Sunday, March 29, 2015

Toogoodoo 365

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WHAT is Toogoodoo 365????




Toogoodoo 365 is a project I have been thinking about for a while.  
This project is/will be 365 daily paintings comprising of either quick paints, studies or even studio paintings. I have put this project off over and over again as I have not been able to get myself started on Jan 1 (again)and then I thought, why not paint the daily creek paintings as I can, log them and end up with 
365 daily paintings of the Toogoodoo Creek.
images ...
A little creek history...
and more info, just in case you would like to have one of these  little gems. 
I'm thrilled to be able to share these scenes with you. 
The Toogoodoo 365 website is accessible via my website and through this blog.
Our beautiful world is a gift to us all.  Enjoy.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Great time at Brett McKee's!

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 We were super excited to be a part of a special event at 
Brett McKee's private dining and social club at
139B Market Street, Charleston!
Be sure to check out his website. 
(Thanks host, Mike Felton!)


Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Save The Light Gala and Auction

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Spring Marsh
oil on linen panel
5 x 7 in a 3" gold frame

There are a couple of organizations that I donate painting to each year and 
Save The Light
is one of my favorites!
Step Up For Light Gala and Auction is thursday, March 26
at Folly Beach

See you there! 


Monday, March 23, 2015

Painting completion of boats on the sea wall....

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Well, I've got 2 boats in and I almost forgot to stop and photograph! 
That happens a lot to me, I just get caught up in the painting and all of a sudden, it's done and no photos!  I chose my boat colors, not necessarily from the image but what I thought would look good. And I change my mind as I go.... I did like the red and blue and loved the white one...

The 3rd one is white in the photo and I thought it was pretty boring so I decided it should be
RED! Oh and I took away the little motors and "stuff" that was distracting to a boat painting. 
Though I am sure not distracting to a boat owner!  I've also started with the reflections here.

More reflections. Since the majority of the painting is water.... though that is not the focus,
I felt it needed to be a very reflective water without being distracting...

And here it is.....

DINGHY PARKING
24 x 36




If you would like to get my blog updates automatically to your email, it's easy! 
Just sign up on the "Follow my blog by email" link on the right side of the page here. 
I don't post very often unless I have a special project like this going on. 
I hope to post more progress on this painting tomorrow!


Sunday, March 22, 2015

Painting of boats on the sea wall progress update....

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My first step was to decide, is this a brush or palette knife painting?
I decided on palette knife. I normally like to do palette knife on gessoed hard board instead of 
canvas but I feel that boats just like to be painted with a knife! Gives them such movement and texture
My darkest darks go in first. Sometimes the darks get painted over but that helps
to get my values right! 

Then I started with the top of the sea wall which is in bright sunlight.
In the photo reference, there is a walk way and trees there but I took the 
artist license and cropped the image to the top of the sea wall. 

Then moving onto the sea wall which is set back from the top ledge and is in a bit in shadow,
the top ledge and posts are in the sunlight. I added the ropes (the mooring lines) as well.
This is an alla prima painting which means wet into wet and painted all at once.
Though I will have to find a good stopping point where I can pick it back up again tomorrow. 


Close up views of the sea wall and ropes.  


Good stopping point for me. 
The boats are tomorrow!

Still searching for a good name. 

Boats On The Sea Wall
Dinghies On The Sea Wall
Sea Wall Line Up
Dinghy Parking
Hanging Out
All Tied Up

Any suggestions? Would love to hear them...

If you would like to get my blog updates automatically to your email, it's easy! 
Just sign up on the "Follow my blog by email" link on the right side of the page here. 
I don't post very often unless I have a special project like this going on. 
I hope to post more progress on this painting tomorrow!

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Boats on the sea wall.... new painting progress

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On a recent trip to Florida in February, we enjoyed many days out on the water. It's no wonder that so many people migrate to south Florida, with that beautiful blue water and warm winter weather! 
On one of the days, we took the boat out on Biscayne Bay and had lunch at one of the restaurants close to Dinner Key Marina. These little dinghies were lined up on the sea wall as their sailing owners enjoyed their lunch as well. And as many of you know, I love to paint boats! So this is the photo reference for my next painting. It is a large one, 24 x 36 and it may take me a couple of days to complete so I decided to post my progress. 


My sketch is generally loosely done but I needed to make sure that the sea wall was straight and 
that the boat's angles were correct. Lots of perspectives to think about!
Once I figured out the right size canvas, it took me 2 days to make
sure the boats were correct as they "hang out" on the sea wall. 

This easel is my treasure find at an estate sale in Beaufort. I love the fact that it has a crank to raise and lower the easel height.  I have a feeling that I am going to need that feature on this one!
The easel thing to the right is perfect for my iPad. I use it for the color image while I paint.  And notice the dog bed at the bottom. Bella's day bed fits perfectly between the legs.

I normally print out a black and white image of my photo reference. 
It helps to guide me with the value changes of the painting. 
Here, I've taped it to the wall where my other recent paintings dry. I normally tape it to
the easel above the canvas but this one was too long.

I don't have a name for this painting yet.
Thinking about....

Boats On The Sea Wall
Dinghies On The Sea Wall
Sea Wall Line Up
Dinghy Parking
Hanging Out
All Tied Up

Any suggestions? Would love to hear them...

If you would like to get my blog updates automatically to your email, it's easy! 
Just sign up on the "Follow my blog by email" link on the right side of the page here. 
I don't post very often unless I have a special project like this going on. 
I hope to post more progress on this painting tomorrow!


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Edisto Beach

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"EDISTO BEACH"
5 X 7 palette knife oil painting on panel
framed 3" gold frame

Edisto Beach is very close to our home south of Charleston.
It is our favorite beach to walk at.
Quite often, we are the only ones there! Of course, in the summer... it s packed!
On this day, the clouds were big and boisterous with the threat of a summer shower. 
The tide was going out and the cloud reflections on the wet sand were magnificent.