A Desert Trail

Oil on Canvas, 9x12

Desert is pretty. It is nonchalant and carefree.

In an effort to be more disciplined, I bought a pad of real canvas and decided to paint a painting a day. So here it is one of the three I've done. I hope I'll come up with more worthy ones to post here, and often. With a picture in hand or something in front of me to paint, it is so much easier than to paint the abstract. So, this is a welcomed change for me.

I painted this from a picture I took two years ago at the Red Rock Crossing, Sedona.

It was probably in February and there were a lot of trees without leaves. A little desolate. But come to think of it, it has always looked like this no matter when I visited it. There are green trees along the creek during the summer and later, as I remember. Perhaps it's time to go back, again.

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"Mr. Eucalyptus"

Oil on Linen Canvas, 14x11

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Mr. Eucalyptus is a big tree in my neighbor's back yard. A couple of hawks like to rest high on it's branches in the spring. I wanted to study painting trees and this is the closest I could find. So I did a plein air in my A/Ced studio looking out the arcadia doors of this grand tree. It was very warm at 104 degree  in Scottsdale today!

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Oak Creek, Sedona

Oil on Canvas, 14x11

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I painted this today from a picture I took at the Red Rock Crossing during a plein air workshop a couple years ago. I've liked this picture but dreaded to paint it because it looked so complicated. So, I summed up my courage. 

Besides using a palette knife, I squinted my eyes a lot to try to ignore too many details. I also used a brush to paint where a knife would have messed it up. Since I don't have a lot of patience and a stead hand, the knife was handy for trees and twigs. The problem was that they tend to look too straight and mechanical. Perhaps I still need to use the brush for trees but only after the under paint dries a bit. Any suggestions? I'll appreciate it!

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"Peaches and Cream" by Li Mahalik

Oil on Panel, 8x6

After painted a larger version of this, I went back to paint this smaller one to see how I could do better. The pink and white blossoms were a challenge because it was hard to see where one tree ends and the other begins. I discovered that once we notice the subtle change in shades we can exaggerate the values and colors to make it more painterly. This one is far from perfect, but I've learned an invaluable lessen from doing it.

Please contact me if you have any suggestions or comments, dreamcobbler@cox.net or visit my web site to see more of my paintings: www.limahalikart.com

"Morning"

Oil on Canvas, 8x10 July 2010 #2

This painting is painted from an image in my mind, with mostly a palette knife and a brush.

I'm getting better with using the palette knife, like how and what to paint first, and the usage of dark color to light color, etc. I think I'll explore this technique more often because I really enjoy doing it. It's more like painting the abstract which I've always enjoyed doing.

Please email me at dreamcobbler@cox.net if you're interested in this painting, ($125, including shipping in the US.)

Or, come visit my web site at www.limahalikart.com to see more.