Poppies All Around!

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These beautiful poppies are blooming in many gardens all around town. They don't last long so I've captured them in paint! I lost some of the variations in the reds in this photo so I'll try to get a better photos a little later.

I drove to the nearest big town yesterday to buy ink and food and had to make a detour at the rest stop, after waiting for almost 40 minutes for road construction! It's a two lane highway, over the mountain, and they've been working on the road, straightening out some of the switch back turns, so that big rigs can drive back and forth from the coast. I didn't mind the turns and they say it's only going to cut the time by 10 minutes. All was calm, though, after I stopped and took in this beautiful view of Whiskeytown Lake. It looks different every time I see it, and is always spectacular! It would be nice to live on the lake and paint it everyday with the changing light. The views are best as you drive by at 60 mph...I can't figure out how to stop and get a good shot without risking my life on that dangerous highway! This will have to do.

Have a great weekend! 

What will you be doing to kick off the summer?

There's a giveaway going on!

available as a print

For a chance to win any 8x10 print from my Etsy shop just pop over to Melissa's blog, So About What I Said...! Melissa was so kind to host this for me! I hope you find her blog as much fun as I do and that you continue to follow her interesting, heartfelt posts. Please enter for a chance to win by commenting on her blog! Thank you for your support!

Pink Roses and Peach...

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Here's my latest palette knife floral painting. It's been a while since I've done one of these. I love these colors! It's filled with pink roses and hydrangeas in peaches and creams.
I always take shots of my paintings as I work on them.
It really helps me see how they're working. I can get a sense of
how the composition is working and can see if something need more or less
emphasis. I don't ever post these because they're just for my reference
but today I'm sharing them with you because it's one of the 30 day challenges
by Leslie Saeta.

I usually tone my canvas with a warm color first but sometimes I just can't wait to start!

In this photo you can almost see the pencil marks where I roughed in my drawing.

I don't get very detailed in that stage. I also like to work all around the painting

not concentrating on any certain area. This helps me with color harmony and balance.

Just filling in more color and a little unsure how it's going at this point. The flower in the upper

right just didn't want to emerge yet.

It almost finished in this one, just needs a few details and a signature!

and it's finished!

I want to invite you to my Facebook page, J Beaudet Studios if you haven't seen it yet. I've been posting my paintings there first, before anywhere else. I also haven't painted lilacs in a few years and there blooming now! I've done a few of lilacs and lemons. I love the combo of the purples and yellows. Have a great weekend!:)

Always learning...

As a self representing artist I where many hats and am always learning new things! You may already know how, but I just learned how to make a photo collage from Leslie Saeta's 30 Marketing Ideas in 30 Days using ipiccy! It's never boring around here. I think I could work from morning til night and never run out of things do to! But that wouldn't be too much fun...I sometimes have to turn of all the machines, lay down the brushes, and just relax...[insert photo of me on a beach on Kauai]