More Hot Dogs!

 "Hot Dog #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

"Hot Dog #3" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Hot Dog #4" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Hot Dog #5" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

 "Hot Dog #6" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Hot Dog #7" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

  "Hot Dog #8" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

I don't know why I got on the hot dog kick just lately,  but here they are!  After painting so many cupcakes, it was a fun change to do the dogs for a while.  I have a huge package of hot dogs in the fridge.  Very cheap ones I'd bought to toss to the poor possums this winter.  I'd see them scrounging for fallen sunflower seeds under the bird feeder.  Poor things!  So I found a 3 pound pack at Meijer's, super-cheap.  The possums loved them.  Alas -- one day the possums quit coming around.  After the snow melted, I found out why: a coyote got them.  Poor things!

So I'm stuck with all these hot dogs.  I have to use a bit of artistic license on them, however.  In reality, they're skinny and kind of gray-ish looking.  Nasty things!  I try to do at least 2 paintings from each "dressing of the dog".  By the end of the 2nd painting, the mustard is looking toxic!  But -- waste not, want not.  I give some of the bun to Henny Penny, the studio chicken and the rest goes out to the rest of the chickens.  The first time I threw a hot dog into their coop, they sat up on their roosts, eyeing it with utmost suspicion.  Like Mom threw a bomb into their midst.  

 

I'd been told that chickens won't eat onions.  Well, mine do.  I watched them take a bite of chopped onions.  They stopped, chewing, looking around, kind of "licking their lips" and seeming slightly surprised.  But they ate the whole thing.

 

Found a little can of chili hot dog sauce in the store today, so that painting will be on the horizon soon. 

Mississippi Mud Cheesecake

 "Mississippi Mud #1" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Mississippi Mud #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

 "Mississippi Mud #3" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

This slice of cheesecake was a hoot to paint!  I love the ziggy-zaggy stripes!  This was the first time I'd ever bought a cheesecake -- so expensive!  But I'm glad I did.  This one was a "sampler" cheesecake, with various flavors.  

 

The brown shades were interesting to mix.  I do have a pre-mixed dark brown on my palette (one of Scott Christensen's Vasari colors), but as usual, I had to add "things" to it.  Adding a touch of ultramarine blue makes a really great black".  For the brown tones in the creamy part, I mixed ultramarine blue, cadmium orange, plus a touch of permanent red and a hint of white.  Surprising about the red, but it needed it.  

I was surprised to see how yellow the upper edge of the "crust" was.  But it was there, so I painted it.

Bagels

 "Poppyseed Bagel" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Sesame Seed Bagel" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

I'm running way behind on my posts again!  If you knew how stale these bagels really were when I painted them, you'd laugh.  Like rocks.  But they still looked good!  It was a nice change from painting cupcakes.  These came from Johann's Bakery in Petoskey.  I'm sure they're wonderful bagels when fresh.  I soaked these in a glass of water for a while, then gave them to the chickens.  

Cupcake Party!

"Cupcake Party" -- oil on canvas 30x40" -- Margie Guyot

After finishing painting just about every variety of cupcakes that Simplycupcakes makes, I wanted to pull them all (OK, most) together for a bigger still life painting.  That's a vintage tablecloth under everything.  I loved the cheery tulips in it.  Had to throw a little vase of real tulips in as well, along with my favorite frog teapot, sugar and creamer set.  

We only had a couple days of sun while I was painting this, so every time the sun came out, I focused on painting the shadow shapes.  I think it's the shadow/light patterns that give a painting a feeling of reality.  

I'd never painted Depression glass dishes in the sunlight before, and they were an interesting challenge.  This painting has a feeling of "gay chaos" in it -- but isn't a good party a sense of "gay chaos"?

Cherry Danish

"Cherry Danish" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

Glad to be finished painting "Hint of Mint", I turned to a cherry danish I'd bought up at Johann's Bakery in Petoskey.  I'd bought it at least a week ago, but heck -- it still looked pretty good.  So I painted it, using the last of the 6x6" canvases.  It was so much fun to do!  I'll probably start a "pastry" series next, followed by slices of pie, slices of cake, flowers, maybe even fishing lures.

Jerry's Artarama put on a huge sale on their 6x6" canvases, so I ordered 90 more.  Look out, world!

More Hint of Mint Cupcakes

 "Hint of Mint #4" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Hint of Mint #5" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

 "Hint of Mint #6" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

 "Hint of Mint #7" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

When I'd realized I'd sold the first 3 versions of "Hint of Mint", I realized uh-oh: I needed to paint more for some upcoming shows!   So I made a mad dash to Traverse City, home of Simplycupcakes.  The weather's been typically lousy (dark, gloomy, spitting snow), and given the choice between doing housework and painting -- well, there's no contest! 

More Chocolate Covered Strawberries!

