Fruit Loops - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

8" x 8"

Sometimes being the dad and the last one to leave the house every morning has its advantages. I walk around the house after everyone has left and turn off lights and shut cupboard doors that have not been shut tight and sometimes even wash a few dishes. This particular sight caught my eye right away one morning this past week. I thought how cool is that? It reminded me of the watermelon rind painting I did sometime ago. (click here to see the watermelon rind painting) I liked the little fruit loops floating on the surface of the milk and clinging together. My youngest daughter asked how I paint white milk and still show white highlights? The answer is you must not paint the milk as white as the highlights will be. Besides if you really look close at milk in a used cereal bowl it isn't all that white anyway. This is painting 266 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

Yellow Pencil - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

2" x 10"

The yellow #2 pencil is a classic. Pencils of any other color just don't seem quite right to me. This is painting 265 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

Coffee Cup - by Darren Maurer

24" x 24"

I have been wanting to try this technique for awhile now. The painting consists of 28 smaller panels all painted separately and randomly from each other. Painting the sections reminded me of painting 28 little abstract pieces. I had no idea which piece went where. I also wasn't exactly sure what part of the composition I was working on at any given time. The reason this works so well is the fact that the colors all vary slightly and the lines don't match up perfectly from one panel to the next. When they were finished I fit them back together to form the larger realistic composition. Painting Sold.

Six m&m's - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

3" x 10"

This painting wasn't easy to photograph. Maybe the multiple colored m&m's had something to do with the difficulty. Some m&m's would look fine and others would wash out. If I brought the color up on the washed out areas the other m&m's would get too dark. This is about as good as I could get it. It is times like this I'm happy to be a painter and not a photographer. I'm getting better though. The colors on the original painting are indeed very brilliant. This is painting 264 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

Olives - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

6" x 6"

Sometimes I finish a painting and really feel like I nailed the color of my subject with the oil paint. This piece represents one of those instances. I moved my interest point in the composition toward the top of the canvas for no other reason than it just seemed right. This is painting 263 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

Common Goldeneyes - by Darren Maurer

24" x 30"

As some people that follow my work already know, I have been fortunate enough to win three Iowa Duck Stamp competitions since 2001 and was also named Iowa Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year in 2007. I am proud to have these accomplishments on my resume, although along with winning such contests comes the assumption by some collectors that I am strictly a wildlife or duck painter. I do like to portray scenes with waterfowl as the subject matter but I also paint so much more. I didn't ever want to put myself into a box limiting what my subject matter and work becomes. Challenging yourself as an artist helps to expand your talent. With all that, I am posting my latest waterfowl work and I am happy with my finished product.

This painting is one I recently finished (just tonight). It has one of my favorite waterfowl species as the subject. These are male Common Goldeneyes. Goldeneyes are hearty ducks only migrating far enough south the find open water. As long as open water and food are available they will stay throughout the winter. Iowa has several of these ducks that never go any further south.I love this scene of seven drake (or male) Goldeneyes moving through open water along the edge of an ice sheet. These ducks forage underwater feeding on crustaceans, aquatic insects and mullusks. They are obviously named for their yellow golden eye color. Adult mature males have dark heads with a greenish gloss, a circular white patch beneath the eye, dark backs with a white neck and belly. The white on mature males is a very strong stark white. I worked on the water longer than I did the ducks. The contrast of the white bodies of the birds against the darker water makes this painting for me. Painting not available at this time (to be continued....)

Lemon and Bowl - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

6" x 6"

I really feel like this lemon is sitting inside a bowl. I was slightly concerned that the composition might look too abstract from a view point directly above the bowl. Halfway through the painting I knew it was going to work. I'm satisfied with my results. This particular bowl is a piece of artwork by a local potter. I spotted the bowl with the lemon sitting in it while we were visiting friends on New Year's eve and knew instantly I wanted to use it as a painting subject. I made a special trip all the home to retrieve my camera and returned to take some photos. I think it makes the perfect compliment to the lemon. This is painting 262 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

Yellow Pencils & Jar - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

6" x 9"

The dark background really helps make these pencils shine. The majority of the pencils are obscurred by the glass. They look distorted and abstract because of the refraction from the curved surface of the glass. This is painting 261 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

Ring Pop - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

4" x 6"
I saw a package of these Ring Pops over my Christmas and New Year's break and had to finish a painting of one of them. Kids still love these things today and they are still an classic original piece of candy. I have been working on some larger paintings over the break and will post them when they are finished. This is painting 260 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.