December 2010 Moses Botkin Challenge

Well, Suzanne threw a curve with this month's challenge..."paint our favorite cliché, phrase, game... e.g.: rock, paper, scissors or a bird in the hand..."

Since I am 'RED' (with hair about this color), and these identical twins caught my interest in Paris...see slideshow below. Remember 'double your pleasure, double your fun?'

"DoubleMint Twins at the Paris Metro"

12x16" oil on panel

© Vicki Ross

"Why Not 'Queen Me'"? 

Oil on masonite, 6x6"

© Sharman Owens

"You Can Lead a Horse to Water"

10x8 oil on panel

© Robin Cheers

good, bad and indifferent

10x30" oil on canvas
© Suzanne Berry

"No Time Like the Present"
Oil on hardboard, 6"x8"
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

Below is a quick slideshow of my process:

11/24/2010 daily (?) painting

Green Pitcher

8x10" oil on canvas

©Vicki Ross

Set up, mixed pigment. Started timer, 35 minutes. Not sure this is the best exercise for me since my tutors are always telling me to slow down :) Diana Moses Botkin did a quiet little challenge for these paintings so I'm gonna give it a shot!

Worked this on a loose piece of canvas, so the horizontal wrinkles may be problematic...but perhaps the Garret Artist can fix it :

November 2010 Challenge: Do a 30 minute painting

Challenge Group member Robin Cheers came up with this painful concept for us and instructed us to: "Set a timer for 30 MINUTES. And start painting!! When the timer dings, chirps, rings, beeps, whatever, you are DONE. Stand back and see what you accomplished! The idea is of course, to get in as much as you can - to mass in, to respond quickly to what you see and not analyze. You can work big or small."

This was an en plein air demo for Thea on 10-10-10 with our little family on a picnic. She was a wonderful observer and so intrigued. 

 "Thea's Rock" 

13x13" Pastel on clear primed linen 

©2010 Vicki Ross

"Glance Back"

Oil on canvas

12"x9"

©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

"The Weeper" 

5x7" Oil on canvas 

©2010 Suzanne Berry

"The Critique" 

9x12" Oil on linen 

©2010 Robin Cheers

"Last Light" 

6x5" Oil on board 

©2010 Aaron Johnson

"Red Flag" 

10x8" Oil on hardboard 

©2010 Sharman Owings 

October 2010 Moses Botkin Challenge

Whew, made the painting deadline, but then completely blew the posting deadline! Life in the wicki-zoo is worthy of a novel...no one would believe the non-fiction version! The challenge was a 6x8 size with a 1/2" brush. I usually paint with that size and larger, but missed my small brushes for a wee bit of blending. See my paint box reflection? Had fun doing this outside with the constantly changing light.

"Still Life" 
Oil on canvas, 8"x6" 
©2010 Vicki Ross

"Bright Bales"
Original oil on hardboard6"x8"
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

 "Facing the Morning Sun" Oil on panel, 6"x8" ©2010 Robin Cheers

"Onion" Oil on canvas, 6"x8" ©2010 Aaron Cordell Johnson

Moses Botkin Challenge 9-2010

"Paint it Red" is our Challenge subject for September, chosen by new member Elizabeth Blaylock. She says, "lets do a painting with a red, red violet or red orange color dominance.

From Jerome's Paris Window aka

"La Basilique du Val de Grace illuminée la nuit" 

11x14" oil on panel

©Vicki Ross

"Sultry" 

16x16" oil on canvas
© suzanne berry

Arrangement on Red" 

6x6" Oil on Panel 

©2010 Elizabeth Blaylock

"Red Brush" 

6x8" Oil on Canvas 

©2010 Aaron Cordell Johnson

"Red Pitcher on Blue Cloth"
8"x10" Oil on canvasboard
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

Red Dance" 

8x8 Oil on Paper 

©2010 Robin Cheers 

August Moses Botkin Challenge!

Thanks, Dianna for this month's challenge...Use a yellow, a black, and white. I chose Yellow Ochre, Ivory Black and Titanium White. I may decide to use this as a grisaille and continue to paint on it because the bottle is a beautiful cobalt blue!

'Grisaille in Yellow Ochre, Ivory Black & White'

 ©2010 Vicki Ross

11x14 oil on panel 

'Rose in Yellow Solo'

(pale cad yellow, lamp black and titanium white)

5 x 7 Oil on Raymar Panel

© Elizabeth Blaylock

"Waterlily in Evening Pond"

Jeanne Illenye

6x6 inches / oil on panel

'Yellow Man'

12x12 oil on panel (indian yellow, ivory black and titanium white)

© 2010 Robin Cheers 

 

 

"Sunny Back Light" 

(Gamblin's Indian Yellow,  Gamblin's Chromatic Black and Titanium White.)

5"x7" Original oil on hardboard
© 2010 Diana Moses Botkin

 

 

"Behind This!"  (indian yellow, ivory black and titanium white)

12x12" oil on canvas

© 2010 Suzanne Berry

July 2010 Moses Botkin Challenge "Something Blue and Yellow"

Choice was mine this month...and from the looks of things, we all liked blue and yellow! I think Suzanne gets the prize for thinking out of the box!

