For those paying attention, yes, I did skip posting a couple of paintings, and yes, I haven't been keeping up with my daily paintings, but have been working on some 30 x 40 acrylic paintings.  I still love painting in oils, and still love the small 5 x 7 canvases, so here is today's painting. Currently, I'm trying to work on the challenges on Daily Paintworks (It helps to have a ready-made idea).

This challenge was to paint with 4 colors of paint.  I love painting with a limited pallete. I do this often and use only alizarin crimson, cad yellow, ultramarine blue and titanium white. It’s simplifies the color mixing process and I’m learning just how many different colors can be made from the primary colors.  When my schedule is less hectic, I plan to paint plen air and want to carry around only the necessities and this is great practice.

I thought I would finish out my week of clouds with this cloudy, gray vista. 5 x 7 inches.

These lovely Cirrocumulus (I think) clouds are beautiful but so hard to render. 
5 x 7 inches

I'm fascinated by the structure of the waves and excited about furthering my skill at rendering realistic waves.  I can see the shadows and know in my head how I want it to look, but it's so hard to get that down in paint.  I want you to hear the ocean when you look at the painting, whether it's a soft thrum of steady waves or the roar of water crashing on the beach. 5 x 7 inches.

On a recent visit to D.C., this flowering bush caught my daughter's eye.  She said, "Paint it, mom!"  So I did. 5 x 7 inches.

I woke up this morning thinking about my daily painting and knew I wanted to paint clouds.  I've painted this scene twice before on a 24 x 36 inch canvas and have not been completely happy with it, and I just wanted to have fun with this smaller version.  
5 x 7 inches

One year for my birthday a friend took me to NYC.  Now, my birthday is in July and you would expect the weather to be hot and humid, but instead it was a picture perfect weekend. Poured down rain Friday nite when we arrived, but Saturday and Sunday was low humidity and mild temps.  It was just wonderful weather to walk all over the city.  Saturday morning as we were waiting for the elevator, I turned and saw this rooftop scene and snapped a quick picture.  I came across it the other day and it's today's painting.

5 x 7 inches

Moved to the mountains for today's painting. No these are not the soaring peaks of the west coast, but the more gentle rounded mountains of the Shenandoah. Beautiful just the same.  I wanted to portray a bright windy day. You get out at one of the overlooks and can see the shadows of the clouds scuttling along the mountains.

7 x 5 inches

Love this reference photo and hope I did it justice.  I can picture myself walking on this beach and I was fascinated by the shadows from the fence. 

7 x 5 inches

I am deep into spring fever, even though it's raining and chilly today, so for today's painting here is a study of some lovely apple blossoms.

5 x 7 inches