Field of Gold - Wildlife Elk painting by Deb Kirkeeide

Field of Gold

15 x 21 Oil

©2015 Deb Kirkeeide

Expanding my horizons and painting more than mostly birds. I have so many interests, it's hard to decide where to put my focus!

I love Elk. And I would love to paint more. They are so majestic and beautiful. I wish they thrived here in Minnesota. (Or that I could spend some time out west observing them!)

This was an exercise in experimentation with textures and tools and even as I look at this I have another thought to add to it. So, I'm not sure if it is truly finished. I will sit with this for now but don't be surprised if it shows up slightly different.

Please visit my blog or website for more!

"Who Whooo?" little owl painting by Deb Kirkeeide

Who Whooo?

6x6x.5 oil on cradled board

$150 Purchase here.

Who Whooo? 

Who cooks for you??

 While this is not this owl's call, that phrase keeps coming to mind. 

This fun little guy is an oil sketch of a burrowing owl in sitting position. He looks a bit serious or annoyed. I am playing with color combinations and there will be a larger version of this guy with a different background coming up.

More birds on my website and blog

A Portrait of Izzy - Original Cat oil painting

Izzy

6x6 Oil

nfs

When my friend had to say goodbye to her beloved Izzy I knew that I wanted to paint him as a keepsake of their loving companionship. Even I miss having him grace me with his attention when I was over for a visit. He was pretty much devoted to my friend but he did seem to like me too. 

My friend loved the painting. As an artist, the most gratifying part of my job is when another finds joy and meaning in what I have created. That is truly my purpose and is the most valuable reward.

To Izzy, you are missed but remembered fondly!

If you are interested in a painted keepsake of your pet I am available for comissions.

For more information and examples of my work please visit my website.

Tide Pool - Egret Painting Deb Kirkeeide

Tide Pool

15 x 20 Oil

©2015 Deb Kirkeeide

While out in California a while back I watched this egret wading in one of the tide pools looking for dinner along the shore. I think it's fascinating to be able to observe nature in ways we don't normally pay attention to. It was that time of day where the light was just right making the experience even more perfect!

This past weekend was the Lake Minnetonka Studio Tour. Several area artists opened up their studios to the public for show and tell. It was a good weekend, meeting new people and visiting with past collectors. And my studio is the cleanest it has been in a long time! I want to thank all who came out over the weekend.

Please visit my website or blog for more

Here are a few pictures from the studio.

Eva's Best Buddy - A Painting of a Pug

Eva's Best Buddy

10 x 9 Oil 

©2015 Deb Kirkeeide

NFS

This is Maverick, my granddaughter's best buddy. Or, her Puppy Brother. For a grumpy old man he is very tolerant of her active toddler ways, but I'm sure he would prefer it if she liked to cuddle up on the couch and sleep instead of going non stop through out the day. She loves him very much.

I decided to start building Eva's art collection each birthday. So this is the second in the birthday series! I also wanted to paint him in a style that fits a 2 yr old's room. I think he turned out to be pretty fun. Her reaction? "Dog!"

Visit my website and blog for more!

A Bright Sunny Day - Sunflower painting

A Bright Sunny Day

8x8x1.5 Oil on Cradled Wood

©2015 Deb Kirkeeide

It's been a busy couple of months with many projects demanding my attention. I feel a bit like I'm a juggler in the circus!

The latest is getting ready for the Lake Minnetonka Studio Tour coming up next weekend. In the midst of getting the studio ready (cleaning, moving furniture, hanging paintings and planting flowers....) I've managed to get a few paintings done. This being one of them.

If you are in the area next weekend stop in and say hello! For more info click the tour link above.

Purchase Here - 235.00

Just Singin' a Happy Tune

12 x 12 x 1 on cradled board

©2015 Deb Kirkeeide

For more birds and animals please visit here or my blog

Is it spring yet? Almost. But for many the question may be "is it done snowing yet?"

It will be nice to hear the nature's many songs again.

I am getting ready for a show coming up March 14 - March 22 at Squire House Gardens in Afton, MN where this painting will be available along with many others. This show is always one I look forward to. If you are in the area, please join us for the reception March 14 -  5 pm -9 pm. 

