Candy Store Colors

Candy Store Colors

Available in my DPW gallery starting November 2. 

Although I've painted these lipstick tubes many times, they have rarely shown up in my still life setup all at once.  Looking at them together it reminded me of my days as a child at the candy counter, trying to decide which pieces I could buy with my allowance.  Almost as fun as Halloween night!

Figure Sketch & Studio Sale

Figure Sketch - 8 x 6 Oil on Canvas

This little figure sketch was done in the summer out back of the studio where we usually paint from a live model indoors.  Since the day was so gorgeous we decided to do plein air AND live model -- just to punish ourselves a little bit more!  Very unfinished but I kinda liked it at this stage so decided to keep it sketchy.

Studio Sale

This painting and several others are still on sale in my DPW gallery through the end of October.  Please check them out!  https://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/candace-brancik-2736

Studio Sale

Studio Sale - Through October 31

I still have a number of small works available and they are now on sale for a limited time - through October 31, 2021.  Please check out my DPW gallery to see all of them.  Click on the Available link. dailypaintworks.com/artists/candace-brancik-2736

Thanks as always for your patronage!
 

What Really Matters

 

What Really Matters - 6 x 6 Oil on panel

Click to purchase

"Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters." -- Margaret Peters

***Note: If you are subscribed to get emails of my blog posts, that service will no longer be active as of July 2021.  I would like to invite you instead to sign up for my newsletter through my website if you are still interested in getting news, information and notifications of new art.  You can sign up at http://candacebrancik.faso.com -- scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up.  I will be starting up that newsletter soon.

Thank you to all who have supported me with your thoughtful comments and through purchasing my artwork!  I hope you will continue to follow my art journey through my new newsletter.

Time We Are Given

Time We Are Given - 6 x 6 Oil on Panel

Sold

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."  -- J.R.R. Tolkien

Such a great quote from one of my favorite characters!

I always liked this little bear clock that we've had around the house.  I believe I bought it for my husband as a gift several years ago.  Always thought it might be a good addition to a still life setup.  I also wanted to play with some different lighting that would add to the moodiness of the piece.   Happy with the result and these characters very well may make it into a larger composition, in good time :)

 

Painterly Eggs

 

Painterly Eggs - 6 x 6 Oil on panel

Sold

Looking through some older paintings today, I found this one from last year.  I wasn't entirely happy with it so set it aside.  Just changed a few things and kinda like it now.  I am especially happy with the pink egg and the reflections of the different colors.  

Happy Easter!

Sleigh Bells

Sleigh Bells - 6 x 6 Oil on panel

Sold

After three starts 😝 I finally got this one going and am happy with the final result.  With Christmas around the corner I am getting in the mood for holiday stuff.  (Sorry Thanksgiving... passed over again!)

Below is a closeup shot of one of the ornaments.  We got these several years ago from my sister-in-law and they've been a regular on our trees ever since.  Just love 'em.  

 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! - 6 x 6 Oil on Gessobord

 Click to buy

This is my version of the Sleepy Hollow Pumpkin (love that movie!)  I picked up a pumpkin while getting groceries the other day and had fun carving it -- it's been so long since I last carved a pumpkin!

This low-key value range is quite a contrast to my last small painting (in my last post), which featured a small pumpkin gourd in high key values.  It was quite a challenge to get the glow of the candlelight inside the pumpkin -- it had to be really dark on the outside -- something I am seemingly allergic to.  But I am always hearing: "Color gets all the credit, value does all the work."  So I keep trying!  

Below is my carved (not-so-much) masterpiece.

Warts and All

Warts and All - 6 x 6 Oil on panel

Click to buy

Tis the season for pumpkin gourds!  I have been doing some exercises in color value and temperature lately, so this little white/orange pumpkin was perfect for this sort of exercise.  Warm light, cool shadows, and a nice warmish green to reflect into the cool of the underside of the pumpkin.  A good study.  Plus, when I see them in the grocery store, they are hard to resist. :)

Cemetery Road

Cemetery Road - 8 x 10 Oil on Canvas

Sold

My good friend got me out painting this past Tuesday and I am so glad we went out! The weather was warm and sunny, the colors were amazing and the company was great. And I was happy with my painting (a rare thing lately!) A great day 😊

This painting will be available at the Gifts of Art show at the Suzanne Haskew Art Center in Milford, Michigan in November.
 

Talk to the Paw

Talk to the Paw - 6 x 6 oil on panel

Click to buy

Did a little experimenting with this one -- adding more line work, and pushing the colors a bit.  I wasn't sure if I was even going to finish, but I found a weekly challenge on Jerry's Artarama called "Cattitude", so that was the deciding factor.  Being the cat fancier that I am, I had to finish and enter.  😻  I am glad I did, happier with it now.

