miniature pumpkins

8x10 oil on stretched  canvas
Even considering the horrible photograph I managed to take, this is not one of my favorite paintings. I think that maybe I rushed it a bit--painting in about 4 hours in one sitting.  There is quite a bit more detail on the two pumpkins closest to the front, but the bad photographs smooths them out a bit. Overall, I don't know if it is the tone of the painting or what, but it just does not pick up that sence of realism that I like.  To some extent this painting reminds me of a Van Gogh work (without all the brilliance).  Any thoughts?

Red Roses

8x10 oil on stretched canvas

My wife brought home a bunch of roses that were left over from an event at her job.   Although I was planning to paint some mini pumpkins (with halloween on the way and all), once I saw the roses I had to take a shot at them. Especially due to how much trouble I have had painting flowers recently.  I started with the center rose by just stating general values. Once I had the shape and the overall light/dark balance stated, I began in the middle of the flower and just worked outwards in a circle to bring the details into focus.  I followed the same general pattern for the other two roses, just making sure I left them a bit out of focus to draw the attention to the center flower.  From there, I added the stems and the vase, painting the background last.  I hope you enjoy this painting. -Charlie

Onions

8x10 oil on stretched canvas

We've had a bag of onions sitting on the counter for about a week now.  With fall coming (slowly here in Louisiana, being that it is going to be 90 degrees today), I thought the earth-toned colors would make a good painting.  I really like the way the onions reflect on the wood table they are sitting on. 

Bouquet

24x20 Oil on stretched canvas

Here is the painting that I have been working on the past few weeks.  This is the largest painting I have completed to date. I must admit, I really like working on a larger scale. My wife and I bought this vase of fake flowers about four years ago. I have always wanted to paint it, but was not sure if I was up to the challenge.  Here is a photo of the actual flowers and vase:

I did not draw the flowers and transfer them to the canvas (I should have). Instead, I chose to sketch in the general structure using raw umber.  Although it worked, when I cam to working the small details, I wished I had put the time in up front to really draw the flowers. Here is the underdrawing:

From there I stated generally the background, the wood base, and the vase. Then I started working on the flowers.  Here is a picture of where I stopped:

From there I added more color to the vase and contined adding in the specifics of the flowers. Finally, I finished the base. I must admit, I learned a lot about contrast with this painting. The white flowers do not show up without a dark background.  Overall, I am happy with this one. Comments are welcome.