Hello surfer prints!! and HOLIDAY DISCOUNT on ETSY SHOP ;)

Another beautiful sunny and very warm day here in Ocean Beach, loving every second of it!!
Before lunch I walked with Mona to pick up my surfers prints :) and here they are:

The images are all 6x6 inches printed one by one on a nice thick sheet of paper 8x10 inches.

I tried with red and black ink, also i mixed the print with a bit of collage and finally I tried on a piece of music sheet :)

 In my Etsy shop you will find the black and white print :

If you are interested in any other print just drop me an email and
 DON'T FORGET THE COUPON :)
Just enter the code  HOLIDAYGIFT at the checkout to get a 10% discount
(valid through the 16th of DECEMBER )
  Drop me an email if you want to know more! Thank you!

Walk after the rain ----work in progress----

I took a day for myself today, the main activities of the day have been running, painting and running.
I LOVE days like this :) I wish I had  more of those :)
Of course there was a bit of cleaning and food shopping but they did not sopil the good mood :)

 18x24 inches

work in progress

This is how the painting is coming along, I am pretty happy with the progress, still a lot of work is needed but I feel I am going in the right direction, I really like the greens I got.
Tomorrow will be a all dedicated to school homework, there is a tough assignment ahead ... hopefully I ll be painting again on Friday ;) ( finger crossed!!)
Have a nice evening everyone!
Hubby and me are off to a sushi night ;)

Homework :) Landscapes with gouache

I spent the whole weekend painting small hilly landscape, the same kind of landscape using different colors scheme.

Starting from a value rough just in black to more colorful rough some with more saturated colors other more muted... 

It was a good exercise!:)

All the paintings are 5x7 inches, gouache on paper.

A walk after the rain, work in progress

Another amazing day... blues sky, the ocean is glowing in front of me, tons of people are walking down to the beach and I am painting inside, something is wrong!:)
I am sure that I would be much more productive with clouds and fog outside...
Yesterday I was planning to walk to the print store to pick up my prints but in the end we ended up going to yoga, I will go tomorrow, or new week.
Today I am posting my work in progress on a quite large canvas board, a study for an even larger painting...let's see how this is coming out first though ;)

18x24 inches

This is the under painting from a picture I took last week, one afternoon after the rain. ( you can also see our building, is the taller blue building in the far distance)

After taking this picture I walked by the old man with the dog and I showed him his picture, he was actually really old and a bit deaf I think, he didnt really understand WHY I took a picture of him, but he was smiling ...though I guess he was happy :)

Looking forward to start painting tomorrow!

Print making ...part 1 :)

Here are the pictures from my 2days printmaking workshop, a really cool technique :)

Step 1:
I choose to work on a picture I took last week while crossing the street next to our house:

Step 2:
Drawing the two surfer dudes on paper on reverse ( cutting out the background for now)

Step 3:
 the booooooring part: cutting ! To do my 6x6 inches images it took me circa 3 hours of work...

Step 4:
the fun part: putting ink on my linoleum 6x6 inches plate

and this was the first print!!!
I LOVE IT!:)

6x6 inches 

Original Ink Print on paper

I did more between 10/15 print with different styles and colors, they are still in the studio drying, looking forward to pick them up and post them here .

Shortly I will post the best prints on my Etsy shop :)

Enjoy it!

Waiting for the wave

Gouache on paper

Waiting for the wave

While running on the beach a couple of days ago I took a picture of this surfer waiting to go into the water...this a sketch with gouache for a possible future painting. 

Down the original picture:

Busy painting landscapes for school today and this evening I have my last print making class, looking forward to show the pictures of my work tomorrow ;)

Have a good day everyone!

Beautiful as always here :)

Going home after surfing

11x14 inches

oil on canvas board

"Going home after surfing

Another day, another surfer :)

The picture of this surfer going home was taken at the end of the beach, the green in the back is the Balboa Natural Park. The sun is setting and the fog is arriving 

Here is a detail :

This and other paintings are available in my Etsy shop:)

Just click on the right top corner !

Sunset surfing.

11x14 inches

 oil on canvas board

Sunset surfing

Today I was in a "surfing mood", so I went through all my surfers pictures I took few weeks ago and I found a couple I really wanted to paint, here is the first one.

