Today I finished "Italian Marketplace".  For those of you who were following its progression I did not post a couple of the last days.

The last picture of the process I had shared was the work completed on Day 5.  Here is Day 6.  You can see that I had a good start on all the zucchini on the table on the right hand size of the painting, but  had a more detail work to do on them.

On Day 7 I completed the zucchini and started on the crates of vegetables under the counter.

Today I completed the remaining portion of the painting.  This last part moved quickly as it did not include the detail of the vegetables on the shelves above.    Here is the final painting.

"Italian Marketplace" is now ready to be framed.  I hope the woman receiving the painting as a birthday gift is happy with the results!

Day 5 found me with only three hours to paint, but I made good progress.  The scales took some time to get correct.  The rest of the fruit on this level should go pretty quickly without the crate containers to make sure are even.  Looking forward to tomorrow!

Day four (four hours) working on "Italian Marketplace"  resulted in my finishing the row I started on Day 3.  I ended up making some changes from the reference photo around the tomoatoes on the right as I could not figure out exactly what was in the photo in that particular area.  I put in a brightly colored striped material instead of the material that is in the photo.  I expanded it to cover the area that had the items I could not identify.  I also spent some time studying the little pricing signs in the photo prettty closely trying to figure them out.  I ended up pulling out the little Italian/English phrase book I used on our trip to Italy.  Did you know broccoli is the same word in both English and Italian?  Tomorrow on to the next level down!

I made progress on "Italian Marketplace" today even though I had limited time (2.5 hours) to paint due to appointments. 

I have been busy working on the first of my two commissions the last few days.  This piece is needed by February while the other commission is for a house that will not be finished until June or so.  This commission is to be a painting from a photo taken by the client.  It is a colorful Italian marketplace.  If you have ever been to Italy you know how fascinating the markets are....there is more to see than your eyes can take in.  Here is the reference photo:

Truly a challenge.....but look at the beautiful colors!!!  Actually brought back memories of my trip to Italy.  To make sure the painting is a challenge it is only 12" x 16" as the recipient of the painting (it is going to be a gift) does not have much wall space.  And it is to be a pastel painting where I need to use my fingers to smooth pastel and blend colors!  But I do love a challenge!   It took me some time just to get the drawing completed.  I thought I would share my progress on this fun project.  Here is what I completed the first day I started applying pastel ( about 4.5 hours).  The white tile wall below the shelf is painted although it is nt obvious in the photo.

Today was day 2 of painting and I painted for about 3.5 hours.  I basically completed another level down from the top.

You can see I am working from top to bottom on this one because I want to make sure to get the shelf levels correct.  If my painting time stays true as I move down the painting I should be able to complete the painting this week.  I will post my progress each day that I paint!.

As always....your comments are welcome!

This next Thursday marks the opening reception for my

2013  Solo Show at

Amery Bohling Gallery in Scottsdale from 7pm to 9pm! 

Please join me in celebrating my second solo show!