Chip - Original Wildlife Painting of Chipmunk - Deb Kirkeeide

"Chip"

8x6 Oil

©2015 Deb Kirkeeide

$165 Purchase Here

Just Chip. No Dale.  

This little wildlife painting is an homage to the little chipmunk that occasionally scurries across my deck, running for cover in a nearby downspout if I happen to surprise him with my presence! I'm sure there must be more than just him, but I only see a him on solo expeditions.

He always brings to mind childhood vacations at a woodsy Northwoods cabin. Where the chipmunks were tame enough to eat out of my hand. For a kid, there's a bit of magic involved in feeding the local "wildlife" out of your hand!

More wildlife here and here !

Walkin' In Sunshine - Hen Paintng by Deb Kirkeeide

Walkin' In Sunshine

12 x 12 Oil 

©2015 Deb Kirkeeide

I'm finding chickens kind pretty interesting lately. There are so many kinds. And then there are those fancy exotic chickens that take on so many personalities just by their looks alone.

I'm presently getting ready for a show coming up in March at Squirehouse Gardens in Afton, Mn.
More details to come as we get closer to the date. And more paintings to show!

More chickens and other animals here.

Out For A Stroll - Original chicken oil painting by Deb Kirkeeide

Out For A Stroll

12 x 12 Oil  

$575  Purchase Here

©2015 Deb Kirkeeide

Just two good friends out for a country stroll.
For more paintings please visit my blog or website.

Original Swan Wildlife painting "In Silent Blue Waters" by Minnesota Artist Deb Kirkeeide

In Silent Blues Waters

16 x 16 Oil on Panel

$875 Buy Here

©2015 Deb Kirkeeide

Please visit my website and blog for more paintings!

Halo - Angel Painting by Deb Kirkeeide

Halo

8x9.5 Oil

©2014 Deb Kirkeeide
$250 unframed. Purchase Here

I've been cleaning house in the studio. Recycling some paintings and trying some new things on some of the more salvageable pieces. I cropped in on this one and add more texture to her wings. I like her much better now and for now she is residing in a gorgeous frame that I've had for some time now.

If you are interested in her framed version, contact me ( kirkeeide@mac.com)  for image and price.

For more figurative paintings or other genres, please visit my website and blog. 

Fuchsia Peonies by Jonathan Aller

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"Fuchsia Peonies"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I am well aware Peonies are out of season, These peonies I bought for my wife a while ago and loved how they looked. I took a picture and always said "I will paint that one day" well that day finally came.  The texture and movement within these flowers are spectacular, I tried so hard to portray that in my painting. Fuchsia Peonies are always fun to paint due to the purples, blues and reds that are hidden within each pedal. The movement from one pedal to the other has a beautiful gestural quality to it. It is a challenging flower to paint but always rewarding in the end.

Thanks for stopping by, cheers!

Leaning Gourd by Jonathan Aller

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"Leaning Gourd"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Since the holidays is around the corner I wanted to paint a festive theme. Some people might argue pumpkin is not very festive for this time of year, which is a valid point but I think the colors are fitting.  I want to thank everyone who stops by my blog and takes the time to look at my work. Thank you for doing so. I enjoy sharing my process and thoughts on painting. I know the journey of learning this difficult medium can be long and stressful, if I can share my knowledge to help some people with their journey then I feel I have accomplished something. I am so grateful for the artist I reached out to when I started out on my journey for helping me. I wanted to create a blog where I can do the same and share my knowledge as best as I can. We are all on the same boat trying to decipher this complex language of painting.  Thank you everyone and Happy Holidays!

I started with a thin application of raw umber for the drawing stage. Once the drawing is complete I paint the background and wooden board. I keep colors general in this stage and really thin. 

I start painting in darker value forms to the wooden board. Once that is complete I paint in lighter value forms.

Once the wooden board is complete I start painting in the pumpkin. I first lay in a thin application of the general values, somewhat a big form modeling stage. I go back and forth with the brush without lifting it, I keep the pressure pretty light to control the values. Once that stage is working well I move onto the smaller middle to darker value forms. I apply the paints a little thicker to cover the thinner application but being careful of not getting to thick. I am also conscious on the pressure I am applying to the brush. At this stage I start dabbing the brush for the areas that need finer rendering and when the edges need to get softer I go back and forth with the brush with a very light touch. I like to go back and forth with dabbing and keeping the brush on the canvas. Usually in the later stages I tend to lightly render the areas by dabbing on the brush and then going back and forth with out lifting the brush. This approach allows me to control the values and the level of rendering, it also gives me options with the type of textures I am trying to get. 

