Makapu'u Point Lighthouse Trail (Oahu, Hawaii)

"Checking The Surf"

12" x 6" oil on canvas

This painting was posted here previously, but I wanted to show you one of my works with Makapu'u lighthouse in the distance from Makapu'u Beach Park on Oahu.   Yesterday my son Mitch and daughter-in-law Michelle and I hiked a two mile trail up that cliff to get a close up view of the lighthouse.   Wow!  What beautiful scenery along the trail.   I have lived here 9 years and it was my first time to do that hike.   Isn't it funny that when you live near such places you don't visit them as frequently as the tourists do.   Below are some photos from the hike yesterday that you might enjoy.

Below are Mitch and Michelle on the trail and afterwards at a restaurant at Koko Marina where we stopped  to have a late lunch after the hike.  That is Koko Crater behind them in both photos.

It was a beautiful day and a wonderful visit with my son and Michelle.   I posted more pictures on my photography blog as well as a video of the trail if you would like to see additional views of the area.

Now I must get back to painting !   But instead of waterlilies I feel the urge to paint the lighthouse and scenery from yesterday's welcome trip outside my studio.  Such a delightful predicament !     ;-D

My Website

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Waterlilies On My Mind (Photos)

 Right now I am working on a miniature oil of a waterlily pond  similar to the photograph above and the one below the gorgeous blue waterlily photo.    For some reason the going is slow where my painting is concerned  but thought you might enjoy these photographs.

Stay tuned for more waterlily paintings.   For you flower lovers out there, I made a post today on my photography blog  showing photographs of various ginger flowers found in Hawaii.  Below is a photo of shell ginger with a bee which I intend to paint one of these days.

Back to the easel !  Thanks for stopping by.

My Website

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com 

Lady In Red (Waterlily)

"Lady In Red"

4" x 6" Oil on canvas on panel

   I used my artistic license with the intense red of the waterlily.    This is a study for a future larger painting.  

My website

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Lily And Striped Egg Cup Still Life

"Lily And Striped Egg Cup"

6" x 4"

$195.00

Click to Purchase

This lily was from a bouquet my son sent me when he was in Afghanistan.  I intend to do more new works from my reference photos of those lilies and blue delphiniums.  I have several more egg cups so watch for them as subject matter as well.    

Thank you for visiting today.

My Website

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

The Carnival Glass Egg Cup

"The Carnival Glass Egg Cup"

8" x 8" oil on canvas

$450

Click to purchase

I found this carnival glass egg cup on Ebay about 3 years ago and this is my first attempt to paint it.  The copper kettle just seemed to fit and of course I felt the eggs needed to be there as well.   The flowers in the vase in the reference photo I took were gerbera daisies but these peonies worked better for the completed painting.

Word of advice to artists :   Don't let your furry pet position itself between the fan and you and the easel !

;-)    My mostly white calico cat did just that without my realizing it while I was painting and "here a hair, there a hair"  (fur, I mean) appeared on my painting at random times.   Lesson learned.   Oh, I did remove the fur from the painting    Did I dare move the cat.....of course not!  The fan went off instead.

My Website

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Work In Progress (Still Life ) And A Great Blog

Work In Progress- Egg Cup And Copper Kettle

8" x 8" oil on canvas

This is a beautiful carnival glass egg cup that has a rainbow of colors reflecting on it.  It will be a challenge to depict it accurately.  It has been in my possession for about 3 years and this is my first time to paint it and I look forward to completing this painting.   

A great blog I follow by Matthew D. Innis talks about representational art and is wonderful for the experienced artist as well as the very beginner.  A recent post has a demonstration about how Rembrandt might have painted in stages,  and another excellent post is about Daniel Greene's palette and how he pre-mixes value strings before he begins his paintings.  Check it out; interesting material.

My Website

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Pink Gerbera And Antique Egg Cup

"Pink Gerbera And Antique Egg Cup"

7" x 5" oil on canvas on panel 

Click to purchase

I have meant to paint this antique egg cup for quite some time and gerbera daisies are such a joy that this painting was a lot of fun.

