Becky Drees

Apple Trio

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 04:03:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

It's that time of year. So many apples and so little time to paint them...

Three Apples and a White Dish

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 18:29:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

PB&J on Portuguese Muffin

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 20:32:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

Drying Rack

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 20:14:00 +0000

Once in a blue moon I find myself at Wal-Mart (not a big fan). Last time I was there, eggs were on my shopping list. Seems all they sell are cartons of 18 (?), so I bought one. As I started to break the carton down for recycling the other day, I had the idea to use it as a drying rack for 6" x 6" paintings. And guess what? It works SO well! It leaves a nice amount of space around each painting for air to circulate and the dividers have just the right amount of give to cradle the panels without leaving a mark.

Does anyone have other space-saving ways to corral paintings while they dry? I've often thought the right cd rack could work, but I've not found it...

Rogue Radish

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 18:37:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

So, here it is—the last radish of summer... I dug up three and this was the only one with a little life left to it. The leaves turned yellow under studio lights before my very eyes. I should be able to get a better shot of it in the next days (if the sun ever comes out again!) Goodbye summer...

Dark Peaches

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 03:55:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

In an attempt to make sure I went dark enough, this got dark too fast and started to get muddy, so I quit, but obviously not soon enough! Onward and upward... Going out to the garden now to dig up anything that's worth painting... Hoping for some late, rogue radishes...

Orange Slices

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:32:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6" / SOLD

It was only when I stepped back from the easel and squinted that this reminded me of Wayne Thiebaud's work (known for his happy paintings of cakes and pies).

I think I'm going to play around more with this pitched purple perspective thing...

Apples to Orange

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:03:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

Three Peaches and a White Napkin

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:35:00 +0000

Painted in Carol Marine's workshop, oil on canvas, 6" x 6" / NFS

Carol helped me a LOT with this one. She actually painted part of the bottom peach...

Ten MInute Studies

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:31:00 +0000

Ten ten-minute studies of a baby watermelon done in Carol's class, oil on canvas, each are 3" x 3". Carol painted the one in the bottom right in the second set of four. I think I started to get it as you can see from the last two. She's such a FANTASTIC teacher!

Value Studies

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 13:28:00 +0000

Value Studies from the workshop I recently took with Carol Marine. Each are 6" x 6", oil on canvas.

"You're a Peach"

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:58:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

Shiny Apples on Ruffled Plate

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:36:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

Three Pals

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:12:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

Three Pears on Orange

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:51:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

Trying to get in as much studio time as I can to warm up for a workshop with Carol Marine in September!

14 Náměstí Sadové, Olomouc, Česká Republika

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:48:00 +0000

Oil on Gessoboard™, 6" x 6"

This was done for the Virtual Paintout for May where we went (virtually) to the Czech Republic. Here's the scene I painted from.

Kostel sv. Antonia, Prague, Ceska Republica

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:52:00 +0000

Oil on Gessoboard™, 6" x 6"

This was done for the Virtual Paintout for May where went (virtually) to the Czech Republic. Here's the view I worked from.

New Light Church, Berkeley, CA

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:17:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

Another piece for The Virtual Paintout where we went to the San Francisco Bay area. Once I got over the ridiculous perspective issues in Google Street View, I tried to have fun with it. To see the other artist's works: http://virtualpaintout.blogspot.com

"Irish Girl - Hommage to Robert Henri"

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

I did this painting and the one below for Michelle Bernett's "Following the Masters" blog. This month's challenge is to be inspired by the work and philosophy of Robert Henri who said, "An art student must be a master from the beginning; that is, he must be master of such as he has. By being now master of such as he has there is promise that he will be a master in the future." So here I am 100 years later, working at the mastery of just that... Link to the FTM site: http//followingthemasters.blogspot.com/

"Francisquita - Hommage to Robert Henri"

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:59:00 +0000

Oil on Gessoboard™, 6" x 6"

D81, Patrimonio, Northern Corsica, France

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:16:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6"

After speaking with Google's Maps Team, an artist named Bill Guffy determined that artists can use images from Google Street View as reference for creating paintings and drawings and the artists can sell these works without worry of copyright infringement. I'm so pleased to have found his online challenge which is to gather in one area of the world, virtually, once a month with other artists and use Google Streetview to find a scene to paint. Recent gatherings have been in Nova Scotia, Paris and Seattle, this month it's Corsica. After taking a virtual drive around the French island, I settled on this little scene. I haven't done many landscapes, so it was a challenge indeed! To see the other artist's works: http://virtualpaintout.blogspot.com/

Homage to Jean-Frederic Bazille

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:56:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 6" x 6" / SOLD

Painted after Bazille's "Young Woman with Lowered Eyes". This was in response to a challenge on Michelle Burnett's blog "Following the Masters". The challenge was to paint something of or like an artist that influences us in some way. Jean-Frederic Bazille (1841-1870) was a French Impressionist and I admire his use of color and free, powerful brushstrokes. I also like how my signature looks kind of like a tattoo slamming her into present day... (I'm so 2000-and-8, she's so 1869-and-late?) Here's a link to the blog: http://followingthemasters.blogspot.com/

Portrait of Rosemary Sexton

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:24:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 8" x 10" / NFS

Here is the portrait I did for the latest DSFDF challenge. We all sent photos of ourselves to Karin and she randomly paired us up to do portraits of each other. I had no idea who this woman was while I was painting her. Her identity was only recently revealed to me after she posted the portrait she did of me (see below). She is the very talented Rosemary Sexton (see her blog here: http://rosemarysextonpaints.blogspot.com/). I feel so lucky to have been paired up with her, she supplied me with a great photo to paint from, has a lovely face and painted such a nice portrait of me. Thanks Rosemary!

There are 180 artists who participated. Check them out here: http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/

...and if you're REALLY into it, here's a cool YouTube video of the portraits with the photos we worked from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5lEKmlhaM4

Portrait of Me by Rosemary Sexton

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:17:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 8" x 10"

In return Rosemary did this portrait of me and I LOVE it. I especially like the feel of it; the brushstrokes on the textured canvas. Thanks Rosemary!

Airport Travelers

noreply@blogger.com (Becky Drees) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:25:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, 8" x 8" / SOLD

The latest for the a-MAY-zing DSFDF challenge from Karin. Between the skylighting and foreshortening, I had such doubt that I could do this...

She told us, "we are - everything is - form, shape and color." I took her advice and was patient, took it slow and was über-mindful of form, shape, color AND their relationship to one another. So happy I attempted it, I'm proud of myself and my very talented compatriots... see their work here: http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com