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. 

Recipe by request! Soup is good food!

I tweeted yesterday that I was making White bean and roasted garlic soup for my guests this weekend.  I had such a good reaction to it that I thought I would post the recipe.  It originally came from a magazine, but I doctored it up so that is is much yummier!

6 cloves of garlic unpeeled
3 Tbl olive oil
1 large onion chopped
3 carrots chopped
3 cups of chicken broth
2 19 oz cans of white beans rinsed and drained
1 bay leaf
1 teas fresh rosemary leaves chopped - I use dried
1/2 t. tarragon
1/2 t. thyme
1/2 t. pepper

Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Wrap the garlic in foil and roast on the top shelf 25-30 min.  Cool.
Heat oil over med. heat in saucepan.  Add onion and carrot - saute 10 min until soft.  Add broth, beans bay leaf, rosemary, tarragon, thyme and pepper.  Heat to boiling - reduce heat to low, partially cover, and simmer 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Break open garlic skin and squeeze the soft center into the soup,  Simmer uncovered 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove and discard bay leaf.  Puree the mixture in a blender in several batches.  Return to saucepan and reheat.  Serve and enjoy!

You can adjust the seasoning to your taste and add more broth if you like a thinner soup.

While I have your attention,  feel free to sign up for my periodic newsletter to the right - I always include a recipe in each one.

HAPPY EASTER!

Never too early for Christmas Poinsettia painting

This is a new watercolor painting that I did  hopefully to use on Christmas cards this year.  It always gets to be holiday time and I have no chance to do something for a card.  Well, this year I am way ahead of the game. 

These poinsettias were in a casino of all places - they were the prettiest white, pink and red.  This casino has a display of huge gingerbread houses every year so I took my camera.  I am sooo glad that I did! 

I will be adding Giclee prints of this painting to my Etsy shop soon!  I have to keep the original for a solo gallery show in September.

Thanks for looking and come back soon!

Another canvas print Winner!

We have a winner and her name is Deb from Artshticks corner.  Check out her blog - it rocks!

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 27

Result:

10

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(I removed a duplicate comment and added extra for those that tweeted. etc)

Congratulations to Deb and a shout out to Uprinting for providing the excellent prize~!

Watch for another giveaway next month!

Woodstock '99 Revisited in Art

'Woodstock '99 Revisited' - Mixed Media on paper.

Remember Woodstock '99?  It was held in Rome N.Y. and ended in flames.  I guess it is no longer possible to capture the peace and love of the original.  I did attend despite my somewhat elderly status in comparison to many of the attendees.  How could I pass it up?  It was 7 miles away.

I must confess that I did not get the full woodstock experience.  I slept at home in my clean, comfy bed and was bussed in each morning and home at night.  It was the only way to go!!!

There was a wide array of bands from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Korn, Kid Rock (before he went country) to Jewel and Cheryl Crow.  You can see the entire list of performers here.

A plywood and steel fence was consructed to prevent gate crashing.  Lots of murals were painted on the wall and that is what I depiced in my painting above.  This was such a unique image since I captured a solitary guy sitting by the fence.  Quite a feat since over 200,000 people were in attendance. 

I loved the artwork on this section of the fence so I painted this mixed media piece (acrylic and pencil) on paper to commemorate the event.  Tell me what you think...