# 41 - Apple - small oil painting

#41 - Apple

Oil on board, 7 x 5ins.

Another healthy reference today. But I do have to confess it was baked in the oven with a delicious syrupy filling for dessert (thanks to Mother). She is great cook, and keeps trying to fill me up !

# 40 - Salad Tomatoes

# 40 - Salad Tomatoes

Oil on board, 7 x 5ins.

A much healthier subject for today's little painting - and I so enjoyed painting this. I tried to be looser and less fussy, and I think I managed it. I also enjoyed painting on the MDF board. I actually prefer it to canvas - a much slicker surface that allows me to move paint around more freely.

# 39 Fruit Pie

# 39 - Fruit Pie

Oil on board, 7 x 5ins

More food !! Will it never end ?

# 38 - Lemon & Ginger

# 38 - Lemon & Ginger

Oil on board, 7 x 5ins.

I spent yesterday priming boards !! Not a nice job, but somebody has to do it. So now I have a nice stash ready for painting, and I can get to it in earnest. The subject above is among the many leftover goodies we have from the holidays. Too much sweet stuff lying around here !

Note to Self - do NOT use edible references !!

# 37 - Portrait Study 1

Portrait Study 1

Oil on canvas, 12 x 16ins.

Step by Step Demo of this portrait on my website

First of all - Happy New Year to all !! Hope 2007 is a great year for you.

The festivities are over - friends and family have left for home, and I am free to paint to my heart's content ! We had nothing planned for today - New Year's Day. We have indulged in too much food and revelry, so decided on a quiet day. Before I start my little paintings, I decided to start a series of studies for portraits I have been planning. This is the first study.

The studies are loosely based on some photographs I saw of prisoners in a State Penitentiary. They were taken between 1915 and 1937. I was so taken by these photos that I knew I had to capture the faces in paint. The people have no names, only numbers. I find myself fascinated by their faces - particularly their eyes. Who knows what their crimes were.

I am starting the series with small studies - 12 x 16ins.

Happy Holidays to All

A very Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and Happy Holidays. I will be back on normal painting schedule in a few days !!! Once again - life interferes with art.

Hope you all have a wonderful time.

# 36 - Leaf Study 3 - Small oil painting

Leaf Study 3

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins

Another little leaf, swept up with the pile at the edge of the patio. This one stood out - it's still yellow while all the others are brown. A late dropper !

# 35 - Leaf Study 2 - Small Oil Painting

Leaf Study 2

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins.

The leaves are everywhere. Every time there is a strong wind, they fly across the sky, tumbling and twirling - and then they all gather at the edge of my patio, and I have to clear them up !! But they make marvellous subjects for little studies.

# 34 - Leaves study - Small Oil Painting

Oil on canvas board, 11 x 9ins.

I am the world's greatest blender. Whether it be in art...or in life, you can count on me to blend really well. Do you need a pancake batter blended - hand it over. I can guarantee there will be no lumps. Are you preparing a guest list for a dinner party ? Leave it to me - I will compile a list of guests that will blend as smoothly as silk. They will all love each other so much they will be exchanging addresses by the time the night is over ! Oh yes...I can blend.

But where is the excitement in that ? Where is the tension that makes for lively repartee, and stimulation of the mind ? Where is the push and pull of different personalities that makes the pulse race and the senses come alive ?

As in life, so in art. I am trying to blend less and let the brushstrokes speak for themselves. An unexpected smear of paint, a small dash of discord, a chink of light so bright it is almost blinding - these are some of the ingredients in the recipe of good art. Not everything has to blend.

No Scanner

I apologise. I have been painting, but my scanner bombed out last week, and I can't get any decent photos. The new scanner arrives tomorrow - yoohoo - so I will be back up to full speed. I can't wait.

# 33 - Paint Tubes - small oil painting

# 33 - Paint Tubes

Oil on canvas board, 10 x 7ins

Today's painting was rather straightforward. It's 2 paint tubes. I have so many of them - different brands, different sizes, and different colours. These 2 are lemon yellow and burnt sienna. I rarely use the lemon yellow, but burnt sienna is one of my all-time favourite colours. I actually had another tube in the set up. It was a smaller tube, and the end was rolled up - but I chickened out on painting the rolled-up end of the tube. Coward !!

