After Halloween I always raid my kids’ candy for the “candy tax.” Give me all your Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, your Butterfingers, and the unusually high number of mini Heath bars. And this year they had to give me their lollipops. They got them back, as long as they didn’t mind that I’d had my hands all over them. These lollipop paintings were super fun, and I think they came out very Wayne Thiebaud-ish.*

These lollis taught me some fun color lessons. A lot can be achieved with just a little tonal shift, and also the color yellow can go right to hell. So transparent! So hard to paint without getting muddy! And no one likes a muddy lollipop.

*I had completely forgotten that Wayne Thiebaud also did these amazing landscapes. I’m a sucker for a colorful landscape.