Work in Progress

One of my intentions when I started this blog was to post work-in-progress photos of my larger colored pencil paintings. I've been remiss in doing that and what with the new year and all, have added that to my to-do list. So here is a photo of a work in progress. It's two mangoes lying side-by-side in tissue paper in a corrugated cardboard box. This one is larger-than-life (14" x 16 1/2"). Down on the bottom left-hand corner you can see how I'm building up the dark background - first with a layer of Tuscan red, followed by dark green, and then a final layer of black burnished on top. The tissue paper will be a light blue color to play off of the orangey-red of the mangoes. I want to get the dark, rich colors of the mangoes established before I render the tissue paper.

Another Sweet Heart

"Red Striped Heart"

6" x 6", oil on canvas

Copyright 2008 Sheila Cantrell

I went back to the bakery for more heart shaped donuts. This time they had red icing instead of pink. I had bought a set of these cool deco shaped plates last year at a flea market. The set was in assorted colors - blue, green, and yellow. The yellow's not working with this donut series, but I do like the iced donuts against both the blue and green plates.

Donut Hearts

"Donut Hearts"

Oil on canvas, 5" x 7"

Copyright 2008 Sheila Cantrell

Here's another painting of these delicious looking heart-shaped donuts. Who needs a box of chocolates for Valentines Day when you could just have donuts? (Don't forget the coffee!)

Donut Love

"Donut Love"

oil on canvas, 6" x 6"

Copyright 2008 Sheila Cantrell

SOLD

Apparently Valentines Day is right around the corner... Wal-Mart's bakery had all of these delightful pink iced heart-shaped donuts for sale this morning. I couldn't resist putting one on a green plate for this still life.

Still Feeling Blue...

"Mangoes on Blue Cloth"

oil on canvas, 7" x 5", $100

Copyright 2008, Sheila Cantrell

I enjoyed painting the blue cloth in the last still life so much that I decided to use it again. Here it is with two mangoes. I really liked the composition on this one and how the colors turned out. It seemed more interesting to set it up with the light coming from the back-right side and having the shadows come forward.

Gold Nugget

"Gold Nugget Squash"

oil on canvas, 7" x 5"

Copyright 2008 Sheila Cantrell

Yesterday's painting - I picked up three of these Gold Nugget squashes a few weeks ago because the color and shape seemed interesting. Since they're winter squashes, they've been content to sit around on a studio shelf without spoiling and just cooling their heels until I got around to them. Seems like I've been on a complementary color kick here lately. The orange of the squash was elusive to capture, but I think that I got pretty close. It was a relief to move on to the cloth which I had fun painting. I went with a very dramatic black background. I really like how it makes the squash and cloth colors pop.

Hide and Seek

"Mango Hide and Seek"

oil on canvas, 6" x 6"

Copyright 2008, Sheila Cantrell

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Daily painting from Monday - I had a darker background on this originally, but the mangoes were a little too hidden, so I lighten up the foreground and background this morning and I like the effect much better. I meant to save the original photo of the painting with the darker background so you could see the difference, but alas I overwrote the file after I took the second photo... You'll just have to take my word for it that it's improved.

Blushing Apples

"Golden With a Blush"

colored pencil, 8" x 6 3/4"

Copyright Sheila Cantrell 2008

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Here's a small colored pencil that I just finished up today. Did you know that golden delicious apples are really more yellow-green when the grocer first puts them in the produce aisle? As they ripen, they turn more and more yellow. That makes the color seem like a moving target when you let a couple of days go by between the start and end of the drawing.

More Pears

"Red Pears III"

Oil on canvas, 6" x 6"

Copyright 2008 Sheila Cantrell

Slices and Sticks

"Slices and Sticks"

Oil on canvas, 8" x 6"

Copyright 2008 Sheila Cantrell

I'm back to painting after a little break over the holidays. This is a not-so-subtle use of complementary colors - oranges slices and cinnamon sticks on a blue plate. By the way - what title sounds better? "Slices and Sticks" or "Sticks and Slices"? Either way sounds like an advertisement for some new kitchen gadget. This one really strained my nearly non-existent title creating skills. I'm entirely open to other title suggestions...

Flying Pig

"Flying Makes Me Happy"

colored pencil

8" x 8"

Copyright 2007 Sheila Cantrell

Here's a small colored pencil drawing that I finished a few days ago. I found this cute little pig manikin at an art supply store last month. I bought it for my daughter for Christmas because, not only is she an artist, but also a student at the University of Arkansas, home of the Arkansas Razorbacks (woooo-pigs-sooie). So how could I resist giving her her very own pig manikin? I borrowed him back right after Christmas to do this little still life. He looked so happy on his pedestal! I wanted to make it look like he was flying, so I put a blue sky with stenciled clouds in the background and added a couple of Monopoly hotels so he could feel like he was really high in the sky.