Oil Painting of a Native American Woman, 38" x 48"

"Gathering the Day"

Because I'm traveling on family business this week, I'm unable to complete daily paintings, but I have a few images I'd like to share until the 3rd of November when I'll be painting again regularly. This painting was a commission I recently finished for a private collection. The model was a Native American who was referred by a friend. She was perfect for the job and the resulting piece is much loved by it's new owners. I live in the northwest and the scenery is common to our area where sea stacks and broad ocean views inspire all who come to see them. "Gathering the Day" was painted in careful layers with lots of glazing to bring out highlights and shadows. This work is very different from my "ala prima" pieces that I usually publish on this blog...and of course she did not cost $39.00. But both kinds of work have their pluses and my daily paintings contribute to a storehouse of experience and knowledge that translate nicely into these more polished works. When things calm down for me, I'll be starting a teaching blog where I plan to show works like this in progress and discuss my techniques for creating them. Hope you like "Gathering the Day". Comments are welcome.

Oil Painting of Magnolias and Copper Kettle, 11" x 14"

"Sweet Magnolia Tea"
SOLD

By now my collectors know that Magnolias are my favorite blooms. I love to combine them in interesting ways and here I've wrapped them around a warm copper kettle. There are warm golden reflections on the flowers that may or may not show up depending on your monitor.Thanks for looking!

Floral Oil Painting of Peonies and Cut Glass Vase, 11" x 14"

"Floral and Cut Glass"
SOLD

I have a lot of crystal around the house that has come to me one way or another. I love the shape of this vase and always find it a challenge to paint. I used lots of paint in the blooms and feel pretty satisfied with the play of light and shadow. What do you think?

Oil Floral Oil Painting of Hyacinth, 20" x 24"

"Hyacinth"
SOLD

I took a little extra time to complete this one. As I was interupted yesterday to run an errand, I didn't get into the studio again until today to complete it. I really love pinks and purples and it shows here. I'm going to do this set up again sometime, but with a different approach. Again, I'm looking to capture something special in the light.

Oil Painting of a Floral with fruit, 11" x 14"

"Fruit and Flowers"
SOLD

My quest for painting light continues. Here my objective was to get the paint nice and juicy without losing detail. Always a challenge for me. But I think I managed nicely. Take a look at the detail pictures below. When I look at these pictures and then compare to my work just a year ago, I can see such a difference. More painterly and definitely more interpretive of the light. There's a learning curve though. Ala prima is definitely more challenging for me than a layered approach so my layered work looks more finished. But I like this too.

Floral Oil Painting of Peonies and Chinese Vase, 11" x 14"

"Peonies II"
SOLD

I spent the day painting with a friend and these peonies were the end result. I had some fun with the vase but I especially like the airy feeling of atmosphere that this one has. This is too big to put on my scanner so it's hard to show off the thick paint on the flowers but it's so thick it stands up. Note the reflections of the peony on the table top. Yummy.
Thanks for looking!

Oil Landscape Painting of an Autumn Day on a Walking Trail, 11" x 14" on Board

"Autumn on the Discovery Trail"
SOLD

Today I spent the day painting with my art buddy. I really enjoyed having someone to work with. Being an artist can so often be isolating.

I recently took a workshop on color. Color, color color! This painting has plenty of it. This piece has thick passages of paint and great feeling. It's quite a lot like some pastel pieces I have done. I'm really having a lot of fun with this.

Oh...be sure to check out my new Ebay store at http://stores.ebay.com/Art-by-Susan-Martin-Spar.

Oil Painting of Magnolias and Pitcher, 12" x 16" Canvas

"Magnolias with Cherry Pitcher"
SOLD

This past week was spent on Whidbey Island at a workshop on color. While my pastel paintings are generally filled with it, I tend more toward tonalism in my oils. Perhaps because I have to mix rather than just choose color. Here I tried to incorporate some of what I learned this past week. There's lots of rich paint here and the color, although anything but flamboyant, has just the right zing. The canvas is a wrap around so there's no need to frame because the sides are painted.

Oil Floral of Red and Coral Roses, 9" x 12"

"Birthday Roses"
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September 14Th was my birthday. OK - never mind how old. The point is I was presented with these beauties upon my return from my morning walk. Actually there were a dozen of them but I didn't get to paint them until today. So what you see are the culls.

Roses are a difficult flower to master but I feel I managed to get their character here. The vase is a very old yellow "petal" vase where the top edges are turned out like petals. It belonged to my mother and I love the challenge of painting it. The paint is extremely thick in the flowers and leaves. It seemed the best way to sculpt them.

These days when I paint "ala prima" - a painting in one sitting, my objective is to use an economy of strokes, or to make each stroke a deliberate placement with little manipulation of the paint surface after I've laid it down. So with the flowers, my goal was to bring forth the character of the Roses without belaboring them. What do you think?

Oil Painting of Hydrangeas and Plums, 9" x 12"

"Hydrangeas and Plums"
SOLD

It's been awhile since I painted Hydrangeas and I found it a challenge. It surprised me, though, how difficult it was to get the plums looking as wonderful as they appeared to me. While they're not the focus, I think they came out really well. One of the painting techniques I’ve been working on during the past year is to place each stroke with care and deliberateness. This is very hard to do – especially when you come from a background of painting in careful layers with glazing and scumbling. But I think I succeeded here – at least with the plums. They have really rich color too, which, depending on your monitor may or may not be visible to you.

