Using small paintings for stress relief

Poppy Dance Miniature Treasure

Palette knife painting

10x10cm / 4"x4"

oil on mini box canvas

Available on Daily Paintworks

Poppy Song Miniature Treasure

Palette knife painting

10x10cm / 4"x4"

oil on mini box canvas

Available on Daily Paintworks

I have been busy painting a commissioned landscape. My first commission and on an unusaul format 30x80cm (12"x32"). For a little light relief I took time out to paint these small paintings using a limited colour scheme. They were fun to do, they have lots of texture and would brighten up a small space either individually or both together.

A challenging challenge - Daisies and Cherries still life oil painting

Daisies and Cherries Still Life

Palette knife painting

Oil on narrow box canvas

25x30cm (10x12inch) x2cm

Contact me about this or any other painting HERE

A challenging painting for the Facebook Challenge from Evhe. Evhe post two challenges a month and this is the second time I have participated.
This is the reference photo

Quite a complicated scene and, as you can see, I simplified I always like to take part in these kind of challenges as I love the different way artists interpret the same scene.

 See my previous challenge entry here

Summer Colour, container flowers oil painting

Summer Colours, Container flower painting

Oil Palette knife painting

25x30cm (10"x12") on box canvas (gallery wrapped)

The edges are painted black.

I was very good this year and potted up my containers early. My reward is a beautiful, colourful display on my patio.

Some close-ups of the palette knife work

Contact me about this or any other painting HERE

Abstract Tulips palette knife painting, oil on canvas panel

Abstract Tulips

Palette knife painting

18x24cm (approx 7"x10")

Oil on canvas board

Available in my Etsy shop

My tulips are all finished now - but the irises are on their way - so it's not all bad!

This was painted while the tulips were in their prime. It started out as impressionist/realism but I got carried away. I took a palette knife to the surface and swiped it over the painting. This gave a lovely loose abstract feel. A few lines finished off the painting.

Some close-ups

4x6 Miniature treasure painting - garden series

 A collection of four of my 4"x6" Miniature treasure paintings in the garden series.

All available at $40 on Daily Paintworks

The hardest thing about painting these small paintings is coming up with the idea. I can sometimes spend considerable time coming up with a suitable concept. I look through my photos, art magazines and web images for 'the spark', never copying but building on an idea.

These Miniature Treasures have found new homes in the UK and USA

If you are interesting in purchasing or commissioning one, or maybe more to make a stunning group, please contact me here

Three Roses Palette Knife Painting in Oil

Three Roses Palette Knife Painting

Oil on MDF canvas panel

15cmx15cm (6"x6") 

Available on Daily Paintworks

 This painting has a tactile impasto surface giving it a 3D look.
The edges of the panel have been painted black so it can be displayed on a plate stand. This painting would also look good in a floating frame.

About this painting
A larger painting of the rose paintings I painted in January. I wanted to see if the concept worked at a larger size. I use paint directly from the tube to achieve a luscious pure colour. For the roses I used Scarlet Lake unmixed to maintain that beautiful red, with permanent rose and alazarin crimson for the darker areas.

Some close-ups of the knife work

Garden Poppies 2 Miniature Treasure palette knife painting

 Garden Poppies 2 Miniature Treasure

palette knife painting

acrylic on MDF panel

10x15cm (4"x6")
Available on Daily Paintworks

This is a sister painting to yesterday's post

 

The edges have been painted black, so it can be displayed on a plate stand. It would also look good framed (no glass needed).
Here is an example of it framed.

Garden Poppies Miniature Treasure palette knife painting

 Garden Poppies Miniature Treasure

palette knife painting

acrylic on MDF panel

10x15cm (4"x6")
Available on Daily Paintworks

I'm looking forward to the spring. The poppies will soon be popping up all over the garden. I let these poppies self seed each year and often help them by collecting the seed and sowing them. This year we should have a really good display as we have been rearranging the garden and poppies just love disturbed ground.

About this painting
This was painted with a palette knife, but because I used acrylics there is much less texture than when I use oils. I have not used acrylics much over the last couple of years, but I did like the fast drying and not having to treat the painting so delicately and waiting for it to dry. The surface has been varnished for protection.

The edges have been painted black, so it can be displayed on a plate stand. It would also look good framed (no glass needed).
Here is an example of it framed.

Contact me about this or any other painting HERE

Poppy Trio Palette knife painting in oils

Poppy Trio Palette knife painting

20x20cm (8"x8") on box canvas
The sides of the canvas are painted black
No frame required

Day 24 of the 30 day challenge

Available for purchase in my Etsy Store

The thirty day challenge has now finished and I can relax a little.  I have been posting my paintings for the challenge on my daily painting blog as it has been too difficult to keep up with the two blogs. Over the next few days I will repost my flower paintings on this blog.

About this painting
This is an upcycled painting, also of poppies, that I sort of liked but it was a bit dark. I decided to redo the painting (the original one had 5 poppies which also made it a bit crowded). I first painted the highlights with cadmium yellow and then hit it with the red. The painting is now much brighter and livelier and has more impact.

