Back in the saddle again

As part of my efforts to restore balance to my little universe, I have decided to TRY to do one painting exercise each day(or night).  I recently read that painting on top of ANY color is preferable to painting on a white canvas.  So, I'm experimenting with different ground colors and I have to say that I feel that the ground color adds a whole new dimension to a piece.  Photographs cannot do full justice for the most part; (mine can't at least:)) and I feel that painting over a plain white canvas leaves my finished pieces looking rather clinical.  So....this is a painting that I have now done oh four or five times.  it's from a picture from an old calendar.  It's comforting, when I'm starting up again after a long break from art, to start in a familiar place ie: the painting or drawing that I've repeated over the years.  This time I started with a violet ground, and I am pleased with the outcome.

                           Please forgive the crummy format as I am not computer savvy.  I'm sure I'll improve with practice.  This was my first nightly exercise.  It's a winter scene taken from a friend's photograph.  I was not interested in a finished piece here.  Instead I was focused on light and colors.  I've read that you always should paint in season, but oh well.        
                                      
 This is my style for sure.  This painting is so satisfying to me partly because of the balance of colors.  I have a thing for cadmium red:)  The piece is warm (even though it is also a winter scene) and cool at the same time.  It was taken from a painting by Hashim Akib.

For Julia

My creative juices have been otherwise engaged for the last oh.. nine months or so. I've done a lot of painting, (basement, living room, dining room/kitchen/laundry room, stairs, and bedroom)but no fine art. My husband( who I think is nesting) remarked that the nursery looked too neutral, so I took it upon myself to remedy the situation. These are a few starts and hopefully in a few days I'll have the finished pictures, or a baby:)

Whooooo?

...HENRY!! I'm not sure if I'm done quite yet. I'm thinking about layering some more patterns and textures. The part that I love is that I found the word "henry" in an old dictionary and added it to the piece.

Emilio Estevez

It's almost midnight...again, but I've been up working on some projects. I've been experimenting with distressing magazine pages and then using the "new paper" as a ground for painting. This is a portrait of my little sister who incidentally looks nothing like this:) Humor me; everything gets a bit funnier late into the night.

Elle

All Together Now

Baby R

My friend is having a baby boy, and I'm so excited! She is decorating the baby's bathroom with frogs and I wanted to paint something to help celebrate. I'm not sure if I love the colors in this one and I might go ahead and do a couple additional paintings so that I can compare. Congratulations N !!