Barn Door

oil on gesso hard board 6 x 6


Tried a new subject, old barn with fun
shadows. I have painted the past week
only to end up scraping the canvas
clean of wet paint to try again or
just give up on a particular subject.

Tweety

Oil on gesso board 4 x 4


I thought I'd try a very small painting
and decided a small bird would be a good
subject matter. I think I'll stay more
with the canvas sizes larger than this
one.

Windows Rolled Down

Oil on gesso board 5" x 7"

Thought I had taken on too hard of a subject
with this one...a lot of detail. I stuck with
it and finished it in about 4 hours.
This subject reminded me of the song by
Amos Lee, "Windows Rolled Down" and driving
around in a vintage car in the summer months
with the car windows down.

It Gets My Goat

6" x 6" oil on gesso board

Loved the reference photo of this goat
standing in the sunshine with her floppy
white ears. Goats are so playful but can
be so mischieveous. I understand they can
really cause havac if you don't have the
right fencing to keep them contained.
Had fun painting this portrait.

Container Ship

8" x 10" oil on gesso board

We usually have one or two container ships
that come into the port each week for
repairs, fuel, or supplies. I liked the
reflections off the water of the red color
of the ship in the port this day which was
very calm.

Port Angeles

8" x 10" oil on gessoboard

Painted the city of Port Angeles from Ediz Hook
looking south. A friend suggested I paint Port
Angeles, this is what I think of when I think of
my town I live in. I will try to do others in the
coming months as we get more sunshine. On
this day there was two container ships in the
port. The composition on this one is not the
greatest, but I learned more on painting in oil,
just suggest details in the distance...little
dots of paint will suggest a house or group of
buildings. A very gray but calm day, with no
rain or marine layer.

Vintage Tricycle

6" x 6" oil on gessoboard


I came across this great little vintage tricycle
on Etsy Status Dog and loved the photo of it. I asked
permission to paint it for my "practice" in painting.
I learned the importance of a good background to enhance
the subject matter. Still trying not to add every little
detail in a painting. My brain is wired for detail
so it is harder for me to do the basics, so I need
to put a time limit on my painting time.

Little Wren

5" x 7" oil on canvas

My third successful painting...some have been mediocre
and so I scraped off the paint before it dried and
tried a different subject...cute little bird and fun
subject to paint. Enjoying painting with payne's gray
and how adding various blues affect the value. Learned
just how much faster burnt sienna and "browns" dry,
so much faster than the other colors. I did
this painting in about 3 hours so I didn't have
to finish it the next day and oil in on half
dry paint.

Red Tricycle

6" x 6" oil on gesso board

A painting I did of a vintage tricycle
I saw in a second hand store. I loved
the red and white color combination and
the memories it brought back of growing
up in this time period when they were
used by my generation.

Just Practice

This is my first attempt to paint every day. My
struggle to get in the mood to paint has taken a
different direction. I am no longer stressing about
painting that perfect painting anymore and am taking
the next 6-8 months to "just practice" the techniques
in the medium of oil. Trying to paint every day and
use smaller canvases or gessoed hardboards. Hope to
see improvement in the next few months.

"Day Break"

watercolor 18" x 20"
Prints available
e-mail: lilesart@yahoo.com

Photo reference of the pinto horse had mud
on the horses' fur, not a pretty photo to
paint. Decided to paint more of a texture
appearance to the horse hair and add touches
of blue in the white areas to add interest
and soften the hard edges between white
and dark areas.

Dry Dock

watercolor

Inspired to paint a marine scene since I am
around the water now that I'm in Port Angeles,
Wa. Will try to do more of these to expand my
subjects, not everyone loves portraits.

My Imperfections

watercolor 12" x 13"

I have been going through my older paintings
deciding on finishing, tossing, or framing it.
Decided to finish this one and set it aside
to contemplate if I should frame it or store
it away. This painting is about our perception
of the "beautiful people" that they are perfect
in every way. We constantly judge other people,
especially those more beautiful than us. Everyone
has imperfections, visual or not. Stop judging
and concentrate on what we have in common.

Dusk

pastel on wallis paper 5" x 7"


I haven't done a pastel painting in a long time and
decided to take out the pastels and play around with
different color combinations. Tried to stay away from
natural color of the subject, this one is from my
imagination about an hour from the start of my doodling
around with color combinations. I will do more soon as
this was a good exercise learning about color and just
going with your instincts.

