Friday Night on the Waterfront

Happy Monday!  Can you believe it's almost Thanksgiving?!  In preparation of Turkey Day, I'm working day and night to finish my painting goals for the week as I'm pretty sure I won't get much done during after eating my fill of turkey for the year.

After this blustery weekend, I think we've just about lost all of our leaves in the DC area, but that doesn't mean that I can't still paint them, right?!  Which leads me to the painting above, Friday Night on the Waterfront, an ode to Washington Harbor and the boats that dock there for happy hour and dinner at some of the wonderful restaurants there.  This 12"x36" oil on canvas is a scene of the Potomac waterfront, peeking through the trees onto the Key Bridge all the way to the Harbor, where the first boats of the night are lining up.  I really enjoyed painting this sunset, with its purples and oranges in addition to the colors in the trees.  Lots of bright, happy colors in this one!

I hope you have a most blessed Thanksgiving and find many things to be thankful for this week!

Ode to Sap Green

Last week I mentioned it was my goal to have a new painting up on the blog.  Well.  I can say that I will likely finish said painting today, but as I try to post my blogs in the morning, I don't think that it is going to make it on here today.  It's okay though!  Painting is an art, not a science, and I'm learning to accept that sometimes paintings take longer than expected.  That said, it was during this painting that I finished my very first oil paint tube that I ever bought, Sap Green.  Oil paint lasts for awhile, and a little bit goes a long way, so when I bought this large tube, I had no idea that 7 years later I would be just finishing it.  Crazy, huh?!  So I bid you adieu, Sap Green.  I don't even know if I'm going to replace you, as I've found it's a lot of fun to mix blue and yellow together to make your own greens.  We'll see!

Below is the palette that I have going on right now for my current painting...lots of earth tones as you can see.  Once the painting is done, I will post it...maybe a mid-week blog?!  Stay tuned!

City of Como

Happy Veterans Day everyone!  I'm always happy when I finish a painting, and today is no exception.  A few months ago, I began a painting of the City of Como, which after putting down the first layer, I ended up sticking back in the closet for some time.  Don't ask me why, I have no idea!  But for some reason when I went back to it the other day, I found my inspiration again and decided to go at it.

Last week I blogged about the painting mid-process at that point, so check out the second half below and the finished product!

Putting down the basic reflection. Very simple, not tons of detail

Sweeping a dry brush in a vertical direction across the water

Next, sweeping the dry brush in a horizontal direction across the water

Finally, adding streaks of white to make a ripple effect and filling in the foliage.  Voila!

Next, onto another painting which I had started and put away.  This next one is also from Como, and it's my goal to have it to you by next week's blog!

In the meantime, on a personal note, I visited my dear friend Susan and her new baby out in Texas this past weekend.  We got some great shots and ate a LOT of In-N-Out Burger, my absolute FAVORITE.  We don't have them in the DC area, which makes me pretty sad, although I think my waistline is pretty thankful for that.  As a tribute, though, I ate there three times in three days, so I am most certainly going to be going on a couple runs this week!

Baby Alex, aka Mr. Giggles

Oh, yum.

A very special shout out to all the Veterans out there, thank you for fighting for our freedom and making this nation what it is today!  You are a blessing!

Until next time, hope you have a week as bright as the smile on Alex's face!

Painting Away!

 Background filled in

Onto the middle ground!

Happy Monday!  This past week has been filled with painting, painting, and more painting.  The scene above  is more than halfway done and is of the city of Como, which sits at the Southwest edge of none other than Lake Como.  Como is a beautiful city, just like the rest of the towns that sit on the lake, so I'm excited to be in the process of painting it!  I am hoping I only have a day or two left on it, so I will hopefully have a picture of the finished product soon!

After that, onto another Italian scene!  I'm on a kick recently...not sure if it will be another Como but we will see!  Stay tuned and have a wonderful week!