New paintings!

Just thought I'd show you a few new pieces I've been working on.  A dear friend of mine had an Open House for me in early November - an Art Show & Sale and I did sell several pieces.  What a sweet friend!  I'm trying some different methods, working in acrylics and adding lots of texture with a palette knife.  I find these paintings energetic and SO much fun - a good break from the painstakingly detailed works that I usually do.  Here's just a few...

24x30  "Tuscan Poppies"  (sold)

24x30  "Zinnias & Sunflowers"  $250 + shipping

24x30  "Dancing Poppies"  $250 + shipping

The process starts with a generous amount of gesso over the canvas followed by an adhesive such as decoupage.  Then I crinkle tissue paper or some other kind paper that will give you a good texture and apply that.  Another layer of adhesive over the top of that and finish with a coat or two of gesso.  As I paint, I block in the main colors and continue layering with brush and palette knife generous amounts of acrylic paints until I get the look that I'm going for. 

The edges of these paintings are 1 1/2" wide and painted a rich black. That way, you can frame it for a more traditional look OR hang it as is for a more modern, streamlined look.  Last, I apply a glossy finish lacquer over the painting to protect it and to bring out the colors.

 I was pleased with these results and will be doing more of them.

Holler at me if you have any questions or further inquiries about these pieces!

Thanks for looking!

Some New Paintings...

Hi friends - thanks for hopping over.  I've been working on some paintings that I just haven't been able to get up on the blog yet, so I thought I'd do that this evening.  If you'll notice over on my sidebar, I have my own website now where, IF you're interested, you can see what I have on there and if you see something you like, you can order prints!  Of course, if you'd like an original painting, contact me via email.   I hope it will be a good thing for me.  Anyway... here goes...  I'll try to get back over and put the sizes and prices with each painting on here.   Hope you like what you see!  Take care!

Guitar Player II

Hey, I'm back. I think this is where I left off...  Continue modeling in black, white & grey, getting the canvas covered thinking about design.  I deliberately kept the lights and other objects in the background loose - nothing is going to be in high definition.

OK, now I'm going to make a change.  The photo I used to go by of Adam - he had on a baseball cap.  Well, he usually has on a cowboy hat, so I changed that in the next frame and began adding color on top of the acrylic grey-scale.  This is a great idea for oils or acrylics to do an underpainting. There are some oils and acrylics colors that can be very transparent and it's very helpful to have the correct values under the color glazes to show through.

The forms are taking shape - there are random lights and the stage sets in the background.  I'll use lots of color and loose painting to create shapes, colors, and contrasts and just give you idea of him being on stage.

I noticed in the above photo of the painting that the head of the musician looked rather large and out of proportion so in the following photo, you'll see that I trimmed it up a bit.  The painting is nearing done - Sorry there was a bit of glare on it, but you can see what I was going for. 

Thanks for looking.  We're taking this painting to our son soon - hope he likes it!  I think it'll look good in his man-cave - it's all black and silver.  This'll sure jazz it up a bit!

Guitar Player

Hey there, friends!  If you've made it over here, I sure do appreciate you coming to look!  Next up on my easel is a fun little (well, 30x40) piece that I'm doing as a surprise for my son, Adam.  It's for his new apartment - all manly and black and silver.  I decided he needed some color.  We're going to see him in the not too distant future and I'm trying to get this done before we go...

This project is going to be a fun, splashy, colorful, more modern, loosely painted piece.  I HOPE.  I'm trying to break out of my shell and not be quite so detailed - I just wanna have fun with this painting.  Without further ado...

Here's the first installment.  Blocking in with a value study and grey-scale, and getting it sketched off on the canvas.  Since I'm working very large on this one, I have to stand back many times in order to get the proportions right.  I'm not too worried about making this kind of piece perfectly perfect because it's destined to be loose.  I think I'm getting close - constantly refining as I go.

I'm working in acrylics on this piece - thus, it's going to go much faster (YEA).  I am having to learn  more about color mixing in acrylics - they do mix differently than oils, which I am so used to.  But I got to thinking about all the fumes I breathe in while painting in oils.  I love how they mix and the textures I can get with oils. But painting in the middle of summer and winter with the windows open (unless you have a good exhaust system in your home - which I don't) does have it's drawbacks.

AND, contrary to what you may have heard - acrylics can be just as permanent as oils when the painting has been  dried well and varnished with a good quality art varnish.  So, I have changed my thinking about using acrylics.  There is paint thinner or turp, mediums for oils paints, and of course, there are leads and others chemicals in oils, too, that you WILL get on your hands.  It's inevitable.  I suppose I could paint with latex gloves on but that's such a hassle.   I do have a friend that does that.

No, I'm thinking I'm going to make myself learn to use acrylics - at least when painting indoors.  When plein air painting, I'm sure I'll go to my oils.  We'll see... Plus, acrylics can be thinned and cleaned up with water/soap.  They can also be thinned to the point that you could even do kind of a water-color effect. Very versatile.

ANYWAY,  here's the last shot for today...  trying to get some basic colors laid in.  I also am changing the ball cap that Adam had on in my reference photo to a cowboy hat - which is more like him.  This painting is not destined to look like Adam - just loose and funky and musical and colorful.  This photo I'm using is from one of his shows.

I think the head's a little big.  Will have to pare that down a bit.  Good thing about acrylics as you know - they dry quick!  That can be a burden AND an advantage - so far, it's working in my favor!  See ya next time - thanks for looking!

A Couple of Fun Paintings!

I'm branching out and trying to loosen up my painting a bit. These went fast and I didn't stop to take pictures. Enjoy...

Thanks for lookin'!

FINISHED LAKE HOUSE PAINTING!!!

Well, hello there!  Nice to see you again!  I've finished my painting!  It's all done and I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I HAVE been working on it along with gardening and taking care of my chickens and working and ... and ...  I took the painting to my customers Friday afternoon and they loved it.  It was special to them because it was their lakehouse, land and cows.  I'm really glad that they were excited to see and have it!  It makes every hour working on it totally worth it!

 I did some extra large photos here so you could see some of the details.  These colors are pretty true - I didn't enhance any colors on the editing program.

Notice the A&M picnic table????   They are big AGGIES.  And so are we!

I finally got that "distant" feel in the background trees...

Here is the finished product!  I thought this black frame enhanced the painting, the cows, the shadows and made the colors pop.  Now, hope to start something else soon!!!  Thanks for taking a peek!

Nearing the End

Sorry I've been so lax about posting.  I've not been able to work on my painting much, but here's what I did in the last day or two.  It'll be hard for you to tell what I've been doing as I've been tweaking again.  And beginning work on the fence - which is making me poke myself in the eyes.  So tedious!

Also, I got my lakehouse put in.  Slow going on the fencing.  It goes all the way across the property. I've got it blocked in, now to go back and straighten, highlight and mold it so that it fits into the property. Right now it appears to just be slapped on the surface of the painting.

Forgive my shabby picture-taking.  There was a glare on the right side of the above photo.  But what I worked on here was pushing the distant trees even farther into the background.  Added some reflections and details onto the lake and painted in some t-post fencing. 

Above, I enhanced the shadows and the reflected light up under the eaves under the porch. And the cows have TAILS now, too!

It's finally coming together.  So, since we're expecting rain this week and I won't be able to get out into the garden, I'll be working on and hopefully finishing up this painting and getting it ready to give to its new owner! Hope Riverview Farm folks like it!  I'll take a final photo of the finished painting before I let it go.  Thanks for watching!  Will be starting something new soon! Stay tuned...