Paintings and Tutorials

Paintings at Dailypaintworks and Tutorials at Gumroad

Value Plan

Do a simple value plan without detail.  Just indicate large shapes.  Make them interesting by varying the width.

 I linked together three flowers into one shape that was more interesting, and added some buds and leaves to make it still more interesting.  This planning was done in a pencil drawing.  Notice the negative spaces - the dark above and the light below are as interestingly designed as the flower shapes.

View Over the Fields

I have exaggerated the colors, but it is still believable as a landscape.  I have applied the paint very thickly so that every stroke shows.  I put each stroke down and left it along, not blending or smoothing out anything.  I did however as this black and white photo shows try to avoid very many value changes.  There is a light and half-light, small amount of dark and a lot of half dark.  Too many value changes cause a painting to look choppy.  I keep a value chart by my easel and as I mix paint I check it against the chart in order to execute my value study.

Loosen Up

I made a step by step painting demonstration for this painting.  Over thirty minutes of demonstration with tips on color usage and composition, how to loosen up and also painting without solvents  for sale at Gumroad.com or in my gallery for $10.00.  See how I use oil painting without solvents or mediums.  

Easy to follow directions for painting zinnias

Tips on composing a painting and creating unity

Achieve interesting effects and glowing colors with transparent colors combined with selective opaque paints

Add drama to your paintings with color and value contrast

https://gum.co/wYOPM

The 5 in by 7 in original oil painting is available for $65 at Dailypaintworks   https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/charlotte-fitzgerald/zinnias/718903

Apple Orchards

This is the finished version of a small painting, 6X6, I just finished.  It is listed at auction with a starting bid of $45. at Dailypaintworks.  Follow this link:  https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/charlotte-fitzgerald/apple-orchards-/715981

Below I will show an earlier version that I was not happy with and describe the changes I made and tell why I made them.
I changed the light pattern in the sky and extended the shape of the orchard to make the movements flow better.  I also darkened the foreground and made the colors and textures of the orchard richer.

White Azaleas

This is a 6X6 original oil painting on gessoboard.  It is available at auction at dailypaintworks for an opening bid of $45.  White Azaleas. https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/charlotte-fitzgerald/white-azaleas/640019

Patchwork Fields

I love the way farms are divided into a patchwork of fields depending on the crop planted in each field.
This is a 6X6 original oil painting offered at auction on Dailypaintworks with an opening bid of $45.https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/charlotte-fitzgerald/patchwork-fields/693219