so much better than cotton canvas - love the feel of painting on it!  I won't be posting for the rest of the week as our new grandson will be born on Thursday and we will be busy being Nonie and Blitz!  Can't wait for him to be born and he has a brother and sister who are also anxious to see him.

Mac's WWII Combat Boots

 6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

This is one of my Dad's World War II combat boots.   He was in the armored division and saw LOTS of combat - something he would never talk about to my sister and me.  My sister has one of his boots and I have the other.  They are really brittle and I don't know how much longer mine will hold out, so I decided to paint one.    This is actually my sister's;  mine doesn't look this good.  The photo was real dark so I just made up colors and highlights to please me. 

Reservoir at Sunset

 8 x 10 oil on canvas panel

This is a scene I see almost everyday as it's just a block from my house.  I love to see the sun set over the reservoir.  Some days the colors are spectacular!   I'm not much of a landscape painter as it is very difficult for me to edit all the things my eye beholds so I end up laboring over every little detail.   This one was starting to get a little muddy so I decided to quit.   I just like the mood of it.

Puppy Study

 6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

I found this reference photo and wanted to try my hand at painting a lab puppy.  The photo was so blah that I tried adding more color to perk things up.   I must have used every color on my palette for this one.

Pink Peep Toes

5 x 7 oil on canvas panel

I've been working on these peep toe pumps today.  Someone saw my red heels and wanted them in pink.  Tough time trying to have enough highlights and not washed out color in the pink ones from my photo - the photo just didn't have enough contrast!  Anyway, hopefully they will like them.  I dropped them on the porch while I was trying to photograph them, that is something I do a lot.  :(   They now have a little grit on them but I can just brush it off when it dries.  I try to prop the painting up straight to get a straight-on shot and the paintings tend to fall forward flat on the front porch.   Hopefully I can come up with a better method but the easel method doesn't work for me either because it slants backwards.

Ain't Nothing But Hound Dogs

 10 x 20 oil on stretched canvas

This is a painting I did a year or so ago.  I loved the facial expressions on the reference photo of the different dogs.   I have been busy all day working on my daughter's condominium that is up for sale now that she has married.   House painting is not my kind of painting at all - hard work!   We had professionals do most of it but I wanted to touch up  in the kitchen and woodwork throughout.  LONG DAY!

Pres' Shoes

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

Our painting group finally got back together today after the holidays.  It was great to see them.  There are 8 of us but only 6 were able to be there today.    Everyone was basically starting a new painting.   It's fun to see what each is working on - some prefer landscapes, others flowers, then others more contemporary styles.   I had started this one over the weekend and finished today with highlights, etc.  These are my grandson's bebops.  My son used to wear these when he was 2 or 3 with little white knee socks.   I painted them for a children's store here that sells my art.

I had to re-paint my Cardinal I.  I dropped it in the dirt and had grit in the background so decided to change it some - I think I like it better than the plain green I used before but the photo isn't as clear.   Happy New Year!