"Winter Warmth", 12x12, oil on Ampersand panel, winter still life, snow, wine, candlelight, red pear

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"Winter Warmth", 12x12, oil on Ampersand panel

I was attempting to create a feeling of homey warmth on a cold night in this painting and I hope I achieved it. I thought it might be helpful to those who sometimes write and ask me questions about how I go about a painting to document my process. I never start a painting exactly the same way twice, and my process changes depending on my thoughts and goals at the time. But I often do use transparent washes in the initial stage, so I thought this would be a good painting to use as an example.

1. I typically set up my still life with whatever I can find nearby and try to make it a pleasing combination of elements, but in this case I had some specific things in mind, like the wine and the candle. In not having the window that would form the background, I knew I'd need to improvise, so I constructed the night scene with substitutes using my shadow box, some two by fours and a blue bathmat. My biggest fear was that the mat would catch fire so I only lit the candle for short periods of time.

2.The sketch- next I did a quick sketch in a notebook to get comfortable with the drawing, adding some notes that were relevant.

3. Next I stained the support with magenta and then sketched in the composition loosely, using a green pastel pencil. I like to use pastel pencils rather than charcoal, because I find that charcoal can dirty the color when I lay in the paint on top.

4. The initial color block-in: Next I blocked in the elements thinly, using only transparent colors and no opaques. I was not worried at this stage about either color or value, but instead was just trying to cover the entire support with a nice soupy mixture of transparent colors.

5. The next step is to go over the transparent washes with opaque paint,  and correct the values and colors of each object.

6. In the last step, I go back and try to harmonize color, refine shapes and correct anything that looks out of wack. Finally I attempt to create the atmosphere that I'm trying to achieve, softening edges  and checking highlights.

Overall, I wasn't displeased with this one. I think I was able to capture the feeling of being in a warm home on a cold night. Thanks for checking in!

"Persimmons and Sunflowers", 22x28, tabby cats, persimmons, sunflowers, snow, cat in window, calico cat, MAryanne JAcobsen art

"Persimmons and Sunflowers", 22x28

I recently discovered persimmons at the supermarket. I bought them, because they looked so luscious. I read up on how to eat them and it turns out that you just eat them like tomatoes. However, they have to be very ripe or else they taste like rotten bananas or something like that.

Well mine were very ripe ad I ate three of them in a couple days. They taste like a cross between a mango and an apricot. They are as luscious as they look!

So I went out and bought some more, as well as a Thanksgiving bouquet which was on sale since Thanksgiving was over.

I decided to paint both the persimmons and the sunflowers and added a cat in the snowy window just because I miss seeing snow.

 If you have never tried a persimmon, they are a winter fruit, in season right now. Here's a good article on 5 ways to eat a persimmon.