Day 32

Tall Drink of Water, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy
SOLD

Ever since I heard this term many years ago, I've wanted to be called a 'tall drink of water,' even though I think it's a saying usually reserved for the fellas, no? Also, I'm not exactly tall, either. I just think it's one of the most unusual, cool compliments out there. It hasn't happened yet. Maybe someday it will, and if not, oh well. At least I can paint one...

Day 31

Out for a Walk, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy
Click for purchase information.

My favorite toys when I was a kid were the Fisher Price Little People.  I found some of the vintage wood people, and a few animals and cars at a flea market over the weekend, including this little wooden orange boy. Even when I was a kid, I liked the wooden people better than the plastic ones.

It's always fun for me to try to give a sense of movement and life to paintings of inanimate objects. The little orange boy says rather indignantly, "Who you calling inanimate??" (I love my imaginary world...)

Day 30

Greetings, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

This one should not have been a daily painting. It was far too ambitious. This should have been painted slowly over several days, but I was sure I could do it because I had completed Day 26 in about 4 or 5 hours. This one ended up taking me an entire day and part of the next one. I got frustrated and a little panicky as I realized I wasn't going to finish in one day, which of course made things end up taking even longer, but it is what it is - a great lesson for me not to bite off more than I can chew with these daily paintings.

It's also a study for a new series of studio paintings I'm getting ready to start of dogs at the farmers market. This little guy's name was Gatsby, and he was absolutely adorable. A rescued Italian Greyhound/Terrier mix. My husband and I both fell madly in love with him.

Day 29

Shannon with Scarf, 7 x 5 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy
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This one is another 40 minute pose painted at my figure drawing group. There were a few times I had to tell myself to stop for a moment and just breathe, to keep from rushing too much. The 40 minutes goes by so fast.

It feels like I'm getting better at skin tones and capturing form with these figure paintings. The scarf was fun to just suggest with a few strokes of color. I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out.

Day 28

Leaning Away, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

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This painting is more to me about color and brush strokes than about pears. The pears just happen to be the reason for it.

I ADORE this color combo! Not one of these colors is straight from the tube. In fact, I very rarely use any color straight from the tube, they always get mixed with another color. Straight color is too loud, in most cases.

Did I mention that I'm using a very limited palette for these paintings? A warm and cool yellow, a warm and cool red, and a warm and cool blue. Transparant red oxide mixed with ultramarine blue when I need black. All the browns and grays are mixed with red, yellow, and blue. 

Lovely, yummy colors harmonizing and playing together so nicely... 

Day 27

Marching, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy
165.00

My beloved Fisher Price cow, marching ever onwards...

There is so much I like about this painting - the heavy nostalgia factor, the gorgeous complimentary colors, the wonderful 'plastic' feeling of the cow.

The shadow 'grounds' the cow. The left hind foot looses itself in the shadow and gives the sense of the cow being a part of it's environment (in this case, the shadow box,) rather than looking like it was 'pasted' onto the background. A few soft edges around the head and back accomplish this as well.

It's all about hard and soft edges, people. Don't overdo them, but don't forget them, either.

I really like this one.

Day 26

Blue Duck Retriever, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

NFS

I love this painting. This is my rat terrier Cloud with his favorite toy, in happier days when Blue Duck's head was still attached to his body. Poor Blue Duck. 

I'm back in my comfort zone (painting dogs), but there are some new things: I've never painted a stuffed toy before, and most of my dog paintings have very simple backgrounds. It's funny how when you get back into your comfort zone after being out of it for a while, you notice some improvements in the way you do things. This is what I notice:

• The looser brushstrokes.

• The brushstrokes suggest form better than they used to.

• You can feel the texture of the stuffed toy, even though I made no attempt at all to make it look fuzzy.               

• There is a nice feeling of movement here. 

• The leaves are only suggested, but they look more convincing than if I had tried to make them highly detailed.

It was so much fun for me to paint that stuffed toy, I really feel like I nailed the colors and the textures with just a few brushstrokes. 

I'm learning so much about the nuances of brushwork with this daily painting project, I can only see it improving all aspects of my future paintings.

Day 25

Sherry Painting, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

SOLD

This is one of the gals in my plein air group, and the way she was sitting with the strong sunlight hitting her, was far more interesting to me than the barns most of the group were painting. (And the barns were really, really neat!)

This was painted about half on location, but she was getting sunburned, so I finished the background in the studio from photos. I like the looseness of this piece. The shoes, hat, and tee shirt are my favorite parts. I like the green reflecting on her leg from the grass. 

The chair legs look a little short to me. Still learning about skin tones in oils. Totally out of my comfort zone. And you know what? I'm having a lot of fun. 

Day 24

Lone Hay Bale, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy
100.00

This was painted on location at my friend Leela's place. There was a group of hay bales playing nicely together in the field, but I was drawn to this one sitting alone by the tree line. The one that didn't get picked for the team. Hay bales can be so cruel...

It can be hard to judge values on your canvas in bright sunlight. Ideally, I find a shady spot when I paint outdoors, but that wasn't in the cards this day.

Day 23

Dale, 5 x 7 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

This painting was done from life at my figure drawing group. It's my first head study in oils, let alone a head study done from life in 40 minutes. I only used two colors (plus white) this time, to simplify the skin tones: ultramarine blue deep and transparent oxide red. 

I can paint any color of fur, but there is much I need to learn about painting human skin tones. And I'm still figuring out which brushes work best for these small, quick studies. Considering all that, I kind of like this piece. 

Day 22

When life hands you lemons, put them in a really pretty bowl.

6 x 6 inch, oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy
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This is the first time I've ever painted lemons. Hard to believe, since lemons are one of the first things most people learn to paint. Not me. When I started painting, I jumped right into painting what I WANTED to paint - namely, things with a face. :-)

I think it's good for me to revisit the fundamentals, now that I'm more interested in the whys and the hows, rather than jumping right to the fun stuff. In the end, it's only going to strengthen ALL of my artwork.

I like how the brushstrokes suggest the form of the lemons, and I really feel like I got the color of the wood-fired bowl, even though the shape looks a little off to me.