Camellia's for dinner. Lydia Host painting a day 6x8

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Today I have been working on a large version of this set-up. I painted this loosely and fast. I think sometimes the less time spent agonising over things the better. I was trying to explain what draws me into other painters work to someone last night, and I have been thinking about it today as well. I like it when there is something for me as the viewer to complete. I love and admire the technique of super tight realism, but I really feel excited by a more suggestive reality. Oh well I am going to keep thinking about it! L.

Study of roses. Lydia Host painting a day 6x8

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This is in preparation for a larger still life, with champagne and other new year things. I love this pinky yellow type of rose. I am trying to really focus on lights and darks, with very little specific information.

Things are getting pretty Christmas-y around here, so just in case I am a no-show tomorrow: I hope you have a VERY Merry Christmas, and can remember to keep low expectations, and simply enjoy the people you love around you!

L.

Lil Cuties. Lydia Host painting a day 6x8

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Lil' Cuties, Clementines, Tangerines, exquisite citrus is everywhere right now!

We are eating a lot of it here in my house. I just adore the vibrant orange colors and really didn't do them justice here. Don't you wonder if we get certain things from nature at certain times of the year, because that is when we need them the most?

L.

cherry chocolate. Lydia Host painting a day 6x

This is really what I saw, I realize that its impossible, but its the truth! sigh. It looks a companion piece for the other cherry painting that I did last week, not intentionally on my part. I think that its a rogue style that pops out on certain subjects. I am painting 'big' right now in a happy frenzy!

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Angel to watch over you. Lydia Host painting a day6x8

I wish I could paint every great face that I encounter! I really enjoy painting African American skin tones, so much life and color- beautiful. L.

A few essentials. Lydia Host painting a day6x8

Okay, I have two days of Mothers day out this week, today and tomorrow, so I painted like a mad woman today! I painted the peonies on Sunday actually, with Mary Elizabeth, her mother donated these flowers that were a center piece for a birthday, to the painting a day effort! Thanks Kay!. I certainly did not do them justice, but peonies are beautiful fluffy flowers that I will take on again. The still life was this afternoon Sharon, a friend of mine,needed to hang out for a couple of hours to avoid long drive home and then back to this area of town tonight, so she painted with me, and we painted the leftovers from my big still life. I really am happy if I can add Tabasco to something, and if I can have a Diet Coke so much the better. I really like the reflective surface of the can its fun to paint.

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cherry reflections. Lydia Host painting a day 6x

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Cherries from this time of year are a totally different color than the summer kind. They taste really good though. I love to paint anything in this glass bowl, in fact maybe that will be a one week goal some time. Mary Elizabeth brought these cherries to my house...her painting today rocked! To check it out click here.

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Angel to watch over you. Lydia Host painting a day 6x6

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I just love painting Carol. She is just so beautiful, and such a humble person....maybe she really is an angel! The sunflowers are already sold...wow, that doesn't happen a lot. I feel like I am understanding how to paint them better. The yellow is so variable, and the subtle changes make it happen. Its cold and gray here today, and so the sunflowers seem that much more incredibly day brightening.

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1957 dream car. Lydia Host painting a day 6x8

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This summer while in West Virginia, we visited my cousin Mike who is a car collector and aficionado, he suggested that I paint some cars. I have never painted car! There is sort of a wonk-i-ness to this car, but all in all I am happy with it. I Think there is a wonk-i-ness to everything that I paint, so why not the car? I was concentrating on reflections and color change.

I also re-vamped the Angel that I felt conflicted about, gave her a makeover, which has made her totally appealing, she lost the glowering expression.

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Flower girl. lydia host painting a day.

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The top two paintings are what I have been working on with Mary Elizabeth on the weekend and also in my studio. I have been wanting to paint some 'meals' for a while, I used to paint still life's based on a particular recipe and really liked it. I LOVED working on these, they are 20x20 inches but in the same vein as my 6x6's have been. I was trying to explain it to a friend and came up with the analogy of ; jogging along and then getting to run full out, and how good it feels. They will be a part of a show that M.E. and I are thinking about. I will also post my current portrait and a large landscape that I am not quite finished with. The angel of the day today is just became what she wanted to be....she has got a lot of pizazz, she sort of looks like a twenties flapper girl. When I teach drawing, I always have one class where we work with clay, and every body's clay head develops its own personality, and it is fun to see how that happens, it is like they "become" with or without the intention of the artist!

