Studies in White- Mushrooms

Mushrooms 1 (Three Mushrooms), 6x6in, oil on hardboard panel, available here

Yup, it might sounds really funny when I say I am studying to paint whites, ey!?
The longer I paint, the more I 'look between the lines'. Meaning, I try to train my eye to see more distinct differences between cold/warm, colours, shadows, lights, edges and so on.

One of the more tricky things I find is to see the different shades of white. For example a white house might look really different on a sunshine-y day where the sunlit side looks a warm yellow and the white siding on the shadow side really is a purple-y blue. In contrast, on an overcast day the same house might look more grey-ish overall. Our brain tells us it is a white house, but our eyes (if we really look) tell us different.
Allowing to see things as they really are makes for a treasure hunt and a treat to explore.

In light of my January painting excursion themed 'How to Make an Omelet', I bought white button mushrooms. Please note the various shades on the mushrooms, shadow-light, soft edges, hard edges, shadows underneath the mushrooms... and you can also see the painting I created when they were just fresh from the store shelf, and the second painting where they have been waiting for a few days for me to get back on the easel;-)

Valentine's Outreach:

As mentioned in my former post, from each painting sold, $15 will be donated to charity: 'Backpack Blessings and Beyond'. You can read more about it here or here.
The group of volunteers is filling backpacks with food that school children who face food insecurity take home each weekend.  My kids' school is spearheading this outreach currently helping kids in 4 local schools.

Mushrooms #2, 6x6in, oil on hardboard panel, available here