Mountain #2
14x11 acrylic on canvas panel
Buy it at:https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/gregory-cross-8940/artwork

The fourth painting I did was of a lone mountain and I liked it. It is hanging on my wall with a select few of my paintings. And it is on the right panel of this blog page. I have painted mountains many times since, usually in the background. But I decided I wanted to paint a lone mountain once again. This painting is on order of magnitude better. I didn't know much about color theory or painting techniques when I started out and wouldn't have known a complimentary color from a football. Lots of study and nearly a hundred paintings later, I have a much better painting. This painting is painted with only 4 analogous colors: aquamarine blue, thalo blue, cerulean blue, and thalo green. Plus white and black to change the value, of course. Also used some cadmium orange to gray out the aquamarine blue in a few places, but not many. This painting is fabulous, but I still like the other one and it will stay on my wall.

Palm and Pine
8x10 acrylic on canvas panel
Buy it at:https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/gregory-cross-8940/artwork

Some more trees and another simple scene. Felt like trying to get another picture done before the end of the year and this one came together right away. Worked on it all day. And now you get to admire it. I hope so, anyway.

Tree on a Bluff
8x10 acrylic on canvas panel
Buy it at: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/gregory-cross-8940

At last, Christmas is over and things are slowly returning to normal. I managed to get some painting done and created this scene of a tree sitting on a bluff in a field. The tree isn't a normal symmetrical one like you often see. Trees don't always grow out nice and pretty, so I decided to make this one a bit asymmetrical to add interest to an otherwise simple scene. And rocks. I am pretty good with rocks.

Orange Apple on Blue
8x10 acrylic on canvas panel
Buy it at: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/gregory-cross-8940

This was fun. I got a kick out of doing the monochrome "Blue Pear" so I thought I would try another using a complementary color scheme and an apple instead of a pear. So, only cadmium orange and pthalo blue (green shade). And white and black, of course. Excellent result.

The Path
11x14 acrylic on canvas panel
Buy it at: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/gregory-cross-8940

This was a frustrating painting. Through most of the early and middle stages I just didn't like it. It wasn't until the final stage and the finishing touches that I thought "OK, so its not so bad." And it did turn out ok. Not my absolute best, but far from my worst. The reflections of the trees in the stream came out good. And I added a couple strolling the path holding hands.

A Study of Pears
9x12 acrylic on canvas pad

Here are four separate color scheme studies put together to form a painting . Each pear is a separate color scheme. We have monochrome top left, analogous top right, split complimentary bottom left, and complementary bottom right. The point being that you can mess around with the colors all you want as long as the values are right. I did "Blue Pear" (see the previous post) based on these studies. These are fun. I might do another with apples or something.

Blue Pear
10x8 acrylic on canvas panel
Buy it at: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/gregory-cross-8940/artwork

I decided to go for something different after the waterfalls and other landscapes. Here is a still life of a pear, but I did it as a monochrome color scheme. Aquamarine blue is the only color I used to paint this. An interesting painting.

Shrimp Boat
11x14 acrylic on canvas panel

Each painting I do seems to be better than the last one. Here I have painted a boat and it turned out pretty decent. The last time I painted a boat the results were far worse. The pier and the foreground posts turned out well, also, but the most striking feature of this painting are the swells coming in along the pier. You can almost see the boat rocking up and down as they pass beneath it. I definitely like this one.

My paintings on display
at Elvira Cisneros Senior Center

This has been a very busy and event filled week which has left little time for my daily painting. I started a painting on Monday but it is still in the early stages and I hope to get more done on it as soon as possible. So, for the interim I wanted to show how several of my paintings have been put on display at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Center. All of us who have been painting the 60 foot mural over the past year were given the opportunity to submit paintings for permanent display at the center. Of the eight I submitted, six were hung on the walls. And you will notice:

In the center of the picture of four. Out of all the paintings that were chosen, four were selected as best of show and are going to be on display at the Bihl Haus Art Gallery. My painting "Lilies, Lemon, and Orange" (see October 31 post for the picture) was selected as one of the four to be displayed at the art gallery. There will be a celebration in honor of the four artists in January. My fist display in an actual art gallery. Maybe someone will buy it.  

Autumn Sunrise
11x14 acrylic on canvas panel

Ok, with all the Christmas paintings done it is time to just paint. Here is a stream running through grass covered bluffs and stands of colorful trees. The stream reflects the light of the morning sun ready for a new day.

Waterfall #6
11x14 acrylic on canvas panel

And here is the third waterfall for Christmas gifts. This is a few small falls into a garden feature or something like that. Got broad leaf shrubs and evergreens. I think the person whom I painted this for will like it.

Waterfall #5
11x14 acrylic on canvas panel

Here is the second waterfall painting for my Christmas gift list. I have already begun the third and last one. Here we have some water falling from under some dense foliage at the top of the bluff. The water has uncovered some rocks over time and, since the fir tree is leaning to the left, the water is possibly undermining it. Both banks of the stream are covered with a profusion of grasses providing are rather idyllic scene. Nice spot for a summer picnic over by the rocks under the tree.