Saturday, April 28, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
I'm not sure about this one!
Earlier in the week I posted a work in progress. Well she's finished, but I am actually kind of hesitant to share it here. She kind of makes me cringe every time I walk past her.
I've been wanting to try a realistic face for awhile. I was feeling a little inspiration from Misty Mawn and Maria Pace-Wynters (whom I was recently introduced through in Tara Leaver's blog, thank you Tara!) both who use figures in their paintings but in very different ways.
Even though this is one of my least favorite paintings I've done in awhile, I decided I would still share it with you, because really I think I should show both the good and the bad, right? I like to read about other artists triumphs, but also their struggles and mistakes, so I thought I'd share mine!
So here she is:
When I first started painting the face she sort of looked like a drag queen, which I have nothing against drag queens, but it wasn't the look I was going for! I think I got past the drag queen look, but now I think she is stuck in the 80's! I used painted tissue paper that I ripped into pieces for the hair, but she looks like I would find her in a 1980's hair magazine at the salon! The color palette initially started with more muted colors, but I just couldn't get this piece to work so I just kept adding more and more colors which seemed to help. The flowers were originally supposed to be part of her shirt but I made them too big so I just kept adding more all over. I feel like it definitely has more of a Maria Pace-Wynter feel too it than Misty Mawn, with the colors, flowers and butterflies, but I hope it is still my own style.
This painting has reminded me why I stay away from realistic faces, there is always something that seems to bother me about the faces I draw and I can never put my finger on what exactly it is. I think practicing drawing faces would definitely help me out, more than avoiding them!
So for now here she is, but as I'm finishing up this post, I'm starting to feel the urge to paint over her face, because that IS what bothers me the most about this painting, but I'm going to hold back until at least tomorrow and try and sleep on it, but for some reason I'm just having a hard time leaving her alone. Arrgh.
What do you think? Should she go in the recycle bin? or does she just need some touch ups, maybe an updated hairstyle or maybe a whole new face? I would love to hear what you think, good or bad.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend. It's city wide yard sales in our town this weekend, so I'll be looking for lots of deals!
I've been wanting to try a realistic face for awhile. I was feeling a little inspiration from Misty Mawn and Maria Pace-Wynters (whom I was recently introduced through in Tara Leaver's blog, thank you Tara!) both who use figures in their paintings but in very different ways.
Even though this is one of my least favorite paintings I've done in awhile, I decided I would still share it with you, because really I think I should show both the good and the bad, right? I like to read about other artists triumphs, but also their struggles and mistakes, so I thought I'd share mine!
So here she is:
When I first started painting the face she sort of looked like a drag queen, which I have nothing against drag queens, but it wasn't the look I was going for! I think I got past the drag queen look, but now I think she is stuck in the 80's! I used painted tissue paper that I ripped into pieces for the hair, but she looks like I would find her in a 1980's hair magazine at the salon! The color palette initially started with more muted colors, but I just couldn't get this piece to work so I just kept adding more and more colors which seemed to help. The flowers were originally supposed to be part of her shirt but I made them too big so I just kept adding more all over. I feel like it definitely has more of a Maria Pace-Wynter feel too it than Misty Mawn, with the colors, flowers and butterflies, but I hope it is still my own style.
This painting has reminded me why I stay away from realistic faces, there is always something that seems to bother me about the faces I draw and I can never put my finger on what exactly it is. I think practicing drawing faces would definitely help me out, more than avoiding them!
So for now here she is, but as I'm finishing up this post, I'm starting to feel the urge to paint over her face, because that IS what bothers me the most about this painting, but I'm going to hold back until at least tomorrow and try and sleep on it, but for some reason I'm just having a hard time leaving her alone. Arrgh.
What do you think? Should she go in the recycle bin? or does she just need some touch ups, maybe an updated hairstyle or maybe a whole new face? I would love to hear what you think, good or bad.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend. It's city wide yard sales in our town this weekend, so I'll be looking for lots of deals!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
On My Table
Monday, April 16, 2012
A Big Snapper!