The Red Head

9" x 12" on gesso hardboard

My third attempt at painting a portrait in oil.
I am learning about the different mediums that are
used with oils and the canvases vs hardboards. Had
some issues with this one, but I am learning from
my mistakes.

Water-based oils

8" x 10" oil (NFS)

I bought some water based oils since my art
supplies were packed away during our move and
did a practice painting of Tidor's Nagley painting
to see how the water based oils worked and study
Nagley's style. They clean up nice with just water,
but they do not have the nice buttery feel while
painting. For sketching or plein air painting,
they would work well. Drying time is about the
same as regular oils.

Sea Stack

11 x 14 oil
Been busy with family and moving to another state.
Finally settled and now I have time to paint again.
This is an oil painting of the sea stack at the
local beach here in Port Angeles, WA

This is a collage that my daughter,
Alyssa Liles, has been working on and
finished recently for her class at MCAD.
It is titled "Self Glorification". Visit
her blog and check it out!

Old Woman

I haven't painted a portrait for months, so this is the
second try on this one. This is from a photo taken by
Kaiwalya Rangari, a graphic and website designer
who lives in India that gave me permission
to paint his wonderful photo of an old woman he
took on one of his recent trips. I may paint a few
more paintings of this photo and try to leave out
more of the details of this photo.

Peachy Keen

BUY NOW

oil on hardboard 6" x 6"

Still practicing my oil painting. Pleased with
this one as I was inspired by the juicy colors
of this pitted peach slice. Nothing better than
a ripe juicy peach full of peachy flavor.

Forever In Bloom

oil on hardboard 6" x 6"

Haven't painted much this summer, but
did this small one while sitting outside
enjoying a wonderful day.

On the Beach

6" x 10"

This is a 40's photo that I transferred to
watercolor paper and then painted with fluid
acrylic paints. Love these old classic photos
of the past.

Help Japan Challenge- SOLD

oil on hardboard 9" by 12"

I am donating a painting to be auctioned off
to help raise funds for the Japanese Relief
Fund on the Dailypaintworks website.
If you are interested in this painting or any of
the others posted on their website, click on the
above link to bid. The sale of this painting will
be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Burnt Out

oil on hardboard 6" x 6"

I haven't done an oil painting for quite awhile
and did this one as a daily painters challenge
of zippo lighters. The only colors we could use
was ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, and white.
The hardest part was painting in those air vent
in the lighter, had to redo them three times
before I was ok with it.
Also working on two watercolors when I have time.

Daily Crossing

nfs watercolor

A painting I did way back in 1997 which was
to hang in a restaurant in town with a group
of local artists. I was actually in the
process of painting it as I received a call
to see if I had the painting ready to hang in
three days,...I work better under pressure,
just glad I didn't mess it up really bad. I
have since learned not to put a date on the
front of your paintings. My youngest daughter
called dibs on this one.

Reflecting

pastel 13" x 19"

My latest "fix it" after the painting stayed
packed away for several years. It was way too
dark on the left which made the painting seem
heavy on that side. I lightened that area and
evened out the colors more and it is much better
now. Will probably work on it a little more.
This is a painting of Rattlesnake Creek in the
early fall. Now on to other things.

Flower Box

pastel 11.5 x 15

Been thinking lately about doing more pastels
and went through my old pastel paintings to
try and rescue some of the bad ones. One was
beyond rescue and I ripped it up, another one
still needs work. Funny how you can put a painting
away for months or a year, pull it out and
know exactly what's wrong with the composition
or colors used and can then fix it if it's
not that bad. The painting above is one that
needed a little adjusting and one I did to
learn how to work in pastel.

Bathing In The Moonlight

watercolor 12" x 16"

Back to getting some painting time in
after weeks of getting other things done.
Did this last night for a challenge to get
back up to speed with painting skin and
decided to do a nude. Painted this on
Fabriano 140# soft press and was not happy
with the washes and edge control. This
paper works great for fluid acrylics though.
This painting is NFS, just a study.

Website

Finally finished my website that I put
together myself! My daughter offered to do
it for me, but I knew she was busy with school
and I needed to learn to do this myself to
develop more computer skills. I will be adding
paintings as they come along and improving the
website.