This painting is slightly larger than usual, but I have, once again, run out of 5 x 7 boards. I really need to get a large sheet of MDF and cut it up. I prefer it to the texture of these boards.

Please CLICK HERE to buy this Painting from my Website. Thanks

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# 32 - Chopper

# 32 - Chopper

Oil on canvas, 10 x 7ins.

Definitely couldn't eat this reference ! A quick one - in monochrome.

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# 31 - Party Time

# 31 - Party Time

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins

I couldn't manage a painting the last few days - and did I miss it ! Doing these daily small works has become an addiction - in a nice way.

I am now concentrating on brushstrokes - trying to say what I want using the minimum of strokes. Just put it down and leave it alone. It was difficult with this painting, but I did not blend nearly as much as I normally do. I'm fairly pleased with the result.

Please CLICK HERE to buy this Painting from my Website. Thanks

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# 30 - Peeled

# 30 - Peeled

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins.

This painting really was great fun to do ! And no...I didn't eat the reference afterwards. A banana left like this for a couple of hours doesn't look too healthy by the time you're finished with it (especially under a bright light).

It's the last day of November - and I have completed 30 daily paintings. I am very pleased with myself. I can feel myself loosening up. I'm really scrutinising the subject - watching for shifts in value, colour changes etc. My colour mixing has improved so much. The challenge for next month is to try and cut down on the number of brushstrokes - mix the right colour and value, and lay the paint in the right place with the minimum of fuss.

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# 29 - Chocolate Muffin

# 29 - Chocolate Muffin

Oil on canvas board, 5 x 7ins.

As I said yesterday, I plan to paint only from life for this blog. But this presents a big problem !!! I will have to limit myself to painting fruit, diet food, or ceramics. That way I won't be...er...tempted to eat the reference. *She said while wiping choclate muffin crumbs from her face*.

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# 28 - Cherries

# 28 - Cherries (SOLD)

Oil on canvas board, 5 x 7ins.

Today's painting was from a photo ref. and while painting it I realised that I don't want to do this anymore - paint from photo references, that is. It just wasn't the same as painting from life. Of course I know that there are times when it's impossible or impractical to paint from life, and on these occasions, photos or other refs. will have to do. But for these Daily Paintings - from now on, it's life !!

SOLD - to Daniel in Reading. Thanks Daniel !

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# 27 - Apple Pie

# 27 - Apple Pie

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins.

I wanted to paint an apple today as we have some lovely red apples in the pantry. But I didn't want to paint "just" an apple, so decided to stand the apple in this little pie dish. The dish gave me a lot of trouble !! My ellipses are usually off - and this one was no different. I really had to work at it. I had to force myself to put the brush down and not overwork the painting.

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# 26 - Mushrooms

# 26 - Mushrooms

Oil on canvas board, 10 x 7ins

A very simple painting today. It was a busy day. The family were all here for lunch. So while they were watching cricket on TV - South Africa vs. India. and then The Ashes - I found a quiet corner and painted.

# 25 - Autumn

# 25 - Autumn

Oil on canvas board, 10 x 7ins

Something different today - a small landscape. A few years ago, I considered myself a landscape painter. That's all I ever painted, or wanted to paint. I think being at home in Zimbabwe had something to do with it. The landscape was magnificent - the light was superb - warm and yellow. But...since being in the UK, I have turned to painting other things. It was really pleasant today, to be thinking about trees, land and sky. Outside, in the real world, it poured all day, and was so dark I had the lights on by 3pm. This painting lifted my spirits. I must do more of them.

# 24 - Teddy

# 24 - Teddy (SOLD)

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins.

As long as I have children around me, I can never run out of subjects for my Daily Paintings. This little teddy is a favourite. He has such a sweet nature. "He never fights, he's not greedy, and he loves Annie" - according to Megan.

Sold - to Margaret in Preston. Thanks Margaret !

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# 23 - Annie

# 23 - Annie

Oil on canvas, 7 x 5ins

Please CLICK HERE to buy this Painting from my Website. Thanks

Another one of my granddaughter's favourite dolls. I really, really enjoyed this painting - so much so that I have started a larger work featuring Annie and a few Teddy's. I'll let you know when I put it on my website Fine Art by Raine.

