Faces # 37 4" x 4" oil on canvas boarad

Another fun face to do. Notorious member of the HIlton Head Gang
This is Kelly "MacGrins" MacDonald.
To find out more about MacGrins check out her blog:

http://kelleymacdonalddailypaint.blogspot.com/

The Golden Hour 9" x 12" Oil

This one one of the last plein air paintings I did this fall, not counting my trip to HIlton Head. I painted in the afternoon to see if the light really would be different and have than golden glow everyone talks about. It seemed like the sun just made everything shimmer with saturated colors. I am looking forward to trying to paint snow on location. Any tips for keeping your fingers from freezing?

Trees oil pastel one watercolor paper

I was playing around with some very soft oil pastels - Porfolio Oil Pastels. They break easily they are so soft. and are water soluble. This time I didn't use any water just nice and thick like oil paint. I ended up painting with my fingers mostly because it blended them nicely.

Faces #36 4 x 4" oil

I'm back working on completing 100 small faces. I did this one in less than an hour because I had to go to work. I used a cad red light ground and really like the way it shows through on this on.

Breakfast with Richard 8" x 10" oil

This was for another challenge on www.Daily Paintworks.com. I like doing the challenges because it gives me a place to start and usually a subject matter I might not think of doing. This is my husband reading the paper with his morning coffee.

Turtle 12" x 16" oil

Recently Daily Paintworks posted a challenge, asking artists to paint a painting in the style of an artist they admire. So I decided to do this turtle painting in the style of Aboriginal Canadian, Norval Morrisseau, also know as Copper Thunderbird. He painted legends of his people. I love his use of black lines and bright colors.

End of the Day 8" x 10"

I loved the shadows on this girl's legs and her reflection.

Flats 12" x 12" oil

This was painted for the Daily Paintworks Challenge. 

Koi Pond 8" x 8"

Another painting from HIlton Head workshop.

Look! 8" x 10" oil

These two little ones were looking for something... maybe a sea creature crawling around on the rocks at low tide.

Redhead 8" x 8" oil

  The photo for this painting was taken in Maine on a very rocky beach at low tide. I just loved this little girls hair and her fist clenched in concentration s she dug for buried treasure

Karin Jurick workshop

Well, this is the shot of the infamous HIlton Head Gang - what a fun group of women - and yes what would we have done without Vince to print out all our photos? Karin runs a really wonderful workshop. She is very giving of her time and knowledge and her enthusiasm for painting is very evident when she talks about her paintings and life. We learned how to take pictures without drawing too much attention to ourselves and used those photos to create paintings.

After watching Karin demonstrate we used the same photo which Karin supplied. 

Lady on the Beach 8" x 10" oil

Wanted: Karin Quickdraw Jurick

I attended a workshop on Hilton Head Island, SC with Karin Jurick. One of our challenges was to paint a mug shot from a photo Karin gave on a 4 " x 4 " panel. Everyone liked it so much that it was decided we would paint mug shots of each other. Our fearless leader is first up on the wanted list!

On 30 October, 2011 disaster struck the tiny island of Hilton Head South Carolina. 21 Notorious characters descended upon Hilton Head and went wild shooting everything in sight.

The purpose of this challenge is to reveal the identities of the Hilton Head Gang by painting their portraits. The first mug to be painted will be the leader of this notorious gang - Karin “Quickdraw” Jurick. Karin can visit a beach and shoot everyone in sight before they even know she is there. Her covert activity is known worldwide.

Different Strokes 8" x 8" oil

This painting was done at low tide on a rocky Maine beach during a session with Liz Wiltzen. Liz came all the way to Maine to do a three day plein air class. We focused on the basics which meant we did a lot of exercises that make you want to pull your hair out while you are doing them, but afterwards, when it starts to sink in you think, "Wow! That was awesome!"

So I don't want to give away her whole class, you'll just have to sign up yourselves to get all the nuggets, but this one was my favorite. We were asked to do a painting in one hour using only 20 strokes. Yep that's right. So you really had to think about what color you wanted to mix and scoop up a big bunch so you could cover the space in just one stroke. So for example the sky is one stroke - as long as you don't lift your brush off the canvas it's one stroke.

Try it some time. Very fun.

A Slice of Vermont 9" x 12" oil

This was done on our last day of painting at Comstock Farm B&B. We had painted her earlier in the week and we all wanted to return. It was pretty overcast but I just loved the early morning light on the mountains.

