Linda Hunt

www.lindahunt.etsy.com

I have included the initial layout of the drawing with the values being placed.  In the second listing I am beginning to lay in where the darkest darks will be and where the middle values will be and then where the lightest values are put in.  It was critically important that I work with only a few colors.  I chose cadmium red light, cadmium yellow medium, ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, emerald green, and titanium white.  This gave the the most beautiful gray violets and pinks.  The reds were vibrant and intense.  It was tricky making the ice.  The umbrella had to be drawn very carefully because it led to the focal point.  The second focal  was the pink salt shaker.  All in all I am very pleased with the painting.  It has a nice value structure which you can see in the last entry.

Finished this painting today....this lady was making her baskets and selling them at the South Carolina Artisans' Center....I loved the light in this image.

Reworked this painting and am greatly pleased with the result.When do you know when a painting is done.  I used to have an instructor in school that said "when a painting breathes on its own...you know the painting is done."  I think you can just feel it when it is complete........... The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart. Helen Keller

For me it's all about simplification.... Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Francis of Assisi

I am going through the lessons again and really studying what I have learned....I have found that I did miss a lot and so this has been very helpful....I was focusing on strong lighting from a single direction...5 value that could be clearly read....good paint quality.

I am liking the grays but I am finding my way with color using them.  I need to just explore color mixing I think.....Oh, I know what I will do....I will make some color charts using the colors on my palette.  Wah....Lah......

This is the #1 of a value structure drawing in beginning a painting. I will get lots of practice, as there will be 5 total in this exercise....It was tough.  I tried to maintain 4 values.  Admittedly there is a lot of Cerulean...I guess I went a little heavy .... didn't mean to the lighting was not that great.  Anyway, I am going to paint it now.  I chose overhead lighting because I love the effect.

Loved painting this painting.....palette.....Cad Yellow Lt & Med & Deep.....Quinacridone Magenta, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Turquoise Blue. Sap Green, Ivory Black, and Titanium White.  It was a big palette...but I needed it because I couldn't quite get the tints or shades that I was after.  This was the beginning of a turn toward larger paintings.

I really worked on this painting and in many ways deleted and began again.  This time I didn't do as much drawing and just responded shape to shape and color note to color note.  The leaves are some from last year that I dried and kept.  I loved the neutral earthy color of them.  What I found in this painting was that I toned the colors in the cloth much deeper and grayed them a bit and it worked out much better. The top view is the painting redone to suit my notan....I like it better...... This is a value scale using orange and blue...its a little bit wonky but close....

I am kind of excited because this is the first painting that I have done in about 2 weeks and I feel that I have made progress because of my mentoring program with Sarah.  I feel more confident in color as value.  I have learned that there is a time for activity and a time for quiet in brushwork.  So many things to consider.

Big post today....let's just say I saw the light!!!....hahaha.....simplify.....simplify.....simplify......my tendency is to get too caught in the weeds.....so yesterday was a day of clearer thinking and seeing!!

Finally folks, I have a painting.....I am overjoyed that I hung in there with this one.  I have learned so much about color as value and the introduction of grays.  My composition was just not working until I added a few more lemons and involved the foreground of the painting.  There were tears of utter frustration until I made break through after break through.  I am finally excited about painting again.  What have I learned?  Patience, persistence, looking, studying, analyzing, tenacity and willingness to leave what works and move on...... Oh......the painting is 20"x 20" on stretched canvas

Blogger is doing some very strange things this morning! Anyway, this is my latest small 6"x8" (ish) gouache painting done on archival mixed media paper. I used very strong color here and loved the results. Now...If I can transfer what I am learning from gouache into my oils! target="_top">

I have been enjoying the new medium, for me, of gouache.  This is a 5"x7" painting on mixed media paper.  What is it about gouache that I like so much?  In some ways it is very similar to oil paints in that it can be very dense and opaque.  One of its features that I like so much is that it dries almost immediately and that makes it fun.  The colors are bright and clean.  I went shopping.  Can you tell?  I found vases, bowls, scarves, fabric flowers and a multitude of other wonderful props for my still life painting.  My big find was a huge blue striped table cloth for only $3.00 to use as a backdrop.  It is very soft blues and quite subtle.  Love it!!

                                                                             6"X 6" Oil Ampersand Gessobord $100.00 I have a difficult time painting yellow....I don't know exactly what it is but I find it really hard to figure out what the shadow color is.  I also feel that there doesn't need to be too very big of a jump in value from light to shadow.  This painting can be found here : 

  6"X 6" Oil Ampersand Gessobord $100.00 Feels good to be back painting!  My yard called to me for 2 days which felt like and eternity away from the brush!  This painting found here : 

  6"X6" Oil Ampersand Gessobord $100.00       I am sweating bullets...I wipe this baby out about 4 times and finally brought it to a conclusion!  I was actually going for almost full abstraction.  Pushing the limits was my intention and still maintaining some semblance of reality.  I was looking at the work of Kathryn Kehoe yesterday and that is something that I admire about her work; especially her still life paintings.  If you haven't had an opportunity to look at her work I encourage you to do so. As I have said many times about my work...I walk with one foot in abstraction and the other in realism.  It is pretty much the way that I approach life.  I like to go to the smallest denominator and then see how close to representation I can come.  This painting can be found here .

  6"X 4" Oil Raymar Canvas Panel $90.00 I used rather thick paint here in this painting.  I was working quickly and energetically.  

  8"X 10" Oil Stretched Canvas   Painting apples is not my favorite thing to paint...but I have taken it on in the hopes that I can learn.  This painting can be found here:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/158965702/looknew-workfruit-bowl-by-linda-hunt?ref=shop_home_active