Works in Progress and Completed

I decided that Monday's just didn't work for an update on what I'm working on. Since I scan things in on Sunday, both for eBay and for my website, I might as well do this update blog at the same time.

While I have several things planned for this week, I know that I'll be lucky to get anything done. This week my husband (and his d-o-g) will be home for a week for our anniversary. I now people may not consider this professional behaviour, but I'm giving him most of my attention and time and not sitting in my studio and working. But in case I have time to do stuff, such as when he's working on his truck, here are my plans.

Works in Progress and Planned

• portrait of Pancake -- I have the drawing done, but I'm waiting to hear back from the client about the background. I'm also struggling with getting enough courage up to start the painting -- it's not so much the painting that's the problem, but the fact that I'm doing this as a demo and everyone is watching.
• portrait of Paca -- I'm still waiting on new photos.
• a botanical watercolor of an iris -- This was going to be a hybrid Phragmipedium but I decided that this orchid would be better on a larger scale, so I've started on an iris. The reason I didn't just do the orchid larger now is (a) I only have 1 sheet of 7x10 paper left and want to use it and (b) I need to buy another block of 9x12 paper.
• an artcard of a squash -- This is just going to be a fun little art card with lots of textures.
• a floral oil painting of an orchid -- Another 5x7 orchard painting in oil. This one will be a purple vanda hybrid.
• Irises in a Square Vase -- I have this planned out, but it's just a matter of getting started on it.

I would have liked to get more done this last week, but I (stupidly) decided to do this Best Offer Sale on eBay. That has taken most of my time. Well, the problems with the IRS, my auto insurance, and a part for my husband's truck all ate up huge amounts of time. But while I didn't get a lot of stuff done, I'm very pleased with the quality of the 3 pieces I did finish.

Recently Completed Works

Zorro Bunny -- This is an artcard in oil of a domestic rabbit, which I named Zorro because of his mask. I only had one small picture of this bunny, so I used the wild rabbits in my yard for the details on the face.

Pink Passionflower Hybrid -- This is another artcard in oil. I had done a very similar artcard in colored pencil and ink, but I never liked it. So, I redid it in oils. And it came out a whole lot better in my opinion. I did have a little problem with the reddish-pink. At first, it was too pink and too bright, but one of the nice think about oils is that one can correct minor problems easily. So, I glazed a bit of reddish-pink paint over the bright pink and it was exactly the right color. The glazing also added an incredible amount of depth to the flower, so I had to do a bit of glazing on the leaves to make it look right.

Red Miltonia Hybrid -- This is a 5x7 oil painting of a red hybrid miltonia orchid. I really enjoyed doing this little piece because it was simple to paint, was done in one day, and involved 'pretty' colors.