Carol Reynolds website

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Shady Spot (Seascape)

"Shady Spot"

12" x 16" oil 

$1500

This is based on a scene on the North Shore of Oahu, where the lady is taking advantage of the shade by the lifeguard station while reading her book.   

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Mount Waialeale, Kauai - My Photography Blog

Mount Waialeale on the island of Kauai is called the wettest spot on earth, but in truth there are a couple of peaks in India that rival for that title.   Those two posts on either side of the trail are where a gate was in a scene of the movie "Jurassic Park".   I intend to paint this area from my reference photos one of these days.   To see more photos and a video of this beautiful mountain (complete with waterfalls)  check out my photography blog 

Also, for those of you who would like to view my work in a gallery type site, please visit my main website.

I am currently working on a seascape and I hope to finish it in the next day or so, so please visit again soon!

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

The Red Barn

"The Red Barn"

6" x 8" oil on canvas on panel

Click to purchase

A small landscape study with more yellow wildflowers.   I believe I will paint a still life soon, but first I need to work on some seascapes.  Once I sit in front of the easel, inspiration comes and I paint with passion what my mind conceives.   (And what my reference photos dictate)     :-)

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Spring Pasture

"Spring Pasture"

6" x 8" oil on canvas on panel

Click to buy

This landscape was inspired by a reference photograph of mine taken in Texas when I lived in that state a few years ago.   The yellow wildflowers were in bloom and I think they add a nice touch to the scene.   

I completed this painting with my new studio assistant looking on with interest.   I think she will make a great studio cat !  Meet Lika everyone.   

Beautiful Baby Makapu'u Beach

"Beautiful Baby Makapu'u Beach"

6" x 8" oil on canvas

Click to buy

I have painted this area once before in watercolors from a slightly different angle/spot.   I have several reference photos of there and intend to paint this beach again in the future.   There is a pier between the two white buildings in the far background.

Baby Makapu'u Beach is located on the windward or eastern shores of Oahu, Hawaii, near Sea Life Park .

It is usually not very crowded, and locals fish out by the rocks near this spot.  It is a great place for children and for tide pooling.   

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Morning At Lanikai Beach

"Morning At Lanikai Beach"

12" x 24" Oil on canvas

Lanikai Beach is located in a suburb of Kailua, on the windward coast of Oahu.   The waters are a beautiful turquoise and this beach has been the winner of many "Best Beaches" awards.   In Hawaiian, Lanikai  means "heavenly sea" and it truly is a bit of paradise on earth.   The sand is a bit more white than this painting indicates.   The two islands offshore are the Mokuluas, which means in Hawaiian "the two islands".   They are state protected bird sanctuaries, although the island on the left (Moku Nui) is allowed visitors in certain areas.   You can reach it by kayak or boat or outrigger canoe.   The outrigger canoes in this painting are pretty much the way they looked in my reference photograph.

I hope to visit this beach again very soon.    

Thank you for visiting my blog today.

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Grieving

Callie 

My companion cat, Callie, passed away on Tuesday.  I miss her terribly.  She was a good girl and had so much love in her heart.   She and I were together for 9 years.   

I have not been able to paint since Tuesday; I am just going through the motions of everyday's necessary actions without much interest.   Everywhere I look in the apartment I expect to see Callie, and then I remember that she is gone forever.

More Recommended Art Books

This photo of mine is of a Hawaiian Black-crowned Night Heron, or 'Auku'u, and has nothing to do with art books other than he seems to be saying "Take a look at that!"   That is what I hope you do by visiting James Gurney's blog about art books he recommends for art students.   Click here to view  As most of you know, James Gurney is widely known for his "Dinotopia" books.

One of the books he recommends is one I highly regard and recommended in a previous post on this blog, and that book is Carlson's Guide To Landscape Painting , by John F. Carlson who was an American Impressionist.   I ran across that book when I was about 15 years old and it was my primary source for learning about perspective, light, and color and so much more.   It is available on Amazon.  

Gurney has also written an excellent book Color And Light: A Guide For The Realist Painter which has received excellent reviews.   It is available through Amazon or you may obtain a signed copy from his blog   http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com   

I took the day off from painting and, as you can tell, been on the Internet some today.   I will begin work tonight on completing the seascape of Lanikai Beach so please return soon.    

