GET LOST IN YOUR PASSION

Do you have some activity that you enjoy where the time just evaporates when you're involved in it?  Like when you're reading a really good book . . . and you get so involved . . . and you look up at the clock . . . and it's time to make dinner?  

Well, I have several things that make time go by in a snap - one of those is my new-found love of exploring with oil paints.   Time just dissolves once I get started.  

So I'm just going to share a few pictures of what I'm working on and that's it for today.

It all started with this beautiful book that I picked up recently, called The Comforts of Home.  The cover of the book really caught my eye because I love pink.  And, a pink sofa!  

Beautiful.  

(The inside of the book is beautiful too, with lots of great ideas.  FYI.)

But back to the sofa.  What I would REALLY like is to have that sofa in my pink living room.  But that's not going to happen so I thought I'd try painting it so it could at least hang on the wall in that room.  I have a long way to go but here is my work so far . . .

I'm practicing my color mixing, and looking for the light, dark, and shadows.  I'm working from the bottom up.  As you can see, if you compare the shadow under the couch on the book cover to my painting, I need to go a lot darker to get that contrast.  

If you paint, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.  It's so fun and addicting.

I'll tell you just how addicting it is.  It's SO addicting that I actually FORGOT my lesson with Norma yesterday.  I have NEVER done that and I feel really bad about it!  Not only for Norma, but for my sweet instructor who wondered where I was.

I'd better use one of these from now on . . .

I'd love to hear from any of you with helpful hints from your oil painting experiences . . .