Exercise Warm and Cool Colors.....Avocado Paintings

                                                                                 
These paintings are an exercise in working with warm and cool colors and their effect on a simple cut avocado. I thought when I did them that I would like one over the other.  I really can't say which I like better.
They both began with an under painting done in a limited palate in order to get the values correct. The cool under painting was done with ultramarine blue, burnt umber and white and the warm under painting was done
with red oxide, burnt umber, yellow oxide and white. Then they were painted a second time adding more colors, opaquely in some areas and as glazes in others.  The under painting shows through in areas of glazing.
I also worked on loosening up.  Such a simple subject could be boring without the movement the brush stroke creates. The warm painting was done last and the brushstroke is looser than in the cool painting.

Semana Santa .....on the Beach

It is Semana Santa (Holy week). How fast it has arrived.  This means for many, many Mexicans, camping on the beach. It is the most popular beach holiday of the year.  I took the picture that I used for this painting
on Easter Sunday two years ago.  This family was playing on the beach trying to make each other fall down in the sand.  I was captivated by the girls hair and clothing blowing in the breeze. I loved the playfulness of the scene, the smiles and laughter. With their kind permission, I snapped several  photos.  The painting is acrylic on wrapped canvas. The beach is very much a part of life here.  La Paz is on the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean is less than an hour to the west.