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Approximately 6×8″
Oils on unstretched canvas, can be purchased as is, or mounted, or double matted to 8×10 (state preference)
I bought this beautiful, tiny vase made by Marilyn Price at the Riverwinds Gallery. She makes vases in the most wonderful shapes, and also makes most of her own glazes. The flowers are from my hubby, and they went so perfectly with the green vase that I just had to pluck a few out of the bouquet and paint them.
5×7″, Gouache on Stonehenge rag paper
$85 via PayPal, $7 shipping within US
Today I struggled in every way at every turn. Finally, near the end of this very long day, I set a Granny Smith apple on a red file folder and broke out my new tubes of Winsor Newton Gouache. It’s so nice to finally have the lush, cadmium colors available. Sometimes when life gets too complex, painting something simple and beautiful creates balance.
This was painted with a very limited palette:
Titanium White
Cadmium Red
Cadmium Lemon
Ultramarine Blue
Path Through the Open Land Foundation
8×10, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Multimedia Artboard
Please email me if you are interested in this painting.
It’s been sooooo hard for me to keep this under wraps, but the time has finally arrived when I can share the great news! Everybody’s been asking me this year what acrylic paints I’ve been using that look so much like my oils, and I have to hem and haw and politely change the subject……until now. Golden Paints has developed a brand new line of “acrylics” with a very long open time. It is called Golden Open. They’ll be shipping to stores on July 1. The painting above is one of my favorites done with these new paints. You can see my demonstration thread for this painting here.The underpainting was done with Golden Fluid Acrylics, and then the Open paints were used over that.
I’ve been testing these paints for Golden Acrylics since last August, and it’s been such a thrill for me to finally have an acrylic paint that does what I want it to do. The long open time enables me to paint like I would with oils, only better. It is really like a new medium in that it can do some of the things oils can do, some of the things acrylics can do, some of the things gouache can do, and some of the things watercolors can do. After nine months of using this paint, I feel like I’m still just scratching the surface in terms of its possibilities. Almost all of the acrylics that you’ve seen here on my blog since August were done with this paint.
This still life on clear-sealed linen is another one of my favorites done with this paint:
Flowers on Linen, 8×6″
The paint tacks up as I work just enough to be able to do things that oils cannot. No more acrylic paint drying on your brushes either. When you finally get that mix of colors just right, the paint doesn’t dry out before you get a chance to use it. Edges can be blended and manipulated—no more razor-sharp acrylic edges in your paintngs unless you want them. Yet, it tacks up enough as I work to be able to scumble, glaze, and overpaint. Oils can’t do that! For plein air painting, they can’t be beat. Just a spray of water now and then keeps them totally workable. I can get paintings varnished and out to galleries in less than two weeks. I don’t have to put up with that nasty “sinking in” and flattening of values that oil paints do overnight without my permission! The color remains as beautiful and vibrant as when it was painted. These dry to a matte finish, so do not at all have that plastic look of many acrylics.
I’ve had good success with it in the figure painting studio too. This one from a few weeks ago is one of my favorite figure sketches with the new paint:
Amanda Resting, 8×10″ on Canson board
I hope any of you artists out there reading this will have the opportunity to try out this new product. It’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. I’d be happy to answer any questions relating to the working properties of the paints; just enter them as comments on this post. I am so happy to be able to discuss them at last.
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.
12×12″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard, unframed
What better way to brighten up your day than with a bouquet of sunflowers, paired with one of Louise King’s unique “Mud Pony” horse sculptures? I loved doing this colorful painting, with the strong color, high contrasts, and varied textures. It’s one of my personal favorites.
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in purchasing this painting.
12×9″, soft pastels on Art Spectrum sanded pastel paper
Everybody loves visiting an artist’s studio and seeing paintings come together, so I thought I’d share part of the process of this painting.
Here’s a photo of my setup in my studio, along with the pastel in progress. The pastels on the paper towel are the ones I selected from my huge box of colors. Setting them aside like this makes them easier to find, and helps maintain a unified palette with good color harmony.
Above is a photo of the full area of my studio where I was working on this piece, so you can see the whole pastel box. I think now you can see why I find it necessary to separate the colors I’m using in a particular work; otherwise I’d be forever looking to find them again!
This is an image of the painting about 1/3 of the way through the process. The basic color plan has been made and the objects blocked in. Following this stage, it’s time for refinement. Most of my time on a painting is spent in the refining stages.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip to my studio!
Today I participated in the Worldwide Sketchcrawl #18! I got a late start, but managed to squeeze in several pages in my 5.5″ square sketchbook, in between family activities. Here they are, in the order in which I did them.
This last one was painted from the kitchen window. This brook, with the little island in the middle, is the outlet to the lake. Springtime brings wood ducks, swans and snapping turtles to the scene. Any time of year, it is a favorite crossing for herds of white-tailed deer. Occasionally, I see a mink running across the island, or a beaver swimming upstream. There’s always something interesting happening out there.
