Fall camp scene sneak peak work in progress!

 

Work in Progress!



I found the reference for this piece on Wet Canvas in their reference library for artists.  It is a great place to find reference photos that members have graciously allowed anyone to use, no strings attached. I typically use my own photos, but I really liked this one.  I loved that the canoe was all scuffed up and that the old building had a bright fresh coat of paint.   What you don't see is all the fall leaves and long grass that are still to come.  I am plugging away at it though.  I was happy to get the canoe done since that is really the focal point.  My picture doesn't do it justice - it really pops!

Here is a look at the reference so you can see what is to come.  I did change the red of the building a bit so that the canoe would stand out more.  Also, it was the same color as some of the leaves.  I suspect there were some photoshop changes involved to pump up the color.

 

I'll post the final version when I am finished.  Thanks for looking and feel free to comment with what you think.

 

 

Everything gets in the way of painting!

The title says it all!  Life, social media, money, online shops - these things get in the way of making art!  Let's Start with social media.  I am sure you have heard of  Facewook, Twitter, Google+,  Pinterest, Blogger and that is just the core group, I am sure.  How in the heck am I suppposed to keep up with all of this?    My Google+ account has been ignored since March and my blog (that I am going to revive starting now) has been  too long as well.  I tweet a couple times a week and Pin when I finish something new.  I do visit Facebook daily though.  I am so in awe of the artists that tweet daily all day long and still manage to get someting accomplished!    Facebook sucks too much of my time as it is :)!  If anyone has any suggestions to this dilema, I would love to hear it!  How do you balance social media and doing art??

My latest completed painting~  titled Gilli's.  Yummy window I photographed in Florence.  Prints available on Fine Art America.
               
Money is another thing that gets in the way of creating art.  Canvas, classes, memberships, entry fees, paint and other supplies all cost mucho dinero!!   What is a girl to do?  When I retired to pursue my art I really wanted to be able to fund myself.  I started garage and estate sale shopping, scouring for collectibles to sell on Ebay.  This has worked quite well, but I lost all control of the clutter in my house and can no longer take it!  One bedroom was completely dedicated to all my finds and packing material.  This quickly spilled out into other rooms to the point that if we had any guests, I had to find a place to stash so much stuff so they had a place to sleep.  I finally had to stop the madness and cut way back on my Ebay selling and be so much more selective.  This hopefullly will allow me some more time for art and my on-line shops!

 

That brings up the on-line shops!  I have a shop on Etsy, Cafepress, Zazzle, Fine Art America and other places I can no longer keep track of.   My plan was to cut back on Ebay and spend more time on my shops.  This is supposed to replace the Ebay income if I can get my shops making more money.  I know this will take a lot of work and I need to start focusing on this goal!


But none of this matters if I don't have new paintings to show, put on new products, sell.  I would love to hear how other artists, atisans, crafters balance all this with creating! 


Thanks for reading!

WIP - Work in progess - Making strides!

OK, maybe not strides, but baby steps :)
Here, I have worked on the railing.  Getting the lights and darks was a challenge.  I will still make some adjustments, I suspect, after I get the background done to make sure that the railing pops forward.  I really do enjoy painting light and shadow and this image offers lots of both!

I have begun the dreaded foliage ;)  The photo washed out the background a bit, but you get the idea.  I got  quite a bit done this morning so I am now actually looking forward to doing more trees (on this one anyway).  I am hoping to have this pretty much done before I go to class next week.    I think I will name this 'My Favorite Spot'  because I love to sit and read here when I am at camp.  I have a view of the water here and can see my hummingbird feeder which I love to watch.  Camping season can come anytime!!!

Thanks for looking - I will be back with the final installment soon, I hope!

New Painting Work in Progress - View at Camp.

I am finally on to a new piece.  I must admit that I am not a marathon painter - a couple hours at a time is typically my limit.  That being said, we shall see how long this one takes me.  Also, since my style tends towards realism details are important and take me time to render. 

 This new piece a view from the new side deck on our log cabin camp.  I love sitting on the new deck surrounded by trees in the peace and quiet.  I hope I can do it justice.

Above, I am just getting some paint on starting with the largest, darkest area first.  Then I proceeded to the deck which is a tricky color.  I may still need to darken the values in the shadows, but want to get some more color on first.  This is the point where it is really ugly, but come back, I promise it will get better!