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com 

  

Lanikai Beach - Mokulua Islands (work in progress)

"Lanikai Beach And Mokulua Islands"

Work In Progress

12" x 24" oil on canvas

Lanikai Beach on Oahu in Hawaii is a gorgeous beach near Kailua Beach Park....they rather just blend into each other.  This painting is off to a good start and hopefully will continue to flow well.   I will add more figures by the outrigger canoes and tone down that orange canoe some.   There is much detail that needs to be added.   I had a blast with the sky !  

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Tropical Beauty- Singapore Plumeria (Reworked)

"Tropical Beauty - Singapore Plumeria"

9" x 12" oil on gallery wrap canvas 

Click To Buy 

White plumeria blossoms, or frangipani, are especially elegant although the various pink and yellow varieties are quite lovely as well.   I love them all!  Everywhere you look there are plumeria trees throughout the Hawaiian islands.   Their blossoms are quite popular for making leis.   

I reworked this painting today and am much happier with it now. Basically, I added more violet and blue to the flowers and increased the contrast.  The earlier version may be seen by going here    

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Tropical Shores

"Tropical Shores"

5" x 7" oil on canvas on panel

This seascape is totally from my imagination but is very typical of many tropical beaches.   I especially enjoyed painting the colorful cloud; clouds are special to me and to capture them on canvas is sometimes a challenge.   

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Hawaiian Red Jungle Fowl (Photos)

The red jungle fowl in the Hawaiian Islands are to be seen almost everywhere.   Some are more tame than others, but most true red jungle fowl are to be found wild and in secluded rain forests.  The  bottom photo shown above gives a good close-up look at the colorful feathers.

This shot is so typical of Hawaii; the red jungle fowl and the slipper behind him.   I intend to paint another rooster very soon and this photo may be the one I use for reference.   It was taken at a beach on the island of Kauai .    More information on these beautiful birds may be found at my photography blog by going here

Please return soon for more new paintings.  Thank you for visiting !

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Haleiwa Paradise (Hawaiian Seascape)

"Haleiwa Paradise"

12" x 16" oil on canvas

$1575

These white outrigger canoes are always here on the beach at Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu.  The surf is usually more calm here and it is a wonderful beach park for families.  Not too far from this area is the beach where segments of the TV show "Lost" were filmed.  

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Haleiwa on Dwellable

Flowering Trees In Hawaii (Photos)

Royal Poinciana Blossoms

Royal Poinciana Tree In Makiki park on Oahu

The Royal Poinciana trees are so beautiful and they are planted as decorative landscaping trees just about everywhere you look.  I hope to sometime paint the tree in a landscape or seascape, as well as paint a close-up of the gorgeous blossoms.   Below are photos of the the yellow version of Poinciana.

Sometimes I think there are more flowering trees in these islands than smaller plants like Hibiscus.  There is always something in bloom here and that makes me a happy camper.   Below is a close-up of the Rainbow shower tree flowers.

Rainbow Shower Tree

These are beautiful trees and they bloom profusely.   I must make time to paint these flowers as well. 

These flowering trees were found in the quaint artsy town of Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu. I hope you enjoyed these photographs and there are other trees like the plumeria that I will talk about another time.

 I must go on another photo shoot soon.  I have been home painting constantly except today and tomorrow there are other activities that will interfere with my painting time.  I intend to paint tonight, however, and hopefully tomorrow night as well.    Wish I could train my cat to do housework and other chores    ;-)

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Sunflower In Ball Jar

"Sunflower In Ball Jar"

9" x 12" oil on gallery wrap canvas 

$675

This sunflower painting was a joy to work on.   I've had the blue Ball canning jar for a long time, but this was my first time to paint it.   The sunflower I actually found already cut and abandoned when I checked my Post Office Box one day.   I knew right away I would paint it and use the Ball jar as a vase.

Below are photos of this painting's development.

Stage 1 - Work In Progress

Stage 2 - Work In Progress

Thank you for viewing my art !

