Toad in a Boat

I am a sucker for dogs. My own dogs have never let me get decent photos to paint, so I paint other people’s dogs.  Isn’t she cute with that single clover right in front of her nose? I had to paint her. I wish I’d thought to take an angled shot of the painting. It is on 3/4″ deep cradled wood panel, with the edges painted black, so it can be hung framed or unframed. I really like how these panels have a nice finished look on their own.  These have a little canvas texture to them that I like with oils, too. You can see the texture on DailyPaintworks.com if you mouse over it to magnify.  The most important part of any portrait to me, is the eyes. I’m very happy with the eyes on this one.

Sharing with my friends at Paint Party Friday!

I haven’t gotten to paint much this week but I did do another 6×6 oil on panel for this month’s Virtual Paintout. I’m not crazy about it but I keep telling myself I need to practice landscapes so this was good practice. It’s not so bad, I guess, but I just couldn’t match the picture in my head with this one. I found this little spot on Pupoju Road in Vilnuis, Lithuania. Can’t wait to see where we go for April. Happy Paint Party Friday!

The March location for the Virtual Paintout is Vilnius, Lithuania. It was rainy or overcast over much of Vilnius when the Google Street View car came through so when I finally spotted this building with dappled sunlight and the twin tree, I decided that would be my subject. I toned my panel with Cad Red Dark, just for fun. Here’s a progress shot (below) showing the red background I started with. I didn’t wait for the red to dry, since that takes days here, but just went at it with thicker paint from the beginning. I liked the effect of the red under tone on the finished painting.

This painting will be available soon in my Daily Paintworks gallery.

This week’s DPW challenge is statues. A few weeks ago, I spotted a stone lion behind the iron fence of a courtyard in downtown Covington, LA.  I only had this morning to paint so he’s cropped to a head shot and only 4″. Oil on panel.

You can see him hanging out with his friend Padma the elephant on my Facebook page.

I spotted this man carrying his heavy suitcase down a dusty road while on this month’s Virtual Paintout. I was curious about him. Where was he going? Where had he come from? I couldn’t find out his story, so I painted him and gave him a new one. 5×7 oil on gessoboard panel. Available here.

I think rose hips are just as pretty as the roses themselves. I painted this on a gray gloomy day because I needed a dose of orange to cheer me up. 6″x6″, oil. This is on a cradled panel with painted sides and can be hung framed or unframed. There’s a shot showing the sides at DPW where it is available for sale.

Happy Paint Party Friday!

I’ve always wanted to participate in the Virtual Paintout, so this month I did. The location for February is Valparaiso, Chili. This colorful house on Alamo St. caught my eye. I used my artistic license to make a few changes, like replacing the bleach bottle and plastic bag  with a flowering plant.   You can see the view I painted from here.  I enjoyed virtually walking the streets of Valparaiso. There were colorful houses, wandering dogs, and lots of graffiti. I’m already looking forward to next month’s location.

On Alamo St. is 6″x6″ on museum quality gessoboard. It may be framed or displayed as is on a small easel. It is available at Dailypaintworks.

I love antique cars and trucks. They just have so much personality. This old farm truck really caught my eye and I wanted to paint it, immediately. Robert Reid from Paint My Photo generously provided the reference photo. It is oil on 6×6 museum quality Gessoboard. I should probably have painted it a little larger, as some of the details were pretty small at this size. I had to buy a couple of smaller brushes. I really enjoyed finding the variety of reds, purples, oranges and pinks in the old red paint.

Retired is available at http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/melisa-mccurley/retired/117516   Close-ups may be seen there, as well.

I had another new painting I planned to show for Paint Party Friday, but I noticed something I’d like to change when I was about to photograph it.  That one will have to wait for next week.