"Odd One Out"

Oil on canvas panel - 8 x 8
Completed 2010/01/29

Purcahse - $45.00 Contact me for details.

The story this painting tells is that the little bowl has room for only two fruit, so the tangerines pushed the lemon out.

This painting was done with primary colors - ultramarine blue, alizerin crimson, cadmiums (red medium, orange, yellow medium, & light), and a little Winsor yellow. Once again, a purple mix of ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson was used to create the browns and grays in this painting.

This painting took a few days to complete because of interruptions. I finally put down my brushes and said, "Enough!" Sometimes - in fact, too often - I find myself at the place where anything more that I do is the wrong thing. I have learned from having created problems before that this is the point I quit and say, "Done!"

Rick Petersen

"Marsh View II"

Oil on linen mounted on archival hardboard - 10x8
Completed 1/25/2010

Painting has been sold.

This is an interpretation of the view from JTB across the tide marsh toward the San Pablo River and the Intercoastal Waterway. I have purposely intensified the colors and arranged the composition to emphasize the contrasts and harmonies that make this view so special to me.

I used only primary colors (blue, yellow, and red) with white in this painting. All the greens are mixed from cobalt and ultramarine blue with cadmium yellow medium and light. I mixed alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue to make a deep, deep purple which I then used to tone most of the greens and to create the warm browns and grays of this painting.

Rick Petersen

"Not Enough Room"

Oil on canvas panel - 8 x 8
Completed 1/15/2010

Painting was displayed in JCVA Winter Show (juried) 1/21/2010 - 2/13/2010

To purchase painting, click here.

This is a painting of 5 forelle pears. The pears are quite small and exquisitely colored. I placed them in a small bowl, but not all of them would fit - thus the name of the painting.

This painting required quite a bit of wiping out and starting over. The bowl and shading to the background gave me the most difficulty.

The afternoon light from my studio window shines indirectly on my workspace. The light was ideal for capturing the color of the pears. I used warm yellows and lavender for the background to enhance the subtle shades of cool yellow to light green in the accent areas of the pears.

Rick Petersen

"Autumn Marsh"

Oil on gessoed hardboard panel

10 x 8

Completed 1/4/10

Sold

In this scene of the marsh in autumn, I was intrigued by the subtle reds, yellows, and browns of the marsh grass set against the blue of the sky and water. The open hammocks of tall pine trees and the solitary palms frame the view across the marsh

This panel was done with a pallet limited to primary colors and white in an effort to keep the colors clear and brilliant.

I worked on this panel intermittently over several days, so it's honesty not a "painting-in-a-day."

Rick Petersen

"Galas on Purple"

Oil on canvas panel - 8 x 8

Completed 1/1/2010

This is my first "satisfactory" work as a daily painting.

These gala apples were painted initially with a light beige/lavender background to approximate the original set-up. After the apples were completed, the background was darkened with lavender to accentuate the red and yellow of the apples.

The painting was completed with a minimal pallet of cadmium red medium, cadmium yellow medium, alizarin crimson, permanent green, and white. Dioxin purple and cobalt blue were sued for the background and accents.

I am pleased with the result. Earlier in the afternoon, I almost gave up on this painting - I did not like the lighter background. When I darkened it, I reworked the apples to complete the painting.

Rick Petersen

"Ponte Vedra Dunes"

Pastel on sanded Arches Watercolor paper

29 x 21 1/2

Completed 11/10/2009

This pastel is an expansion of an earlier pen and ink drawing of the dunes back from Ponte Vedra Beach. For this pastel I reworked the design, added color in the gailardia and other flowers, and changed the perspective. My desire was to recreate the atmosphere of a late afternoon as the sun begins to cast longer shadows across the dunes. It is that time of day that the sea breeze is the strongest, and a few clouds begin to form along the beach moving inland to the west.

Obviously, this painting was not done as a "daily painting," but I include it for reference.

Rick Petersen

“After the Storm, Jacksonville Beach”

Pastel on sanded Arches watercolor paper

Size - 29 x 21 1/2

Completed 9-8-2009

In May of 2009, Jacksonville Beach was hit with an unusually intense storm. After the storm had passed, I made a few sketches and took several reference photos of the waves. When I had done a preliminary pastel paining, "After the Storm - a Study in Waves" which pleased me very much, I rendered this work on a full sheet of Arches paper.

This scene intrigues me because of the complex directions and patterns of the waves, the subtlety of the veiled sunlight on the stormy water, and the churned sand near the beach.

While this is not at all a daily painting, I have listed it for reference.

Rick Petersen