Two Test Paintings

This term I'm taking painting class again. I decided to try water soluble oil paints - they are alot different from acrylics in application and drying time, but have
water clean-up instead of turpentine.

Here are two small paintings I made recently. Both are from painting workshop books. The first is a copy of a snow scene from the book Oil Painting: The Workshop Experience by Ted Goerschner. When Rick saw it he said, "I don't know what that's supposed to be.....is it a swimming pool?" I think I still have a ways to go with the Impressionistic syle. In this painting I just tried to reproduce what the artist did. This is 8x10" in oil.

The second is my version of a cow painting from the book 60 Minutes to Better Painting by Craig Nelson. The idea of the book is to make quick paintings in 60 minutes or less in order to focus on the subject and not get bogged down in the details. This took me alot longer than 60 minutes and I did get bogged down in the details, but I see where he is going with his idea. I actually had to look up cow anatomy in order to figure out how the legs work. I have this cow on a bigger canvas in class and started this one as a study at home (since I've been home sick, I've been working on it and the other one is only half done). 8x10" in oil.

I've been staying home with a bad cold. All I've done is sleep, paint a bit, read some books, recharge my camera batteries, watch TV and take the dog out. It's a bore.

EP