Daily Paintworks Challenge - Paint what you paint with

'Ready to Paint'

8"x10"

Oil on Canvas board

This is my take on the current Daily Paintworks challenge to paint what you paint with, posted by Carol Marine. I approached this piece very differently from my usual style. The big differences were:

1) Use only one brush (the one pictured). I tend to get carried away noodling small details with a little brush so I forced myself to only use a larger brush the entire time.

2) Keep the strokes! I opted for a looser and more painterly style where I left the brush strokes unblended.

3) Alla Prima. I finished this one quickly, avoiding my occasional problem with losing my momentum when I come back to a painting.

It was very fun to explore a different style and I'm very happy with the result.

"Cherry Chip with Cherry Frosting'

6x6" Oil on Canvas

Here's the third in the series. This one was also very fun to paint, especially the cherry chips. My wife said I need to paint vegetables next so there aren't so many treats around! I decided to add one more to the series and just need to bake the final batch... Red velvet with white frosting.

Cupcake Triptych

I'll get a better picture of the newest one tomorrow when the lighting is better. I'm also thinking about doing one more...

Cupcake #2

I'm really enjoying this cupcake series! This one was spread out over the last three days and probably took me a little longer than the last one. My employed the same techniques here as with the first but my emphasis was different. Instead of focusing on the paper liner I wanted the missing bite to be the star here. Because of that I left the paper largely undefined and tried to have my area of greatest contrast at the bite. The cupcake itself is also very different. Not only is it yellow cake instead of chocolate but it quite wide compared to the last one. The frosting was also spread on instead of being piped on in a swirl. I'm finding it a rewarding challenge to try to nail down the texture of frosting as well as that of cake. I'm planning on doing one more cupcake to finish the series so stay tuned!

Here I've roughly blocked in the areas

And here is the finished piece.

"Yellow Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting"

6x6"

Oil on canvas

Again the canvas is painted on all sides

Cupcake 1

I love the daily painting movement and follow many artists who complete a small piece each day. Although I don't have the resources or time to be that prolific, I occasionally get to fit one in. I've been planning on painting this for a few weeks and finally got the chance. It took about two hours and was exceptionally fun to paint. I approached this piece armed with several ideas and goals. I forced myself to premix my main colors before I got a brush in my hand because I find that this way sets me up for a more accurate color mixture and saves me frustration later on. I also tried to limit my palette somewhat so the colors I mix are harmonious. For example, the background hue was made by mixing Cerulean Blue with some of the colors from the chocolate mixture. I really wanted to show the value change in the paper from dark on the bottom where the cupcake is flush against it, to the lighter top where the paper starts to peel away from the cake a bit. I'm quite satisfied with the result and plan on making this the first in a series.

First I sketched it in thin Burnt Umber, just

getting the placement and general shape established.

Then I block in the darks before finishing with the

highlights and background/foreground

After approximately 2 hours I have the finished product.

'Chocolate Cupcake'

Oil on canvas

6x6"

Detail:

The painting extends onto the four sides of the square canvas

so it can be hung without a frame if desired:

After much deliberation...

I've decided that rather then keep these two that I'm particularly fond of for myself, I'll give someone else the chance to enjoy them.

Classic Literature

11"x14"

Oil on canvas board

$100 plus $10 shipping

St. George near Tuacahn

24"x16"

Oil on Canvas

$75 plus $5 shipping

Now available!

Summer Watermelon

11"x14"

Oil on canvas board

Purchase securely through PayPal for $70 plus $7 shipping

Lilacs

9"x12"

Oil on canvas board

$40 plus $5 shipping

Cup of blueberries

8"x10"

Oil on canvas board

Promised sale price of $35 plus $5 shipping!

And now for something completely different...

Stained Glass Still Life I

Oil on canvas board

9"x12"

Available when dry

This piece is a lot of things: A drastic attempt to force myself to eliminate detail and focus on basic shapes, an experiment with a style completely different from any I've explored, and an enjoyable hour of painting. I've always been fascinated by stained glass windows and think that their creators are vastly under appreciated. They were one of the inspirations to try something like this, and while the result may be a bit simplistic, it has intrigued me and I believe I'll explore this idea more in the future. I think that if I did a larger canvas filled with many carefully arranged objects, it could really work.

