Little Slices of Life

Here is another piece of my painting's progress.  There is another half to this that still needs to be figured out.  

So far, everything is acrylic over papers.  Instead of multicolor papers underneath, I stuck to red and yellow to see if I would like the effect.  When the red paper started peaking through to her hair, I loved it and just went with it.  Her dress shows some of that colored texture as well.

Sneak Peek Friday

In progress, mixed media painting

Now this is really a Sneak Peek at my latest painting.  I'm excited to show little snippets of my progress.  I started this painting by doing a value study, but when the painting started to take on a life of its own, I had to throw my value study out the window. 

I think it's smart to have a plan, but if everything is so planned out, then we would be doing paint-by-number.  So let's enjoy the process and be flexible to go with the flow and listen to your inner voice coaching you along the way.

Have a wonderful unplanned weekend. Once again, I am linking up with Studio JRU and all of you lovely Sneak Peek Talents!

Pull up a Chair, There's Plenty of Room in Here

Isn't it amazing at where our art will take us.  I have been painting for years but always alone in a little corner of our guest bedroom.

Since making a studio and taking over a whole room and breaking out of my little world and sharing my love of art, it has given me the freedom to grow in my art and in friendship with others who love art as well.

A friend of my daughter was in need of home and has taken up residence in our guest room.  She is in college and often studies in my studio while I work or paint.  What really surprised me is that she asked to paint along with me.  I laugh because neither one of my daughters, who are tremendous supporters of mine, were ever interested in painting with me.

Alyssa's first painting turned out beautifully and she confessed to me yesterday that she can't wait to start another painting.  Aawwh, I think she's addicted.  You all know how it gets in your blood and just becomes a natural part of your life. Another artist is born.  :)

In the meantime, she's been watching me struggle with the same painting as I paint and then strip off what I just painted over and over.  I think as an artist, at least for me, I would like to take it to the next level, move forward and not backward.  So, I'm pushing myself  harder to get to the place where I love what's in front of me, like this chair, for instance, a little area of the painting I love.

How to do a Value Study

I thought you might be interested in the value study I did for the painting posted below.  Although I don't often do them on simple paintings, I find that working out a value study ahead of time will help insure a successful painting. 

For this painting I used a reference picture from a clothing catalog.  My canvas was square so I need to make the study square.

The viewer will naturally look at the eyes of a person first, hands second.  So there is no need to worry about getting the viewer to look there.

The area I wanted the viewer to focus on next was the daisies.  To insure that, I put my whitest whites against my darkest dark. Next, your eye will be drawn to smaller marks, like the stems of daisies or the petals themselves.  I think it is the goal of the artist to have the viewer look and stay a while.  So, we use these little hooks to do that.

I used whiteout for the whites,  pencil and marker for the rest.  The tracing paper is golden rod so it already has a value, too. And you see I didn't like the background I did at first so I ripped it off and taped on a new piece underneath.. 

How difficult was that! Now you try.

Sneak Peek Friday

Here's a "sneak peek" at my latest work.

This painting has a story...don't they all.  My daughter, Kristen, was visiting from school and loved this work in progress as you see above.  She loves daisies and wanted a painting like this for her room.

After developing it further by the next morning, it had a totally different look.  When she saw it, she ask if I could make another like the one the night before.  Well, I just took some paint remover to the oil on top and brought it almost back to what she saw and loved the night before.  C'est la vie!

Subtle Attraction -  14" x 14" NFS

She said this is more the kind of art a younger person like her would prefer (not that there was anything wrong with the other one).

Once again, I am linking up with Studio JRU and all of you lovely Sneak Peek Talents!

All About the Dress

All About the Dress - mixed media on wood  7-1/4" x 8-1/4"

As you see, I'm still enjoying the cool textures I recently learned at Jane's class and having such fun applying them to my art.  All the textured steps are done in acrylic and then the dress is painted in oil on top.  The reason I use oil is because I hate the way acrylic drys so fast, but also as long as the oil is still wet, I can wipe everything off the top of my textured piece and start over.  During our art painting night, this had a bird and branch on it, but wasn't turning out the way I wanted so I just wiped it all off and made this piece...sorry, Michelle ;) (She hates it when I do that!)

Sneak Peek Friday

"Power to the Trail" mixed media,  7" x 11"

Because I live in such a large biking community, I've always wanted to do something with bikers but could never pull it off.  I think bikes in general are hard to paint with their wheels and mechanisms.

So the last time we went for a mountain bike ride, I took my camera to try to take reference pictures again.  It was at the end of the day and the lighting was beautiful.  I kept chasing the light coming through the trees and made my husband pull ahead of me into the light to take pictures.  I kind of like this "power to the trail" sign he gave me as he rode ahead.

With this new technique I just learned, I finally painted a bike painting I like.

Once again, I am linking up with Studio JRU and all of you lovely Sneak Peek Talents!

More New Art from Lessons Learned

When I was nosing around Anthropologie last time, I saw this little tiny journal with flowers painted on the cover. It was so simply done, that I thought it might make a nice project for art night to give as a gift for someone. 

So, I  bought a couple of these journals from the Michael's $2 bin.  This way, no harm done if it didn't turn out.    Anyway, I decided to try the new technique I learned from Jane DesRosier with something simple like a pear. 

I'm pretty amazed at the way it turned out.  So full of depth and texture.  I love it!

Now look at the inside... 

It's brighter and cheaper looking in person.

Yuck!  or should I say "Priceless"!

A Lovely Gift from India

What a lovely surprise to have won this special giveaway from Jen of I Believe in Love, who brought back these treasures from her trip to India.  Stop by her blog and read her amazing stories and beautiful photos of the life in India.

Kristen Rocker in progress

I am taking Jane DesRosier's Portraits and Papers Artist's Workshop and this is my latest work using her techniques. She combine portraiture with collage work to create a unique work of art.  It's at your own pace and she has many videos to watch the step by step lessons.  What I finally did, was made myself a cheat sheet.  I printed one of the progress photos and then listed step by step what she did to get there and so on.  This way when the class is no longer on line, I still have all the info. 

I'm very excited about the depth in the background.   I almost didn't post this painting, because her features aren't correct, but I suppose with learning a new technique, your first is going to have a lot of experimenting.  She paints totally with acrylic, and I painted the portrait with oil.  So now, I have to wait for it to totally dry to finish.  Although I love the photo of Kristen, I should have picked something easier to start with.  What was I thinking? 

Hope your having a creative day!