Another Round

Another Round - 8 x 6 Oil on Gessobord

 Click to bid

This is the third in my series of beverage bottles. The still life setup for this one sat in my still life box for a couple of weeks before I got around to it.  I think part of the reason I kept putting it off is because I wasn't looking forward to the precise drawing required, with the symmetry, ellipses, lots of straight lines.  It's not easy.  And so when I got to the finishing stage (past the drawing and block-in stages) I began to enjoy painting it so much more. 

Again, love some of the artsy labels you see on beer and wine bottles, and like the challenge of simplifying just enough to capture it without adding every detail.   I think I tightened up a bit on this one, but still happy with how it came out.

Swan and Cygnets

Swan and Cygnets - 6 x 6 Oil on panel

Click to bid
This painting is from a photo taken at Kensington Metropark which is right down the road from us.  I have take many photos there and have now painted several paintings en plein air there.  If you are not familiar, it's a beautiful park with over 4000 acres, much of it Kent Lake.  This year you almost can't go anywhere in the park without running into either a sandhill crane or a wild turkey.  We are truly blessed to have this park in our neighborhood.

A Beer Among Friends

A Beer Among Friends - 8 x 6 Oil on Gessobord

Click to bid
Shopping for groceries the other day, I was surprised to find a "mix and match" of individual beer bottles into a 6-pack.  Most were from microbreweries, with a few from the larger beer companies thrown in.  So I played.

In this piece, if you haven't identified the two beer bottles, I have Michelob Black & Tan and Atwater Brewery Vanilla Java Porter.  Atwater is a local brewery here in Detroit, and the label art was done by the fabulous artist Tony Roko.  He was kind enough to take time out to come and speak to our art association last year and I can tell you he's super nice as well as talented!

This painting presented some challenges, not least of all having to do with drawing.  Accuracy was important in order to capture convincing symmetry, ellipses, and distortions from looking through a clear glass.  But it was great practice, and because I've always been fascinated with the different labels of beer and wine bottles, plan to see at least a few more in this series.

Glowing Cottonwood

Glowing Cottonwood - 12 x 9 Oil on Canvas

Available at candacebrancik.faso.com.
This painting is from a plein air outing with my friend Sara last week. We were headed for a park that ended up being closed, so at her suggestion we went down the road to a sizable cemetery. It was perfect: quiet, beautiful views, and wildlife. This backlit cottonwood caught my eye right away.  Great day :)

Country Chapel

Country Chapel - 8 x 10 Oil on Canvas board

I love painting outside, but admittedly I am most definitely a fair-weather plein air painter.  So I’ve only been out a few times this year (living in Michigan, our fair weather comes later than many other places…) and I am feeling very rusty!  So when a few friends and I went out to Greenmead Historical Park a few weeks ago and saw this quaint little country chapel, I was a bit scared of it but wanted to paint it anyway.  And I'm glad I did -- I feel like I finally got a ‘good one’!  Amen!!

Available at candace.brancik.faso.com

Julieanna

Julieanna - 10 x 8 Oil on Panel

This sweet girl is a commissioned painting for a friend that I used to work with.  As their first family dog who is getting a little older, they decided to have a keepsake painting done to remember her by in years to come.  I have to say that it also brought back memories of our own black lab that we had for about 15 years.  They are among the most gentle and loving creatures on the planet, and we miss him and his wagging tail so much.

If you would like a portrait of your pet, please contact me or go to my website for more details:  http://candacebrancik.faso.com/page/24541/pet-portraits

Backyard Bird Feeder

Backyard Bird Feeder - 6 x 6 Oil on Panel

Click to bid
Another in my backyard critter series.  I painted this from an photograph of a feeder that we no longer have due to some acrobatic squirrels finally succeeding in knocking it to the ground and breaking it to pieces.  I think the birds that were feeding at this particular time were grackles as they had a pretty iridescent blue on their feathers.

It's a Jungle Out There

It's a Jungle Out There - 6 x 6 Oil on Gessobord

Click to bid

We have a divot in our backyard where there used to be a huge (elm?) tree, which will hopefully get filled at some point.  But in the meantime it escapes the mower blades, so it stays fairly dense and seems to attract the little critters.  This little guy was barely visible in there until he stood at attention (which he did several times while I was sneakily taking photos out of our back window.)  His body was so small that it nearly got lost in the surrounding ‘jungle’ of foliage.

Happy Hour

Happy Hour - 7 x 5 Oil on Gessobord

Click to bid
I admit it... I love to paint shiny things.  Since I did the glass DPW challenge, I've been meaning to do more.  And we have had these bottles down in our basement forever, so... another glass painting.  I played with less direct lighting on this one, which I thought looked a little more like something you might see at the neighborhood bar.