Personal Challenges in Painting

 I have spent the first six months of 2015 working mostly outside of my comfort zone. I challenged myself to work from reference photographs and to learn new techniques. I also returned to working with oil paints for some of my paintings.

Because I mostly design and paint experimentally and intuitively, it is a challenge to me to work from reference resources. For example, in the painting "Old Shaky," I painted the bridge five times, mostly because (1) I have issues with straight lines and (2) I was guilty of seeing what was in my head, but not in the resource photograph.

"Old Shaky" 30 by 36, oil on canvas

As for techniques, I continue to expand knowledge and build skill with mixed media painting and with "Nature's Bouquet, I employed a chalk pastel under painting. It's my new go-to technique because I love to use layers and depth in my work.

Acrylic and chalk pastel finish the painting, which turned out to be a semi-realistic portrayal of flowers growing in a portion of a field.

"Nature's Bouquet" 24 by 30, mixed media on canvas