Robie Benve Art

                                              5"x5" Acrylic on Canvas    What’s the point of buying fresh flowers and not painting them? Hopefully I’ll be able to make one painting a day while they are still fresh!  :) This is my first attempt. I drew the flowers with pencil, then painted a purple background around and yellow on the flowers and leaves, and I painted over that.  I let some of the purple base-color show through.

"Gondola Veneziana"      11"x14"  Acrylic on Canvas Panel Venice holds a very special spot in my heart: I grew up few miles from it, and I went to the University in Venice. I've always enjoyed the city and its atmosphere, so rich of history and architecture, so artistic, and so poetic. Painting Venice can be intimidating. There are many things that are different from what our eye would expect. Lines in Venice are never straight. Walls, sidewalks and buildings have almost organic structure: they curve, soar and lean, in a harmonious way.   When I saw the A Day Not Wasted blog posted a painting challenge with a Venetian Gondola, I thought this was my chance to break the ice and start painting my beautiful Venice. Though the reference picture is darker than the Venice I like to remember, I needed the incentive to get started on my first painting of Venice, and it worked. I tried to brighten up the colors a little and added some flowe...

I'm working on a new painting. My reference is from a picture of my beloved Venice, which I never dared to paint before. The picture has been provided by the "A day Not Wasted" blog, and it's a little dark, so I'm trying to paint the scene making it brighter, but I got to a point of dissatisfaction, and now I'm re-working it. Oh brother! I'm a little scared about this one, but two thoughts keep me going. The first is that it's all good exercise, no matter what. The second is that I'm finally breaking the ice painting Venice, and that's a great thing for me. :)

"Coffee Jar" 9"x12" Acrylic on Canvas Panel                                    I always found painting a still life challenging, and I usually avoid painting one, so when I saw the challenge on the Paint And Draw Together blog, I was at the same time intimidated and excited to try. It as been hard to decide when the painting was finished. There is a fine line between keeping painting and improving my work and declaring the painting finished. When are details good enough so I can say “done”? Most often, I keep feeling like I need to change something, to improve a color value or a shape. This painting was no exception. Even now I would go back and modify things, the background for example. But I decided to stop. I put my signature on it, and that’s the symbolic roadblock. Now if I want to ch...

"Monarch Butterfly" 9"x12" Acrylic on canvas panel                                              I painted this for the  Paint and draw together monthly challenge. I really enjoyed the challenge, it was great to have a deadline for the completion, and seeing how other people painted the same subject. Of course the painting did not come out the way I had it in my head, but it's different in a good way.  The most difficult part was to render the light/shade effect, especially on the sticks and the leaves. Overall, I have to admit it's not bad for a beginner. :)

Colorful Landscape Painting 18"x24"    Acrylic on canvas panel                                        I found my inspiration for my second painting on the cover of the "Acrylic Artist" magazine: a painting by Mark Gould, "My neighbor's house 832".  I loved the colors and the composition of Mark's piece, with the hilly path going to the horizon and the sharp homes that contrast the natural landscape. I tried to replicate the same feelings on my canvas. I really enjoyed experimenting with color. :) I hope one day I'll be able to take a landscape scene and make as colorful and interesting as this one all on my own, without having to copy another artist.  - Hey, did I just referred to myself as an artist? Acrylic Artist magazine cover

Butterfly painting for my daughter's bedroom 16"x12"  Acrylic on canvas                                           I painted this for my daughter's bedroom, inspired by a similar one I saw in a store. Many times, my whole life, I have been thinking "I could do this, copy it just the same." when I saw an artwork. This time it was my girl that saw an artwork that she wanted for her room, and I said "Honey, I can do that for you, and we can savev the money." It was one of those life changing moments. Because it was kind of a promise to my daughter, I actually did it. I broke the ice, got an old canvas I had in the house, on which my son had doodled with some paint, and I painted it pink, then I drew and painted the butterfly, grass, and ladybugs. I added some sparkles f...