Floral WIP Painting in New Oils

Well, I started another oil painting this morning and got this far before deciding to do a WIP (work in progress) of it.

This is a painting of some orchids and I know the pencil drawing is a little light so hope you can see the actual flowers well enough.  As you can see, the background is pretty much finished although I may tweak it a bit later.  I'm very pleased with it so far and it was a dream to paint as blending is easy as is layering lighter colors on top of dark ones.

The only things I'm not sure about are the leaf in the bottom left corner and that stem beside it so I may take them out.  I'll wait and think about it a bit more first though.

My DH, CiCi (our Maltese) and I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday where I got some paint brushes, a nice canvas and this cradled panel with canvas texture from Ampersand.  This one happens to be 12 inches square as I knew I wanted a square format for these orchids.  I usually love Ampersand products although they're very pricey but I'm not real sure about this one.  The paint seemed to drag more on this than the canvas I used for the wave painting shown yesterday.

Which brings me to the brushes I bought - I had seen several recommendations for the Robert Simmons synthetic line which are very reasonable and I've used them before for acrylics & liked them.  However, these seem almost too soft to use with the oil paints.  Of course, it could have been the Ampersand surface instead.  Anyway, I'm reserving judgement on both for right now.

So, I'll eventually try other brushes and surfaces -  Jiminy! a painting supply addiction is almost as costly as a drug addiction!

Watercolor and Gouache Floral

I'm still playing around with watercolor and gouache and thought I'd try a flower painting instead of an animal this time.  These are some cosmos flowers from a reference photo by Debbie Byess on Paint My Photo.  It's a work in progress and is watercolor and gouache on Arches Hot Pressed watercolor paper.

I still have some shading to do on the stems and some additions of the ferny leaves.  Also, the background needs some more work.  While it looks black here, it's really a mixture of various greens, blues and the pink and maroon of the flowers.  Since I'll want to use this primarily for prints (if it ends up good enough!), I want the background to look flatter and more varied than it appears right now.

While I've got you all looking, I'd like to put in a plug for my friend, Sue Clinker from PencilPix blogspot.  She has a wonderful entry in a "Best of British Drawing Contest" sponsored by Derwent and the winner will be determined by votes.  Her painting is of her husband trying to bar-b-que in the rain (which I gather is pretty typical of British weather much of the time).  Here is a link to the contest:

http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/222621/voteable_entries?page=1


You can vote for up to 20 entries and I do hope you'll find Sue's entry and will vote for it as I think she's done a wonderful job on this painting.  It's called "Typical British BBG" by Sue Clinker.

Busy, busy, busy!

It has been a wild and crazy last month or so around here and I haven't done much painting at all.  I did finish the double portrait of two beautiful Golden Retrievers some time ago so I thought I'd post the final portrait since I hadn't shown it to you before now. 

I was pleased with it and it really looks much better in person than here.  This was the largest portrait I've done to date and it took a while.  It was on a full sheet of either PastelMat or Colorfix Suede (I've slept many times since it was finished & don't remember which one!  lol) or about 20x27 inches.  I think the owner was pleased also.

I titled this post Busy, busy, busy for a reason.  My DH has finally retired after working at the same place for slightly over 40 years!  He started the retirement on May 1st so we've had almost a week to get used to having one another underfoot and adjusting to a different schedule.  So far it's working out ok and it's really nice being able to do things during the week at whatever time is convenient for us.

A new BJ's warehouse club opened up in a town relatively close to us - about 40 - 45 miles away - so we decided to check it out one day.  That was interesting.  We ended up joining (they give you the "opportunity" to join at a special price before you can actually shop there although they offer a trial membership also.)  I must say that I was disappointed in the experience with everything bundled so that quantities were either way too much for two people (like some of the fresh produce) or there were too few choices in items that you could stock up on.  For instance, as a vegetarian, I was very disappointed to find the one & only brand of baked beans they had was prepared with meat.  The prices weren't bad so I guess it was a good idea to join.  My husband's opthamologist is right around the corner from BJ's so I guess we'll use it some at least.

It is also the week of my husband's birthday so the kids are coming this evening to celebrate both his birthday and his retirement.  I made potato salad and cole slaw yesterday and biscuits this morning (for tomorrow morning's breakfast).  Potato salad and slaw always seem to taste best when they've had a chance to marinate and completely chill.  Later I'll be making baked beans and hush puppies so I'm taking a little break right now to make this post!  Since I don't usually cook meat, we got some pit cooked bbq from a local restaurant not too far from us.  Add a little cake and ice cream after dinner and we'll call it a celebration feast!