 "Chocolate Covered Strawberry #3" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Chocolate Covered Strawberry #4" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

 "Chocolate Covered Strawberry #5" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Chocolate Covered Strawberry #6" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

 "Chocolate Covered Strawberry #7" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

This is such a beautiful-looking cupcake to paint!  From Simplycupcakes, in Traverse City, Michigan.  It's made of strawberry cake, topped with chocolate ganache, strawberry buttercream and a slice of a fresh strawberry.  I'd painted a couple of this one the day before and removed the strawberry at the end of the session.  Fed it to Henny Penny, the studio chicken.  These cupcakes hold up remarkably well, but I knew the strawberry slice would turn it funky in a hurry.

People ask why I'm painting multiple versions of cupcakes.  Well, I've got 5 shows this year and I need cupcakes in just about every one of them.  It's kind of a fun break, painting small canvases.  I've done so many large still life paintings, it's kind of a lark to work differently.  Each time I finish a canvas, I turn the cupcake a little to see a completely different view.  It's not like I'm copying the same finished painting.  THAT would be way too boring. 

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

 "Chocolate Covered Strawberry #1" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

"Chocolate Covered Strawberry #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

Len Mayhew, owner and baker at Simplycupcakes, made this gorgeous cupcake this morning.  Yes, that's a slice of fresh strawberry on the top.  Couldn't dilly-dally -- had to paint these as soon as I got home.  It's made from strawberry cake (!), with chocolate ganache, strawberry buttercream, fresh strawberry slice and sprinkles of some kind of sugar (little white balls).  It smells wonderful!

It was a typically cloudy, dreary day.  By 4 PM I had to quit painting -- it was just too dark to see what I was doing.  Since I plan on doing more paintings from this one, I removed the strawberry slice and gave it to Henny Penny, my studio chicken.  Packed the cupcake safely away (so the studio kitties won't lick it).  I've always got strawberries in the fridge, so I can easily cut a replacement.

Chocolate Cherry Royale

 "Chocolate Cherry Royale #4" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Chocolate Cherry Royale #5" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

"Chocolate Cherry Royale #6" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

I just realized that most people tend to prefer the paintings with the cherries on top.  So I had to crank out some more paintings of this one.  I think it's one of the prettier cupcakes from Simplycupcakes.  According to the website description, this one is composed of chocolate cake, cherry filling, chocolate ganache, vanilla buttercream, a cherry and shaved chocolate.  Whew!  Hard to resist eating this one!

Pina Colada

 "Pina Colada #4" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

"Pina Colada #5" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

More great cupcakes from Simplycupcakes, on Front Street, in Traverse City, Michigan.  When I started this cupcake series, I only did 1 painting of each variety.  But it didn't take long to realize I needed to do multiple "takes" on each cupcake.  I plan on using some in at least 2 shows coming up, plus I've been selling some paintings right out of my studio.  So I had to paint at least 2 more of Pina Colada.  

I've saved most all the cupcakes.  Some are approaching 2 months old.  They still look wonderful, although the cake part is hard as a rock.  The maraschino cherry on this one has fallen off onto the floor several times.  I just pick it up, pull off any stray cat hairs (!) and stick it back on.

 

Toffee Caramel Crunch

 "Toffee Caramel Crunch #1" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Toffee Caramel Crunch #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

 "Toffee Caramel Crunch #3" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

Lots of activity around my studio and house lately, so I got a little bogged down on my painting (and posting!) schedule.  Had some cabinets fixed in my kitchen and some lighting fixed (finally -- no more holes and dangling electrical wires!).  Had to spend an entire day emptying out the back room of my studio so the carpenters can get in next week to build some storage shelves for my still life props.  By the end of that task, I was so dusty, I had to take all my clothes off and throw into the washer -- even my down coat!  Thank goodness I'd had the wisdom to put on a dust mask.  Never a dull moment around here, even in winter!

Toffee Caramel Crunch: chocolate cake stuffed with buttercream, caramel and toffee topped with chocolate ganache and finished with buttercream, caramel drizzle and sprinkled with toffee. 

The most fun part?  Painting the caramel "drizzles".  My favorite view?  The last one.  This angle always reminds me of a fully-opened rose.

Blueberry Blast

 "Blueberry Blast #1" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Blueberry Blast #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

"Blueberry Blast #3" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

Running behind on my posts again!  I thought once Labor Day passed, life would quiet down.  But nooooooo!  These are 3 more studies from the fabulous bakery in Traverse City, Simplycupcakes. 

Butter Finger & Simply Delicious

 "Butter Finger #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6 -- Margie Guyot

"Simply Delicious #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

Realized I've been running behind on my posts!  These are the most recent cupcake paintings.  I'm trying to do at least 3 versions of each variety, seeing as how I've got 3 art shows coming up to paint for.  Each time I paint a cupcake, I turn it a little to get a new angle.  Doing identical paintings wouldn't appeal at all to me.  These are actually kind of fun to do.  Challenging, but fun.  A nice switch from the big still lifes, which I will get back to.

These are wonderful, gourmet cupcakes from Simplycupcakes in Traverse City, Michigan.  NOT like those nasty cupcakes from the grocery store!  Len, the owner, gives me these for free.  I've taken a few paintings down to him and he's got them up on the wall of the bakery, for sale.

