Finished Study Painting!

It has been a couple of weeks since the last post. Summer arrived, well sort of, and all of a sudden things got busy. I was still working in the studio just in odd snatches of time here and there. I finally, FINALLY, finished this still life study. Well, I could continue working on it for a while longer but I decided it was time to stop. I spent a lot of time experimenting with different ways of painting and a couple of mediums. As a result, it isn't a smoothly finished piece of work but that is OK, it wasn't intended to be. Before I continue, here it is:

Not the best photo as I am still working on finding a way that works well, without spending a chunk of money at this time.
One of the mediums I tried was Gamblin's Galkyd. I have to say, I really didn't like it. I didn't like the smell and I am not too sure I like the results either. This was a great learning piece, after all it is only my second painting, but I made it too complicated and it took too long. It was with great relief that I took down the still life set up and cleaned the studio. I will be doing several short color studies, and continue to work on drawing and figure studies. I also plan to start a series of ocean paintings or seascapes. I go out with my easel to do painting en plein air when I get the chance but the weather here is so variable it can be a challenge.
My life study group was canceled the past two weeks but we met today with a model we have drawn before. She is within a couple weeks of delivering her baby. It has been really fun drawing her during her pregnancy. It is amazing to observe how the body changes in every way when pregnant. Here is a 30 minute drawing of her.

Finally, I was trying to decide whether or not to alternate a contemporary female artist with a past female artist for my women artists portion. I had thought to feature Artemisia Gentileschi then I read a wonderful blog post by Terry Strickland. Her link is in my side bar but you should check out her post here. I love this idea and am filing it away to use one of these days when I have built my portrait skills. She has a wiki link about Artemisia as well that is worth checking out. Women had a lot more stacked against them in the past. Things have improved but we still have a long way to go.
It feels good to be moving on and will be posting on the progress next week.
Until then,
-Renee