Susan Liles

http://susanliles.com/

I also would like to wish everyone a Happy
New Year and thank those who have visited
my blog and left encouraging comments. May
my fellow artists have more time to paint and
reach our goals we have set for ourselves to
develop our talents even more.

Sold

This is the painting that was sold and was
a Christmas present for a lady whose maiden
name was also Susan Liles. She has a nice brother
who bought the painting because the family is
in the electrical and power business.
Had a wonderful Christmas with family and
now spending time with my daughter who is
home for her winter break from school. Hoping
to have more time by the end of January to
paint more when I pass off some of my responsi-
bilities to others. Yeah!!!

Signature Status-MTWS

Received my certificate this week stating
that I have attained the distinction of
Signature Membership in the Montana
Watercolor Society!
Now I just need to get busy and paint
more paintings and enter other watercolor
society competitions. Also sold a painting
this week!

Top Watercolor Blogs

OnlineGraphicDesignDegree.com

I received the news that my blog was listed
as one of the "Top Watercolor Painting Blogs"
presented by Online Graphic Design Degree.
Thanks Online Graphic Design for listing my
blog and giving me the encouragement to coninue
painting and posting my work.
Here is the link to see the list of other
watercolor blogs:
Top Watercolor Painting Blogs

Seeking Light

I painted this years ago from a reference
picture that was so dark I could hardly make
out the people. After tweaking the image in
photoshop, I was able to improve the lighting
and make out the individuals. While painting
this scene, I lightened the interior even more.
I was happy with the interior lighting, but
struggled with the people. Love Photoshop, it
can really save some bad photos.

Lummi Indian

My start of this painting, happy
with this first wash.



















At this stage of the painting
I have developed the facial
structure and still thinking
about how to paint the clothing
which he is wrapped in a large
blanket up to the top of the neck
with a red starred cloth to one side.
Up to this point everything was going
ok, then I decided to use a new mixture
for the color of the dark hair and
everything went down hill from there.
I wasn't listening to that little
voice in me that said "don't do it".
Oh, but I knew better, and thought
I could make it work. Wrong! I now
deserve the prize for the biggest
mudpie painting around!

Reflection

watercolor- half sheet

Finally finished this painting of lilypads
that has been half finished for months. May
work on it some more after I put it
away for awhile. Been working on another
portrait that has pulled me away from this
one.

Sepia portrait

12" x 16" watercolor

I was asked by Kaiwalya Rangari of India
to paint his portrait in sepia for his
profile picture on facebook. My first
time painting all in sepia.

Study

A study done recently to get back into the
swing of it since I haven't done much
painting this summer. Took a photo of it
before it was done and as I was finishing
up with it I dropped my paint brush on it
and a blob of paint ruined it. So goes my
world.

Montana Watercolor Society

This painting was accepted into the
Montana Watercolor Society show for this
year which will be in October in the gallery
in Bigfork, Mt. I will now have signature
status with the MTWS, since this is my
third painting accepted.

Happy Birthday America!

Wishing you a happy and safe Fourth of July!

Pansies

Having fun painting pansies from the garden.
Yesterday we had hail that smashed most of
the blossoms on my flowers, or should I say
the blossoms that the deer haven't eaten yet.
Montana also had a tornado in Billings. Still
waiting for summer and sunny skies.

Experimenting

I was experimenting with fluid acrylics
and messed it up bad with the background
which is way too busy and the yellow
orange color was not what I intended.
As you can see some purple washes dried
before I could rinse it off. Will redo
this one and re-work the drawing. Always
learning from our mistakes. I did enjoy
getting the batik look in the washes when
you can rinse off the half dried paint.

The Eyes Have It

These are some of my sketches of eyes that I
did awhile ago. When painting portraits, the
eyes are usually the center of interest so it
is important to get them right. I need to
sketch everyday because I believe it will
improve your drawings and also your paintings
in how the paint is applied in your brushstrokes.

Nashville Tennessee Flood 2010

We were in Nashville back in Dec and stayed in a downtown
hotel for a few days. I walked the downtown area and it is
so amazing to see the under reported flooding that occurred
this spring and to see the damage to the places that we
visited like the Opryland Hotel, which was huge, the Grand
Old Opry, downtown at the famous Robert's Bar where we
listened to the local talent, and Opryland Mall. The people
of Nashville were friendly and loved people from Montana,
(we have real cowboys here!) Hope the people of Nashville
recover quickly! Yes Honey, all those guitars are ruined.