Another perk of my DH being retired is that we can travel some and we'll be doing a bit of that off and on.  He's a big gardener and has put in a really comprehensive vegetable garden this year so we won't be gone a lot because of that.  But, I may not be posting on a regular basis again.  I'm looking forward to getting all settled in our "new" life so I can get back to painting again!

A New Web Friend From Brambleberry Cottage

Only this one I met in person first!  I was shopping with a couple of friends last weekend and found the perfect stroller for our little rescued Maltese in a thrift shop in a neighboring town.  I'd just paid for the stroller when another lady came up with a cute little Yorkie to inquire about the same stroller.  I found out later that her name was Liz and that she has a gorgeous blog here on Blogger.

We exchanged pleasantries and I gave her one of my business cards with the painting of CiCi on it (you know I can never resist showing off my baby!)  Today she left a comment on my blog here as well as emailed me. 

To make a long story shorter, I've spent the morning looking at her beautiful blog and came across a post of hers on "Morning Glories" http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/2011/08/glories-of-morning.html.  The photos are spectacular but I think she may have some bindweed there instead of true morning glories (sorry, Liz!)

I've long been enamored of the bindweed that runs rampant on our farm and even painted some a few years ago.  I entitled the painting "Glorious Strangler" because that's what bindweed does to any plant around it.  Not only does it strangle out plants but it also puts out some sort of substance from its roots that helps prevent other plants from growing around it.  Not a plant that plays well with others but very, very beautiful nonetheless.

Please go take a look at the way Liz has arranged and photographed these flowers and you'll probably agree with me that their beauty far outweighs their nasty nature!  Thanks so much for the photographic eye-candy, Liz!

Artistic Dead Space

"WaterLily"

Gouache on an absorbent ground

prepared hardboard

Contrary to what you might have believed, I'm not dead but just having a little artistic dead space.  I really have been working but I've kept hitting slick spots on the artistic road of a double portrait and decided to pull over to rechart my course.

All that means is that when you keep making mistakes with a project, sometimes it's just best to switch to another project to try to get your mojo back.  lol

Sometime ago I bought some of the Golden Absorbent Ground but hadn't had time to try it.  I had several odd pieces left from the hardboard I bought ages ago and decided to prepare one to try out the new ground.  The above painting of the waterlily is the result.

It's only 4 x 6 inches so didn't take a very long time to paint but I'm not sure if I found any difference between the absorbent ground and a plain gessoed board.  I won't give a review of the ground until I've had more time to use it.  I will say the next time I think I'd use a roller to apply it to try to get a more even surface and maybe to get a slightly dimpled surface similar to cold pressed watercolor paper.

I'd also wanted to take this opportunity to use gouache as it's usually intended which is usually more like oil or acrylic than watercolor.  But, gouache is kind of tricky - at least in my experience.  It seemed that I was either mixing it too thin or too thick so I ended up using it much the same way I use watercolor but applying my lighter colors last as in oil or acrylic painting.  

I guess that ends up being the best of all the media and I was pretty pleased with the outcome.  Now back to the portrait of the two beautiful Golden Retrievers which I hope to finish soon!

Shawnee Update - German Shepherd Dog Acrylic Portrait

This is the latest update on the portrait of Shawnee, the German Shepherd Dog.  I'm still blocking in color and it seems to be going slowly because I'm trying to build layers.  With pastel, you can immediately go over the top of previously put down color, but with acrylic, you must wait for it to dry.  It doesn't take long but is just different from the way I usually work.

Shawnee had a lovely buff colored undercoat that I really want to get down right as bits of it will show through the succeeding layers when I begin to build the silver and black colors of her top coat. 

Soon I'll begin to texturize her coat so that all the subtle colors will work together to make her fur seem touchable and real.

A long way to go still but it's getting there!

Golden Retriever - Marinating Stage

I think I'm nearly finished with Beautiful Bracken - at least I'm at the stage where I know I'm not quite there but need to let it "marinate" a little before deciding what needs to be done.

I don't know if I messed up or not but the green of the velour paper just wasn't doing it for me so I added in some other greens to give it a little variety.  That's one of the things I want to think about.