Watermelon

Watermelon

Oil on Canvas Board

11"x14"

Available when dry

I started this yesterday and it smelled great, but then I finished it today and the watermelon smelled like jack-o-lanterns two days after Halloween. Who knew? The painting, however, went smoothly and I enjoyed it. I sketched out a few possible compositions in my sketchbook before I started and that prevented the blueberry problem. I've been dying to put a knife in a still life for a long time. I wanted to have a reflection on it and this painting was perfect for it. The last time I had a knife with fruit was my Mate with Orange seen in this blog's header. This picture is very unsatisfactory and I hope to get a better one soon because the watermelon color was pure joy to mix.

Lilac

Lilacs

9"x12" Canvas Board

Available when dry

I've been planning on painting lilacs for awhile and last night I snagged some from my in laws. The colors in this photo are a little saturated as usual, but what can you do? I now have wet canvases laying everywhere and I'm running dangerously low on blank canvases.

Cup of blueberries

Cup of Blueberries (Still wet)

8"x10" Canvas Board

Available once dry enough to ship for SALE PRICE of $35 + $5 shipping

On my never ending quest to try more subjects and styles I was excited to paint some blueberries- perhaps too excited. I wanted to get started even before I had thought through my set up and plan. So before too long I had to make some drastic changes and run with them. Things came together at the end and it was challenging and fun to keep the whole thing lavender. The only small canvas I had was already toned a tan yellow, which I initially thought would cause problems, but it ended up being perfect because it reminded me of the color of the inside of a blueberry.

Classic Literature

I finished my current project and I couldn't wait to post pictures. I used a more classical and realistic approach for this one, drawing in the books, then underpainting them and progressively adding layers. I also focused more on values and correctly mixing colors, which takes more time but really pays off. I even spent extra time on the composition, getting a single light source on the subject because "a painting that is well composed is half finished" -Bonnard. I'm pleased with the outcome and will definitely continue to work on realism although I'll still need to do more freely expressionistic and painterly paintings too. I'm debating whether to sell this one or keep it for my personal collection but since it has a few months to dry I guess I'll keep thinking about it! Comment if you'd perhaps be interested in owning it.

Classic Literature 11" x 14"

Top: H.P. Lovecraft - Tales

Middle: Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment

Bottom: Dante Alighieri - The Divine Comedy

(All wonderful books that I highly recommend)

I love summer time

Here are better pictures of my last two paintings slightly more dry.

Porch decor painted alla prima in about two hours

8"x10" Canvas Board

Available for purchase $45 +$5 shipping

Mango II

8"x10" Canvas Board

Sold

Restless night

Last night I was laying in bed and I couldn't fall asleep. Painting was on my mind, but I knew that if I went and worked on my latest piece I'd be up way too late. So instead I came back to this fruit still life I'd put away to dry. I still wasn't completely satisfied with it so I decided to get my hands dirty, literally. Sometimes when I'm stuck on a painting I forego the brushes and revert to my original venture into the art world- finger painting. I love the creamy texture and the up close and personal feeling. It also got the job done and I can finally say this painting is finished. The adjustments aren't too apparent in the pictures but it was just what it needed. I'll still post a better photo once it dries, the colors are much more vibrant than shown here.

Fruit for my sister in law

After more than half a year I finally made it back to my easel and my oil paints! This is a little still life for my sister in law's kitchen to get warmed up again. It took about 5 hours (racing against withering fruit) and I enjoyed every minute of it. It felt great to be back even though I have enjoyed learning so much about watercolor. I'm pleased with how it turned out and so was she.

I also discovered that strawberries make the Top 5 favorite smells of Taylor Norton list along with BBQ sauce, coffee, yerba mate, and fresh baked bread. (Note: List subject to change at any time)

On a completely unrelated note, if you direct your gaze to the top right corner of my blog under the header you'll see a link to my newly opened ETSY PAGE! Yes that's right folks, for the first time in history the original art of artist Taylor Norton is now on sale to the public. Click the link and take advantage of this momentous occasion. Also I have an abundance of free time right now so if anyone out there would like to commission a painting just comment or email me at Norty717@gmail.com

Fruit for Rachel

8"x8" Canvas

Private Collection