Rosa Gallery oil paints

"Arty-choke"
19 x 24cm Rosa oil on linen canvas

I had a tube of titanium white from Rosa and liked the thick consistency of the paint. So when I saw you could get 24 x 20ml tubes for 26.49 euros, I decided to try them out. It's fun having new paints and I thought the small tubes would be practical for "plein air" work. They are made in the Ukraine and labeled "professional". Their consistency might come from the fact they use stand oil as a binder. One site says this makes working "alla prima" more enjoyable, which is what I am hoping.

I first tried them out on a canvas scrap. Cadmiums and cobalts are "hues" and the lightfastness is either ** or *** (except cobalt violet deep is *). I don't know what scale they are using but if the maximum is ***, then I suppose this is not bad. Mixing with titanium produced some nice subtle shades.

The artichokes above are not "plein air" because it started raining again here in Belgium so I found inspiration in a photo that Lynda Pynn posted on the “Free Reference Photos for Artists” Facebook group. So far I am happy with the paints. As soon as possible I will try them for painting on location. 

More flowers in the sun

"Begonias"
oil on 20x20cm canvas panel
(Private collection, Brussels)

"Impatiens"
oil on 20x20cm canvas panel
(Private collection, Brussels)

The weather got better again in Belgium after all that rain and catastrophic flooding.
The flowers in the garden are so vibrant when the sun comes out. I did two more studies, observing the budding, blooming, wilting -- and trying to capture each flower's uniqueness.

 

Garden Colors

 

"Petunias in a yellow pot"
20x20cm, oil on canvas panel

I'm always trying to cut down on the number of paint tubes I carry around. The result is that I have colors in my closet that I don't remember how to use. Time for some research. I began by reading about mixing greens and how it was important to mix warm yellows with warm blues or cool yellows with cool blues for the best results (link). I made a big chart of mixtures and discovered that Phthalo blue was actually quite useful. I'll definitely need to experiment further with that. Meanwhile I'm also taking a new look at my reds.

The petunias were a fun place to start. They pop out in the sun, I can't come close with my standard palette. Transparency seems to work: “permanent magenta”, "permanent mauve", "rose madder", with the white of the canvas showing through. I may try this again like Carol Marine suggested on Daily Paintworks: The Sunflower Challenge

More flowers!

"Cheerful Bouquet"
13x18cm, oil on canvas

I'd been meaning to try the same subject using two different mediums ever since Carol Marine posted the challenge on Daily Paintworks last year. So, today I decided to try an oil painting of the photo by Denise McGuillan that I'd already drawn in colored pencil in April. She posted this in the Free Reference Photos for Artists Facebook group, which is useful when you're stuck indoors looking for inspiration. My first version below dates back to a rainy period in April and the new one above got me through the last day of our recent heatwave (31°C in June in Belgium!).

"Flower Lines"

14.9x21cm, colored pencil on Daler Rowney Heavyweight drawing paper

Pick-me-up

 

Just the thing to get through the depressing days of this corona winter: Ilona E. Stefan has been posting some wonderful flower photos in the Facebook group “Free reference photos for artists”. She combines strong lighting with soft backgrounds and has a collection of attractive vases. I decided to try painting her bouquet of hydrangeas.

“Pick-me-up”

30x24cm, oil on canvas panel

Purple Tuesday

 

At first I wanted to paint the plant in its transparent plastic film and ribbon as it came from the florist but I was too late. Then, just as I had decided it would be fun to paint the large flower buds before they opened, the hyacinths started blooming. So in case I didn’t have much time to catch the flowers in full bloom, I quickly set out my painting gear and got started on “Blue Monday”. By Tuesday I had finished.

“Purple Tuesday”

22x30.5cm, oil on gessoed HDF board

Deux Tournesols

 

Another small painting inspired by the Facebook group, “Free Reference photos for artists”. The photograph was by Ilona E. Stefan”. I also submitted this to Carol Marine’s challenge here: dailypaintworks. She advises to paint sunflowers over and over again and they'll just keep getting better.

“Deux Tournesols”
12.5x18cm, Cobra oil on canvas panel

Blue

Another one based on a photo by Ilona E. Stefan (Free Reference Photos for Artists FB group). Her flower arrangements just “paint themselves.”

 "Pansies in a blue vase"
13x18cm, Cobra oil on canvas
(Private collection, Brussels)

Friday's flower studies

 

"Vivre en rose"

13x18cm, Cobra oil on cotton panel
(Private collection, Brussels)

I'm trying to practice painting roses, and bring some color into this bleek period of clouds, corona, covid-19, confinement, ... Always liked Dufy's painting "30 ans, ou La vie en rose” — painted in 1931, 16 years before Edith Piaf released, “La vie en rose”.

“Roses on a doily”

13x18cm, Cobra oil on canvas

For my second recent rose study I used a water-soluble painting medium by Talens that goes with their paints. It makes a difference, especially in the later stages.

Three pears

Now that a new "partial lockdown" has started in Belgium, I'm working from Internet images again and using water-soluble oil paints. I've discovered several Facebook groups offering free reference photos for artists. Rachel Marks took the photograph that inspired my small painting above.

"Three pears"
13x18cm, Cobra oil on canvas
(private collection, Gooik)

"Hydrangea or Hortensia"

 

I always knew them as "les hortensias" -- the shrubs full of flowers by the steps leading up to my grandfather's house -- but maybe they are more often referred to as "hydrangeas" in English. In any case, these pink flowers that veer towards brown as they age are fun to paint.

  

"Hydrangea or Hortensia"

27x22cm, oil on canvas

Three ACEOs

Three red onions
Trois Champignons de Paris
Una manzana
2.5x3.5 inches, oil on canvas panel

Small "Artist Cards Editions & Originals", or ACEOs, are the same size as ATCs but not part of that art card trading project. I bought these small canvas panels from a website a few years ago to use for minature oil paintings. (www.sharksartcanvas.com) 


Find the rest of my ACEO's here: CH tiny paintings

Souvenir d'Ostende

"Souvenir d'Ostende"
30x40cm, oil on canvas

More Tiny Still Lifes

"Tournesols"

5x8cm, oil on canvas

(private collection, Brussels)

ATC n°3: "Pomme"

6.4x8.9cm, oil on canvas panel

(private collection, Brussels)

"Coquillages"

5x8cm, oil on canvas

Downsizing

Artist's Trading Cards are only 3.5 x 2.5 inches, but I had fun trying them out:

ATC n°1: "Sunflowers"
8.9x6.4 cm, oil on canvas panel
(private collection, Brussels)

ATC n°2: "Seashell"
6.4x8.9cm, oil on canvas panel

Orange Bouquet

Final painting for the December 2010 Studio Atelier project on the Internet, where Barb Benik posts her photographs for artists to use as reference material for their paintings. First steps here: painting a vase of flowers

"Orange bouquet"

60 x 45 cm, oil on canvas

Still lifes from before

 

 "African violets and pears"

27x36cm, oil on masonite

"Iris sur toile cirée"

60x50cm, oil on canvas