Orange Section - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

4" x 6"

I apologize for my absence the past two weeks. I have been working on a larger painting that has been taking much of time and multi-tasking is not one of my strong points. This peeled section of an orange made a great painting subject today. I really like how the light travels through the fruit and sort of illuminates the bottom side of the section. The color changes toward the bottom to more of a reddish orange much like light underwater gets dimmer and darker the deeper it travels into the water column. This is painting 269 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Available $100. (Email Me for Purchase Details)

Iowa Ducks Unlimited Print of the Year

24" x 30"

I'm very happy and honored to announce this painting I posted a few weeks ago was chosen as the winner of the Iowa Ducks Unlimited Print of the Year contest in Des Moines last Saturday afternoon. The title that comes with this honor is being named Iowa Artist of the Year by Iowa Ducks Unlimited. I was going to try and make it to the competition site Saturday but a heavy snow across southern Iowa made me change my mind on traveling. I spent Valentine's Day at home with my three sweethearts instead of spending it Des Monies discussing ducks all afternoon. Everything has a way of working itself out. I will post more about this painting as time goes on and keep everyone informed of any developments related to this news.

The Last Slice of Pepperoni Pizza, by Darren Maurer

6" x 9"

Whenever we have pizza both of my daughters' top choice is always pepperoni. I have painted pepperoni pizza before and have always been happy the finished product. This one is no different but I think my favorite areas of this painting are the greasy spots on the bottom of the cardboard pizza box. They were way too much fun to paint. This is painting 268 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

Duck Stamp Entry - by Darren Maurer

6-1/2 x 11"

This is my Iowa Duck Stamp entry for next weekend's competition. It has been a roller coaster ride getting through this one. The painting would go from looking good to not looking so good. I finished it late last night. I will send it off to the competition tomorrow.

Water Glass & Brush - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

6" x 6"

This painting is a very limited palette. I like the fact that the brush provides the lone spot of color. I think I managed to capture the clean clear look of a cool glass of water in this painting. As I was working on it I started thinking about the optimist vs. pessimist analogy. Is the glass half full or half empty? This is painting 267 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.