Daily Paintworks Challenges

One Stroke Per Color Challenge

This is another one led by Carol Marine.  Painting one stroke and getting the right color was very difficult to do for me.  I had to mix enough of the same color to get the same background.  It also forces you to slow down.

  So about this globe.  A few years ago I got this bug to collect old globes on ebay.  This is one of my favorites,  the colors are pretty bright and of course it is outdated....It has dings and dents and is wobbly.  I suppose that's part of it's charm.

10x8 Oil

"Old Tin Globe"

The Zippo Challenge

This challenge was hosted by one of my favorite artists Michael Naples...I LOVE his work.

for this we could only use 3 colors, ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, and titanium white.

It's amazing how many colors you can make from that pallete!

So when I showed my family members this little painting they all said it was Papa's Zippo...he was our grandfather who alway's had his Zippo handy.  I like the sound they make when you flip the top!

6x8 Oil

"Papa's Zippo"

Ten Minute Challenge

Oil on 2 6x6 panels

This is a new challenge, it is from the Daily Paint Works site which has some of my favorite artist's on it.  One of which is Carol Marine who started a new weekly challenge open to all artists.  This week is a 10 Minute Challenge, rules are basically this:

Pick 1 object, set your timer for 10 minutes, paint the object and then stop when timer is up.  So each

square takes 10 minutes it goes by so fast and that is the point, to minimize brush strokes and just look at the shapes of color.  You can change the position or lighting. (I did a cooler light in the first 4).  

Sound easy?  well it wasn't.  First I did a banana...all 8.  They turned out terrible, so I scraped off the paint and ate the banana.  Then I tried a tomato, and here those are.  The last one is a slice.  I gave the the rest to my son and he made a sandwhich.  Definately will try more of these! 

Oil on 1 12x6 panel
"Ten Minute Tomatoes"  study

www.dailypaintworks.com

"Laundry Day"

10x8 Oil  SOLD

This is my submission for The Virtual Paintout. This month is Romania. 

I missed the last few months doing this challenge.....but after traveling through the 

street view from Google Maps I scrolled the viewer up and saw this little balcony and

it's laundry drying in the sunshine.  I can't wait for spring!

here is a screenshot of original view
located on Strada Mircea cel Batran, Constanta, Romania

"Sunflower Study"

"Sunflower Study" 

9x12 Oil

So, I have not being very good about keeping my New Years promise of posting, but I really have been painting.  Although this is not what was painted.  This week I did several setups and equally amount of wipeouts.  One of which was on top of another painting from a couple years ago that is about to be wiped out again ugh!!...

...now back to the Sunflowers.  In October I had taken a class from Bonnie Roth Anderson who is a Gem of a teacher at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts located in Annapolis.  The class was called "Hawthorne on Painting", based on the principles and instruction of Charles Hawthorne.  Bonnie is a truly dedicated who has been taught in his liniage and herself a wonderful artist.  She pushes us to see the color relationships throughout the painting.  Anyway,  with alot of squinting, mixing, scraping, remixing..... this is the result.  I would still change quite a few things, but for now it is a study and a study it will probably alway's be!!

9X12 Oil 

This is from another class of Bonnie's.  She set this still life up the first week and the lillies were closed.

by the 2nd week both were open so I had to edit ...as you can see I left one closed and had to imagine how the light was affecting the flower....also the light had changed dramatically....that's the downfall of painting with natural light...it changes constantly...but that's also what makes it more interesting!

Happy New Year!

"You are now in Bedford Falls"

by Renee Brennan 2007

10x8 Acrylic

Happy New Year!

This is a little painting I did a couple of years ago.   One of my all time favorite movies is "It's a Wonderful Life".  Every year we set up the IAWL village with it's little lit up buildings, trees, cars and people.  I think we have the whole set and if not it's too bad because they don't make it anymore.  Every year we get the dvd out and I "make" everyone who is in the house sit down and watch it.  They don't complain anymore as it has become a favorite movie to them as well.

I often don't make New Years resolutions but this year I promise to paint and post more on this drafty old blog.  Let me know how I am doing in a couple of months!!

Renee

Harvest of Artist's Show

5x7  Oil

sold

9x12 Oil

sold

"Picnic Boat Beauty" are just 2 of my newest paintings entered into the Muddy Creek Artists Guild, "Harvest of Artist's" show.  

The show is today Oct 3 and Sunday Oct 4 in Galesvile MD....Stop by and say hello!  For more info on times etc click on link above.

"Red #4" Boothbay Harbor, Maine

10x8 Oil

This #4 Buoy is located in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  

Recently enjoyed our first trip to Maine with husband of 20yrs married.  Everything there is so paintable!

We took a tour around Boothbay Harbor via boat....lovely lighthouses and scenery of islands and boats of all kinds........what do I like?  The channel markers, and lobster bouy's.  

I painted this for an upcoming show with the Muddy Creek Artist's Guild,

 it still needs a little tweaking I think;) when paintings are posted it's funny how I  see things that need fixing.   Oh yes the show is October 1-3.  Click on link for more info.

Comments are welcome!

"This is Main Street?"

10x8 Acrylic 

This month's Virtual Paintout was on the beautiful Island of Prince Edward, Canada

The location was coming off a small bridge on Main Street.  Of all the Main Streets in this world, this has got to be the most unique!  From what I saw "walking" by streetview via google maps there are many lovely farms on the water....how cool would that be?  go feed the chickens before taking a sail!

O.k. so now to the painting itself.  The colors were pretty true except for a little artistic licence with the blue grass.  Those blue clouds were very stormy, which made that green stand out even more so.

As usual I am posting on the last day of this challenge.  Next month starts a new location...hopefully it won't take me that long finding a spot to paint!

"Romy's Prawns and Shrimp"

11 X 14 Acrylic

56 Kamehameha Hwy
Kahuku, HI

So this month I finally went to Hawaii!....well virtually.  

This month's Virtual Paintout hosted by Bill Guffey.  While searching via Google Maps Street View for the perfect spot to paint, I found this fun red building in the midst of farming fields.  The red truck matched it's building as did several red picnic tables.  If I were really there, this would be a great place to eat some fresh prawns and shrimp!

Osprey Nest at #6

24 X 48 Acrylic on canvas
 $1000 Available

This piece was so much fun to paint.  I took a reference photo from our sailboat out on the West River on the Chesapeake Bay.  If you are not familiar with channel markers, there are these migrating birds called Osprey.  They come back to the Bay in the Springtime and build these huge nests....really they are about 3 - 4 feet wide!  Most of the markers have nests and sometimes you can see the newborns peeking their heads out.  Of course the parent's are very protective of the nests and when a boat passes by, the Osprey will circle out to distract onlookers from their nest.  Often while sitting on my back deck, you may hear a loud snap...and then see an Osprey with a large branch flying overhead....HEY I wonder if one of those branches I painted is from my tree! 

Painted Rain Barrel Project

Rain Barrel Project

Muddy Creek Artists Guild Outreach

This was how I spent my last Saturday, well really a few weeks ago painting this rain barrel

for the rain gardens to be installed at our local Shady Side Museum which is located on the 

Chesapeake Bay.

  As part of our groups outreach project, I took this one on and recruited a few of my fellow MCAG to help with the painting....serving them lunch alway's does the trick:)

This side has my little Box Turtle along with a few other critters.

Other side has a Blue Heron painted by Saralee Chaney

My other friend Nanci Worthington  painted this beautiful barrel with 

sunflowers and Maryland Blue Crab on it.  

note:  Other artist Flo Ormond helped paint a butterfly (sorry I didn't get a picture of it).