Oil paintings

I thought I might show you a few more paintings I have done over the last couple of years.  I have others which I'm not so fond of and some that need a little more work done on them.  Mum is always asking me to put my paintings up on my blog, so here you are Mum.

This was my third attempt at painting in oils.  I had a lot of help with this painting from my teacher, especially to get the shape of the jug handle correct and the olive leaves.  At this stage I was still learning to get shapes, light and shadows correct (umm, still learning that should be.)  I'll happily admit to doing the olives all by myself though.  Painting them was a bit of a breakthrough for me as I was starting to see how to get that 3D effect with the paint.

This painting was taken from an image I found in the travel section of a magazine.  It was taken in India's blue city, Jodhpur where many of the buildings are painted blue.  I was attracted to this image because of the vibrant colours.  Much of the work I had done up to this point had been in muted colours, so the red, green, and blue really got me fired up.  I also like the subject material, the lady washing down her front doors steps with a bucket of water and a short straw broom.   I also like the way the water running down the brickwork has deepened the blue to purple.  It was my second attempt at painting the human figure, the first being my brother milking the cow which I have posted before.  I really enjoyed painting the folds and creases in the sari which was much easier than painting arms, elbow, feet and a face.

  

 The image for this painting of flowering succulents was taken from a gardening magazine.   As a person who loves gardening, how could I resist the shape and colours of the leaves, the richness of the colour of the terracotta pots and the contrast of the blue base.  This one took quite a while to complete, all those leaves.  :)  I gave this painting to my parents and every time I visit them, I get a nice surprise to see this work I love again.

The painting I'm currently working on, a Mosaic of flowers, is giving me some grief.  There is so much detail and trying to get the colours right is proving difficult.  I've been working on it for quite a while now and am looking forward to finishing it so I can start on another painting.

It's interesting looking at my older paintings as I can see the flaws in them.  It is also nice to realise that I am improving little by little, thanks to the great tuition my teacher gives me.

Bye for now,

Anne  xx