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Showing posts from January, 2010

Conwy Castle

Just waiting for some supplies to come in so I can start working on my latest commission, and since it has been a few years since I did anything in black and white so i thought i would start a small ink piece to try and work on my values. I am working this piece with a sz 03 micron pen. It has been so long since i brought my pens out that they have almost dried up - which is exactly what i needed to get this piece going. Ink is VERY unforgiving so you have to work slowly judging lights against darks and building up your darker values. You cant go back in and erase it later. About 6 hours into this already and it is only 8*10. Yes I am still working on my Xander portrait ;) 7.5"*8" Ink on paper For Sale $85 USD

March of the Clowns Finished

6.5" * 8.25 Watercolor on 140lb $220 USD For Sale Matted and Mounted Im such a techno weenie. I do have a WIP for this painting somewhere around here, I started it last winter i just dont know how to bump and archived post.

Xander Watercolor Portrait Tutorial

HI all, I would like to introduce you to my youngest boy - i couldnt resist trying to capture the toothless grin that he is famous for. This started out ok with the line drawing and the diox purple underpainting - but now it has got to the ugly stage and i am forcing myself to work through it. His skin tones were painted using rose madder and yellow ochre. Way to yellow for him so i am going to add a layer or 2 of perm rose just to try and tone it out a bit. If there are any portrait artists out there I could really use some help trying to correct these issues. The next installment of Xander is here. It is starting to pop, I started this session by masking out his eyes and a few highlights in his hair before i proceeded to start adding a large wash of his skin tones focusing on transitions between the yellows and reds. After a few layers to build up tone, I went back in with a very light wash of cobalt blue and started "carving out" some shadows. Still looking p

Bottles and Blooms

Another finger-painting. I have become a very tactile person the older i get and even though you cant get the fine details that a brush could give you I love the feel of squishy paint between my fingers. I know it sounds gross but it almost tricks your brain into thinking of your piece as a sculpture being molded instead of painted. If that makes any sense. ;)

Floral Pour - acrylic cracked!

Well this was an eye opener. Another acrylic but this time i tried pouring, as well as my fingers dipped in water to acheive this marbleing technique. Overall it "was a beautiful painting till it started to dry and then it cracked. I dont know why - maybe because the paint was applied so thickly. hmm! Anyways I thought I would share what was. I peeled this painting off and are saving the paint skins for another project.

How to paint a portrait - Skin tones

Another art card 2.5 * 3.5 inch just trying to keep my paints wet. For the skin tones I used a mix of yellow ochre and rose madder (yes i do know that it is a fugitive color) with some UMB thrown in for the shadows. The background was painted with hookers green deep and cerelean blue, and the shirt comprises of hookers green, yellow ochre and rose madder for the shadows.

Under Sea Dance

I apologize in advance to all the fish people out there. This painting was not so much an excersize in anatomy then it was on learning a new brush. My absolute favorite new brush. The angle shader. :) It can get into the nooks and crannies, it can produce wide strokes like my flats and fine dots like my liner but without having to switch brushes. YEAH Going to get another one that is designed for watercolor. This one is a little stiff.

Personal Goals as an Artist for 2010

2010 in itself sounds almost science fictionish. LOL 2010 is going to be an exciting year. I am going back to teaching acrylics sometime in the next few weeks and to selling some of my paintings online. I havent had much of an opportunity to do anything in the past few years due to having children but it feels pretty good to be starting off on a note like this. Things I want to work on this year. 1. Creative thinking- i have been finding a looseness is my paintings that I dont have to "think about" lately. I have not been worrying so much on the anatomy of a piece as much as working on brushstrokes values, and composition. "More play.. less brain". 2. Enter at least 1 Juried competition. EEEEKKKKK! The idea in itself terrifies me. It is different when you paint for enjoyment then to have someone sit down and go over your painting brushstroke by brushstroke. Being a self-taught artist there is nothing scarier then having someone that knows what they are talking about

Under the deep blue sea ACEO

Just playing around. Measuring 2.5 * 3.5 inches this watercolor offered alot of challenges. 1. Have done 3 acrylic pieces in a row and going from acrylic to watercolor is like re-teaching yourself how to paint. 2. The size- many year ago when I started to paint it was all very small sizes- as I didnt want to waste paper ;) but over the years i have learned that it is WAY easier to work washes on a large scale. Trying to get into all those tiny nooks and crannies are a big pain. See my clown painting in progress. LOL