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red Hobie cat 6″ x 6″

red Hobie cat

oil on archival panel

© Anita C. Miller 2013

After spending an hour on this, the painting was accurate, but lacked movement.   So, I started taking “swipes” at it pretty much out of desperation to make something happen.  I think it has some energy to it now, so I’m happy.

red sails

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afternoon sail 6″ x 6″

afternoon sailoil on archival panel

© Anita C. Miller 2013

I’m continuing to experiment with color (a different palette) and brushes.  Palette used: cadmium yellow light, cadmium red vermillion, quinacridone magenta, ultramarine blue, sevres blue and zinc titanium white.  Painted alla prima in about 45 minutes.   The brushes used are my new Silver Bristlon (brights) which I am loving.

Also, before starting the painting, I brushed a thin warm color over the entire panel, then wiped most of it off.  This toned the surface so that I wasn’t painting on white.  I left some of this color show through on the sails and the right side of the hull.

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sailing in the shadows 6″ x 6″

sailing

oil on archival panel

© Anita C. Miller 2013

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Yesterday’s photo of Trump Tower reflecting the afternoon sun inspired this little painting.  I painted only a very small part of the photo and took  some liberties — which is pretty much always the case : )

Palette used:  titanium zinc white, cadmium yellow light, cadmium red vermillion, quinacridone magenta, ultramarine blue, phthalo blue and graphite grey mixed with some white to make a light cool grey.

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red spinnaker 6″ x 6″

red spinnaker

oil on archival panel

© Anita C. Miller 2013

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All of a sudden I’m painting with lots more color and using thicker paint.  I can’t really explain why except it truly feels like summer and things should be more colorful.  I’m also using some new synthetic bristle brushes which I like a lot.  They’re Silver Bristlon (brights) in various sizes and I got them online from Dick Blick.  

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yellow boat – late afternoon light 9″ x 12″

yellow boat

oil on archival panel

© Anita C. Miller 2013

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Happy 4th everyone!

Later, when it gets dark, we’ll go to the lakefront

and watch the fireworks which are shot from a barge.

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I loved using several blues here.

Colors used:  all the Portland greys, graphite grey, sevres blue, ultramarine blue,

cadmium yellow deep, rose dore, and zinc titanium white.

I started by brushing a light glaze of Portland grey light over the

entire panel, then painted into the glaze with the other colors

alla prima and finished in under an hour.

I tried to not blend the brushwork too much in order

to keep it fresh and moving.

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bright red x 2

red sailboarder

“Red Sailboard”, oil on archival panel, 5″ x 5″

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red buoy

“The Red Buoy”, oil on archival panel, 6″ x 6″

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The three sailboats were practicing turns around a buoy off of

Northwestern University (where there is a sailing club).

I had fun putting touches of very bright red into these monochromes.

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lake 12 ~ 8″ x 10″

lake 13

oil on archival panel

© Anita C. Miller 2013

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I used Williamsburg Graphite Grey and a bit of Portland Grey light by Gamblin.  The Graphite grey is a cooler grey than the other.  The light areas aren’t white paint but actually the gesso layer exposed.

 

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breakers 5″ x 5″ [sold]

breakers

oil on archival panel (Gessobord)  5″ x 5″ x 1/8″, unframed

© Anita C. Miller

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This painting was inspired by the beautiful waters of Lake Michigan which is about a mile from where I live.  It could be any large body of water, really….  I loved the challenge of painting the waves and giving movement to them.  I am happy with the outcome and I can feel the fresh air when I look at this.

I used just Chromatic black (Gamblin) plus white this time to make 4 shades of this blue-green-grey color.  This was painted over a Portland grey (Gamblin) underpainting so some of that warm grey color is showing through especially in the lower left corner. 

 

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Small Things

“Barn Swallows and Bugs”, 8″ x 10″, oil on board, © Anita C. Miller

There is a small delay sometimes between when I push the camera’s shutter button and

when I hear the shutter activate.  The swallows (maybe 50 of them) are flying around

very fast trying to catch bugs.  All photos then, are purely accidental… I like that.

~~~~~

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Rain and Riptides

“Rain and Riptides”, 8″ x 10″ , oil on board, © Anita C. Miller

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 strong winds

thousands of white caps

–one very brave (crazy!) windsurfer

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lonely windsurfer far offshore on Lake Michigan north of Chicago – click on image to see large