Favorite Things

Favorite Things

12 x 12 inches , 1.5 inch profile

This is a painting of three of my favorite things: a red rose (from an anniversary bouquet), a blue and white cup (a gift from my daughter) and a moon shell which I collected myself from a NC beach! This is painted on "claybord" (12 x 12) with a 1.5 inch (light birch) profile - ready to hang! Thanks  for taking a look!

More paintings can be viewed at

 http://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/belinda-scheber-5923/artwork

Rose in a Cup

Departure from my usual acrylic. This is a watercolor study on "Aquabord" . I am producing a larger acrylic painting of same subject matter - which I am currently working on. I selected this rose from an anniversary arrangement given to me by my husband and put it in my favorite cup. Haven't submitted a painting for awhile - have been out of town and attention has been drawn to other things. Glad to be paining again! Thanks for taking a look!

Beach Boy, Acrylic 11 X 14

This is a painting of my grandson who visited us for two weeks this summer!  He really likes to go to eastern NC beaches - particularly Atlantic beach.  He also loved to boogie board!  He is a great grandson.  This painting is in honor of him and the great time we had this summer.

As usual, I started by lightly painting, then rubbing most of it off with a mixture of burnt umber and yellow ochre on the board.  I then sketched his figure in and then painted in the darks and lights (painting a grisaille).

This is a picture of my palette - I use a masterson box with a liner - so I can keep my paints moist).  The colors I mostly used for this painting were - starting from bottom left - burnt umber, yellow ochre, cadmium lemon, naples yellow, hansa yellow medium, quinicrodone nickel azo gold, naphtol red, cadmium orange , flesh tint (windsor newton), dioxazine purple, phalo blue, anthroquinone blue, cobalt blue, phalo green, titanium white and buff, mars black.

The painting with  color and no added shadows other than that which appears through the underpainting of the darks.  I felt like the sand area was a little dark so I lighted it up in the final painting.

This is the final painting with a little lightening up to give it a little bit of  a dreamy look!

Thanks for taking a look!

Shackleford Shells No. 3, Orange Whelk and Scallop Shell

This is the third in a series of  shell portraits.  Shells are so perfect in design  but always with 

imperfections - kind of like us as humans.  Just love shells with their mottled colors , ridge details and knobby formations. Once again, fond memories in collecting them - precious time with my grandchildren!

This is what my palette looks like.  Kind of messy - however it works for me.  I use a Masterson box  with a thin sponge beneath the paper which keeps the acrylic paint moist for a while.  It also has a top which kind of snaps on like a plastic ware top.  Great invention and has enabled me to extend the life of my palette.  Most of the time I keep warm colors on the left and cool colors on the right.

I first started with a sketch of my composition in pencil and then sprayed with fix it to keep the graphite from mixing with the paint.  I then define my darks and lights with a mixture of burnt umber quincridone burnt-orange, titanium white and titanium buff.

Here I am adding a little more color using  mostly yellow ochre, naples yellow, cadmium yellow medium, hansa yellow medium, mars black, anthroquinone blue  and dioxazine purple.

This portrait came out darker and with more contrast that the other shell portraits due to the chrome of the one orange whelk. 

The finished painting.  Thanks for taking a look!

Shackleford Shell No. 2, Grey Whelk

 Finished Product!! This is another painting of a shell (Whelk) from Shackleford Banks - Beaufort NC. This one was posed in my shadow box sitting on a satin like fabric. It is my understanding that these type of whelk shells are only found in south eastern US. This beauty was found by my grandson which he has lent me to paint. I love painting the curvy lines and knobby details. Thanks for taking a look!

Using my regular method,  I first sketched in the shell and fabric folds   and then painted in the dark and light values creating a grisaille .  This time I did not create as strong  an under-painting and it seemed to work out better. Grisaille colors used:  burnt umber, yellow ochre and quinacridone burnt orange. 

Here I darkened areas up just a little bit more and lightened areas up using  Titanium White.