Another is the collar  - I normally leave collars off unless the client just wants it  because I find they often distract from the portrait itself.  The round tags might be ok but I plan to ask Linda if I can cover up the buckle part.  My eye goes right to it.

The other thing is the sienna coloring - for some reason it never scans or even photographs very well.  Even though I'm using Richeson, Rembrandts and Senneliers, that particular color seems to be less opaque or something and the undercolors come through, particularly in a scan.  I'll photograph it in a little while and see if I can get a better photo.

If anyone sees anything amiss, please let me know.  If I change anything, I'll post again!

Golden Retriever - WIP 3

Still just pretty much blocking in color although I have started some detailing in the head area.  Still a ways to go.

I forgot to mention that the reference photo is from LJ on Paint My Photo and is of her 11 year old Golden Retriever.  Also that I'm using green Hahnemuhle velour paper, 9x12 inches in size with a variety of soft pastel sticks and pastel pencils.

I'm going a bit more slowly than usual as it took a while to get back in the groove painting on the velour but I think we're cooking now.  If only there weren't the interruptions one gets during the course of the day - I've said it before but I'll say it again - I need a mother!  Not just a housekeeper, but someone like an old-fashioned mother to keep up with the laundry, shop for and cook the meals and keep the house clean!

Any takers out there?

Double Exposure

I got this painting delivered to my gallery (the Raleigh Street Gallery) yesterday.  It's for a special exhibit for the Siler City, North Carolina Third Friday Art Walk and I'm excited about it.  The exhibit is called the Double Exposure Exhibit and is a joint endeavor between local artists and the local Chatham Camera Club.

A few months ago artists were invited to choose a photograph from a selection from the Chatham Camera Club to interpret in any size, medium and way they wanted.  Then a joint exhibit featuring both the photos and the art will be held at the Chatham Camera Club gallery during the Third Friday Art Walk in October.

I know the exhibit is over a month away but thought maybe some of you who are fairly close might want to mark your calendars and plan to attend.  I think this will be an interesting exhibit and it will be really fun to see the art next to the photograph.  I know one artist is using a medium that needs to be fired!  How fun will that be to see!

And, some of you artists might want to sign up to participate in the next Double Exposure Exhibit or maybe even start something similar with your own local camera club if you're too far to participate with this one!

By the way, my painting is soft pastel on Colourfix Suede - I call it "King of the Mudflats" and I think this is a Little Blue Heron.  There are so many varieties of herons that I'm not completely sure but I do know that it is a heron!   lol

I Can Spell Schnauzer! Pastel on Suede Paper

This little guy was the source of some controversy as I had gotten the reference photo from Paint My Photo, a group I belong to.  I had started the painting but gotten busy and put it aside until today when I finished it.  I had intended to finish it in a loose style and enter it into a challenge at PMP but the person who posted the photo had left the site and removed the photos they had posted. 

The challenge is to paint a photo from the site in a loose manner but, as you can see, I failed miserably at looseness with this!  At PMP, all paintings posted must be from a photo also posted on the site.  I guess it's ok that the person left and I can't enter this in the challenge as it's not a best effort.  I began it to play on some suede paper I'd bought and had liked for other paintings but it was difficult to get the colors right on this bright red paper. 

It's another painting that I'm not particularly pleased with but I'm posting just to show you that I am painting. lol!

BTW, it's still ok to post the painting even though the reference has been removed from PMP - it's also posted on MorgueFile.

The Dreaded Ginger Cat Portrait

My client picked up the cat portrait yesterday and said it looked just like him.  I had tweaked it a bit more before she arrived (but forgot to get a new photo of it) but I was still a little apprehensive of what she would think when she saw it. 

Whew!  I honestly did the best job I could with what I had to work with, but I wasn't really sure I'd gotten the likeness.  So, I was really pleased that she felt it looked like him.

It's these type of commissions that cause baldness and bad dental health from pulling your hair and gnashing your teeth!

Now off to get ready for Dors visit with maybe a quick painting or two if there's time before she arrives!

Acrylic Raccoon - Last Post

I think this will be my last post on this raccoon.  It's not that I feel it's finished as there are still some areas that need tweaking, but I've got other things that need doing and I'm out of paint that I've mixed for this fellow.  It just feels like a good time to stop for now.