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RED dots. Lydia Host painting a day 6x12

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I was so attracted to this little set-up. The red flower dots seem so simple and sweet...plus I liked the vase. I am conflicted about the out come as it is not what I had in mind. I borrowed the canvas from Mary Elizabeth, and it just is a fun tall skinny size 6x12". The side lighting helped me to form this one.

wallpaper. Lydia Host painting a day 6x6

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This flower painting ended up looking like 1920's wallpaper. I found the ball like nature of these carnations to be like a drawing one project in terms of trying to show form and texture with mild tonal changes. Painting on board also sucks out alot of the oil in the paint which gives it a flat finish, adding to its "old look". Today's 'angel is another Botticelli, and I like her, she has a sort of Hippy look to her. I decided yesterday's looks like the princess from my child hood book about the tooth fairy...hence my conflicted feelings for her!

watchful. Lydia Host painting a day 6x6

sold sold This sunflower seems to be watching over something. I couldn't resist even a drooping sort of down and out sunflower! The 'Angel' today reminds me of my idealised idea of beauty when I was young (teen aged). I still, almost instinctively don't like people who look like this! Deep seated jealousy or mistrust of that sort of coy, calm, placid type of girl. On the other hand she seems to be looking kindly towards her charge. I am calling this one 'Forgiveness' - maybe she is forgiving me for my quick shallow judgement. Who knew painting a day would dredge up such a reaction. whew. L

Angel to watch over you.2 Lydia Host painting a day 6x6

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Another Angel. I am not going to reveal the original artist! can you guess?

Her face reminds me of how a mother looks at her child.

The flowers are a part of a large painting that I have been working on with food.

they are on a board that is an odd size of 6x10. It is a good and useful thing to have neighbors who are not only great gardeners, but generous with the bounty! Pink camellias and fire crackers.

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Angel to watch over you. Lydia Host painting a day 6x6

Last Christmas I painted some 'Angels' and had so much fun doing them. They are loosely based on different Renaissance painters, this one is of Botticelli, man he could paint a mouth! (well and everything else) I feel that an artist can always learn from the masters!

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tri tri again. Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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It was sort of a perfect set-up; I have this pepper painting that didn't sell, and that I just decided to paint over, for lack of a canvas. I arrive at Mary Elizabeth's for our weekend nap time painting session, and she has MORE zinnias, that just happen to coincide with the tri-colored peppers I want to paint over! whaa-laaa.

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Satsuma pile up. Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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I went to paint flowers with Mary Elizabeth today, and saw these satsumas on this glass platter, in her dining room ...gorgeous! So we painted them. Describing the translucent glass, and the solid and yet reflective citrus was challenging, I kept wanting to add some cerulean blue onto the orange, but couldn't make it stand out against the absorbent wet orange- better planning next time!

L.

Happiness is... Lydia Host daily painting a day 5x7

sold Sometimes the first swig of a Diet Coke is just so perfectly throat scratchingly fabulous. There is a local mexican restraunt that has wonderful fountain d. cokes that come close. I thought that it would be fun to work with the subtle value differences and reflections in this setup. It was, I could keep adjusting little flecks of light and dark for days.. thank you 'Painting a day' concept - stop! L.

figure study D. Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

Figure Drawing is my favorite night of the week. This model is fun to paint because she has curves. I wasn't able to finish in class, ten minutes flew by for me, so today I just finished it out. I love cerulean blue as a shadow on the figure.

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kitchen bouquet. Lydia Host daily painting a day 8x10

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I wasn't sure about leaving the background so loosely done...but I kind of like it. It reminds me of an old painting...something found in my grandmothers mothers house (which I loved ).

Happy weekend.

L.

Dauphin and Dearborn St. Lydia Host 6x6

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No it really is that blurry!

well maybe not quite.

I was on the corner of above mentioned street, it was loud and busy and fantastic. I was in front of a record producers office...right here in Mobile- how cool is that? They just moved here from L.A. because in today's world location doesn't define in the way that it used to. "World Records"

mostly country and R&B artists, but including Snoop dog.