The most challenging part was the ocean, but I am pretty happy with how it came out. I have been postponing painting the ocean till now because...well...because it is difficult and I didnt want to end up with a bad ocean.  Maybe today I overcome my fear and you will see more ocean-scape :)

This is a picture of the initial sketch.
This is always my critical part in the painting process... a white canvas and choosing the color palette.

This painting is available in my etsy shop:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/169636113/sunset-surfing-in-california-original?ref=shop_home_active

 I created a coupon on my etsy shop for a 10% discount!
(valid through the 16th of DECEMBER ) with the code HOLIDAYGIFT.
Just enter the code at checkout, drop me an email if you want to know more! Thank you!

Happy Sunday people!
more paintings tomorrow! :)

Mississippi River quick study with Palette knife

9x12 in

Mississippi River

quick study with palette knife

As you guys know we were in Minnesota last week, plenty of lakes and rivers over there, and not surprising the state name is "Land of 10.000 Lakes".

I painted this small study with the palette knife, I am planning to do some more with brushes next week, when I ll have some more time.

I took the original picture in St Cloud, we stayed there few days after visiting Minneapolis.

Have a good evening everyone!

Fall colors , with palette knife

9x12 inches

oil on canvas

Fall Colors

One thing I have realized lately is that I am missing the colors of fall. Living by the beach we do not get any fall what's over. We have loads of pine trees, grass, sand and water. The squirrels that in Menlo Park were driving Mona' s crazy have been replaced by moles...luckily for us they sleep most of the day!:)

I painted this landscape from a picture I took long time ago...I do not even remember from what trip was anymore, I used only the palette knife. Plenty of texture and plenty of fun!

 

Working on my first painting from Minneapolis, hopefully it will be ready tomorrow! 

 

Good night everyone!:)

 

 

This painting is for sale in  my etsy shop :)

 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LAURADALLAGATA

Solitary walk

9x12 inches

oil on canvas

"Solitary walk"

 

Back from cold and beautiful Minnesota. This morning the fog was all around, giving us a proper "foggy welcome back home".

I went for a walk on the beach with Mona and I took some nice pictures of fishermen and people walking on the beach. To tell the truth I do not dislike fog at all...it is calming and relaxing for the mood...it makes me feel homesick actually. ( We have plenty of fog in Faenza in winter, where I came from).  I took a picture of this girl with my phone, then we had a small chat. She lives downtown San Francisco and she drive often to the beach to take long walks. Next time I meet her I will tell her I painted her :)

Here are some pictures from this morning:

Looking forward to start painting some beautiful Minnesota's landscape tomorrow!
have a good night everyone:)

Cindy.

6x6 inches

oil on canvas

Cindy

I was meant no to be painting today but there was a small change of plan:)
I promised this small painting to my upstairs neighbour and I wanted to do it ass soon as possible.
This is Cindy.
Now off to finish my homework and pack for C O L D  snowy Minnesota.

Bored.

I started this painting last Sunday, but then I was so full with things to do for school that I had to it aside till today :)
The painting was not planned, I just was inspired by a picture I found on magazine of a girl holding her had in this position. On top of that my hubby has been telling for a while that I should paint a face with BIG eyes, so here she is!
 This is girl is sooooooo BORED that she is has not even noticed the gold fish from the previous painting (!) that has now learnt to fly :)
A fun painting just to have a break from my color making classes :)

11x14 inc

oil on canvas

Bored

This painting is available in my ETSY SHOP

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LAURADALLAGATA

Back to homework tomorrow and off to Minnesota for few days on Friday, looking forward to take pictures of the beautiful lakes over there, I am sure they will do some nice landscape painting!
Enjoy and have a nice weekend!

Learning to fly!

16 x 20 oil on gallery canvas

Learning to Fly.

 I have been working on this for the last week or so, I wish I wasn't so busy with the Academy homework, I am missing painting badly!!

In this last painting I combined my favorite themes: Profile girl, sunflowers and texture! There is a new entry : the Golden fish and he is learning to fly!
This painting is available on my Etsy shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LAURADALLAGATA
 

Here is the picture of the first step :

  And here is a detail of the girl and hair:

 

The title of this painting is also the title of a Tom Petty's song which I love! Play it now, enjoy!