Lewis River

oil on gessobord 8x10

A painting I did of the Lewis River outside
of Woodland, WA. A quick study I did from my
reference photo and hopefully I will do another
painting of the scene at a slower pace. I used
a palette knife and brush on this one.

30 Paintings in 30 Days

oil on gessobord 8x8

I signed up for the new 30 paintings in 30 days,
but have been very busy with unexpected things
that have taken time away from painting. I also
haven't post on my blog for sooo long, it seems
everyone has shifted over to Instagram and blogs
now seems so out dated. I looked through my read-
ing lists and very few artists are even posting on
there blogs. Is anyone out there???
Link to 30 Paintings Leslie Saeta

Orange Peels

oil on gesso board 5 x 7

Before enjoying this orange, I decided
to snap a few photos of it while peeling
it. Always enjoy a delicious juicy orange,
and this one was good. Painted it in two
sittings, first, letting the orange of the
fruit color dry for a week. On finishing it
I "oiled in" and painted in the white and
shadows of the orange and adjusted the
background.

Aspens

Aspens

4 x 4 pastel

I had a fun 4 x 4 inch frame that needed a painting
that I had sitting around for awhile, so this is what
I did in a short amount of time. I love aspen trees
with that fun bark and fall leaves. One little
painting I get to look at every day. Isn't that
what making art is all about?

Day 29 --30 In 30 Challenge

Hoola Hoop

6 x 6 oil on gessobord

Found an old photo of the 1960's in a second
hand store and finally decided to paint it.
Doing faces that are small is so hard to do,
do you leave them without eyes ect. or try
to place in suggestions of eyes, nose and
mouth. I will try this one again later for
a different approach.

Day 27 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

8 x 8 oil on gessobord

Another painting I did with a palette knife
after being frustrated with one I knew wasn't
going to turn out as a decent painting. No
reference photo was used.
Leslie Saeta challenge.

Day 26- 30 In 30 Days Challenge

8 x 10 oil on gessobord

Decided to add more color to this painting
and step it up a bit. Still posting on the
Leslie Saeta 30 paintings in 30 days.

Day 18 -30 Day Challenge

8 x 10 oil on gessobord

Dusk on the Canal

The reference photo of these boats was so dark it
was very hard to make out the shapes and colors of
the scene. I use a free photo editing site that is
called BeFunky. It is great for adding text,
fixing colors and exposure, but mostly for fixing
a photo that is a little tilted. My challenge to
myself was to paint loose and delete details. My
brain is wired to love detail. Hard to paint
loose for me. Spent a few days on this one.

Day 14- 30 In 30 Days Challenge

8 x 8 oil on gessobord

A challenge to myself to paint wave crashing on the rocks
and try to show movement in the waves.

Day 12- 30 In 30 Days Challenge

8 x 10 oil on gessobord

This challenge to myself was more about brush work
than detail, complicated composition or a verity
of colors.

Day 11 30 In 30 Days Challenge

6 x 6 oil on gessobord

Land Bridge

This painting was done mostly with palette knives.
I was so frustrated with my first attempt on a
completely different subject, scraped it off and
decided to still use the scrapped paint on a
subject I pulled out of my head from my many
travels. Mistakes can be a stepping stone.
Challenge blog: Leslie Saeta

Day 10-- 30 In 30 Day Challenge

8 x 8 oil on gessobord

"Orange Sauce"

This one was from a photo I took as we were
finishing our lunch in a Vietnamese restaurant
and the sun was streaming in through the window
and across the table. I love to paint the effects
of sunshine on objects. My challenge was to capture
the warmth and reflections.
Challenge blog: Leslie Saeta

Day 9 - 30 In 30 Day Challenge

8 x 8 oil on gessobord

Pretty In Pink

Challenge blog: Leslie Saeta

This is a painting from a free stock reference photo,
though changed by me for a better composition and values,
which was the challenge to myself to not just copy everything.

Day 8- 30 in 30 days challenge

8 x 10 oil on gessobord

Challenge blog: Leslie Saeta

My challenge to myself was painting snow with foliage.
Not always an easy task in keeping the snow white and
make it look real.

Day 7- 30 in 30 day challenge

7 x 7 oil on gessobord

Challenge participants Leslie Saeta blog

I visited Victoria, B.C., Canada this summer taking many
photos of the area. A few inspired me enough to want to
paint. A street scene looks simple to paint at first, but
there is so much detail with buildings, people, ect,
you have to edit out everything that is not important. I
need to do this even more in future ones.

Day 5- 30 In 30 Days Challenge

8 x 10 oil on gessobord

30 in 30 challenge Leslie Saeta blog.

I received a new color, bright blue, in the mail
the other day so was excited to use it in a painting.
It is full of tint, holding its brightness with white.
I use WN, Williamsburg, Utrecht, Grumbacher professional
grade and Gamblin. This new color is Utrecht.