Honey Blonde, Slouchy Beret, Cool Shades

6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite archival artboard

"A hat is a shameless flatterer, calling attention to an escaping curl, a tawny braid, a sprinkling of freckles over a pert nose, directing the eye to what is most unique about a face. Its curves emphasize a shining pair of eyes, a lofty forehead; its deep brim accentuates the pale tint of a cheek, creates an aura of prettiness, suggests a mystery that awakens curiosity in the onlooker." -Jeanine Larmoth

I'm really enjoying continuing this series of faces. I have a few more reference shots after Thanksgiving weekend! My daughters are 2 of my favorite models! (okay, my absolute favorites). I had intended to photograph this step by step, but once I got started, I get so deeply engrossed that I don't 'snap out of it' until the whole thing is done!

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Price: $150 USD
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Remains Of The Day- 2012 Calendar- A Year of Paintings by Roxanne Steed

I've been wanting to do this for the last several years! A wonderfully affordable gift- with lots of paintings, printed on premium glossy card stock! My 2012 Calendar, "Remains Of The Day- A Year Of Painting With Roxanne Steed" is available for purchase and will be ready to ship next week!

Here's the link to purchase.

Overheard, II

6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

It has been such a delight painting faces again after such a long time lapse since I have even thought about it. Over a dozen years ago I had started taking life drawing classes in earnest. And yes it was a bit of a struggle at first. But over time it got much better, even though the challenges are still great. And I've found whether I'm painting faces/figures or objects or landscapes, I love working from life. There are things you see & notice with your own eyes, that photographs just don't reveal. The human eye and a camera lens are not alike. Now, all that said, there are times when working from life is just not possible. And as one drawing instructor recommended, it is incredibly helpful to draw faces as often as you can, over and over, just to get it into your memory the 'average' human face. From that average, you will tweak the planes of the face, the slope of the eye, the length and width of the nose, the fullness of the lips, etc. So yes, some of that 'practice' can be done with photographs. Repetition, lots of it, getting those shapes into your 'muscle memory'....so then you can observe the specifics. Practicing both truly enhances each other. These last few oil sketches are from photos. I had painted one of these faces about a month ago and was unhappy with the results and swore it would never see the light of day again. But I kept thinking about those reference photos I had, and promised myself I would tackle it again, taking the time to really look, judge proportions AND- focus on the brush work.

One of the things I've been happy with over the last 4 years of working almost exclusively with a palette knife was getting comfortable with using a lot of paint. I LOVE knife or brush work where there is a lot of paint and it is not scrubbed out. Not blobs of it falling off the canvas mind you, but enough to honor the beauty of what oil paints can really do! It's just a matter of taste, that's all, there are beautiful works that are slick and smooth....but seeing the brushwork in a painting (that really looks ' painterly)' really makes my heart sing! So I concentrated on laying down the paint one deliberate stroke at a time, no going back to scribby-scrub in the paint and obliterate the surface.

So, with Thanksgiving upon us, I'm getting the house ready for my daughters to come up to visit. My favorite models are cooking for me on Thanksgiving day. I'm hoping to get in a small painting or two while they're here....or at least lots of reference shots to keep me painting faces through the coming winter!

For more information about this painting, contact me here.

Overheard, I

6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

For more information about this painting, contact me here.

Under The Brim - sold!

6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

I'm enjoying these faces, though getting behind on my blogging! I've been picking up paintings, dropping off new ones for shows coming up! And got the bulk of my Thanksgiving grocery run done today!

Meanwhile, here's the upcoming shows:

I have 2 paintings accepted into the Higbee Gallery 6"Show in Costa Mesa, CA. Show opens December 3rd and runs through December 24th.

I'm also in "Deck The Walls" a juried show at Lyme Art Association. I'm always excited to take part in this show!

And, I am included in the show, "New England Landscapes", works by the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society, a juried invitational taking place at the Nylen Gallery in Westport, CT. This show opens Friday, November 18th (reception 5:30-7:30pm) and runs through January 14th, 2012.

Tomorrow morning I'll be delivering new works to Total Design in Old Saybrook, CT. Whew! It's been a busy month!

For more information about this painting, please contact me at this link!

Classic Glamour

6"x6" oil on gessoed panel

Lately I've been spending time submitting paintings to shows. Two small paintings are on their way to Calilfornia for the Randy Higbee 6"x6" Show at the Higbee Gallery in Costa Mesa. Took another one to the Nylen Gallery in Westport, CT for an upcoming show with the CT Plein Air Painters. Today I took paintings to Old Lyme for their "Deck The Walls" show opening soon.

So I haven't taken the time over the last few days to get outdoors to paint. But I have been trying out some things I haven't tackled in a while, faces- up close! A friend of my daughters in California had put up a new Facebook picture of herself- it was wonderful- she has the most glamorous look- sort of Classic Hollywood, and I knew I wanted to paint this! She's sent a couple photos along for me to paint from. (Thanks Elena!) This is the second attempt at this one, which I like much better than the first version! I'm going to re-shoot this photo tomorrow during the daylight, to try to get some better lighting and and a photo without glare/ and odd angles.

Anyways ladies and gents, I'd love to have some more of these photos to work from! Send them my way, please!!

For more information about these small paintings contact me here.

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Price: $150 USD
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Foggy Dawn

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

Serene Solitude, November Marsh

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board (Raymar Feather Lite)


"The smaller the boat, the more you use it." - Judy Benson

Hope there's more days like this before the cold sets in. Truly delightful to be outside painting in this! The marsh grasses are drying to their golden hued splendor, the cool mud flat shimmering before it...just enough to know that it is wet and damp, yet the tide is still low. The trees have started loosing their leaves....some without evening turning color. It's been an interesting autumn to say the least.

I've been spending some time catching up with varnishing and cataloging a lot of the paintings that I did this summer and into the beginning of fall. I guess I've felt like I'd rather keep up with painting while the weather is cooperating rather than miss out. But sooner or later, the business end of things needs to be tended to.

Another 'house-keeping' task I've started is checking on supplies to see what I need to order more of. I've been a fan of Raymar panels for years & years, but have recently tried their 'Feather Lite panels'- which are great! They are a bit thinner yet they are still the same strong panel, with a wonderful surface (I really love working on their oil primed panels). The big advantage is that it keeps your gear really light weight. So if you need to hike out to a great painting spot, you don't feel like you're "moving house" just to do it! No point in wearing yourself out hauling gear before you even break out the paints!

Now the quote I offer today is from a friend that I went kayaking with a couple times this summer. I was thinking of that today as I dragged my easel gear with me. It's my 2nd lightest set-up, but it does have a nice big paint mixing space. I set out with small painting panels today, as I didn't know how chilly it might be down by the water today. I found a bit of a sheltered spot on a nature trail there at Hammonasset and it was delightful.

This painting is available directly from me at my DailyPainters.com gallery, or contact me here.

A Promising Morning

6"x6" oil on gessobord

"Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future, making it predictable and reliable to the extent that this is humanly possible." ~Hannah Arendt

Another small study for a grouping of 6x6 marsh scenes.

For more information about this painting, contact me here.