"Shades of Spring"

watercolor 7" x 9"

Those who won an award in the 2009
Montana Watercolor Society
were asked to paint a watercolor for the
2010 raffle book using the theme of "It's
Hard to be Green" or "Vision". I chose the
theme "vision" and painted this one of my
youngest daughter who was then in high school
at the time the photo was taken. The youth
see the world differently than us old folks
and she admitted the other day how immature
she and those that age were in high school.
The submitted paintings are made into two books
that will be raffled off to raise money for the
MTWS at the show banquet this fall.

Five Years

The picture above is a photoshoped picture of a
robins nest from the backyard, which I was planning
to paint. This symbolizes my life now that all the
kids are grown and gone, my husband and I are "empty
nesters" as they say.
Crstal Cook tagged me on her blog to answer the five
questions about ourselves. I'm a pretty private person,
but will be a good sport and reveal some things about myself.

What were you doing five years ago?

1-I sprained my ankle in the early spring and am still feeling
the aches and pains of cracked cartilage.
2-My youngest daughter is now a freshman in high school
so I had more time to devote to painting. (I home schooled
the two youngest so I only painted when I had time)
3-I started attending a weekly watercolor class.
4-Helping at church with my compassionate service calling.
I was helping organize ladies to do meals, cleaning, or
moving if a member in need needed it.
5-Traveling, & enjoying the family and friends

Where would you like to be five years from now?

1-Painting with more confidence and selling more artwork
2-Entering watercolor shows and receiving signature status.
(will get it with MTWS if accepted again this year)
3-Being recognized by an art magazine.
4-Enjoying being a grandma and kids with no problems!
5-Enjoying good health and traveling to fun places.

My to do list for the day was:

1-Went to help a lady who needed medical help early in
the morning.
2-Took a nice nap.
3-Sold our old computer desk to a nice kid who needed one.
(Thanks honey for hauling it for him to his place)
4-Potted and watered some flowers for Mother's Day presents.
5-Household chores and rearranging my art room now that I
have more room with the desk gone!

My favorite snacks:

1-All things sweet!
2-Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate
3-But, I am cutting back, it will be nice at the
lake before we know it and I want to get into
my swimsuit!

What would I do if I was a billionaire?

I know money doesn't make you happy and can cause more
problems in the long run if you have no self control.
But....I would pay off the mortgage and my kids' mortgages.
I wouldn't donate to charities (except for disasters)
because I think other people misspend the money too much.
I would donate to our church perpetual education loan
program (students in poor countries are loaned money
interest free for an education and pay it back over time
when they have a job. I would set up my own perpetual loan
program, (people get too lazy when they get something for
nothing); start a lot of new businesses to employ people,
open about 20 watercolor galleries throughout the country
and invite other watercolorists to show their "best" paintings.
I'd buy some awesome paintings for the house.
And last, but not least, I'd have a large house in a warm and
sunny location! (Add in a sweet ride too.) Oh! and the hubby
could buy as many guitars as his heart desires.

These artists are tagged for the challenge to
answer the same questions:

Jane Minter

Jeanette Jobson

Katherine Cartwright

Blog Cartoon

Saw this and had to post it. Tried to describe
blogging to my Mom who is now 81 yrs old and it
was hard for her to comprehend. Today's kids are
almost born with computer skills, amazes me how
fast they learn the computer. Yesterday I sent
my grandkids a link of a web cam of a bald eagle's
nest to watch the development of the eggs and
growth of the eagle chicks. One had already
hatched and the grandkids were squealing about the new
baby chick they could see and later of one of the
parents ripping apart a fish and feeding it to the
chick. So cool for the kids! Amazing technology
that we have today, if only it was used for good
all the time.

Our Addictions -- Hillarious Sony Vaio Commercial

Many of my fellow art bloggers have gone over to
facebook to network and meet new artists, which
may have evolved into an addiction with how many
friends some "facers" can acquire. Must admit it was an
addiction at first, but have learned ya can't
get much done if ya have to see what's new with everyone
all the time. I know the artists on facebook are talkative
and fun with an occassional polictical issue thrown
in to fan some flames. Promised myself to never twitter!
The electricity went off today (yes I paid the bill)
and couldn't paint without the lights, too cold out-
side, so worked on matting and framing some paintings,
which is the reason I paint--NOT!!!
Is facebook an addiction for you?
What's your addiction? (Keep it clean)

Last Thaw

Sold

watercolor 12 x 14.5

It snowed last week and decided to paint
a winter scene. Hope we don't see snow for a
long time. Spring is now here and trees just
starting to shoot out leaves. Spring is my
favorite season and I have all summer to
look forward to.