Some close-ups of the knife work

 

Newsletter

I will be sending out my first today or tomorrow. Sign up for my newsletter or blog using the subscription boxes on the left hand column, and you will be entered into a draw for my Sunflowers miniature treasures painting. You have up until the 7th February to be in with a chance.
 

Rose Flower Arrangement still life, No.3 and 4. Miniature treasure paintings

Mini treasure flower arrangement NO. 3 

Palette knife painting by Marion Hedger

Impasto oil

10x10cm (4x4inch) on box canvas
Can be hung without a frame
This is painting No.20 in the 30 day challenge

Available for purchase

Mini treasure flower arrangement NO. 4

Palette knife painting by Marion Hedger

Impasto oil

10x10cm (4x4inch) on box canvas
Can be hung without a frame
This is painting No.21 in the 30 day challenge

Available for purchase

I enjoyed painting these little treasure, they were fun to do and the finished paintings look good with all that textured paint. These paintings would certainly brighten up a dull corner.

Here is a collage of the Rose Flower Arrangement series together

Ikebana 3 - Yellow Chrysanthemums palette knife painting in oils

Ikebana 3 - Yellow Chrysanthemums

Palette knife oil painting on canvas panel

18x24 cm (approx 7x10 inch)

 I wanted to explore a dramatic background in this painting and use a different colour combination than my norm. It's good to try something different now and again to keep the paintings 'fresh'. I really like how this one turned out
Visit the first two paintings of the quartet, Ikebana 1 and Ikebana 2

Contact me about this or any other painting HERE

Poppy sunshine trio oil painting

 Poppy sunshine trio

20x40cm (8"x16") oil on thick box canvas

canvas sides are painted dark blue so can be hung without a frame

See here to purchase

Today I just felt like painting poppies.

Contact me about this or any other painting HERE

Container Glory garden flowers, container flowers WIP

Container glory oil painting

18x24cm (approx 7"x10")

oil on MDF canvas panel

Started using a brush and finished using a palette knife

This painting is for sale in my Etsy shop
or contact me about this or any other painting HERE

Step 1, Loose block in of the local colours using thin paint

 Step 2, starting to define the masses using thicker paint alternating between the brush and knife

Step 3, just using the knife now and thicker paint, looking at the shadows and highlights to get a more 3D effect

I reduced some of the busyness in the top right hand corner and added more highlights and shadows. I also made sure I had more 'breathing space' at the top of the flowers as I felt it was a bit too dense. I also made sure the colours were balanced adding a bit of red to the purples and some purples to the reds.

I painted some of my container geraniums last year. See HERE and HERE

Sunny Geraniums Plein Aire oil painting

 

 Sunny Geraniums oil painting by Marion Hedger

Oil on MDF gessoed board. 18x24cm

CLICK HERE TO BID

The second of my red geranium plein air paintings. Part of my Garden 101 painting series
Contact me about this or any other painting HERE

Sunny Geranium en plein aire painting in oils

My pots of geraniums are coming along nicely, and who could resist painting them. They give such a splash of colour, it makes me smile when I see them.

 Sunny Geraniums oil painting by Marion Hedger

18x24cm oils on canvas board (MDF)

I painted the board with an underpainting of pink for this one. Not a lot of it shows through in the final painting, but enough to give the red geraniums a sunny glow.

Contact me about this or any other painting HERE

Poppy Medley in triplicate - poppy paintings by Marion Hedger

I always love the way the flower petals catch the sunlight and give that lovely transparent glow. There is one reference that I have painted several times because I like the colour and the effect of light. It is of a group of poppies. Here are my different versions, all in different media.
The first in colour pencil - previous posted as a work-in-progress demonstration. Here is the link Poppy Medley Colored pencil demo

Poppy Medley 1 - Coloured pencil painting by Marion Hedger

30x30cm coloured pencil on sanded card.

The second is in Acrylic and my favourite.

Poppy Medley 2 - Acrylic painting by Marion Hedger

46x55cm Acrylic on box canvas.

The third is in oil pastel

 Poppy Medley 3 - Oil pastel painting by Marion Hedger

33x20cm on sanded card.

All three are colourful and look stunning in a contemporary setting.

NOTE: Thanks to wetcanvas.com reference image library for the reference photo

Poppy Medley

Poppy Medley 30x30cm coloured pencil on sanded card.

 

This painting is from the May Plant Parade challenge on Wet Canvas. I cropped one of the photos and painted the underpainting in my usual way but this time using water solouble neopastel and water to  cover the paper. I have used the neopastels for the under painting on several oil pastel paintings and it works well for me.

 Initially I planned to do this painting in oil pastels, but something made me decide to use coloured pencil which I hadn't used for quite a while.
I sharpened my pencils and set to work on stage 2 - making the colours look 'real'

 This is the stage where it starts to look more like the objects. I decided that I need more of this 'colouring' stage and here is stage 2.2

Definitely starting to look like flowers now!
Stage 3 is finding the changes in plane and lights and shadows on the petals by dividing the larger masses into smaller masses.

The light through the petals is starting to show.

Stage 4 is more of the same - splitting the masses and really looking at the colours and pushing them and putting in that all important centre of the main poppy.
I enjoyed painting this one and the coloured pencils worked well on the sanded paper which did not use up the pencils as much as I thought they would.