Tag: Process of oil painting

At The Goosey Park

Posted on by Bohlender Art in art, children, children, fine art, friendship, Geese, Oil painting

The delightfulness of having a friend you might grow up with, at least so far in their lives, is a treasure many of us don’t have. The children in this painting have known each other since babes, and they experience the loves and challenges of friendship often. Their mothers are good friends, often taking their breathing space at one of several parks where their children can run and play.

One of the parks is near a museum, the grounds are well kept and pleasant. A stream runs through it, and geese stay there year round, accustomed to big and little people. Whenever I am there, it is full of geese, and children.

“At the Goosey Park” – 24″ x 18″ – Oil ©2021

Below are the two earlier paintings of the same children. The beagle doggy has died, the bulldog is getting old and grey, but still smiles when he goes for a walk. I love seeing how these two children grew, how they are as lovely little people. I hope that I am able to keep painting them for more years to come.

The process of painting went from covering a used canvas with a white wash, into the new painting at the park, as shown below.

Beauty and the Feast

Posted on by Bohlender Art in art, fine art, Oil painting, radishes, vegetable art

The rewards of gardening are many, the beauty, the flavor, the gift of food…

My husband brought in these radishes, just pulled out of the earth and fresh washed, laying them on the counter for me. I thought they were very lovely. I photographed them, and just now finished painting them.

“Fresh Washed Radishes” – 14″ x 11″ – Oil ©2021

Once again I used a used canvas overpainted with an orangey wash, I liked what peeked through, matching the countertop somewhat, and pleasantly surprising results.

It was especially delicious painting in the reds – cadmium red light, and alizarin, a touch of cadmium orange deep.

We had a freeze last night, and the water hoses drained, the harvest is mostly finished for the year. By the time spring comes, we are ready for more fresh radishes.

When we get too many radishes, I have found that roasting some is quite tasty as well, drizzled with oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper and nutritional yeast.

Arranging the Bounty

Posted on by Bohlender Art in art, Bountifulness, grocery store painting, Oil painting, vegetable art

I love where we buy groceries. It is a small store, not so complex and huge. In this store, I can buy what I need without having to wade through so many options that becomes confounding. It is wholesome. I am grateful. Because I love this store, I decided to paint a scene from it, in love.

The day the food trucks arrive the workers become very busy… in a lovely way. They care about the food quality and presentation. I love that. They roll in the cart full of new boxes of fresh food, distributing carefully, artfully.

I painted this on a used canvas, a failed portrait that I washed white over it, yet the dark background showed through, as well as some of the form. I blocked in color areas and tried to capture that perspective, vital as it is, with line. Then continued bringing in all of the abounding wonders.

You can see the arm of the portrait that lays sideways in the first image, but then the progression of the painting. The final painting:

Arranging the Bounty – 30″ x 24″ – Oil ©2021

It took awhile to paint this one, but I’m a dab at a time kind of painter. I hope it honors the beauty of the woman and the produce, and the love in the store.

Praise God for the wealth of our America. It has been a free and rich Nation.

Mr. Bunny

Posted on by Bohlender Art in art, fantasy portraits, jackrabbits, Oil painting, oil portrait, watercolor portrait

This is my last painting of 2020, finished New Year’s Eve.

“Mr. Bunny in the Lavender” – 8″ x 16″ – Oil ©2020

There used to be many jackrabbits in the area, some were smaller and wiry, some were larger and relaxed, relatively tame. Several were my friends. Mr. Bunny loved the coolness around the dampened areas and shade around the lavender. He also liked to eat the echinacea leaves.

There were many rabbits that year, now there are hardly any. I loved and missed seeing him, so I painted this from my photo of him.

Here is the process:

  • “Mr. Bunny in the Lavender” – 8″ x 16″ – Oil ©2020

Mr. Bunny has actually appeared in two other paintings that I have done, both in self portraits. In the first, the watercolor, he is laying at my feet. In the portrait, he is by Jeff’s feet.

  • Joy in the Garden
  • Mom and Dad in the Garden

“One Nation Under God”

Posted on by Bohlender Art in art, Cowboys, Oil painting, One Nation Under God, prayer, Prayer for America, western art

I love painting over old canvases when they’re not too lumpy.

After sketching in the forms and blocking in the painting, the painting seemed to sail. They don’t always “paint themselves”. A lot of my work takes months to do.

Sketching over an old canvas and blocking in the positions of the people.

The owner of a gallery I used to show in asked me to not be so specific in my work. I didn’t know then what that meant, but here it shows all the people and not one is recognizable. The idea, not necessarily the detail, is stronger.

This painting is a special part of the prayer in my heart for our America… the people’s heart, the people’s country, the people’s recognition of our reliance upon God for any good thing.

Almost done, then finishing. I might have left some of the definition alone, but I just had to go in there and define some of the figures more. A very good adjustment was eliminating the repetition of parallel forms by adding sleeves to one man, and muting the light on the arm of the man in the doorway, thus setting him further back.

The color varies at times of day and lighting, so I went out to the northside just before full sunrise and took this photo for northlight color:

“One Nation Under God” – 20″ x 20″ – Oil – ©2020