This is the start of a 18×24″ commissioned family portrait. Actually it’s a grandkids portrait, or cousins portrait. It will be a gift for the kids grandparents. There are 7 kids. So far I have the first hit of the first kid done all the way from head to knees. And I’ve painted the background. Fingers crossed, I’m a little uncertain about the background. The little faces are pretty tiny so I have to make little tiny corrections and measure the heck out of everything.
Happy Bunny and NO School- Snow Day #7!
That’s right. No school again today because of ice. And, I just saw a snow plow so that means no school tomorrow. I’m wondering what happens in places like Canada or many other places where it snows and rains down ice every day. Are the kids tougher, have studded shoes, drive better cars? Better plows?
And Donald Trump will start his evil reign tomorrow. I need yoga more than ever.
Green Apple Coming in for a Landing
This was my set up for tonights 4×4″ still life. You can really see in the photograph how the lights and darks are blasted out, too light and too dark. The actual Apple had a lot of color in it. My struggle was that I was painting in the dark and I couldn’t really tell what colors I was using. I kept turning on my light to look.
Floating Olive with Big Shine Mark
The title says it all. Well, mostly all : 4×4″ oil on canvas.
When I put down that big shine mark I almost brushed it back off because it wasn’t what I had intended. But I stopped and looked and loved it. Happy accident.
We’ve been making a lot of pizza lately and we enjoy putting all different kinds of olives on them. My daughter likes the green stuffed ones, and kalamatas.
Fuji Apple and WIP of Oak Tree Jungle
4×4″oil on canvas. This painting is part of my Critterscape series, however my critterscapes have quickly turned into all sorts of things, so I might need to find a new title. Or no title. I’m painting one 4×4″ painting each day.
A friend from college got in contact with me recently and asked if I would paint a Northern California landscape for her. She sent me a picture of a trail she runs on. This one is 12×12″, I started it today so it’s a work in progress. These crazy oak trees are very familiar to me.
Color
I’ve been working on color recently, trying to break away from always mixing the same colors. 
Holztiger Snow White Still Life with Apples
I love these beautiful little wooden German toys. I have a little collection that my mother has given to my kids over the years. They are in a basket for when my friends little kids come by. They are always a hit.
Not So Still Life
I Thought of that title as I was setting up and painting this still life. The top lemon and apple kept rolling away.
The whole thing was inspired by a box of Meyer lemons that my cousin sent me for Christmas. She lives in Santa Cruz and has a lemon tree in her backyard. Lucky spoiled girl.
Do you know of any good recipes using Meyer lemons?
Paintings
Yesterday I painted the apple still life commission. I also started my 48X36″ painting, which I am in love with. I think I’ll share it when it’s done. I’m hoping to work on it a little each day through January. I want to see if I can complete a big piece in a month without it feeling overwhelming. I’ll also be painting my 4″ critterscapes. My hope is to do a big piece and lots of little pieces each month. I’ll need to find a different space for my show in December.
The funny little doggie is my sisters Maltipoo (Maltese/Toy poodle mix). I’ll give it to her for her birthday. She doesn’t read my blog so I’m safe to say that. The doggie is blue because my niece dyed it bright blue/green and it faded to this color. I used thalo blue and green, colors I rarely use. The thalo green was so unused that it was stuck to the bottom of my paint bin. I swear that every time I even look at thalo green it gets all over everything in the room. Same with Prussian blue.
adios.
Bandit
Another snow day today! I’m wondering how Margaret of Yuba Gold is fairing in river country Northern California. My sisters in Chico, Sebastopol, and Ukiah CA are about to float away. No school for Ukiah kids due to flooding.
I painted our dog today. I was going to paint my sisters cute little Maltipoo but my daughter was offended that I wasn’t going to paint her dog. So I shifted gears and painted our dog Bandit standing on a pile of snow in our yard.
Jill Millward Artwork 