Warped View

watercolor 14 1/2 x 18"

Usually don't like painting buildings, but this
reflection in a paned glass building downtown was
intriguing. It had a lot of symbolism to it for me,
the warped view of a building that looked like a
bank, the warped telephone pole and wires. Do we have
a warped view of the world or are we given a warped
view of the world?
Could have gotten a better photo from the upstairs
window of the Macy's store, but it had closed down
due to the economy. The next day they tore down the
glass paned building since it was old and not being used.
Had to combine a few of the photos for this painting.

Happy Easter!

To all bloggers and friends, wishing
you a Happy Easter!

Useful Tools

Some useful tools that I use once in a while. The kistka
wax writing tool on the left is what I use to mask out fine
lines, hair or whiskers on a face. This tool can be found at
Michaels craft stores at Easter time. The masking fluid
has to be diluted with water to thin it. Watercolor paint
can also be used in this for a fine line. The kistka comes
in fine, medium or heavy openings.

The middle microbrushes are great for lifting a splatter
drop in the wrong spot or applying masking in tight areas.
A few portraits were saved by lifting with this brush.

The last is a gum brush that can be found in the dental
aisle of a drugstore which is great for lifting or softening
a color that has dried without ripping the paper. The bristles
are soft and can get in tight areas.
















This painting is of a Roland Roycraft study I did 15 yrs
ago trying out his technique. The small blades of grass
in the lower right corner were masked out using a kistka
writing tool. It's too hard to achieve this small of a
line with a brush. The other masking was done with a
brush which was too large for some of the reflections
in the water.

The Subjects We Paint

This is a drawing by pastel landscape painter
Richard McKinley who discusses the need to
paint or draw all three of the subjects for practice:
still life, landscape and portraits to keep our artistic
skills at their best. Here is part of his
article:
"In becoming a well-trained painter, each of these
subject areas—still life, portrait, and landscape—
provides a lesson and should not be overlooked due
to a lack of motivation. You may not be attracted to
the still life, uninterested in the portrait, or feel
dispassionate about the landscape, but by practicing
them you will polish technical skills that make you
a more confident painter. A painting is a configuration
of accurate shapes, a representation of lights
influences, and a sensitive arrangement of colors.
These exist in every representational painting, and
for that matter every abstract painting. Individual
subject matter is all composed of them. In that regard,
everything we paint is all the same. Each subject does
provide a heightened lesson, though. The still life
teaches the importance of value. Within the confines
of a relatively small distance, the influence of light
and the manipulation of edge create form. The portrait
teaches accurate drawing. The human likeness allows for
no error. The landscape teaches color harmony. Natural
light and its influence across nature’s palette help us
to understand the relationship all colors have to one
another. A wise instructor passed this thought on to
me many years ago: “To learn value relationships, it’s
the still life; to draw, it’s the portrait; and to become
sensitive to color, it’s the landscape. Each has something
to offer. Practice them often and then paint your passions!”

[pictured above] A portrait drawing demonstration of mine;
just to prove that I still do my homework.

Sunshine Award

This award is given to bloggers for sharing their
creativity and positive attitude. It was given to
me by Srishti Art and Jane Minter.Vist both blogs
to see their work.

My list of bloggers I want to spotlight are ones who are old
favorites, new ones just discovered or those just getting started:

Robert Burridge mixed media, a great teacher.

Liz Hill mixed media in figures

Thomas W Schaller award winning watercolorist.

Lisa Walsh self taught artist who is in a mid-life crisis
with a sassy attitude!

Crystal Cook a stay at home mom
who specializes in children's portraits who just started a blog.
Check out her blog!

David Boyd self taught artist who has a nice style.

Matthew Innis what's new in the art scene in general
with some of Matthew's art.

Cheryl Devoto a talented new blogger.

Julie Hill Discovered she has a talent for art, self taught.

Donna Watson workshop instructor specializing in collage
and mixed media

Jose Luis Corella Is it a photograph or painting?

Alicia Sotherland pastel artist specializing in portraits