Pear - An Original 10 x 8 Still Life Oil Painting and Workshop information by George De Chiara

Pear ©

10x8 inches  Oil

George De Chiara

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 I think I've talked about this before in other posts, but sometimes the challenge of a still life is in taking a simple object and making the while painting about it. In this case, it's the pear taking center stage sitting atop an old wooden box. I acquired this box a few years ago at an estate sale. I love the construction of the box with its box joints joining the sides together and showing off its craftsmanship. They don't make them like this anymore! I thought it showed off my pear rather nicely.

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Highland Field - An Original 8 x 10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Highland Fields ©

8x10 inches   Oil

George De Chiara

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 I spotted this field last week when I was out painting sunflowers, but didn't stop to paint it then. The day was already rather hot by that point and I knew I could always come back to it. Well, I finally got back to it and it turns out it was just in time because as I was painting someone came by and started mowing the field! Luckily, it's a large field and I was able to finish my painting before the lawn mower got to the area I was painting. I'm glad I went when I did and didn't wait another day because this scene looked a lot different with short grass around all the trees. Timing is everything! 

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Into The Night - An Original 10 x 8 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Into The Night ©

10x8 inches   Oil

George De Chiara

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One of the greatest challenges in painting from life? The sunset! This one was just beautiful to watch and paint. There were thunderstorms coming in from the east and made it to with a mile of where I was painting. If I walked out the end of the dock, I was standing on and looked to the other side of the lake I see the rain falling into the water. For a while there it was pretty touch and go as to whether I'd stay dry, but after about 40 minutes the storms cleared out and we were treated to this wonderful sunset. I'm so happy I was there to capture it on canvas!

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Wild Sunflowers - An Original 8 x 10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Wild Sunflowers ©

8x10 inches   Oil

George De Chiara

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 Last year, after most of the wild flowers started to die off, I noticed this field of wild sunflowers in a field by a local strip mall. It was so very hot last year when I noticed the field that I didn't do any paintings on location. I made a note of it for a possible painting site this year and waited for the flowers to come back. I started to notice similar sunflowers popping up last week while driving around town and thought it might be time to revisit this field. After waiting out two mornings of rain and cloudy skies, things finally cleared up today and I was off to paint. I was so happy when I spotted the field at the end of the road and saw all the bright yellow blooms! I quickly found a place to paint and got to work. 

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Striptease - An Original 10 x 8 Still Life Oil Painting and Workshop information by George De Chiara

 

Striptease © 

10x8 inches  Oil

George De Chiara

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 We had another cloudy, overcast morning today. It's a nice change from the high heat we've had, but it makes it almost impossible to go outdoors and paint. Instead, I worked in the studio on my still life painting. I've had this idea in my head for a few days. I kept having this vision of a long orange peel hanging down. I thought it would be interesting to paint both the inside and outside of the peel as it curled around like a cork screw. The only problem is I don't know how to peel an orange like that. Most of my experience has been mostly to just remove the peel so I could eat the fruit. Artfully peeling the orange, as my wife put it, is a whole other skill set that I'm going to have to practice in order to do the painting in my head. For now, this is the best peeling job I can muster. 

 I'm teaching a still life painting workshop in just a few days at the Dutch Gallery in Dallas. The dates are June 21st and 22nd. There's still time to register and join in on the fun. Go here for more information and to sing up: http://dutchartgallery.net/event/george-de-chiara-still-life-2-day-workshop/ 

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Red Pepper - An Original 8 x 8 Still Life Oil Painting and Workshop information by George De Chiara

Red Pepper © 

8x8 inches   Oil

George De Chiara

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Simple...bold...colorful...accurate. These are a few of the thoughts going through my mind while I painted this in the studio. Sometimes I need to remind myself to just paint what I'm actually seeing and not what I think I should be seeing or want to see. I've noticed with shiny objects, like this pepper, I struggle with what seems like self-delusion the most. But, that also one of the reason I pick objects like this paint. They force me to face the things that give me the biggest challenges. By taking the time to study them like this, the next time I go to paint something similar it becomes easier since I can recall my past experiences.

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Hydrangea - An Original 8 x 8 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Hydrangea ©

8x8 inches  Oil

George De Chiara

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 While trying to decide what to paint at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, I ran across these colorful hydrangeas in full bloom. I passed them by at first since I wanted to see what else there was that might tempt my brushes, but everything I looked at seemed to pale in comparison to these dramatic blooms. Eventually I worked my way back to the spot I found these at and settled into the shade from a nearby tree to paint for a few hours. I hadn't painted hydrangeas before this. At first, they are a bit overwhelming, but if I kept squinting at them the shapes got be rather simple and abstract making them a lot easier to translate to canvas. 

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