Brande Arno Art

4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard - Sold It's been snowing again in Western NY.  Not much accumulation, but winter just won't take the hint and leave.   But, the Canadian Geese have been flying in formation and honking all the way.  And a sensitive nose or beak can detect the smell of Spring.

5 x 7 inches, Oil on Panel -Sold Painted for the Daily Paintwork's "Go Paint some Sunflowers" challenge.  I love these challenges, although I haven't participated as much as I should.  Sunflowers are a little more difficult to paint than you'd think,  Mostly because of the generous leaf growth which lends to the composition getting too busy real quick.  To manage that, I did just one bloom and edited some leaves right on out!

4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard  Sold - Thank you This painting will be part of the Nibblefest Art Contest that will start March 20, 2015.  The theme is Flowers and what better flower than the daisy.  While I was trying to make a simple composition, the inspiration came to include a Big-Bottomed Bee.   Nibblefest Art Contests are held on ebay with bidding starting at just .99 cents.   The link that is included with this post will be live shortly after midnight on March 20.  The auction will run for seven days.

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Sold Decided today to paint a bunny.  How cute is this little face...you'd never know I had a little trouble capturing just the right look and for me that involves strong brushwork and clear color mixtures.  I also love the rich emerald greens of the background.

4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Sold Both Monday and Tuesday's paintings were scrapers.  I prefer to wipe away a failed attempt and usually do better with the second try.  But two days in a row...I went to bed last night thinking my painting career was over.  The photo reference for this painting was taken November, 2014.  What caught my eye was the contrast between the dusting of snow against a hill darkened with trees.  Perfect setting to insure those bales stand out.  Where are the trees in this painting you ask?  I  pulled an artist license and switched those trees out for pretty blue sky instead.   

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Gessoboard-  Click to Bid The painting above is my second attempt at painting a hummingbird for the Daily Paintworks weekly challenge.  The first is below.  There is so much that is different between the two paintings, even though they were both painted by me today and from the same photo source . So what happened to make them so different?  The top hummingbird is painted with colors I premixed all at once, before I began painting.  The hummingbird below was painted with the mix as you go method.   5 x 5 inches, Oil on Gessoboard  Click to Bid I like the second hummingbird painting better because it has more power in the brushwork and bold, fresh color.   I'm finding I like premixing colors before starting to paint because I can compare values right there and then.  But this does change my style as you can see. Which hummingbird do you like better?

8 x 10 inches, Oil on Gessoboard  $ 325.  Includes Floater Frame  Buy Here It took a while, but finally Hermit is finished.  I really had trouble with the 'hood that Hermit lives in.  Mostly, I didn't want Hermit to look like Nik Wallenda.   Just like any painting that stretches an artist...there were many failed attempts to bring all the pieces of this painting together and getting along with each other.  Finally it happened.   

"Hermit" cropped - 9 x 12 inches  Hermit and his enviroment need more work.  I haven't painted larger than 6 x 6 inches in quite a while, so I'm a little rusty.  Let's see what tomorrow brings.