I then paint in the middle to lighter forms in the pumpkin. I apply the same rendering approach as mentioned above. Once the pumpkin is complete I start painting the gourd. I first paint the big form modeling by painting in the general values wrapping around the form. At this stage I am not worried about the smaller forms or "details". I am just worried how the value and chroma wraps around the form. 

Once the big form modeling is working well I then paint the smaller middle to darker values forms. I then do the same with the smaller middle to lighter value forms. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! Cheers!

Green Heirloom Tomato by Jonathan Aller

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"Green Heirloom Tomato"

5 x 7 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I have not painted these little gems in a while. The color of this heirloom caught my eye right away. They have such intense pure colors. What I enjoy most is the subtle values between the colors from one area to the other, painting that is challenging and rewarding once it's achieved. Painting light wrapping around this form is challenging but very educational to try. After painting this tomato my wife added it to our dinner which was as delicious as it looked. 

I started with the drawing stage by just using a bit of raw umber on the brush. Thinking of it as one would draw with a pencil. The pressure you apply to the brush it effects the value and intensity your marking will be. Once the drawing stage is complete I add local colors to the whole painting. This allows me to see how the painting will look in the completed stage with the colors I am thinking of. The next stage I then start to fill in the middle to darker values to all the objects in the painting, from the wooden board to the heirloom tomato. Then I add the lighter value forms to tie everything together. With this technique, especially being in alla prima, one has to has to be careful with the amount of paint being applied from the initial stages. Remember fat over lean, you want to start thin and get progressively thicker towards the finishing. I am also conscious of how many pressure I apply to the brush, as stated before I think of it as drawing with a pen or pencil. The lighter the pressure the lighter the value will be, the harder the value the darker the value will be. This also allows you to control smoother transitions. 

Thank you for stopping by and viewing. Cheers!

Forelle Pear Oil Painting by Jonathan Aller

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"Forelle Pear"

5 x 7 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I haven't painted pears in a while and thought it was time to re visit these beauties. I also wanted to go back on how I painted pears when I first started to do alla prima paintings a couple years ago. It's minimal amount of paint on the brush kind of like drawing with a pencil, you do not want to put a dark hard line with the initial mark. This painting is an exploration of my technique old and new.

I started with a thin application of raw umber for the drawing stage.  I am not worried about details just the placement of major shapes and the lineation of shadow shapes. Then I painted the background in. I usually like to paint this area first, this allows me to now worry about it when I am painting the main object in the painting.

Once the background was filled in I then painted in the wood, I applied a thin amount of paint to cover the base. I think of it as how one would when drawing with a pencil. I do not paint in the darkest darks or lights lights, just an in between value to give form to the object. Then I paint in the darkest values. I still have not applied any lighter values just concentrating on the middle to darker values.

Once the darks are painted I then start to paint in the middle to lighter values. Once the base is at a level I am satisfied with I move onto the pear. The initial stage of painting the pear I apply a thin layer of paint in the shadows, I do the same with the lights. In this stage I am only concentrating on big form modeling, how light wraps around the form. I mesh the lights into the darks to make the form turn, softening edges to show more of the turn. I am not worried about details at this stage just worried on applying a thin layer of paint and making the form turn with generalized colors.

Once big form modeling is working I then start to work on middle to darker values. As I mentioned before I am applying the paints very thin, this allows me to control values the same way one would control a mark with a pencil. I like to build into my darks as well into the lights.  This approach is time consuming but gives you control on how much subtle values shifts you're needing.

Hope you enjoyed this painting, thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Sheep

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"Sheep"

9 x 12 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I came across this awesome skull with horns. As soon as I saw it I knew I needed to paint it. I really like the design within the skull and how the horns wrap out from the skull. Keeping the background white gives it a stronger design. Keeping the values compressed was a challenge especially for a painting done in one session.