OK, what have I learned about painting with acrylics?  What do I like or dislike about this medium?

Well, it's all color over color in layers and can be kind of tedious.  It's the same with pastels, watercolors and gouache (sometimes) so I don't know why I don't mind going over and over in pastels for instance but it's irksome to do it in acrylic!  Maybe it's all the brush cleaning in between as that adds more time to the painting.  Even with watercolor or gouache, I can lay down a brush with paint residue in it and not worry about ruining the brush if I don't clean it thoroughly right away. 

I so like the idea of acrylics going onto just about any surface or support.  And I like the fact that they don't have to be framed under glass unless they're on unmounted/unvarnished paper.  Those are certainly pluses for me.  And while I'm pretty slow right now, this painting hasn't taken much longer than the pastels I do.  I think in time I may even be able to paint faster, which would be another plus.

So, I don't know if the acrylic medium will ever become a favorite but at least I feel as if I've gotten a handle on the basics and won't be hesitant to do more paintings with it.  We'll just have to see, won't we?

Oh, any c & c is very welcome on this.  His paw isn't quite finished, the whiskers need some attention and the tree bark definitely needs work.  If you see anything else, please let me know and please suggest HOW to accomplish any changes if you can!  I'm always open to learning more!

I would heartily recommend Lee Hammond's dvd and book if you want to learn more about the mechanics of painting in acrylics.  I hate it when you buy a video and just get to watch someone paint.  Ms. Hammond tells you what colors she's using and mixing and shows you how she actually paints and I wish more artists were as thorough when they put out a dvd.

I'm going back to the garden, laundry, the kitchen and the rest of the house that I've sorely neglected recently so you may not see me again for a while!  But, I'll be back!

Acrylic Raccoon - WIP 2

I'm a bit surprised this morning as this painting actually appears to be coming together!  After yesterday I thought I'd never be able to do anything with acrylics but at least I see a glimpse of a raccoon staring back at me today.

Hammond calls these unfinished stages of the painting the "awkward" stages - most artists call them the "ugly" stages.  Most artists do go through stages in the painting that aren't polished or the subject even recognizable in some instances.  It's normal but when you're learning a new medium, it's very discouraging and you do want to throw in the towel.

So, I'm working on and hoping it will all come out.  I'm sure it will & I'm sure I'll get faster as I do more.  Right now I'm kind of plodding along feeling my way so I have a lot more to finish.  I also see some things to change and that's the one aspect of acrylic painting that I most appreciate - the ability to easily make changes.

I'll continue to work on this and may even finish it today or tomorrow!  Again, stay tuned!

"New" Medium - Raccoon in Acrylics WIP

I recently purchased the book and dvd, Painting Animals in Acrylic with Lee Hammond, and this morning I started an acrylic painting.  I've painted in acrylics before but really never got on with them that much.  However, I'd like to learn to paint with them so I can produce pet portraits that are less fragile than those in soft pastels.

I'm posting so I'll be more encouraged to continue with and finish this painting at least!  lol  Oh, the reference photo is from hotblack at MorgueFile.

Lee Hammond's method for painting in acrylics is to block in the base colors then start refining.  She works back and forth between colors building layers and I can see where that method gives more depth and finish to a painting.  Here I have the base colors pretty much blocked in and will be starting to refine next.  I have no idea how long this will take.  When I work in pastel, I'll often work in brief segments but with the drying time of acrylic paint, even with the stay-wet paint keeper (homemade), I don't think I'll be able to do that with acrylic paintings.  We'll just have to see if I can change my habits or find a way to work with them using acrylics.

OK, I expect you all to hold me responsible!  Let's see if this old dog can learn some new tricks!

Pastel Persian Cat - Final

I think I'm finished with this.  I spent a lot of today working on it and think it's pretty overworked.  However, my husband thinks it's not overworked but finished.  I printed a card and took it to the pet shop where I have some of my work and the owner liked it a lot so I'm calling it quits.

It doesn't look anything like the ref but that's ok - it was for my own learning and not a commission.

BTW, it's titled "One P.O.'ed Persian" ------

Pastel Persian Cat - WIP 3

I'm moving very slowly on this painting - so many things to do lately that I just get to come in and make a few strokes then move on to something else.  It's coming along though and I hope to finish soon.