# 22 - Sweet Segments

# 22 - Sweet Segments

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins.

This little painting was a real challenge !! It took a lot longer than my normal daily paintings. It required a lot of thought, quite a bit of wiping off, and at one point, I was almost ready to dump it. But...perseverance paid off, and I'm pleased with the result.

The exercise of doing a small painting every day is becoming very addictive. A friend commented "Oh...so you do these little ones, and then you get on with your real painting". Well...uh...no...not exactly. These little ones are real painting ! They require the same amount of thought, planning and expertise as bigger works. Okay - they take much less time, and use far less paint. But believe me - it's not easy to paint on a small canvas. Since I started doing these small works, I have come to really appreciate the work going on at Daily Painters. Well done to all the artists who are participating !

Please CLICK HERE to buy this Painting from my Website. Thanks

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# 21 - Just an Onion

# 21 - Just an Onion

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins.

Yes...today...it's just a little onion. Energy levels are low, list of things to-do is a mile long - so it's just an onion.

But this onion is not really "just" an onion. It's a great onion, and it's going to play a major part in our supper tonight. Along with a couple of it's buddy's, it's going to be caramelised, and act as an accompaniment to some delicious roast pork ! Yummy - can taste it already.

# 20 - Twins

# 20 - Twins

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins

These two bright red tomatoes, joined at the vine, made me think of twins - joined by the umbilical cord in the womb, and then by an invisible thread during life.

Funny how your mind works when you're painting tomatoes !!!!

# 19 - Memories

# 19 - Memories

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins.

I still have these shoes - and it seems not long ago that I was wearing them. These are the kind of shoes that you can stride out in - wiggling your hips, and tossing your hair ! They are the kind of shoes that encourage admiring glances and wolf whistles.

Sadly...these days...I just don't get the same effect wearing old trainers.

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# 18 - Lantern

# 18 - Lantern

Oil on canvas board, 5 x 7ins.

Christmas is coming - and this little lantern really made me feel rather Christmassy as I painted it. I don't know why, but it evoked memories of Christmas past - snow-filled nights, sitting round the fire reading Dickens. Do people still do things like that ? I don't think so. Pity !

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# 17 - Shy Friends

# 17 - Shy Friends

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins.

I should have finished with playthings years ago, but grandchildren mean a repeat of the whole process. These little people belong to a set of building blocks - my youngest granddaughter, Megan, plays with them regularly. She fits the blocks together to make trains, and these two are usually the drivers !

Forgive the glare on the image - it's still slightly wet (I'm painting late today).

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# 16 - Weapons of Mass Destruction

# 16 - Weapons of Mass Destruction

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins.

If you have experienced the damage these little things can do in the hands of a toddler, you'll know what I'm talking about in the title of this painting. I have had the pleasure of scraping crayon out of the carpet, washing it off walls, and trying to get it out of the washing machine after it's been on a full wash cycle. No fun !!! But this little painting was fun, and very challenging.

Not such a good photo though - I'll try to get a better one and replace it. I'm finding the photographing of these little paintings very difficult. If any of you lurking artists have any advice - I'm all ears.

# 15 - Sticky Bun

# 15 - Sticky Bun

Oil on canvas board, 7 x 5ins.

My granddaughter, Meg, wanted a sticky bun. But, as with most children, she couldn't finish it ! So I painted the leftovers. I won't tell you what I did with it after I painted it, but it was, indeed, very sticky (and delicious).

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# 14 - Silent Conversation

# 14 - Silent Conversation

Oil on canvas board, 10 x 8ins.

I grabbed two apples from the fruit bowl, put them on my table, while I gathered the rest of my painting paraphernalia. Then I looked at the apples, ready to place them into an acceptable composition. Well - they seemed to be having a conversation ! I couldn't hear what they were saying, but they looked as though they understand each other. I left them just as they were - and painted them.

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# 13 - The Piglet's Progress

# 13 The Piglet's Progress

Oil on canvas board, 10 x 7ins.

Just a very quick painting for fun ! I was looking around for something to paint, and Piglet seemed to be saying "Paint Me, Paint Me !!" So I stood her in the corner of my painting box, and this is the result.