Butter Finger

"Butter Finger" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

I think my waistline is growing thicker, just by LOOKING at these things!  This one is called "Butter Finger", described in Simplycupcakestc website as: dark chocolate cake topped with Peanut Butter buttercream and sprinkled with butterfinger candy.

This cupcake is safely tucked back into its box, in the refrigerator, waiting to be painted again.  I've got jazz ensemble rehearsal this morning, but maybe I can get back to my studio again this afternoon.

chocolate donut

"Chocolate Donut" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

OK, a little break from the cupcakes!  My friend, Gail DeMeyer, came over to see my studio and she brought a huge box of donuts from Johann's Bakery in Petoskey.  Egads!  We OD'd on coffee and donuts.  She had a gay old time, photographing my chickens. 

Then she watched me paint "Butter Finger", another of the cupcakes from Simplycupcakes of Traverse City. 

After Gail left, I grabbed this chocolate donut and painted a view of it.  The sun was out (a rarity here in winter) and I loved the shadow pattern and the glare on the frosting.  When finished, I took the donut straight out to the chicken coop.  No more donuts for me!!!!  The chickens were quite thrilled.

Funky Monkey

"Funky Monkey" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

Started the day with the goal of painting 3 versions of this and only managed to paint one.  Some days are like that!  From Simplycupcakes in Traverse City, Michigan, it is described as:

 

Funky Monkey : A banana cake filled with peanut butter buttercream topped with chocolate ganache and more peanut butter buttercream and a banana chip.

The swirls: always a challenge!  Once I finish a painting, I like to turn the cupcake a little to get a different swirl pattern.  Why paint multiple versions of an identical scene?  That would bore me to tears.

Years ago when I was in a landscape painting class, the instructor took a dislike to me (? why???) and said, "Obviously this comes easy to you!"  Huh????  I was shocked.  I said, "No, it's hard for me.  I always set up and look at the scene and think good grief -- this is going to be tough!  But I just keep plugging along, figuring things out as I go."

Painting, for me, is like taking an algebra test.  When the instructor hands it to me, I initially freak out.  All those problems frighten me.  I flip through all the pages until I see a problem I think I can do.  I do that one, then hunt for another problem I can handle.  One solution feeds the next solution.  And so it is with painting.  I start out with a basic outline, very rough, to figure out where to place it on the canvas.  Then I figure out what space the frosting will occupy.  The paper cup -- how much does that cover?  And so on.  I have to control my panic when figuring out the twists of the frosting.  Then I start in on the darks.  It all goes like that, working from dark to light.  For most of the painting process, it looks pretty bad!  But, like Clyde Aspevig told our class one time, while doing a demonstration painting, "This is the point at which beginners would quit.  But I know how to fix it!"

That's why I tell people, "Making a good painting involves learning how to control your panic!"

Betty Edwards, in her book, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", teaches how you can learn to ignore that part of your brain that wants to tell you it looks awful! You can't draw!  Great book!  It changed my life.

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

 "Cookies & Cream #1" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

"Cookies & Cream #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

Another dark, snowy day in NW Michigan.  The first cupcake painting had better lighting -- you can tell that by the color.  It's kind of fun to see the same cupcake painted under slightly different lighting conditions and angels, though.  The folds of frosting mesmerize me.  

This cupcake is from Simplycupcakes in Traverse City, Michigan.  That's a tiny "Oreo" type cookie on top.  The frosting has finely-ground chocolate cookies in it (see the specks?).  They're on Front Street and usually sell out every day. 

Pina Colada Cupcakes

 "Pina Colada #1" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

"Pina Colada #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

Yikes!  I've gotten behind on my posts.  It's been very cold and snowy, and I've been hanging out in my studio, painting cupcakes - and playing my sax.  

I've decided to do several paintings of each cupcake, varying the angles slightly.  The frosting swirls are always a challenge.  Learning to control your panic is one of the keys to producing a good painting.  Seeing those swirls of frosting could throw me into a panic, but I know to just ignore the freak-out messages from my brain and just calm down and figure them out.

This is another cupcake from Simplycupcakes in Traverse City, Michigan.  The description of this one (taken from their website) is:  Pineapple cake topped with a butter rum buttercream frosting and finished with coconut and a cherry.  Mmmmm! 

"Triple Chocolate Cupcake"

"Triple Chocolate Cupcake" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

This was the second in the cupcake painting series.  Cupcakes were from SimplyCupcakes in Traverse City.  Delicious!  I had to spend 30 minutes - twice! - on the treadmill yesterday to try to make up for it.


Stay tuned for more cupcake paintings.  The next time I go to Traverse City I'll get more.

Key Lime Cupcake

"Key Lime Cupcake" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

There's a new bakery in Traverse City called SimplyCupcakes.  My friend Pete took me over there a few days ago.  I bought three, with the idea of doing a grouping of cupcake paintings.  The coconut one got eaten before I could paint it!


This one had a lime creme filling inside, topped with lime curd, frosting and grated lime peel and bits of graham cracker crumbs.  Horribly delicious!


The most challenging thing was figuring out how to paint the paper liner.  


I had a cup of hot tea with lemon and ate this afterward.  YUM!