Zucchini

9/6: Zucchini, oil on canvas panel, 5x7 in.

Though squashes were introduced to Europe from the New World, zucchini (courgettes) originated in Italy late in the 19th century as a result of spontaneously occurring mutations, according to the Wikipedia article. From zucca (French courge), "squash."

Garlic

9/5: Garlic, oil on canvas panel, 7x5 in.

Old English word of the day:

gárléac [gär'-lāək]

This literally means "spear-leek" from the shape of its leaves, or cloves according to one reference. As it was mentioned in Old English texts (before the 11th century) I believe it would have referred to other Allium varieties native to Britain before it came to mean the familiar A. sativum that apparently was brought back during the Crusades.

Italian plums

9/4: Italian plums, oil on canvas panel, 5x7 in.

I found painting these to be really hard - so much going on on a plum's surface, and these were small (and painted smaller). I'm drawn to yellow ocher a lot, I don't know why. Maybe I feel it is earthy and safe, yet has the quality of gold and all the mythical stuff associated with it. I think it's a nice complement to the warm and cool purples here.

Old English word of the day:

plúme [plū'-mə]: plum.

Parsnips

9/3: Parsnips, oil on hardboard, approx. 4x9 in.

Painted this on a long panel I made a few weeks ago, and I quite like how it turned out - sort of austere and basic, as I sometimes like things to be. And I think I managed to simplify most parts, focusing on the form and not getting all caught up in detail.

I looked up the etymology of "parsnip" and found it doesn't trace back very far: Middle English pas(se)nepe, apparently going back through Old French to Latin pastinaca (parsnip, carrot), and influenced by nepe - as the parsnip was considered a kind of turnip.

Breagha sleeping

Breagha sleeping, silverpoint on wood, approx. 5.25x4 in.

I didn't paint anything in observance of Labor Day (Sunday, actually). This drawing was from last year when my daughter was about two weeks old, one of the very few times I drew anything all year. She looks here like a little bug, as we used to call her. I always liked silverpoint though I hadn't done much since being exposed to it in school.

Illustration Friday: "Alphabets"

9/1: Alphabets, oil on paper mounted on panel, 5x7.75 in.

The theme led me to play with having two alphabets contrasted side by side. My first (terrible) idea vaguely had Roman soldiers encountering runes carved in a rock, until my wife suggested a scene with a kid writing something. Then after seeing the August National Geographic feature on the Maya, I settled on this scene. The glyphs are of course not an "alphabet," rather logograms and syllabograms - plus, though the symbols I drew began as accurate representations, I made up most of them. Sort of blasphemous from someone who loves this stuff.

I printed out a sketch that I had scanned in and tweaked in Photoshop, then mounted it with acrylic matt medium to a canvas panel (for lack of anything else). I massed in areas with acrylic yellow ocher, then later painted with oils.

Open book

8/31: Open book, oil on canvas panel, approx. 8x6 in.

The book was Ralph Mayer's Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques - I often think about painting a stack of books, but always find I have none that are interesting on the outside. I thought the placement here very satisfying, with the contrast out toward the edges and the book's "important" part subdued.

Old English word of the day:

bóc [bōk]

This also meant a beech tree - the plural béc pronounced [bāch] - so it is supposed that the word "book" originated from the pieces of wood used in Northern Europe to write/engrave upon - in the same way that Greek biblion (papyrus) and Latin liber (inner bark of linden/basswood) referred to writing materials.

Coffee cups

8/30: Coffee cups, oil on canvas panel, approx. 6x8 in.

I always enjoy seeing the frothy pattern along the inside of the cup that my coffee leaves behind, so I thought I'd examine that here. We are spoiled: our daily "coffee" is cappucino made in a 2-in-1 regular-coffee/espresso-and-cappucino machine that we got at Wal-Mart (that also had an open-box discount). It takes more effort than just flipping a switch, but worth it.

I was very shocked this morning to find my little pig buddies were the Illustration Friday pick of the week! Thanks to whoever made that decision, and to everyone who left a comment - if I was confusing before, I painted it with oils (I'm really not good with acrylics). I apologize for having a dead portfolio link for the longest time, but until I get the "real" site redone, the link now goes to the Flickr set where I've put those images.

Also, I want to share an article I just saw about an old friend, Jenga. She's a good person doing a good thing - check it out here. (You can read more in her blog "The Wheels On The Bus Go Round And Round," which is in my links list.)

Baby food jar

8/29: Baby food jar, oil on canvas panel, approx. 5x3 in.

Just an attempt at painting glass, which I kept to 45 minutes or less.

Old English word of the day:

glæs [glăs]

Spools

8/28: Spools, oil on canvas panel, approx 3x5 in.

We had a power outage this morning that lasted until about 4 in the afternoon, so I'm posting very late. The drawing here is a little off, the shapes sort of cut-out and awkward like some of those portraits of children from the Colonial period (the creepy ones that stare at you), and it didn't photograph well either. But it looks good from farther away in indirect light.