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Little Angel - An original oil painting by George De Chiara

Little Angel

 For the last few days, I've been working on a few commission paintings and haven't had a lot to post. Today I needed a break from those paintings, so I thought I do a little still life. We have a lot of our Christmas decorations out now and I just can't resist using them for my props. I grabbed this little angel and quickly set up a little still life with it. I have to admit this was just the kind of diversion I needed today.

Little Angel © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x6 inches on canvas panel. 
Medium: Original Oil Painting
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

A Little Christmas Cheer - An original oil painting by George De Chiara

A Little Christmas Cheer

 I've been looking forward to this time of the year for a few months now. Our oldest daughter, who's just 2 years old, is just starting to understand Christmas and the holidays in general. Almost every night before bed for the last few weeks, we've read her current favorite book, Santa Mouse. So it's been with great anticipation that I've been looking forward to getting the Christmas decorations out. Not only do my wife and I get the great joy of explaining all the traditions and mysteries to our daughter, I get a whole new set of subjects to paint for a few weeks.

 I only have a few step-by-step photos today because I scraped off my canvas about half way through the process. I didn't clean the canvas off; rather, I just scraped off as much of my previous painting as I could and then re-painted it. I did this for two reasons. First, I had started the painting on Tuesday and wasn't able to get back to it until today, so the paint had become a little tacky on the canvas. Plus, I wasn't happy with what I had painted and felt I could a better job if I scraped it off and started over.

This image was taken after my very quick block in. I'm really just scrubbing on a little bit of color in the general area things will go. Then I can use a little turpentine on a paper towel or even just a soaked brush to wipe off highlights and make small adjustments to some of the volumes.

Here, I'm a little more than half way through the painting. This was about the point I was at before I scraped off the previous painting and started over. The surprising thing is that it didn't take that long to get back to this point once I started over. There was still a little underpainting left on the canvas and I had already painted it once, which always seems to make things go fast when I do them again. You might also notice that a few of the ornaments that are blocked in didn't make it into the final painting. As I was finishing up the painting, I felt I really didn't need them in the painting, so I took them out.

A Little Christmas Cheer © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x6 inches on canvas panel. 
Medium: Original Oil Painting
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.