Easter Challenge: Peeps

"Late Bloomer" - Jelaine Faunce - 6" x 6" - oil on cradled hardboard panel - SOLD
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"Me & My Peeps" - Pablo Villicana Lara - 5" x 7" - watercolor on paper
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"What did you expect from marshmallow eggs?" - Chris Beck - 6" x 8" - watercolor on paper
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So, last month I was chatting with two of my favorite watercolor artists, Chris Beck and Pablo Villicana Lara, about how it had been so long since I'd done a Challenge painting, and how much I wanted to get back to doing them. Turned out they, too, were chomping at the bit, and it was Chris who brought up Peeps as a subject. "Great minds think alike!!" was my reply. Just the day before I had bought a package of Peeps for the sole purpose of creating a fun little painting. Not having a reason, I really didn't know when I'd get to it, but the desire was there. And, after my conversation with Chris, the excuse was there, too. And so, with feverish hands (and a few mishaps - coughPablocough) a Peeps painting was born. Or three, to be exact.

Study - Gift Box III

"Gift Box III" - 4" x 4" - oil on cradled hardboard panel
SOLD
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I like the push my boundaries now and then, really test what I think I can combine in the way of color and pattern. Here I took a very bright, stylized, floral patterned wrapping paper and combined it with a very bright, stylized, floral patterned gift bow.....of a very different color.
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The wrapped gift itself looked great right from the start, but when I began the layers of the painting, it made absolutely no sense to me. There was much doubting, squinting and recoiling. I couldn't get a feel for it until I got to the final layer of highlights and shadows, and then it all fell into place. And this is another reason why I do studies. If I'd attempted this with no previous run-through...........mmm mm MMM! Heaven help that poor canvas. I'm sure I'd have taken a knife to it.
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Study - Lemon Raspberry Tart

"Lemon Raspberry Tart" - 6" x 6" - oil on hardboard panel - SOLD

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Don't go blaming me if you suddenly gain 10lbs looking at this painting. I've got my own tales of woe where this delicious treat is concerned.
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One of the large scale paintings I have in progress includes this tart, and I wanted to be certain I was able to capture the sheer quality of the raspberry jam smoothed evenly over bright lemon custard. Oh, look at that! Another 10lbs reading the previous sentence. Sorry about that.
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If you'd like to purchase this painting, please contact me directly at jpfstudio@yahoo.com.

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Teacup Study: My Mother's Collection II

"My Mother's Collection II" - 6" x 6" - oil on cradled hardboard panel - SOLD

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It seemed appropriate to paint this one next. After all last week's rain and cold, we have had warm, Springlike temperatures in the Las Vegas valley since the weekend. Outside it looks a lot like what you see on this cup, flowers in bloom, birds everywhere. Only thing I left out was the....ahhh CHOO!!!.......pollen floating in the breeze, but why ruin a good study with pollen, am I right?

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My next painting subject will be a box of Claritin. Or Kleenex. One of the two.

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Study - Gift Box II

"Gift Box II" - 4" x 4" - oil on cradled hardboard panel - SOLD

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THIS is why I do studies of highly detailed subject matter. It all started out yesterday, harmlessly enough. It went late into the evening. It continued this morning. And now it's done. As straightforward and simple as painting semi-sheer ribbon over striped paper seems, IT'S NOT. Had I attempted this at large scale without first wrestling it to within an inch of its life in small scale first, I don't know that I wouldn't have tossed the painting into the trash. Suffice it to say, this was a great learning experience, and I now feel confident in approaching this ribbon again. I'm sure I could win the fight. I have the battle scars to prove it. Here, let me show you.....

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Study - Gift Box I

"Gift Box I" - 4 " x 4" - oil on cradled hardboard panel - SOLD

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I've moved to painting mostly on hardboard panel the last couple of months - once I found a panel I liked - a move with which I am quite happy. I noticed in the process of painting my usual 6" studies that I could get much better detail with much less interference from the canvas weave. At a larger size, this weave is no issue. At 6" or smaller, it can become one depending on the amount of detail I want to put into the painting.
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As a result of my success with the 6" panels, I ordered some 4" panels late last month, and this is my first offering. Of course, knowing me, I chose something really squint inducing, and my chiropractor just LOVES what my bad habit of slouching down over the painting does for my neck. Oops. But, who cares. LOOK! Pretty stuff!!!!!
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So, the reason I chose to paint a gift-wrapped present: I'm working on a rather large composition right now with a lot...no, let me amend that.......a METRIC TON of detailed, wrapped presents utilizing the blasphemously large supply of wrapping paper I own (for just this purpose, mind you, so don't go calling the 'Intervention' people on me.) Nearly all of this paper is of the intricate variety, and if I'm going to make it through this painting, I need to do studies. Here's the first. May I survive to the last. Wish me luck.
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