Mary B Spires Watercolor & Art Stuff

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.