Mary B Spires Watercolor & Art Stuff

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas Still having trouble with the photography.....can't seem to get the right balance. This is another painting from the St. Petersburg Muesum.

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas This is a good example of coming back the next day, seeing the painting with a fresh eye! Made a visit to Judy & Larry's for input. This is the re-work.......good input!

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas My friend Brenda and I went down to the St. Petersburg Muesum of Art a couple of days ago. They had a special show of Still Life Paintings of the Medici collection. While we were there several "students" were taking notes of different painting around the museum.

5" x 4" Oil on Canvas New Photograph of the finished painting. This looks more like it!!!!

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas Board Brown Bag'n 2 is for a class project.

5" x 4" Oil on Canvas This was a fun painting! I finally got the paint on to the thickness I wanted......it's wasn't hard. Du!!! The photograph of the painting is much lighter. I need to play around with photo shop to get better pic's.

5" x 4" Oil on Canvas I had to pull out the Burnt Sienna for this one. I also used a little Black mixed with Ultramarine Blue for the background. Alizarin and Cadmium Red for the apple.

5" x 4" Oil on Canvas This was one of those fun drawings....what wonderful angles......

5" x 4" Oil on Canvas Early morning set up.......just for fun. This was an experiment, started with the goal of laying on more paint......

It's time to let it sit overnight! May add more paint tomorrow. Starting to get "MUD".

I did the design on the sugar jar with Ultramarine Blue. I also added a few seeds to the strawberry with dark Gray, with a little Cadmium Yellow. The shape of the Jar is still giving me trouble at this stage of the painting. It's time to walk away for a few..........

Next I mixed a large puddle of Medium Gray, Ultramarine Blue plus Burnt Sienna. This mixture can be lightened with White. The Strawberry was painted with Cadmium Red Medium, the shadow with a little Alizarin Crimson added. I mixed Ultramarine with Cadmium Yellow for the Greens.

5" x 4" Oil on Canvas I have always been captivated by Rembrandt, not only by his paintings, but the concept of being lead through the painting by the light. David Leffel is a "student" so to speak of Rembrandt. I had the opportunity to see several of Mr. Leffel's painting a couple of years ago. I just couldn't spend enough time with them. I would probably still be there! This under painting is called Monochrome, this describes a picture that's made with varying tones of one color. I mixed Burnt Sienna plus Ultramarine Blue to get a darker value of Burnt Sienna. I first toned the canvas with thin wash of this mixture. Let this dry, then sketched in the design with a #2 Filbert brush. I used a soft synthetic brush to lift out the color where the light struck the various objects.

This is todays project, my favorite "Sugar Jar" and of course a Strawberry. I shot this in low light, creating a Chiaroscuro, literally means "light/dark". In chiaroscuro painting, your eye follows the light. The light gives the picture its flow-it takes the eye from one place to another, and the shadows structure the painting.

5" x 4" Oil on Canvas Step 3 and hopefully the finish. At least I signed it, but of course this doesn't mean I won't work on it again!!!!!

5" x 4" Oil on Canvas Step 2: This is the block in, just wanted to get the canvas covered. I decided to use the local color for each object. This seems to works best for me. I used Cadmium Red plus a touch of Alizarin Crimson. Adding White as need to change the value. The background neutral was Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, Ultramarine Blue just to gray down the color, then White to lighten.

5" x 4" Oil on Canvas Step 1

5" X 4" Oil on Canvas This is my class project yesterday. I painted this same picture on a full sheet of watercolor paper for the BAC Show in February. But the "Judge" thru it out!!!! Like I always tell my students, "it's only one persons opinion"!!!!!! Anyway what do they know?

"Red Peppers" 5" x 4" Oil on Canvas This is the stage I let the painting dry overnight. I'll put the finishing touches on tomorrow.

5" x 4" Oil on Canvas This is the block in of big shapes. I've found if I block in the painting with middle values I have less chance of getting mud. I used Cadmium Red Medium for the peppers. I mixed a blue gray with Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red and a little white. The Shadow on the table is the same Gray with a little extra White. The top Blue is also the same Gray in the shadow. The Yellow Green in the background is Cadmium Yellow plus Ultramarine Blue. The white on the right side of the table has a little purple add in.

5" x 4 " Oil on Canvas This is a little study of Red Peppers I took at our local Flea Market a couple of years ago. This was my first step. Using a #2 Filbert Brush I sketch the drawing.

I'll let this set overnight.......maybe add a few more details tomorrow.

On this step I started to define more of the details. Adding a few shadows, just to get the feel of the overall design.

This is my painting with base colors of Gray, Violet, Flesh, Dark Purple Brown and Cadmium Red on the Bag. Plus a dark value for the shadow. I mixed a Grayed down color of Yellow for the base in the background.

8"x 10" Oil on Canvas Board This is the first step in painting "The Red Bag". I toned the canvas with a mixture of Ultramarine Blue with a touch of Alizarin Crimson. This was applied with a cotton rag dipped in turp. While this was drying I mixed a few base colors.

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas Board This is the finish painting. As you can see I had a lot of work to do to finish this one. I started by adding the design detail on the cup. The blue swirl was Ultramarine Blue. The red is Cadmium Red with a touch of Cadmium Yellow. The green was Ultramarine Blue plus Cadmium Yellow. I did this with a #4 Filbert brush. I next painted the lemons with Cadmium Lemon with a touch of Cadmium Yellow, plus white. White was added as need to get light values of the yellow. Next I mixed several values of Gray. This mix is Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Yellow. I maded the various values needed by adding white. All the Grays were used to painted the shadow side of the cup, plus the table cloth. The tea bag was painted with the Grays plus I brushed mix a little Cadmium Red into the gray for the right side shadow.

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas Board After the painting has set overnight I started to block in the Lemons with Cadmium Lemon plus a little Cadmium Yellow plus a little white. Next I applied dark purple into the lace holes, plus outlined the tea bag and saucer. The next step was to add the dark purple shadow inside the cup. After studing the design I realized I need to move the 2 slices of lemon on the left over. The paint was pretty wet, so I will put this aside until tomorrow. I have found if I get the canvas too wet I have a better chance of keeping my color clean if I let it dry overnight. So we will finish it tomorrow.

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas Board This is my latest "Student Project", I will be teaching this at The Beach Art Center. We will start this project next Tuesday Morning (March 6, 2007). This is the first step of blocking the big shapes. I mixed Ultramarine Blue plus Alizarin Crimson to make the Dark Purple for the background. Using a #8 Filbert Hog Bristle Brush I blocked in the background. As I progress toward the foreground I brush mixed in White paint toward the right side of the canvas. Next I wanted to warm up the left side (light source) I pick up a little Cadmium Yellow. Next I block in the shadow side of the cup by brush mixing a little Ultramarine Blue to the dirty brush, thus turning the mix more gray. I applied a thin layer of t his on the right side of the cup plus the spoon and tea bag. I put the painting aside overnight to let the paint dry to the touch.

11"x 14" Oil on Canvas Board I started Oil Painting Classes a few years ago. It has truly been a learning experience. I enjoy the challenage of mixing the colors, plus the application onto the canvas. I have painted in Watercolors for the past 17 years. This was an early morning project a few weeks ago. It's now on it's way to a show in Ohio.