Saturday 28 February 2015

Plastic Flowers in Silver-Plated Vase

Oil painting of plastic miniature pink roses in a silver-plated Art Deco vase on a windowsill between two windows.
These plastic flowers are as fresh as they were on the day I bought them; which is to say that they're not in the least bit fresh, especially considering they were a bit ragged when I found them in a dusty charity shop.

Oil on canvas board, 8" x 10"

Friday 27 February 2015

Copper Pot with Onions

Oil painting of a copper pot beside a small pile of brown onions.
Because this is by far my largest copper pot, I call it my copperpotamus, while my small copper pot (a pot with which all three readers of my blog will doubtless be familiar) is known as my copperpotoroo.  I don't have a special name for onions.

Oil on canvas board, 7" x 5"

P. S. This painting marks the beginning of a potential third year of painting daily.  You'd think I'd be sick of it by now.

Thursday 26 February 2015

Plaster Cast: Death Mask

Oil painting of a white plaster cast taken from a young woman's death mask.
This is supposedly a plaster cast of a death mask, also known as a castly apparition.

Oil on canvas board, 16" x 20"

Tuesday 24 February 2015

Small Copper Pot with Zucchini

Oil painting of a green zucchini beside a small copper pot with two handles.
Zucchinis are variously known as zucchinis, courgettes, squashes and baby marrows.  As far as I know, a copper pot is only known as a copper pot.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Monday 23 February 2015

Chilli Jar with Banana

Oil painting of a tall slender jar of chillies beside a slightly unripe banana.
I tried to paint a banana, but it caused me to slip up; so I tried to paint a jar and totally screwed it up.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Sunday 22 February 2015

Lemon with Small Vase

Oil painting of a lemon beside a small Chinese-style blue and white vase.
Citrus is something you might say to a dog named Russell, while Ernest is a common name for a vase (Ern for short).

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Saturday 21 February 2015

My Left Foot

Oil painting of a bare left foot with a tan line running across it, viewed from above.
Strange things are afoot, or at least, a strange thing is my foot (the brown patch isn't dirt but a tan line).

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Friday 20 February 2015

Tomato with Bowl

Oil painting of a red tomato in front of a blue porcelain bowl.
A bowl of tomato soup without the soup.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Wednesday 18 February 2015

Blue Jug with Wine Glass and Red Drapery

Oil painting of a large blue jug beside a glass of tea (masquerading as a glass of wine) and in front of a wooden chair covered with red drapery.
This is not a pitcher: it's a picture of a pitcher.

Oil on canvas board, 14" x 10"

Tuesday 17 February 2015

Monday 16 February 2015

Blue Castor Oil Bottle with Tea Towel

Oil painting of an antique blue castor oil bottle nestled in amongst the folds of a tea towel.
Best not to dry up, because if you bottle up your feelings you may become blue.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Sunday 15 February 2015

Harrietville at Rosebery Hill, Pipers Creek

Oil painting of what appears to be a small white cottage with a red roof, with rose bushes in the foreground.
Contrary to first appearances, this isn't a small cottage nestled amongst rose bushes--it is, in fact, a cubby-house built by my father for my niece.  That said, it is a rather large cubby-house (it includes two storeys and a secret room), so it is effectively a small cottage.

Oil on canvas board, 8" x 10"

Saturday 14 February 2015

Sunflowers in Blue Vase

Oil painting of three sunflowers with leaves in a rectangular blue glass vase.
Sunflowers without sun (they're in the dark under a spotlight).

Oil on canvas board, 12" x 16"

Friday 13 February 2015

Paring Knife with Apple

Oil painting of a black-handled paring knife beside a red apple, viewed diagonally from above.
An apple paired with a paring knife.  I should have painted a pear instead.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Thursday 12 February 2015

Still Life: Exercise in Blue

Oil painting in blue of two bottles, two vases, a cup with a handle lying on its side and a bunch of plastic grapes.
This was class exercise (painted over two weeks) where we were restricted to blues (in this case French Ultramarine and Cobalt), white and black.  I sure got the blues, out, and the resulting picture came completely out of the blue,

Oil on canvas board, 20" x 16"

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Still Life with Copper Kettle, Lemon and Purple Cloth

Oil painting of a copper kettle beside a lemon on a plate on a table top with a purple cloth draped diagonally in the foreground.
This is the same scene I painted in class last week, except this time it's from a different angle and includes a purple cloth in the foreground.  Same kettle, but a different kettle of fish.

Oil on canvas board, 10" x 12"

Tuesday 10 February 2015

Teacup with Egg

Painting a daily picture is enjoyable, but I have to admit that composing captions is somewhat tea-dious; you could say that I'm ova it.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Monday 9 February 2015

Onion with Antique Poison Bottle

Oil painting of a brown onion in front of a small green antique poison bottle.
According to an internet hoax, cut or leftover onions are poisonous.  It should be said that this painting is patently more toxic, particularly the tasty bits of cadmium yellow.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Sunday 8 February 2015

Garlic Bulb with Silver-Plated Jug

Oil painting of a miniature silver-plated jug beside a purple-tinted bulb of garlic.
A bulb of garlic is a defence against vampires, while a silver bullet prevents werewolf attacks.  I'm not sure how helpful a silver jug might be in the latter scenario, but if you need to defend yourself from werewolves, it serves you right for believing in them.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Saturday 7 February 2015

Tomato with Milk Jug

Oil painting of a red tomato in front of a small white porcelain milk jug.
Despite my best efforts, I can't think of a caption for this rotten tomato, and hence I've gone sour on the idea of commenting on the milk jug.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Friday 6 February 2015

Glass Vase with Nectarine

Oil painting of a tulip-shaped glass vase beside a yellow nectarine.
Nectarine: slightly more appetising than a neck terrine.  Glass vases aren't particularly tasty either.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Wednesday 4 February 2015

Still Life with Copper Kettle and Lemon

Oil painting of a lemon on a white plate, a copper kettle on a table, with a draped cloth beside.
Painting classes have resumed, and the first exercise was single-session still life.  While I'm not overly pleased with the result, the result does seem to be overly policed: if you look closely you might notice both a copper and peeler (readers can thank/blame my dad for the inspiration for that pun).

Oil on canvas board, 12" x 16"

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Old Fashioned Glass with Zucchini

Oil painting of a green zucchini beside an Old Fashioned glass.
This type of glass is sometimes known as an Old Fashioned glass, a name it apparently inherited from the Old Fashioned cocktail which is made with sugar and bitters mixed with a distilled spirit such as whisky or brandy.  Unsurprisingly, gin is used to make a variation known as the Gin Old Fashioned, which, if made with Gordon's Gin, might conceivably be known as a Gordon's Old Fashioned.  That's almost what I've depicted here in this gourd old fashioned painting.

What a long way to go for a gourd-awful pun.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Monday 2 February 2015

Sunday 1 February 2015

Peach with Vase

Oil painting of a white peach beside a white vase, partially obscured by shadow.
This white peach looks more like a yellow nectarine; it seems that things aren't as peachy as they might be.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"