Quirky Dame's Art Blog

Free Shipping and New Product Soon!

Just a couple of news items regarding my Art Fire shop...

I am offering free worldwide shipping on everything in my store through December 31, 2009. I've already had one customer take advantage of this special offer!

Plus I will be listing a new product over the next few days. I will be offering blank notecards featuring my artwork and photography, both single cards and sets! There will be various themes, such as flowers, Hawaii, puffins, and landscape, to name a few. Here is a little preview of some of the cards:

There are more! I'm quite excited to be able to expand my shop and offer more products. This is something that I've wanted to do for a while. This first batch will include mostly my photography, but I plan to feature cards with more of my artwork in the near future.

Thanks for checking out my blog. See you next time!

Work in Progress

So I took a bit of a break from the latest cat painting to do some work on the diptych paintings I am doing for my best friend.

Alicia, if you actually check this... DON'T LOOK! :)

I'm a horrible friend. We decided last year to do a piece of artwork as our present for each other. She gave me a beautiful hand-painted mask. I started a painting for her, but it went bad. VERY BAD. So, I'm doing the diptych paintings for her - one painting for last year, one for this year. LOL! Thank God I have a wonderful and very understanding best friend. :)

I still have more work to do on these paintings, but it's off to a good start. The background has a subtle golden shimmer to it that I just love and the sides are painted the same dark brown as on the design below. I have to touch up some of the brown, then on the whirls and flowers and birds, I'll be adding flourishes of the burnt orange and gold from the background.

I think tomorrow after the Thanksgiving get-together with my family, I'll be settling down and working some more on both this painting and the one of the cat on the woman's head. I really, really want to get the cat's face painted and then I need to sit down and get the woman's face painted. I did an initial layer of the skin tone, but it just didn't come out right. Hoping the second times the charm!

Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

Julie

Quirky Dame Designs on the Virtual Craft Show!

Starting today, my shop - Quirky Dame Designs - has joined the Virtual Craft Show at Cafe Handmade! I am proud to be in the company of other wonderful artists and their gorgeous creations. Seriously, I'm seeing some unique, beautiful things featured. You can check it out at:

http://cafehandmade.com/index.php/category/virtual-craft-show/

Take a peek at the shops. Who knows? Maybe you'll find a present or two for the people on your list. Or a treat for yourself! And if you see something that really catches your fancy, leave a comment or vote for your favorite shop. I guarantee you, it'll make that person's day!

Want to see the latest progress on the painting of the cat perched on the woman's head? Here's a little glimpse of the cat:

My next step is to paint his face. So looking forward to seeing what he looks like when he's done!

Latest Work In Progress!

So yesterday at work, I found myself daydreaming. Not an unusual occurrence, but an idea came to me that I felt I had to sketch. So when my co-worker came to cover me for lunch (I'm a receptionist, so someone has to cover the desk whenever I step away) I grabbed my sketchbook and pencil. I had that feeling, the one that I have begun to realize is a sign that I need to sit down and sketch immediately. It was one of those moments where the lines seemed to go down on the paper just as I wanted them to, where things just fell into place and I didn't have to draw and erase lines a million times before I got them right. I love those moments.

So I did just that and got those lines down on the page. Just a bare bones sketch, so that I could fill in the rest of the picture when I painted. Here's the sketch:

So today at work, I kept looking at the picture and working it out in my mind. By the time I left work, I had decided to head for the art store to pick up a canvas. I didn't plan on painting tonight, but that's what ended up happening!

I had made a large copy of the drawing on 11x17 paper so that I could paint a larger scale version of it. I ended up getting a 16x20 canvas and plan on doing a somewhat realistic version of it with oils. However, I also picked up two 6x12 canvases while I was there.

Driving home, I realized that the sketch would work wonderfully on one of the 6x12 canvases as well. So when I got home, I ended up transferring the sketch onto the smaller canvas and began to paint a smaller acrylic version. Now, normally I don't allow myself to paint faces with acrylics. It ends up being an exercise in frustration for me. I usually just stick to oils for portraits. I simply adore doing portraits in oils, it comes very naturally for me. Much easier to get that blended look that I prefer. But since only half of her face is showing, I figured what the heck! I'll do an acrylic version.

So I have most of the first layer of paint down on the canvas. I decided to wait to do the skin tones until I had several hours to spend on it. Basically, until I could do it in one sitting. :) So here is the progress I have made so far:

I have also sketched this cat (sitting on a ball, instead of a head) on two aceo's (they are 2.5" x 3.5") that I hope to paint soon. I plan on listing all of this on my Art Fire store as soon as I am finished. But so far I am very happy with the progress!

Speaking of my Art Fire store, I have a special promotion going... free worldwide shipping during the holidays! Please take a look if you're interested... http://quirkydame.artfire.com

Thanks for reading my blog. I'll be sure to post another update on the painting soon!

Julie

Trippy Owl

I was just sprucing up my blog and preparing to make my next post when I realized that I never posted the finished picture of the owl painting I had been working on. It's now listed on my Art Fire shop (also have one on Etsy) so it's about time I posted it on here! So... without further ado, may I present...

Trippy Owl!

Art Fire Blog

Hello!

Just wanted to do a quick post letting you know that I am also posting blog entries on my new Art Fire shop. If you are interested in seeing more, please visit me at:

http://www.artfire.com/users/quirkydame/blog

From there, you can read my blog, see past paintings I've done and check out what paintings I currently have for sale. There's also my bio and links to other places I can be found on the internet. I hope you check it out!

I also plan on posting to this one, as well. :)

Julie Behm
Quirky Dame Designs

Hummingbirds and Owls... Oh my!

Introducing the latest painting added to my shop!

It's titled "The Hummingbird" and it's done in acrylics on a 12x12 canvas. This one came out quite differently than I had originally planned. See all that white on the bird? That was a not-so-pretty shade of purple. :) I do intend to do more of them, trying out different techniques for the background and in different colors.

Remember that sketch of the trippy owl from my last post? Well, I've started the painting! Here's a sneak peek of the progress thus far:

The blue and white stripes even carry over onto the sides. LOVE how that turned out. This one will be done in shades of blue, purple, green and yellow. I'm looking forward to seeing how this trippy little guy turns out! I'll try to post an update on this guy soon. I'm glad I have the long weekend to work on him!