Then in the afternoon we return to our first painting site and I painted from inside this huge, empty barn, looking out towards the garden. I loved this workshop with Susan Abbot. I think I left a big piece of my heart behind in Vermont.

Shack 8" x 10" oil

This was done on the grounds of a beautiful home in Vermont. There were so many things to paint it was hard to decide. I was really struck by the angles in the shack up against the beautiful view of the field in the background. Again we had an amazing blue sky with incredibly large , fluffy white clouds drifting by. Plein air painting paradise.

In town - 6" x 8" oil

In the afternoon on the second day we painted in town. It was really hot but we toughed it out. I was thinking of all the Edward Hopper paintings we had looked at in the studio while I painted this.

Dirt Road 8" x 8" oil

This is probably my favorite painting from the workshop in Vermont. I really like pathways and roads, so this view was very intriguing to me. I also like the shadows. Very fun to paint.

Lower Pond - Day One afternoon

So after an awesome lunch at Susan's we went back out to paint. This home was a beautiful estate with two different ponds and several buildings, as well as fields and views of the mountains. It was very hot and muggy, so standing by the water was the only place to catch a slight breeze. Again we used just three colors and white.

Susan Abbott workshop - Vermont

This was our first day painting on location. We were asked to choose a scene that really excited us. We could use only three colors plus white - alizarin crimson, thalo blue and cadmium yellow. I am used to a limited palette but choosing a scene was tough because we were surrounded by beauty on all sides. I did this hill second with the blue sky and enormous puffy white clouds - which we had all week.
This was my first painting. This was the view from the driveway. How about looking at this every morning while you are brushing your teeth! Susan also talked a lot about color. We were asked to push the color and use complements next to one another to get that zing that she has in her work. Both my paintings were small so I was able to do two that morning.

Vermont Shed 8" x 8" oil

In August I attend a week long workshop for plein air painting in Marshfeild, Vermont. Susan Abbot was the instructor and she was fantastic. This is a study I did the day before classes began. It is on the grounds of Fruitlands B & B where I stayed.

It's Not Mine" 6" x 8" oil on canvas board

An unwanted little egg.

You Watch Them 6' x6" oil on canvas board

Little ceramic birds fighting over who will watch their fake eggs.

Spring tulips 4"x 4" oil on canvas

This is just the sweetest little green vase.

Face # 28 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

I wish we had a blue sky the color of this background.

Face # 27 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

One of my favorites so far.

Faces # 26 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

Just love her expression. The title of the photo was "veggie biker".

Face # 25 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

This is the first side view I've tried. I really like her earring!

Sunny Days 6" x 8" oil on canvas board

So I headed out to Highland Forest today around 8:30 am and it was hazy and cold, but the forecast was promising sun. This is actually my second painting. You can see the clouds have taken over. But by the time I got home it was sunny blue skies and 60 degrees. That's weather in Central New York for ya!

My daughter has these cool red sunglasses. Just had to post them today because it's sunny and 60 degrees here - finally.

Face # 24 4" x4" oil on canvas board

I like the way she is looking back over her shoulder.

FAce # 23 4" x4" oil on canvas board

Attitude

Face # 22 4" x4" oil on canvas board

I just loved this young woman's expression and her headband. Fun to paint.

Face # 21 4" x4" oil on canvas board

Daniel

Face # 20 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

Sean

Faces # 19 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

Face # 18 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

Love her baby blues.

Face # 17 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

This young woman's red hat caught my eye when I was searching for images.

Face # 16 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

Wisdom in these eyes.

Face # 15 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

Goldfinger - that's all I'm going to say.

Face # 14 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

I loved the tilt of this woman's head.

Faces # 13 4" x 4" oil on canvas board

I love the way this guy is all bundled up with his cool scarves.

Empty 6" x 6" oil on canvas board

This was for one of the Daily Paintworks Challenges - One Stroke.

Face # 12 4" x 4" oil

This guy had really fair skin with a little facial hair and dark eyebrows. I tried a different ground this time - Radiant Magenta to keep it on the pinker side.

Face #11 4" x 4" oil

This guys has a cool hat, a great smile and awesome ears! Fun.

Face # 10 4" x 4" oil

This lovely lady was all wrapped up in a red scarf and looked cold.

FAce #8 and #9 4" x 4" oil

I decided to post two faces because I haven't posted for a few days. With each face I learn something new. This is a great exercise to challenge me to keep trying to do a portrait a day.

My favorite thing about this woman is her wonderful smile and very cute headband.

I just love this woman's express, tilt of the head and very cute yellow hat.