I made a commitment this year that each daily painting would have a purpose other than just practice and, of course, possible sale. I'd like to make each one either part of an overall lesson plan or an experiment in technique. I'll try to remember to post what my objective was when I painted the piece.

I'd love some feedback, so if you're new to my site or even if you're not, please feel free to click on the "comments" link on the blog page. Thanks for looking!

Oil Painting of Dahlia in Silver Server with Grapes, 6" x 8"

"Dahlia and Silver"
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My walking buddy invited me to pick her last Dahlia. Anyway that's what she called the flower. I'm really ignorant of flower names except for the common ones so I suppose that's what it is. It fit nicely in my silver server and the red cloth really set it off. Because of the slightly rougher texture of the canvas board, I put a lot of paint on the flower.

I recently purchased a few 6” x 8” canvas boards because I liked the size. However, I find painting on them a challenge because the texture is rougher than the boards I usually prepare myself. The whole painting experience changes and detail becomes much more difficult. It has caused me to apply more paint…and three coats of lacquer! I think when I’m done with these, I’ll just cut a bunch of board to the same size and prepare them myself.

I’ve rearranged my schedule to get more painting time in the studio. I even posted a sign on the studio door with my new hours. Now if I could only get my cats to read. Anyway, I hope to be able to produce more regularly now for www.dailypainters.com.
Thanks for looking!

Oil Floral of Magnolia and Nectarines, 6" x 8"

"Sharing the Light"
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This little green vase is special to me - it's a private thing. But I thought its soft green color would set off the fruit and flowers here just perfectly. I do - don't you? I used generous paint on this one and I really liked the warm color in the cloth. The color may vary depending on your monitor.
Thanks for looking!

Oil Figure of a Nude, 6" x 8"

"Stacey at Rest"

Once a week I meet with some friends to draw from a model. This week was long pose week and so I took the opportunity to do a small oil. I really enjoyed doing this piece. The light was good and Stacey never moved a muscle. I'm satisfied with the flesh tones too although the colors may or may not be off depending on your monitor. Enjoy.

Oil Floral Still Life of Pears and Hollyhocks, 6" x 8"

"Hollyhocks and Pears"
SOLD



My walking buddy invited me to pick from her garden so I grabbed the last Hollyhocks before the deer could get them. I like this slightly larger, yet compact size. This piece has generous paint and I especially like the use of cool light here.

Oil Floral of Cornflowers and Pewter Pitcher, 5" x 7"

"Cornflowers with Pewter"
SOLD

Lunch at a friend and collector's home brought me this little pewter pitcher (on loan) to paint. It has a soft warm patina. I liked the play of the cool cornflowers against the warm tones of the grapes and the pitcher.
The painting is varnished and has a lovely soft glow. Good generous paint on this piece.

I've been out of practice on small pieces this summer but it's good to get back into the flow again.

Oil Reproduction from Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel

"The Delphic Sybil"
SOLD

OK. So it's not exactly an original. Last fall I took a dream vacation and finally got to see the Sistine Chapel in Rome. "The Delphic Sybil" is one of my favorite images and I've actually reversed it here. I thought it would be fun to do a series of these to a small scale - perhaps in reverse. Just for practice. The piece is signed "Spar after Michaelangelo" which is in keeping with tradition when copying from a master.
Thanks for looking!

"By the Full Moon Bridge"

I started this large painting the other day at our local county fair as a demo piece. I realize this is not a full painting done in one sitting (actually it will take several sittings of several hours each to finish), but I thought some of you might enjoy seeing something actually develop. Right now it's pretty much in the underpainting stage and needs a lot of refinement. I'll be showing you other stages as they develop but not over the next few days as I have "daily" paintings to do and also a large commission demanding my attention.

I started this piece with a raw umber imprimatura (toned canvas), and then did a subtractive underpainting in which I pulled out the highlights showing the white canvas below. You can still see this part of the painting in the flowers that she is holding. Once dry I started working thin layers of paint into it. I kept things simple but have defined the skin temperatures for the planes of the face. The hair is the last to be painted and I wait until the final strokes of the painting to do this. Her hair is up in a knot so right now she looks a bit masculine as if she has short hair. The background is a bit of a challenge as I don't have much in the way of reference material for it, but it seems to be coming along well enough. I keep you posted as things move along. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

Oil Figure Painting of a reclining woman, 5" x 7" on panel

"The Red Robe"
SOLD

Figure or "life" drawing is a passion of mine. I attend a small open studio group once a week and feel that the work I have done there has made a huge impact on my work. "A" is a model that sometimes sits for the group and for me privately. I did this as a color study for a larger piece. I like the way it came out. Some of the color in the face shows as higher contrast here than in the actual painting which is much softer. The scanner tends to pick up every dot of color and also casts some shadows on the tiny flecks of paint.

Oil Painting of Wine and Pears, 5" x 7", $45

"Chianti & Pears"
SOLD

I'm trying some different twists to my palette and using the opportunity of doing (more or less) daily paintings to experiment. Hope you like this one. I do. I’ve found myself stunned sometimes by the way color works with light and how just a little flick of the brush can bring such change to a little vignette. I am also astounded how much the practice of painting daily has improved my work and my understanding. While I don’t think everything I produced last year is noteworthy, it all came together in a great way and some of the larger work I produced this summer has brought me a lot of commissions and notice. So, although, I’m often fretful over having to come up with something new to paint, I can’t complain about the real end product…my own improved skills. Thanks for checking in and PLEASE, feel free to leave your comments by clicking on the link under each post.