I just had to share this picture of Fischer and the snapping turtle. Fischer was trying to stop him from going after his Papa! Unfortunately I wasn't there when this happened, but I love the determined look on Fischer's face as he is struggling to hold on to the snapper. I'm not sure he should have been pulling on the poor guys tail, but at least the tail won't fall off like a lizards!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Springtime Color
Hope you find some time this weekend to enjoy all the colors spring has to offer! Have a lovely weekend!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Spreading Color
Starlings have never been a favorite on my list of birds. I know they are a non native species and have really taken over in the US, so I usually pay very little attention to them that is until the other day when one happened to be walking about in our grass just as I was coming out our back door. Instantly I was amazed by the speckles on this bird (winter plumage). I've seen their speckles before but was never impressed, but for some reason they just jumped out at me, along with all the other subtle little colors in its feathers.
As I watched this little guy I could just picture all of his speckles floating off into the world to add all sorts of color and cheer, just like in the painting I did below. Doesn't he just give you a happy little feeling?
Mixed media painting using recycled tea bags, "Spreading Color"
Now when I see a starling, I look at them in a totally fresh and new way, and I can't help but smile when I see these speckled little starlings.
As I watched this little guy I could just picture all of his speckles floating off into the world to add all sorts of color and cheer, just like in the painting I did below. Doesn't he just give you a happy little feeling?
Mixed media painting using recycled tea bags, "Spreading Color"
Now when I see a starling, I look at them in a totally fresh and new way, and I can't help but smile when I see these speckled little starlings.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Magnolias
When I started this painting last week, the magnolias were in full bloom, but now they are already just about finished, with only a few sad little flowers just waiting for a little wind to blow them down to the ground. I wish all of these beautiful spring flowers lasted just a bit longer. It is so short lived, I guess that's what makes us appreciate them so much more.
The beautiful white magnolia stellata really caught my eye this spring, so crisp and clean looking with their long slender petals, quite a different look when compared to the wider pink versions that usually catch my eye.
I had a lot of fun creating the background for this painting. I started with a watercolor wash first, and then did a lot of the painting with an eye dropper with watered down acrylics. You can see this especially along the edges of the painting with the aqua. I love how it looked when it dried and the variation in its opacity. I then used all sorts of layers of recycled tea bags, scrapbook paper, painted tracing paper and tissue paper. The background is so colorful that I hope it doesn't detract too much from the flowers.
Unfortunately I feel like these flowers look very much like daisies, and being white I don't quite get the contrast that I would like. I thought about making the flowers pink, but I really had these white flowers stuck in my head which made the pink look not quite right. I think I might let this one sit for a week or two and then come back and look at it again to see how I feel about it.
The beautiful lilacs (I think my favorite smell ever), apple, crab apples and plum trees are all starting to bloom now. The kids and I have been on quite a few walks lately and I'm sure I'm walking with a smile on my face as we see spring and all of its cheeriness all around us.
Have a wonderful, blossom filled weekend.
The beautiful white magnolia stellata really caught my eye this spring, so crisp and clean looking with their long slender petals, quite a different look when compared to the wider pink versions that usually catch my eye.
I had a lot of fun creating the background for this painting. I started with a watercolor wash first, and then did a lot of the painting with an eye dropper with watered down acrylics. You can see this especially along the edges of the painting with the aqua. I love how it looked when it dried and the variation in its opacity. I then used all sorts of layers of recycled tea bags, scrapbook paper, painted tracing paper and tissue paper. The background is so colorful that I hope it doesn't detract too much from the flowers.
Unfortunately I feel like these flowers look very much like daisies, and being white I don't quite get the contrast that I would like. I thought about making the flowers pink, but I really had these white flowers stuck in my head which made the pink look not quite right. I think I might let this one sit for a week or two and then come back and look at it again to see how I feel about it.
The beautiful lilacs (I think my favorite smell ever), apple, crab apples and plum trees are all starting to bloom now. The kids and I have been on quite a few walks lately and I'm sure I'm walking with a smile on my face as we see spring and all of its cheeriness all around us.
Have a wonderful, blossom filled weekend.
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