I felt pretty good about this one, and then I walked across the street and saw my fellow painters Missy Patrick and Joanne Brandt's paintings and was humbled! I am going to attempt some more of these because they are really hard for me and so I need to MASTER the landscape!!!

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camellia saint. Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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Mary Elizabeth brought over this old art book from school along with a pink camellia. I am not that happy with my ability to distinguish between the "real" flower and the printed picture. But over all I am happy with the way the painting looks. So who knows.

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Jewel tone. Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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Zinnias just blow me away with the intensity of color. Due to a freeze, these are the last of the season I suppose.

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whatever gets you.. Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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This is a cup and saucer from 'William and Sonoma' that I found at the local Goodwill.I think it looks like a great coffee and or tea drinking vehicle- very sturdy and practical,yet metropolitan somehow. Of course it is always fun to paint something "white". I am including a photo of my "Katrina " statue that I did for fun decoration at the Chesser's "Day of the dead" show. I just love the idea of Katrinas, which if you don't already know; is that wealth and beauty succumb to death just as easily as everything else.

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Park stretch. Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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I was trying to push myself a little bit, and not be so realistic. Somehow the color in this one is not coming out true on my computer screen. I was sitting there looking up a sort of gutter/gully, and it was so pretty with reflections and shadows and light.

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Pond reflections. Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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Lilies and pond reflections at Langdon Park. I was trying not to get too boring; the landscape I have decided, over-whelms me, and so I either break it down to small segments as in this painting, or into a pattern for larger paintings as I did in my big landscapes last spring, and one that I am working on now. I'll post it when I am finished so you can see what I mean.

L.

Pink Snaps.Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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These are the other flowers painted in Mary Elizabeths studio. They are so beautiful. I really tried to keep it loose and flowing, not too many details, soft focus, trying to capture something more than just what they are. L.

Fall Sunflowers.Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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Painted with Mary Elizabeth. She gets the amazing flowers...wow...what fun. Who knew there were so many breeds of sunflowers? well probably my brother-in -law Allen, but he is a specialist! I really am trying to represent through paint what I am seeing, although I am certainly not going for a photo-realism look, I do want to be accurate on certain levels. Some times what we see doesn't make sense, when that happens, I try to really bypass my thoughts and draw/paint what I see. Usually if I get it "right", which is actually what my brain thought was wrong...it works. Confused yet?

L.

Recline .Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

Figure drawing last night. great model/great fun. Working on a toned background and painting the light first is backwards from the way that I usually work, so its a little mind warping in a good way.

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Pear study.3 Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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I really like it when I "build" things with paint. This pear has that effect, its sort of an academic approach, and I like it. Its all about careful observation and recording, sometimes its easier than others. L.

Estate Sale Pansy .Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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I found this little vase at an estate sale. I don't know that I've ever painted Pansies before, they have lots of nuance.

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Pretty Zinnias .Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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Next year I am growing my own crop of Zinnias, they are so varied in color and appearance, making them interesting to paint.

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Sunny Market .Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x6

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These sunflowers are from the downtown market. My artist friend, Mary Elizabeth, who is willing to get up and go down to the market early always has the best flowers! L.

Figure studies . Lydia Host Daily painting a day

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Last night at figure drawing we had these two models, they were amazing. I thought that he had such a protective, gentle, loving attitude, and she also was able to portray an attitude of contemplation that was fun to paint. They did not know each other before the class-even more wow. She is four weeks away from delivery! He has children also, so maybe that helped him recall the "father to be" vibe. sigh- I love figure drawing. L.

Angel Trumpet flower.Lydia Host daily painting a day 6x

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Angel's Trumpet. Looks a little like a swishing ball gown, so beautiful, but deadly poisonous (I think). Painted this morning in my friend and neighbor Nicole's yard, so many things to paint there, little seating areas and of course a fabulous garden...I am going back! I included a photo of me starting this painting. My feild easel situation is not the best, I have a cheaply made french easel...am on the hunt for something better. If you know about anything great to paint outdoors with please tell me about it.

L.

Busy Harbor.Lydia Hostdaily painting a day 6x6

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This was the second painting from the docks from last week. The draw was the big black tanker being unloaded, but the whole place was bustling. L.