My Favorite Chair - SOLD

The Challenge this weekend was to paint your favorite chair. My favorite chair is on the deck. I would love to have a green thumb but I do not.  However, in the summertime I can plant ferns and geraniums and they seem to thrive.  I do not touch them, only water and add plant food.  I love to sit on the deck with the flowers all around and watch the hummingbirds come to visit the feeder. 

Bright Eyed - SOLD

Spring is here!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend!  I found this cute little rabbit photo on Paint my Photo by Donna Klarenbach.   I made a  few additions to the photo but this little bunny reminds me of Spring.   

The Kingfisher - SOLD

I painted this 8" x 10" oil for a challenge on DPW by Brenda Ferguson. The challenge was to "Paint Your Bliss"  - turn up some music and just paint what makes you happy.  This was hard for me because I painted my bliss this week when I painted Reese and Jackson....I love painting children but I also love painting birds and I went outside, turned up my music and also had the birds singing in the background.  This came about from a photo reference provided by Dave Webb on Paint My Photo.  I had fun pushing paint around until I felt like it was completed.

A Little Body Language

Sometime I come across a picture that just makes me want to paint.  This was one of those - the body language here makes me laugh and I asked the mom of Reese (the little girl in the picture) if I could paint this.  I love painting children but I find that I have to remind myself that when painting portraits the goal is to produce a "likeness" not a photograph.  Rosalind Cuthbert states that the question of what makes a good likeness is impossible to answer.  " If ten painters gathered around a single sitter their differing styles might produce radically different images, each of which might also be a good likeness. " I also like what Chris Saper says in the book, Painting Beautiful Skin Tones with Color and Light.  She says "Think of a portrait as a painting that just happens to star a particular person.  Without the interpretation of the artist to simplify information and decide what is important for the viewer, there's no need for a painting at all.  It would be faster and easier just to take a nice photograph and be done with it."   So if any of you are struggling with portrait painting....remember these words and be kind to yourself. 

The Old Boat

Recently Daily Paintworks had a challenge to paint in a Mid-ism style. (The painting on this site entitled Beach Time was in response to that).  One of my friends from that site, Stanley Epperson told me he saw elements of Mid-ism in all of my paintings and he asked me if I had a conscious style.  I would like to think that I paint in a "Painterly" style.  Bob Rohm has a wonderful book entitled, The Painterly Approach.  In his book, Mr. Rohm states, "Drawing is a linear approach to creating a painting with an emphasis on the exactness of the subject contours and form.  The painterly approach is a shape and mass approach.  There are almost as many variations and combinations of these two as there are artists."  I want to paint with a painterly approach,  not create an exact copy of a photo or scene but I strive to create a painting that the viewer will respond to emotionally.

I have been developing my own style for awhile and today a friend came over to paint with me.  She is a wonderful artist and tends to paint in a very realistic style.  She asked me to help her paint in a more "loose, painterly manner".  We had a little art lesson and so much fun!  I had her use a black canvas and we both used acrylics.  We chose a very simple scene of an old boat docked on a beach.  The reference photo came from Alun Davies and Paint My Photo.  Her painting turned out great and very different from her usual style.  Mine is shown here.  This is an 8" x 10" on a canvas panel. 

I Had Rather Play Soccer - SOLD

This little girl has decided she is not a dancer but she had rather be playing soccer.  She is deep in thought about the dilemma.  I am submitting this to DPW for another addition to the challenge to mix and paint with radiant orchid.  I think I got a little closer this time. 

William and PePaw - SOLD

There is nothing sweeter than the love of a grandparent and grandchild.  As grandparents, we can spoil our grandchildren, we can lavish them with love and praise and anything they want.  And in return, they keep us young and centered and give us the chance to have "do overs".   We might have done something different as parents if we had the wisdom we now have years later.  More than anything they allow us to love deeply in a very unique way.  There is nothing better.

Butterflies are Free

I am a part of a painting group where photographers provide photos for artists to paint called "Paint My Photo".  I have met wonderful friends there and have used many of the photos for inspiration.  One of the photographers is named Rodney Campbell.  He also posts many wonderful photos on Morguefile.com.  The group had a challenge this month to paint a butterfly so I chose one of his photos. This is an 8" x 8" oil on linen panel and can be purchased for $50 on my gallery page at:

 http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/marcia-hodges/butterflies-are-free/213413

I'm Back - SOLD

I painted outside today.  The birds are back and my favorite are the hummingbirds and they told me this week to fill up their feeder.  This is a Eastern Bluebird.  The reference photo was provided by
Marcus Moller.  This is an original oil on a linen panel 8" x 10".