A bit of color was added in to this stage.  I was trying to define a little more the light goldy like yellow (here the under-painting helped with this) colors to the folds of fabric in the top and more bluish highlights on the bottom of the painting.  Colors mostly used: Anthraquinone blue, dioxazine purple, paynes gray, yellow ochre, burnt umber, naples yellow, quincridone red, cadmium orange titanium buff and titanium white (Ihope I remembered them all).

The last stage in which I tightened up and defined the strong lines in the shells and as always darkened up the darks and lightened up the lights for a bit more contrast.

If interested in puchasing this painting or other paintings here is the  link   http://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/belinda-scheber-5923/artwork

Shackleford Shells No. 1

Shackleford Shells No. 1

This is the finished product.  This is quite a departure from my other work as I am now using a shadow box built for me by my husband.  It is a great setup for doing still lifes.  This is it:

Shadowbox made from PVC pipe and hardboard.

I start most of my painting with a simple sketch and begin to paint in an under-painting  of burnt umber and quincridone burnt orange.  This procedure enables me to locate the darks and lights.  The under-painting colors  allows the painting to have more definition and clarity (or m ore punch) for the final painting.

This is my final value study  (locate darks and lights).

Here I am adding color.  I decided that my under-painting was a bit bright and I started taking it down with white and other lighter colors.

Amost completed painting.  This is a good look at the effects of toning the colors down a bit.  

Final Product.  Thanks for looking at my blog!

Plumful no.2

Just finished Plumful no. 2

This is another study of the same plums as before but sitting on another surface - a dark blackish-blue granite counter.  The light was coming in from two different sources which provided many challenges and an interesting painting.  I hope you like it.  Thanks for taking a look!  Below are the different stages of  "Plumful No. 2".

"Plumful No. 2"  the finished product and will go for sale on Daily PaintWorks tomorrow!

This is the first stage of how I usually work - painting a grisaille on a gessoed panel!  This helps me to define the values of the painting (the lights and darks)  I used a mixture of burnt umber and a little quinacridone burnt orange (try spelling this one on your own without looking it up - of course I had to look up).  Applying an under-painting gives the painting a little punch in the end!  This is my favorite stage as it goes real fast and is fun!!

Here, I am adding  the lights and darks  with color. 

Starting to refine the color even more.

Final Product! Even though the painting doesn't quite look centered - I did it on purpose to allow a view of the reflection on the granite counter top.  If you are reading this, thank you so much for looking at my artwork and blog.  God Bless!

"Plumful"

"Plumful"

Painted on a gessoed birch cradle, 3/4 in. profile. Sides are painted white and painting is ready to hang. - 8x8 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/…/belinda-sch…/plumful/401507

A neighbor brought over all of these beautiful plums fresh from his tree! I pulled out my dollar store teal colored sieve (which I use often because I light the color ) rinsed them and then set them down in my kitchen.Morning light was spilling out and back-lighting these plums. I really liked the color combination of the sieve and the plums! I was thankful or should I say "Plumful" for this still life to paint!

 I always start with an under-painting (grisaille) of a combinations of brown, red and yellow (burnt umber, quinacidrone red, hansa yellow medium). You may notice that the shape of the bowl is different - I changed it to a more symmetrical bowl shape from the original. It just wasn't looking stable or natural. I love this stage - determining the darks and lights!!

Here I am starting to add color. This stage,the middle stage,  for me is always a challenge and a struggle - adjusting the colors up and down. Once again - I had not decided to change the form of the bowl yet.

The end of the middle stage - still periods of color adjustments! Nearing the end and the deepening of the darks and lighting up the lights as far as they can go without it looking out of place. It was after this picture was taken that I decided to change the shape of the bowl to a more of a normal shape. Below is the final painting.

"Plumful",  8 x 8 inches , painted on a gessoed panel with a 3/4 inch profile


Check back for soon for the next painting!  Thanks for looking at my blog!