In my next session, I worked on the chair and I really like how it turned out.  I am so procrastinating on doing the foliage.  Trees have never been my favorite so I need to push myself to work on that.  I really prefer to work a section to completion, but learned that it is better to get some values established first.  As you can see I completed the chair anyway - it kills me to leave stuff unfinished :) 

I will be back with more progress the beginning of the week.  I am psyched to work on this one now that I have it to this point.

What's on the Easel? A new watercolor and a new acrylic!

Thought I would give a sneak peek at what is in the works!~  The left side is an new acrylic painting I am doing.  I just love the window reflections - they are little paintings themselves!  The top two are done, but I am still working on the other 4.  There are also some pretty flowers that I need to add the the flower box.   I am really enjoying this one :)

The right is a new watercolor still life.  I have decided that I really like doing still life watercolor paintings rather than landscapes.  Trees are really not my thing in watercolor.  I am still fighting with the doily, but other than that just a little more tweeking. 

Let me know what you think.  I would love to hear from you.  Also feel free to comment on what you would like to see me paint.  I may just take you up on it! 

Acrylic peacock painting Bird Part III - next to last!

OK!  We are getting to the home stretch!  I finished the shutters and am getting some color on the bird - finally!  At this stage, I did an underpainting and am just starting to work on the feather detail.  I am using various mixtures with Phthalo green - cerelean blue for lighter and purple for darker.  I am also using some interference paint in the sun kissed areas.

I will use this as an opportunity to give a plug for my favorite acrylic paints.  I use Golden Artist Colors.  They use no fillers and are more true to color.  You can get them for a reasonable price at Dick Blick and such places.  They make a great selection of interference colors.  GOLDEN Interference Acrylic colors offer a unique "interference flip." When viewed from difference perspectives, Interference colors flip between a bright opalescent color and its complement. 

I am quite happy with the stone work and the shutters.  Now the main event is going to be challenging.  I'll tell you a secret - I am further along right now than in this pic and the tail feathers are not too bad.  I am not looking forward to the wing detail though!

Peacock work in progress Part Deux~!

Whew!  This took longer than expected, as usual! I have been painting the stone walls with some false starts here and there.  First was getting the perspective correct - then the values in light and shadow, then painting believable stones.  I am happy to report that most of the stone work is done - I am anxious to get on to the shutters and the main attraction itself.  I have not painted feathers before - fur, but not feathers.  The colors look challenging too.  Well, we never will improve and learn without a challenge.  That is why I am all over the place with subject matter - I want to try everything!

This photo is a bit washed out because I forgot to turn off my spot lights.  Next time I hope to have some more COLOR on the canvas.  I have given myself a deadline of two more weeks to get this done - we shall see. 

Leave a comment and let me know what you think or ask any questions!

Peacock Painting Work in Progress~

Welcome to my WIP - Work in Progress that is!

The reference photo was taken in Tuscany when I tagged along on my hubby's business trip.  This was at a winery in the Black Rooster region.  There were several peacocks running around the property and this one was kind enough to pose for me!

I started with the largest, darkest shapes first as I was taught.  This is to help establish the rest of the values.  Now I am working on the stone around the windows.  I know I am supposed to get paint on the whole canvas before working on any details, but that just goes against my nature - when I start something I want to finish it. 

I will work on the shutters or wall next.  I tend to leave the main event until last , partly because I am procrastinating and, in this case, partly because his feathers ovelap the background.

Please come back for another exciting installment of my WIP!  Same bat time, same bat channel. 

Work in Progress~! Fall market!

I just love Fall subjects. This is a local Farmers Market that sells all the usual fall goodies including all kinds of apples! Yes, it really is painted that color! As you can see, I have a pretty good start on it. I tried to paint the wall gradually getting duller as it gets farther back - same goes for the pumpkins and flowers. This pic really isn't very good - the pumpkins really glow. I used a bit of blue in the highlight - complimentary colors work great as highlights!

Now, I decided to work on the reflections in the glass. They were quite detailed. I paid more attention to the detail closer to the viewer. This took quite a bit of time and I still need to do more on the reflections. I may need to dull the close one a bit so it doesn't look like you are seeing through the glass. I also may need to adjust the colors and brightness once I add the trim color which is next on the agenda. I also worked on the open door area. That may need darkening a bit later. Everything is in relation to the other colors so I want to get the trim on before I adjust anything else. FYI that big blob in the middle will be a large hanging petunia basket - kind of looks like an octopus right now:)