Usual Suspects

In last week’s post, I describe my delight at the discovery of what now is this week’s usual suspects: kabocha squash and red pears. Oh la lah I am so excited to share some adventures in a new medium. But wait, dear reader, before I share all of that, let’s remind any new readers (welcome!) about this blog and it’s reason for being.

Favorite Things

In early 2020, I pledged to paint a painting each week and blog about it. The name of this weekly series of paintings is Favorite Things. Why? Well, because I choose objects, typically food, that I love to eat. But, I paint it first and then, if it’s still edible, I’ll eat it! This means each week I write about a painting and the process. You are welcome to follow along as I share the ups and downs of this studio and painting life I lead. To do so, simply sign up here. You’ll receive a blog post each week and get a first look at my latest painting or drawing. Sometimes I’ll share a painting by a contemporary artist or an artist in history, too. Let’s move onward to this week’s painting, shall we?

Having Fun

I have been having so much fun painting in gouache (pronounced gwash). In fact, all of these paintings are studies I did prior to last week’s oil painting. It turns out gouache is a fun way to do a quick study of an idea and then decide whether or not to pursue it in a longer painting in oils. You can see the painting I did here is a composition I decided not to do for last week’s oil painting.

Chopping in Half

Last week I also wrote that the mighty kabocha squash is so beautiful on the outside with its deep forest green skin. But check out the amazing orange insides of a kabocha squash in this little study here.

I am undecided on whether or not I will pursue this study as an oil painting or not. But isn’t that orange just absolutely beautiful? One of the reasons I haven’t painted this idea is I have so many other ideas percolating in my mind. Such as?

Found Objects

Each morning this week I have been overwhelmed with the beautiful leaves I have seen scattered on the sidewalk and streets. I can’t resist picking them up and imagining what they might look like in paintings. Unfortunately, I already have other oil paintings set up in my studio. So when I bring these colorful leaves in, they have to wait in line for their turn as a painting.

So far I have only been satisfied with this little gouache painting of pears with an errant leaf in it. Leaves are tricky to paint. So I’ll keep working away but there aren’t any share worthy leaf paintings quite yet.

Usual Suspect for Fall

The best sign that fall is in the air besides colorful leaves, is pumpkins. I love pumpkins and they are everywhere I turn. So, of course, I had to paint this sweet little pumpkin this week. Are there more pumpkin paintings in the future? Hmmm…we’ll have to wait and see.

In the meantime, you can catch the movie Usual Suspects. It’s creepy and subtle and did I mention creepy? You know the perfect kind of movie for Kevin Spacey. But just because it’s creepy, doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to watch. I love this movie…all the way to very very end. Check it out and do share what you are doing for fall, for fun and to mix things up a bit. Stay safe and thanks so much for reading here today!