I think I've finally found the pastel combinations closest to the colors I want but have to go back and change them from the wrong colors.  I need to pay attention to those organized and thoughtful artists who do the test strokes on a scrap paper before committing the color to the painting! 

Oh, well, tomorrow is another day!

Pastel Persian Cat - WIP2

I haven't managed to get much done on the cat this morning.  I've had a bit of problem finding the right colors to use in her fur.  I'm finding that it would be very nice indeed to have an extensive collection of pastels - unfortunately, I don't so will keep working and see if I can make do with what I have!

In the meantime, here's where I'm at right now - I'll keep plugging away with her!

New Painting - Persian Cat WIP in Pastel

This is from a photo reference at MorgueFile and I just could not resist that face!  Of course, I realize you can't tell much about it at this stage but I wanted to post it as a WIP to keep me moving on it.

This morning was spent putting up squash, doing laundry and just generally trying to get a bit ahead before the garden really begins to produce!  This is always such a busy time but is so worth it during the winter when good veggies are at a premium.

This is pretty small, only 5 x 7 inches.  It's  various soft pastels and pastel pencils on black velour and it's really going fairly quickly so I hope to have another update soon.  Stay posted!

I Hate My Job

I really do hate my job sometimes.  Like now, today.  I just finished a portrait of a beautiful Rottie named Crissy.  Some of you may remember her from a blog post about a demo at the Raleigh Street Gallery where some of my art is shown.  There were some aspects of the painting that I just couldn't seem to get right so I put it away until about a week ago.

Crissy was the beloved pet of our friends.  She was young.  She was very healthy and lively.  But something happened and Crissy became paralyzed.  The vet said a piece of her vertebrae chipped off and became lodged in the spinal cord in an area they couldn't get to to operate.

Our friends held out hope that the chip would work itself out but that didn't happen.  Yesterday they decided to euthanize Crissy feeling that she no longer had the quality of life she deserved.

I loved  big ole slobbery and sometimes silly Crissy and that's why today, at least, I hate my job.

Magnolia WIP 1- ColourFix Suede

 

I finally got started on the magnolia painting and thought I'd share the steps with you along with my thoughts on this new paper.

 

First of all, I'm just blocking in color and am working left to right since I'm right handed.  I'm using a full sheet of the white ColourFix Suede paper (14 x 18 inches in this case) and am sort of "feeling" my way with it so it will probably take a while to finish.  It works a lot like PastelMat and feels somewhat like it also.  I'll probably have to do more than one painting to really decide if I like it though.  It took me a while to get used to PastelMat but since this is so similar, I hope this will be easier to learn to work on.  One thing, it's not at all like working on actual suede paper and it's too bad the name of the paper leads you to think that it would be.

This is the first time I've ever worked on such a large painting in pastel and what everyone tells you about working large is right - it's much easier than working small as you have room to maneuver!  When I ordered the paper (which is actually a card and a very nice weight), I also ordered a set of Rembrandt 60 half sticks of pastel.  I've always liked Rembrandts and am glad I have them for this painting since they're firmer than some other brands.  I'm also using Pan Pastels but I don't have the greens needed for this painting in that set.  One of these days, I'd like to have more of the Pans but for right now, I'm just working with what I have.

I started just blocking in colors with the Pans where I could then using the Richardson and Conte' hard pastel sticks that I have.  Again, the colors are very limited in both of those sets but I've layered and blended as much as possible to get the colors I want.  It's pretty time-consuming and I can understand pastel artists having huge collections of pastels!

Anyway, like PastelMat, it helps to put down a good base of pastel and build the layers before trying to blend.  You have to sort of push the pastel into the paper and that's where the Pans, hard sticks and the semi-hard Rembrandts work well.   It could just be the way I work, though.  I've found that everyone works differently and the tools used surely make a difference also.

There are a lot of tight places in spite of the size of this painting and, while I do like the Sofft tools, I find myself using the Loew Cornell Style Styx more often.  I'm very glad I found these and plan to stock up on them the next time I go to Hobby Lobby or Michael's.  The Style Styx seem to be firmer without being rubbery like the color shapers.  They're a really dense, firm foam rubber and I think they were designed to use with water media but they've been an exciting discovery for me.

Well, let me get back to it - I'll try to post another WIP as soon as I can.  My DH has tomorrow off work because of the MLK holiday and it's sometimes difficult to work with another person in the house!