"Blue and Yellow"

©2010 Vicki Ross

9x12" oil on panel

Buy Prints HERE!

Summer Bouquet

6x6 oil on panel

©2010 Robin Cheers

Amber Waves
16x20" oil on canvas
© Suzanne Berry 2010

"Yellow Columbine"  

Oil on hardboard 6"x4"  unframed $99

2010 Diana Moses Botkin

"Yellow Lily on Spode Blue Italian Plate"

6x6 inches / oil on panel

©2010 Jeanne Illenye

Paint your Blankie! Moses Botkin Challenge June

Suzanne Berry chose our challenge topic this month: a bed sheet or a favorite blanket, shawl or baby blanket.

I have a beautiful silk scarf with gold metallic weaving that caught my eye when I was exploring ideas. Yeah it is really that green, can just hear Tim telling me to 'kill the chroma'! I coupled it with a book I purchased at the weekly market in rural France and a pair of reading glasses. I carried that book all the way home because my luggage was overweight. Surprised I didn't lose it in Minneapolis!


Drapery is a real challenge. Thanks Suzanne!

"Le drapé"

©2010 Vicki Ross

9x12 oil on panel

Study for "Saturday Chores"

6x6 oil on panel

(c) 2010 Robin Cheers

"Lily-of-the-Valley with Lace Tablescarf on Williamsburg Tea Caddy"

©2010 jeanne illenye

12x12 inches / oil on panel

"Pillowcase"

© Suzanne Berry

18x18" oil on canvas

“Waiting for Chloë”  

            ©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

Oil on hardboard  8”x10”  unframed $325

Purple/Yellow Moses-Botkin Challenge May 2010

We never quit amazing me! Artists, that is. This month's challenge was the brainwave of Robin Cheers...Do a painting with only two complementary pigments, in this case, purple and yellow (white allowed but no black).

I used Cobalt Violet (Grumbacher Artist's Quality) and Cadmium Lemon (WinsorNewton Artist's). In retrospect, I wish I had used a stronger purple because my darks were limited. BUT, it was a great exercise to know my dark purple was as dark as it could be, so to get more value range I had to use more yellow and white. And, WHY didn't I think to MIX my purple. So typical of me...must have been my left analytical brain in control!

Hmmm. wonder if my cohorts kept their purple mixtures constant...? And if so, fully mixed...? Otherwise, you could go to the red side or to the blue side and still be 'purple', but would yield a few more 'tones'. Of course, most tubes are 'admixtures' in the first place.  My chosen purple contains a cobalt (Pv14) and a Manganese (PB16). It is always interesting to be aware of what is in your tube although I am not a chemist and don't have a clue where the red is coming from!

"PY Study"
©2010 Vicki Ross
9x12 oil on panel 

with Cobalt Violet and Cadmium Lemon + White

"Sliced Plum on Wood Block"
©2010 Jeanne Illenye

5x5 inches / oil on panel 

YELLOW:  cadmium yellow

PURPLE:  cadmium red + french ultramarine blue

"Study in Complements"
8x10 oil on panel
©2010 Robin Cheers

 Purple: Ultramarine Blue and Quinacridone Red
And Hansa Yellow / white

"Sofia" 

© 2010 Suzanne Berry

16x20" oil on canvas

"Dancer at the Bar"
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

Oil on hardboard 7"x5"

Sleepyhead updated

Don't faint and fall out! VickiLou (aka Red), painted today (Sunday)!

Strong light in upper left corner is my fault.

"Sleepyhead"

©2010 Vicki Ross

18x24" Pastel on Wallis Paper

'Sleepyhead' still needs some final touches, but I cautiously optimistic that it is close. This little guy, Leo, is French. We met him on our first visit to La Bonne Etoile, and Randy gave Leo his white Arkansas Razorback hat. The photo in the lower right is what his mom and dad sent us later that year...Leo wearing "the hat".

The photo in the lower left was taken in the front door of his home.This painting has been a real journey, from the block-in that was 2 times life size, to Beemer walking over the remodel.

I started this as a full sheet pastel painting and ended up with too much background. Got the bright idea of making it a Trompe l'oeil 'fool the eye'. Traditionally done in oil, it is not as easy in pastel because you have to deal with the texture of the paper and the pastel stick.

Enjoy the slideshow (there are some out of order)!

"Spring" April Moses Botkin Challenge

This month's challenge topic was by Jeanne Illenye, simply and succinctly "Spring". Again, I am so thrilled with the variations on this theme (I could have named mine pink spider):

"Spring"

©2010 Vicki Ross

9x12 oil on panel

"Stretch"

©2010 Michael Naples

 18x18 oil on canvas

En Plein Air

9x12 oil on panel

©Robin Cheers 2010

Easter Sunday

12x12" oil on canvas

©Suzanne Berry 2010

"The Lost Ribbon"

8x8 inches / oil on canvas

©2010 Jeanne Illenye

“Spring Wonder" 

©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

Oil 4"x6"