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Sunflowers At North Padre Island (Seascape)

"Sunflowers At North Padre Island"

16" x 20" oil on canvas

NFS

This was a first for me: to see sunflowers blooming at the beach!  This oil seascape is of North Padre Island, Texas, and is not available for sale.   However, prints of this work are available at Fine Art America here

Other paintings and also my photographs are available as prints and note cards by visiting here     If you click on the "Prints" link at the top of this blog, you will be able to view a small sampling of available prints of my work.

Thank you for visiting and I am painting as fast as I can, which is slow compared to many other artists.   I don't usually finish a painting in one sitting; I paint in stages and let previous layers of paint dry before going over it again with fresh oil color.    Many of you who follow this blog have viewed my photos of works in progress and are familiar with the way I work.  

Back to the easel !

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

After The Rain (Western Landscape)

"After The Rain"

8" x 16" oil on canvas

$1275

This western oil landscape is based on a reference photograph I took while traveling some time ago.   The reference photo and the work in progress may be viewed by going here   The horse and the barns are rather typical, so I added some rain puddles for more interest.   

Please visit again soon as I have other paintings going right now in various stages of development.  

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com 

South Padre Island Splendor (Seascape)

"South Padre Island Splendor"

16" x 20" oil on canvas 

This is a seascape of South Padre Island, Texas.  I put my heart into this painting and at the present time do not wish to offer it for sale.   However, prints are available of this work at Fine Art America by going here   I have other paintings offered as prints at that site as well; view by clicking here  .  You may see a small sampling of my prints by clicking on the link "Prints" at the top of this page.     

Thank you for viewing my art.

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Work In Progress And A Fantastic Plein Air System

This landscape reference photograph was first posted here on Tuesday, May 12, 2012 and I thought I would give you an update on the progress of the painting which is shown below. 

Work In Progress, Stage 2

8" x 16" Oil on canvas

I thought some of you might like to see my well used easel      ;-)    I changed the composition quite a bit from the reference photograph. Right now I still intend to include some horses or maybe only one horse.     Below is a photo of the first rough lay-in of oil color.

I am pretty excited about the Coulter Plein Air System  .   If you go to that link there is information about James M. Coulter's art box and links to videos about the set-up of the system.   Or go here for the videos.  The mixing area  for your paints on the standard plein air system is a large 12" x 16" and has a couple of "trays" on either side of it.  Check it out !

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Haleiwa Palm Tree

"Haleiwa Palm Tree"

12" x 6" oil on canvas 

$575

This oil landscape is a scene in Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu.  It is a charming artsy town with art galleries and a great family beach and park.    Yesterday I posted the beginning stages of this painting and today I worked on it straight through to completion.   

I welcome comments and any questions you may have.  Feel free to contact me at reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com  

Palm Trees, Dental Floss, And Works In Progress

Reference photo of Haleiwa, Oahu

What do palm trees, dental floss, and my recent works in progress have in common?  Lots!   Below is a rough lay-in of oil color on canvas of the above scene.

12" x 6" oil on canvas

work in progress

I did some research on the internet trying to find out what kind of palm tree that was with the white "flowers" on it, but soon realized that with nearly 3000 different species of palm trees throughout the world, my search   might take days and I would never get this blog post finished tonight !  I feel good about this initial color sketch and believe this painting will flow with ease.   By the way, that reddish color is not regular burnt sienna but Daniel Smith's Quinacridone Sienna which I prefer to use now.  I have all of the Daniel Smith Quinacridone colors in oil, acrylic, and watercolor and I highly recommend them.  Another interesting earth color by this manufacturer is Sedona Genuine; I have not checked their catalog lately but I hope they still make that color as I use it fairly often in landscapes.

About the dental floss, it is one of many things made from the palm tree.   Other uses include shoe polish, surfboard wax and on and on.   Below is another landscape I am working on at present along with the reference photograph I took while in a moving vehicle.  I wish I could remember where this scene was located. 

My reference photo

rough color sketch

8" x 16" oil

I may only put a portion of the fence in my painting. The three horses need to go back farther into the middle ground.   I suppose it is obvious that I compose as I go, rearranging and experimenting all the while.  Each artist has their own way of working; I never make a complete sketch before I begin laying in color, unless I am working in watercolor, then I partially sketch the subject.   

Thank you for visiting my blog and please return again soon to view the progress on these and other paintings.

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com