"Nude Shadows" Figurative Daily Painting

Original unframed oil 8"x10"
Detailed study of nude female model
©2009 Diana Moses Botkin

SOLD

Those curvy, violet shadows and the slight torso twist were an interesting contrast to the straight lines of the blinds behind the model. This strong young woman was also my model for "Deer Skinners Back".

Pear Still Life Daily Painting

Original unframed painting 4x6"
Oil on hardboard
©2009 Diana Moses Botkin

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One chilly day last month my son and I picked a bunch of pears. I didn't want the bears to eat all of them, and even though the fruit wasn't nearly ripe yet, we were getting early cold weather.

Now those pears are ripe and we're enjoying them. A few turned partially red like this one... fun for a still life and almost too pretty to eat.

November Painting Challenge: View From the Studio

Our Challenge for November was chosen by group member Michael Naples. As you can see the Legos put themselves in the painting of the view from my window.

I hope you all aren't tired of seeing these little guys every month. We have a lot of fun with them at my house, seeing what they'll do to try to fit in.

My November Challenge painting (left)

"The View" 4x6"
Oil on hardboard
unframed©2009 Diana Moses Botkin
The rest of my Challenge Group did some beautiful and thoughtful paintings, below. Month after month, it's so interesting to me to see how similar and diverse each painting turns out to be. I think this Challenge is perhaps the most varied for approach. What do you think?













(left above) "View from the Studio" 16x20" Oil on canvas ©2009 Suzanne Berry
(right above) "Studio View" 24x18” Oil on canvas ©2009 Marie Fox










(left above) "Green Belt" 8x8” Watercolor on paper ©2009 Robin Cheers(middle above) "Studio View" 8x8.5” Oil on canvas ©2009 Silvina Day
(right above) "Electric Highway" 8x8” Oil on board ©2009 Michael Naples

(left)
"View from my Studio"
8x10”
Oil on panel
©2009 Vicki Ross

"Vintage Ink Bottle" Art Supplies Daily Painting

Original unframed oil painting 4"x6"
Old Higgins India Ink bottle and stopper
©2009 Diana Moses Botkin

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I've had this old bottle a long time, along with some others that actually contain ink. Occasionally I still use the stuff.

"Vintage Winsor Newton" Art Supplies Daily Painting

Original unframed oil painting 4"x6"
Vintage paint tubes still life
©2009 Diana Moses Botkin

In my old paint box, which was my father's, is a variety of older and newer tubes of oil paints.

A few of them date back to a purchase I made in the early 1970s of a bunch of Winsor Newton oils that were on close-out at the University book store. I guess the outdated tubes were being replaced by new packaging or cleared out to make room for better selling merchandise.

I've used almost all that bargain supply over the years except these last two tubes. They're still good. I've often been amazed at how far those tubes of student grade paint have gone. They're richly pigmented, buttery and superior to many of the brands I've used in the past few decades. One certainly doesn't find this kind of quality pigment in an inexpensive paint anymore. Cheap oil paint now is diluted with all kinds of fillers. Most companies have changed their formulas and just don't make oils like they used to, although there are some exceptions.

"Vintage Conte" Art Supplies Daily Painting

Original unframed oil painting 4"x6"
Still life of vintage art supplies
Conte crayon and old box©2009 Diana Moses Botkin

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 It's odd how difficult simple subjects can be to paint at times, like this little old box. But I do find it good exercise, especially when I'm working on more complicated pieces like the portrait I'm currently painting. The piece is another commission this Fall which is keeping me busy.

"Walnut in Hull" Miniature Still Life Daily Painting

Original oil on panel 2.25"x3.25"
Unframed with mini display easel
©2009 Diana Moses Botkin

I'm currently surrounded by reminders of our precipitous existence here on earth. My friend Sandy waited another day for the Lord to take her home. She has lost her battle with pancreatic cancer. And my Uncle Marvin passed away yesterday.

This past week I was outside in the yard picking up walnuts that had dropped to the ground. As I was gathering the fruits and removing hulls, I thought a lot about Sandy and Marvin who were both hospitalized and near the end of their lives.

God puts these simple reminders everywhere of the soul. I noticed them last spring when I painted the maple seed series and am reminded again with these walnuts. That outer hull, once green and alive while the fruit was growing, eventually rots away, revealing the inner part which is the real substance.

Psalm 139:16
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.