7×5″, watercolor and colored pencil on grey Stonehenge (rag) paper
$45 via PayPal, $3 shipping within US
This time, the title says it all!
Gouache on Stonehenge rag paper
Double matted in ivory/gold to 8×10″ to fit into a standard 8×10″ frame.
$105 via PayPal, $10 shipping within US
I’m loving painting these flowers in the living room. Today I set up a gorgeous Moorecroft vase of flowers on top of the mantle, in front of one of my Hudson River paintings with Storm King Mountain. I needed a high vantage point to paint it, so I brought my Soltek easel into the living room and set my painting box on top of it!
Goauche on Stonehenge 100% rag paper, double matted to 8×10″ for standard frame, with protective sleeve for ringbinder. See right sidebar for more information on Coffee Table Painting format!
$105 via PayPal, $10 shipping within US
This 7×5″ gouache painting is double matted in ivory/gold to 10×8″, to fit any standard 8×10″ frame.
I’m having a hard time getting a decent photo with the mat, but this one will at least give you an idea of what the mat looks like!
My husband went out to do errands this morning and came home with a gorgeous bouquet for me! I took out a bunch of my favorite vases and filled them with flowers. These two vases are in the living room, under one of my large paintings of a scene from Boscobel Restoration of the Hudson River overview. I stood by the stairway and leaned my painting box on the handrail to paint this! I like the way the composition of this living room scene leads the eye around in a circle. The strong red of the little vase balances the heavier objects on the left side of the painting. I haven’t done any paintings of interiors for awhile. I guess I’d better do a bunch before plein air season gets underway!
5×7″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Saunders Waterford 300lb CP watercolor paper
SOLD!
This is a painting I did to test drive my new painting box. What better thing to paint than the box iteself!
Images of the box and instructions for its construction are in the posts below
8×6″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on linen (can be cropped to 7×5″ if buyer prefers)
Wow, this one was harder than I thought it would be….but I’m pretty happy with it after a day of struggling!
6×6″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on linen
These little wooden figures are so much fun to paint. I paired them with three small, old books for my Full House painting.
5×7″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on clear-sealed linen, double matted in beautiful ivory/gold to 8×10″ to fit any standard 8×10″ picture frame
This was so much fun to paint….I think I’m going to have a really good time with this series!
My palette for this painting was:
Cadmium Primrose
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Pyrrole Red
Ultramarine Blue
Phthalo Blue
Titanium White
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in purchasing this painting.
16 x 12″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard, custom framed with linen liner and gold frame
This little brass bird, which is one of my favorite still life objects, was the perfect complement for the pinks and violets of the mums. It picked up some of the reflected color and cast it into the shadows. This was painted with brushes and palette knives. There’s a lot of texture in the thick paint that is hard to show in a digital image.
7×5″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on linen
My husband came home from the grocery store today with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me! These purple carnations are so beautiful; I had to paint one right away.
Palette:
Quinacridone Magenta
Ultramarine Blue
Cadmium Primrose
Titanium White
The linen is clear-sized, so the beautiful color and texture remain visible.
Click to enlarge either image:
$100 via PayPal, free shipping within US
7 x 5″, double matted to 10×8″, Gouache on Fabriano Artistico 100% rag paper, matted and unframed
This painting is sold in a beautiful double mat (shown below), ready to hang in any standard 8×10 picture frame.
This is a painting filled with things that are so special to me. The little silver guitar was given to me by a wonderful student of mine. The red berries are from a bouquet that my husband gave me for Valentine’s Day. The beautiful red pot was made by a local potter Marilyn Price. I got it at the RiverWinds Gallery while out gallery-hopping with friends. As soon as I saw it there on display, I knew I had to paint it!
8×6″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on clear-primed linen (shown cropped to 7×5″)
Whew, was this ever hard! I thought it would never get finished. Sometimes these little ones can take as long as a much larger painting to complete. This one certainly fell into that category, but I am pleased with the result.
Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Red Light
Ultramarine Blue
Titanium White
6×6″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on clear-primed linen
This vase belonged to my great aunt, who was one of the sweetest, kindest ladies I’ve ever known. She lived to be 106, and I’m sure would be thrilled to see her vase in this painting! I love this little vase with the colorful plums circling the ultramarine blue.
This is the first time I’ve painted on clear-primed linen, and it was wonderful! The beautiful linen color and texture can be seen, and the surface is a joy to paint on. Many artists pre-prime boards or canvas to this warm linen color, but there’s nothing like the real thing!
Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Red Light
Ultramarine Blue
Titanium White
6 x 6″, Oils on sealed, primed masonite, unframed
$100 via PayPal, free shipping within US
Who’d have thought that empty soda cans could make such nice painting subjects?
6×6″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sealed, primed hardboard
I love this orange flower paired with the clementine, and the bright red, Marilyn Price vase seemed the perfect item to tie the two together. I draped a blue cloth behind them to make the warm colors pop.
Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Red Light
Ultramarine Blue
Titanium White
$245 via PayPal, $10 shipping within US
10 x 8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard, unframed
I bought these flowers in anticipation of a rainy day. I had an especially good time with all the reds and oranges on my palette!
12×9″, Oils on Art Spectrum Colourfix
Spending so much time sketching with watercolors in my sketchbook lately put me in the mood to do something sketchy in oils too. I really enjoyed painting these flowers that my husband gave me. It felt great to break loose from a more confining size and style and paint something with more expressive brushwork. I think I’ll do more of these!
Art Spectrum Colourfix is an archival surface for all media, but is generally used for pastels. I love the way it took the oil paint! I’ve used it for both pastels and acrylics, but this was the first time I tried it with oils. I’ll definitely be working on this surface a lot more!
Palette:
Cadmium Red
Cadmium Yellow Lemon
French Ultramarine Blue
Titanium White
Here is an image of the painting cropped to about 8×10, so you can see it in a little closer:
There’s a lot of thick paint texture on the painting that, unfortunately, didn’t come through on the photo. I think I’ll have to switch to taking my photos with the Nikon and tripod, instead of hand-holding my little point-and-shoot!
6×6″, Acrylic on sealed, primed hardboard
$100 via PayPal, $7 shipping within US
Today I pulled out my acrylics to finish up this still life that I started last week. When I left for Florida, I put the bowl of fruit into the refrigerator with a sign on it saying, “Jamie’s Still Life—DO NOT EAT!” I suppose they got the message, because it was still there today. I think I’ll have a clementine now!
Here are some of the previous stages of the painting:
First I drew in my composition with acrylic burnt sienna paint, and blocked in some values. I don’t spend too much time on this stage—just enough to kill some of the white support, add a little complexity to the color, and give myself a road map for local color and values.
Next, I set out a pretty large selection of colors for this painting because I really wanted to capture the vibrancy of the fruit and bright bowl:
I started with the shadow areas, and worked until the support was covered with the local colors.
To finish, I pushed lights and darks, and added in some details, highlights, and reflected color.
Email me if interested in this painting.
6 x 6″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard, unframed
Our sun conure, Cookie, loves clementines, so I try to have some around whenever they’re in season! I often place a piece of fruit at the base of a vase of flowers for still life paintings. For this painting, I let them swap locations.
5×7″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sealed, primed hardboard
Email me if interested in this painting.
Every fall, I start putting together ideas for what I’d like to paint in the winter. That way, when fall draws to an end, I’m enthusiastic about starting my new winter life in the studio. This little, old yellow jug was purchased at a flea market recently. It’s worn, warm, ochre finish and subtle variations in color led me to pair it with these hickory nuts that I collected on one of my plein air outings. Rather than putting them against a cool-colored background for contrast, I decided to go with a warm background and play with the subtle color shifts for a highly unified color scheme in the painting. The whole thing feels like fall to me. This is the little jug’s painting debut, though the hickory nuts did make it into a recent watercolor in my sketchbook!
My palette for this painting was:
Raw Umber
Yellow Ochre
Hansa Yellow Opaque
Napthol Red Light
Ultramarine Blue
Titanium White
Looking on as I painted were two of my studio mascots, basking in the warm sunlight streaming in through the window. Their names are Lulu and Lucy, though I affectionately refer to them collectively as “Double Trouble”. They are Jenday Conures. I leave their cage door open when I’m in the studio, and they go in and out as they please. Lulu (the closer of the two in the photo) likes to say “kiss” and “up”. She expects any visitors to pick her up and tell her what a good bird she is (even when she’s not!)
7×5″, oils on canvas covered hardboard
Email me if interested in this painting.
Gourds have so much personality, don’t you agree? I have a great time personifying them in paintings. These two snugglers are the result of a trip to the local farmer’s market.
5.5×8.5″, acrylic on sketchbook paper
After a full day of plein air painting yesterday, I came home and just couldn’t resist this red daisy. It was in a bouquet on my kitchen counter, and I’ve been dying to paint it all week. I snipped the stem, put it in this round vase, and pulled out my Golden Fluid Acrylics. I didn’t do any drawing—just went right in with paint. It was so much fun to explore that rich red color and the glass. I’m glad that tired as I was, I didn’t miss the opportunity for this painting.
Since this one is in my sketchbook, I can’t remove it to sell. However, I’d love to do another, so if you’d like to purchase one, just let me know!
8×10″, oil on canvas board
Email me if interested in this painting.
5×7″, Oils on Canvas covered hardboard, unframed
SOLD!
It’s raspberry season in the garden! I picked this sprig with a single ripe berry and set it in a glass to paint in my studio.
4 x 6″, Oils on primed hardboard, unframed
Email me if interested in this painting.
I don’t think any explanation is needed for this one!