Robie Benve Art

"The Last Glow" 6x6" oil on gesso board  Available Every time I see a sunset I can't resist. I have to stop and watch. If I'm driving on a highway and can't stop the car, it's true sufferance. :) When I admire a sunset I find myself breathing deeper and smiling. Sometime sunsets are so beautiful and the colors and shapes of the clouds so surprising that I often think if I even succeeded painting it with the perfect glow and colors, people would think it's an exaggerated artistic representation, so unbelievably beautiful are the colors. Truth is I can't even get close to painting the real colors and inner glow of a sunset. I can just paint an idea of it, a representation that reminds me of the wonderful feeling I felt when I saw it. This small painting is from a photo a friend of mine posted on facebook, she kindly game me The Last Glow . This is the photo that my friend posted permission to paint it. Though I did not see this p...

"Honeymooners" 9x12" Oil on board SOLD The sunsets at the beach are the best ones, and while I was in Florida last year I enjoyed every single one of them. One evening I took a photo of this sunset, and there was a couple just at the right spot, admiring it too. I had some fun trying to imagine their story.  I decided that they were a newly wed couple, deeply in love, full of romantic thoughts; their eyes, blinded by love, could see hearts everywhere. :)

"Pickerington Ponds" 8"x10", Oil on panel Available Oh my, what an experience for a rookie plein air painter like me!  I went painting at a local park. The wind was blowing like crazy, and the gusts made holding a steady brush so difficult, not to mention the flying easels, brushes, and panel! lol But I made it, I finished my painting even in the adverse conditions. I have to admit that I refined it in the studio afterwards, mainly because it flew on the grass face down when I was packing up to leave.  Wet paint and grass make an interesting texture, but in some areas I had to remove the debris and fix the damage. Overall it was a lot of fun!  And refreshing. I truly enjoyed being out, with the sun shining. I so needed that, after a winter way too long and too cold that kept me indoors. So this is officially my first painting in the wind, and I like it. :)  The grass was not green yet, even if it was mid April, it could very well be an autumn scene. Ma...

"Looking Forward to Tomorrow" 22"x28", Oil on stretched Canvas SOLD In Italy we have a proverb that says "Rosso di sera, bel tempo si spera", which means when the sky gets red in the evening, you can hope on good wheather. That's why I called this painting "Looking Forward to Tomorrow", because of that saying. But I also see this painting as an emblem of positive thinking: it's about being hopeful and believing on what tomorrow can and will bring. When we focus on the positive, good things will come. “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think.  When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” Buddha

"Castellammare II" 8"x10", oil on panel SOLD I took a photo of this sunset a couple of years ago  in Castellammare di Stabia, the Italian city where my husband grew up. Since then it has been one of my favorite photos from our vacation. I used the photo as fb cover, I had it printed on our family calendar, and of course I painted it, at least a couple of times. This painting was done in one morning, a day where I started out with brushes, but then I decided that I wanted to do something bold. So I painted  with a knife, in thick impasto strokes. The panel was toned orange and that still comes through in many places adding a very warm glow to everything. I love the result, it's colorful and a little abstract. Thanks for visiting! :)

pastel portrait of model Last Friday I woke up in the morning and I was craving color. I wore a very colorful top by Rising International (I loove that brand!), I packed my never-used-before box of pastels, and headed to the figure drawing class. In one class I made two portraits of the model. Pastel portrait of model One looks more like him, the other looks like some relative of his, maybe his brother lol - but that's besides the point. What I really wanted to do is create a colorful portrait, using colors based on their value, not on their hues. So if it's light, it does not matter if it's yellow, blue or lime green, it will go on an area in full light. If it's a darker color it goes in the shade, no matter the color. Overall I was very happy with these first attempts of colorful portraits. Considering that it was my first time using pastels, I did pretty good I think.

"Man Seated" 12"x18" Drawing, Charcoal on Paper Usually our models are all females, it's nice to have a male every once in a while for a change. I made this drawing pretty quickly with charcoal vine. If you are not familiar with charcoal vine soft , it is a pleasure to draw with and very forgiving - you can erase quite easily - but it smudges a lot!  I did not spray any fixative, so when I got the drawing out again to take a photo I realized it was quite smudged up. I fixed it up a little and here he is. Thanks for stopping by! Have a happy and creative day! :)