I started with a dry brush approach with the drawing stage. I make sure the drawing is complete with the proportion working right, I am not drawing every single detail in just the general shapes. Then I painted in the skull by applying its local colors in a thin manner and also applying big form modeling. At this stage all I am worried about is how the light wraps around the form, no details are put in, I like to keep everything soft with each edge. I also do not put my darkest darks or my lightest lights in this stage, I keep it in the middle value stage for the most part.

Once big form modeling is complete I start painting middle to darker value forms. Still keeping the edges soft where they need to be. I do the same with middle to lighter value forms. These two value forms were not as difficult to paint in because the big form modeling stage was worked out from the beginning. If the big form modeling stage is worked out from the beginning then the smaller forms become easier to paint in (theoretically).

Once the skull was complete I then painted the horns in. For the base I applied a thin coat of raw umber. Then I painted in middle to darker values.

After the middle to darker value forms were painted I then applied middle to lighter value forms. Applying this brought the painting to a finish. I really enjoyed painting something different and at a different angle as well. As mentioned before keeping the values compressed was a challenge, but I learned a lot how to try to get a handle on it. 

Thank you for stopping by, cheers!

Pumpkin & Gourd

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"Pumpkin & Gourd"

4 x 6 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

I wanted to stay on the theme of gourds and include a pumpkin. I couldn't just leave the gourd by itself, included the pumpkin as a central focus with a dominating presence. The story can go many ways when reading into the painting, its definitely behold of the viewer.

I started with a dry brush approach by just using raw umber and no mediums. In this stage I want to get the drawing as close as I can get it. When I start painting I want to make sure the drawing is as close to it as possible.

Once the drawing is complete I painted in the background and wooden base with its local colors. Once I painted the local colors in I painted the lighter values in the wooden base to give it more form. I want to take the wooden board to a close finish this will allow me to concentrate on the pumpkin and gourd and now worry about coming back and finishing it.

Once the wooden board is complete, I started to lay in local colors on the pumpkin and gourd. I apply a thin coat of paint trying not to go thick, remember fat over lean. In this stage I also paint big form modeling with the local colors. This allows me to concentrate how light wraps around the form. I am not worried about the smaller forms or "details" just how light wraps around the form. I am also keeping the values in a middle tone, not going to light or to dark. I'll apply the dark's and lights in the smaller form stages. I like to spend a lot of time in this stage getting it right, if it works well in this stage then the subsequent stages will go by smoother.

Once the local colors are working with the big form modeling, I then start to paint the darker smaller forms. I start to apply the darkest tones as well in this stage which will make certain sections look brighter.

Once the darker smaller forms are complete I then paint the lighter smaller forms . I repeat the same process as I did with the darker forms by putting in the lightest values. 

Hope you enjoyed this one, thanks for stopping by!

"Gourds" Alla Prima Painting by Jonathan Aller

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"Gourds"

6 x 6 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

My wonderful wife loves decorating around the house according to the seasons. She put these gourds on the dinning table a while ago and of course it caught my interest. This painting was done quicker than normal, it took me 2 and a half hours to complete. 

The first image, top left, is drawn with a dry brush approach just using raw umber. The second image, top right, I filled in the whole painting with local colors of each area. I filled in the gourds with its local colors and started with big form modeling. This is my area of focus which is the reason I went a little further in the initial stage.  The third image, bottom left, I worked with smaller forms after big form modeling was complete. The fourth image, bottom right, I approached painting the wooden board the same way I did with the gourds, first painting in the darks then the lights. 

Thank you for viewing, hope you enjoyed. Cheers!

"Kat" Figure Study

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"Kat"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I have not painted from the figure in a while, so when the opportunity came up, I jumped on it. I have been doing most paintings from imagination lately.  It was nice to have a break from that, and paint from the figure. This painting was completed in 3 hours in a smaller size than my usual figure paintings. I enjoyed painting this figure in a smaller size since it allows you see the values as a whole. First, I drew the figure with a dry brush articulating each shape as simple as I can. Then I applied a middle base color for the shadows and the lights.  I attempted to paint in the middle tones and not get too light or too dark.  This allowed me to go in either direction when adding smaller and subtle forms without getting too muddy. Instead of starting with the darks after laying the middle values, I painted smaller forms into the lights. This allowed me to shape the form and address textures along the figure. I did the same with the shadows once the lights were complete. What I enjoyed most about this piece was playing with different skin textures on such a small scale. 

Thank you for stopping by, cheers!