Holiday Cheer study - SOLD

"Holiday Cheer Study"
SOLD
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I have been remiss in posting, but part of that is because I sold so many paintings in the last week, I have had to hole myself up in the studio. That, and I've been working on some larger pieces so they're not ready to post yet. Overall, not a bad problem to say the least. This is one of the guys that sold before I could even post it! It was a study that I did for the larger painting I used for my Christmas cards. It is a beautifully decorated home on Balestier road. I just love the moulding, as it really looks decorated for the holidays - year round!

SOLD - Joo Chiat Icing

"Joo Chiat Icing"
SOLD
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This wonderful guy from the Joo Chiat area sold to a collector who came over for a studio visit on Friday. It was a fantastic way to start the weekend! This will eventually be traveling to Houston as a gift for her mother. I'm still hunkered down in the studio this week, painting away. I have a super busy fall coming up, so I'm just trying to get as much painted now as I can! Happy Hari Raya, if you are in the Sling!

Jade Dreams

"Jade Dreams"
5"x7" Oil on Gessoboard
$95 Unframed
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Here is another shophouse, this one is from the backside of Little India, close to the Lavendar MRT station. There are a couple streets of some really cool ornately decorate and painted shophouses back there. I've been experimenting a bit with the 5x7 format. It is totally different and a bit of a challenge. Stephen Masgsig, who does Postcards From Detroit, works quite a bit in the 5x7 format, so I've been looking to his work for some composition ideas.

Yesterday was National Day here in Singapore, so we had a few people over to grill and watch the fireworks. It is especially cool because all of the aircraft pretty much buzz right over our apartment. I think one of the coolest parts of the whole show is when the choppers come in with a giant Singapore flag. It passes almost literally over our heads. I've found a video someone uploaded that shows you the choppers and flag bits...

Tanjong Pagar Palms

"Tanjong Pagar Palms I"
12"x24"
$995 Framed
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Happy Monday! I'm so glad I get to be back in the studio tomorrow morning. This past week has been very productive - just not in the studio. I now have at least a year's supply of art supplies. Paint, panels, and even rags. So exciting! We finally have some of our things that have been in storage for over three years. A lot of the things were our wedding gifts. It was kind of like Christmas all over again! For the first time in three years, our apartment feels like a home, not a temporary residence. Nevertheless, time to get back to the studio!

Aqua and Palms

"Aqua and Palms"
12"x12" Oil on Gessoboard
$475 Unframed
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Since yesterday's blog post was quite the epistle, I figured I'd leave today's short and sweet. This is a view from lower Tanjong Pagar looking towards Chinatown. I just loved the turquoise shophouse and the palm trees lining the street next to it. Made me so happy to paint it!

Roadhouse

"Roadhouse"
6x6 Oil on Gessobord
$95 unframed
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This is a wonderful little signal house that I saw as I was driving south on the 101 from Palo Alto to Newport Beach. That highway has some beautiful scenery on either side of it. I am only sad that I didn't have the time to really explore more of the nooks and crannies - I had to boogie down to Newport Beach for my workshop. 

Sorry about not posting much the past couple of weeks. I've been working on this California series, and after letting it sit for a week or so, I went back to the paintings. Only a couple of them were really up to par, and should have been wiped off. I think I was just locked in such a battle with them that I didn't want to let go. But that is one of the things I've started to learn about painting - when to not release things. The journey is about painting every day - but there are going to be some lemons in there, and that is okay. The lemons are an important part of learning, it means you are pushing yourself.

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 33

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"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 33"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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This is honestly one of my favorite shophouses that I've done, and it's a re-work of an older one. The first version I thought was "subtle" but after letting it sit for a while, I thought that subtle was closer to "dirty" as far as the color went. Now I just love the purples and greens together. The white trim was tough to do, but I think it turned out pretty well. For some reason, doing shadows on purple objects is really tough. I don't know why. And I always have hard times with the whites. But this came out quite nicely, I think!

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 8

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 8"
6x6 Oil on Panel
Click Here to Purchase

This is another re-work, from the Little India area. Really a night and day difference. I can't believe how much I've learned over the past year. 

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 97

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"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 97"
6x6 Oil on Panel
Click Here to Purchase

Happy Monday! It has been a hell of a roller coaster so far this year. Tank, our pup back home, got out of surgery and is going to be fine, thank goodness. I finally pulled off all the bandages from my various falls over the past couple weeks and they are healing pretty well - minus one nasty scar on my shin. But the story behind that one will only get better with time, right? In 5 years it will be from exploring some hidden ruins and involve crazy ambulance chases through the Sri Lankan countryside. My parents come into town this weekend, so I'm trying to get a ton of painting done and the house pulled together in time for their arrival. Once they get here we are going to play Tomb Raider in Vietnam and Cambodia. So exciting!

I figured I would lead the week with this sunny little shophouse from Little India. I've painted this house before, but I wanted another crack at it - and I must say that I am super happy with the results.

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 45

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 45"
6x6 Oil on Panel
Available at Chan Hampe Gallery

Another wonderful scene from Chinatown.  The light hitting the green and cream colored house was a really interesting combination with a warm/cool pattern of light.  Plus, it was fun to see the lanterns stretching across the house.  That is always a fun little touch.

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 35 - SOLD

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 35"
6x6 Oil on Panel
Available at Chan Hamp Gallery

After the debacle yesterday, I talked to my husband.  He reminded me that I had been in the studio for 10 days straight and hadn't taken a day off.  I'd been feeling creatively drained and like I couldn't paint myself out of a box for the last couple days, so I did what he suggested.  And it was glorious.  I do kind of wish today would be my last day of painting for this show, but now I'm much more refreshed and focused.  I think if I had gone into the studio yesterday, I would have been fighting a nasty uphill battle.

Sometimes you just need a day off.  Happy Friday!

Still Life Mania

Here is this week's assignment.  I am working on finishing up the project I talked about last week, and I'm also working on a larger cityscape, so I should have some more things to post this week.  With this painting I really tried to get back to basics and work with color.  This was the first week we were really allowed to use a full palette, which is pretty intimidating when you first try to tackle it.  My critiques about colors were such that I really wanted to stop for a moment and really focus on how colors turn through space.  Basically I had been making the shadows on the objects too harsh, too cool.  So my professor was giving some great tips on how to get the object to turn through space.  

For example, on a red object, say it is bright red, like the apple on the right.  You almost never use bright red straight out of the tube.  Rather, as the apple turns towards the light, you will use some yellow, since the light source is yellow.  You can't use white exclusively, or your apple will turn pink.  So I used a combination of a lighter red paint, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre and a touch of white.  Then as the apple turns away from the light, the shadow will get cooler than the red of the apple.  Because it is a warm colored object, cooler also means that it will be slightly grayer (not as saturated).  To accomplish this, I used some of the cadmium red light, mixed with alizarin crimson (a very bluish red) and a small touch of viridian (cool green).  

I've been having the most problem with yellows.  I was making them entirely too harsh on the shadow side.  In the end, I found a great mixture winds up being a dull yellow from Tera Rosa, Cadmium Yellow Light, Yellow Ochre and a smaaaall touch of Ultramarine.  If you just combine cadmium yellow light and violet (ultramarine and alizarin crimson) it can get too cool too quickly.  You almost have to combine the yellow with a red violet to get (more alizarin than ultramarine) in order to get a good shadow.  

I'm working really hard at mixing colors by using the colors next to each other on the color wheel, so they don't turn muddy.  So much thought and science goes into this.  Who would have thought?