Hawaii sunsets

Now that I plan on returning to Maui for a fall vacation, I pulled out some Hawaii sunsets I have painted and redid them in the wax medium. Even though I have about 35 wax colors to work with, I find that with the wax the way I use it, with a stylus, I do not get the blending that allows subtle colors. These sunsets are thus very bright, almost like the whale and underwater paintings you see in Hawaiian galleries. I would have to melt the wax in small containers to mix the colors I want and I'm not set up with ventilation to do that so I use a pointillist type techinique of small patches of color side by side, thus keeping them cleaner and brighter. The oils I'm using as references are not quite as bright when compared although I had always thought of them as pretty bright.

Here are two 5x7 wax sunsets.

Wax still life

Have been working on some longer term projects and ideas so not much to post. Do these small wax works for a break from the more strenuous work. (Plus it's finally yard work season in Seattle, yes, mid-June until we finally get a few sunny days.)

This is a 5x7 flower still life based on a bouquet I had and took several reference photos of before the flowers wilted.

A new split figure in oils

I am painting several figures to see if this idea will work of splitting a figure. Trying out how much detail to use and the size that works best. This is an 8x10 where the figure has quite a bit of detail for this size. The figures are a little darker than the image shows here but it was difficult to adjust the contrast with the dark center.

Arizona scene in wax

This is a small 5x7 work done in wax. It's my first try on one of the Arizona scenes I've been painting. I do these small works while I wait for my oils to dry. Started three new paintings today but now need to wait a day or two for the next layer. Have two of the new ideas for figures begun and a larger Arizona landscape blocked in.

New drawings

Have been out of town for a few days so not much to post. Am working in a new figure based series and have done a small wax work but see that will go better in oils. Will post these once I get some done I am satisfied with. Here is the small 5x7 wax work.