After two weeks or so of not painting, I’ve been quite productive!


At first I just grabbed a canvas board – not my usual choice of support – and just messed around a bit, playing with colors and an idea. It was going to be a simple, quick painting for a weathered art swap I’m participating in. That’s where you create a piece of art and hang it outside for a week, then send it to your partner. Well, it started to turn into something that I couldn’t quite bring myself to hang outside. So I kept at it and ended up listing it in my Art Fire shop. I think it was inspired by the gorgeous weather we had on Mother’s Day. I like how bright and cheery it is and I’m still stunned at how straight that freehand wording is. LOL!

Then a few days later, I was at work checking out some pictures of cats and I stumbled across one that instantly reached out and screamed DRAW ME! It was a simple side view of a cat sitting. So I drew just a outline of the cat and it was one of those moments where everything just flowed. The lines formed themselves with almost no correction needed from me. I then made copies of the sketch, so I could doodle around and figure out what to do with this drawing and not ruin the original in the process.

First I filled in the cat silhouette with curvy lines and liked how that turned out.



Then I did a polka dot one, which was fun.



Next was a somewhat boring diagonal line one, but I figured I would create a wild background to add some spice.



Then my brain started brewing and an idea just hit me. Thank God everyone was in a meeting so I could get it down on paper! This was the result:



I loved the concept, but the flowers themselves had to change. So I did a minor edit and was much happier. I then impatiently waited for the last hour of work to end so I could rush home and paint her! And again, it was one of those times when I sat down to paint and it just flowed. No major traumas, no moments when I hated it or wanted to just give up on it. It was an awesome feeling. I tweeted the image that night while I was working on it and a co-worker saw it and just loved it. I brought it in the next day to show it off, even though I still had about 30 minutes left of work to do on it. That same co-worker saw it and bought it on the spot. LOL! Here’s a picture of the finished product.



It looks even better in person! I plan on doing a couple more like this, but in different colors. So much fun and I loved the results.

Then last night, I finally got my new photo editing software! When my other computer died a few months back, I lost the software that was on it. I’ve been using picnic.com. It’s helpful but you can only do so much. So I finally scored an earlier version of Paint Shop Pro for cheap. I’ve been dying to redo my shop banner and avatar for quite some time, so I sat down last night and after three or four hours and probably 20 different versions, I came up with the new avatar and banner!

Here they are:





I was quite happy with the results. They look so much better than the last one I did and this one actually feels “quirky” unlike the old one. It was also a good way to reacquaint myself with Paint Shop Pro, as it’s been a few years since I last used it.

Oh, and one more thing before I end this post. The agency I work for used to be an orphanage many years ago. Back when Alaska achieved statehood, they held a contest for all the schoolchildren in the state to come up with a design for the Alaska Flag. The winner, a boy by the name of Benny Benson, was residing in that orphanage at the time. Every year the agency holds a picnic in honor of the flag on Alaska Flag Day, July 9th. It is a city-wide picnic with food, games, live music and lots of fun. Every year, they also hold a contest for the students and the staff to come up with a design for that year’s t-shirt. Then at our monthly meeting, the staff votes on all the designs and a winner is chosen. I entered a design this year and I’m so happy to announce that I won! Here’s Benny the Moose:



His smiling mug will be featured on the t-shirts and hoodies available for the public to buy at the event. He’s also on much of the promotional material and the tickets. I can hardly wait to see him on the clothing. What a thrill!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day that is followed by a spectacular weekend!

I had another Art Fire seller, White Dandelion Works, contact me, this time about making plushies based on my owls.  I can safely say that I am not talented when it comes to sewing and that's an understatement.  So it's something that I didn't have planned, but the idea intrigued me.  (I love fun little plushies and wish I did have that talent to make them!)  I gave her the go ahead to create one for a toy drop and loved the results!  She's made two more for her Art Fire shop and I wanted to share them with you.  They're wonderful and I'm hoping to have her make a custom one for me.  :) 

Here's the first one:

 

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by an ArtFire seller - Harlamy - who was interested in making a couple of polymer clay owls in the same style as the owls in my paintings. It was certainly not something that I had planned on doing (my talent lies with paintbrushes, not clay!) so I said, "Sure!" She has listed the first owl and I was so charmed that I requested she make one for me. :) I wanted to share her darling creation with all of you!  Here's a picture of it:

Sorry for the long absence from this blog!  The past month has been quite a month.  The first two weeks were spent finishing a custom painting, housesitting, packing for my trip and going through some crazy stuff at the day job.  But the last two weeks?  I spent them in Hawaii... gorgeous, beautiful, warm and tropical Hawaii.  And it was just what I needed.  :)

I didn't have as many chances to do art related things as I wanted while I was there.  But I did make a point to stop at the Volcano Art Center in Volcano National Park and it was incredible!  Turns out an artist that I greatly admire was having a show there - though I was a couple of weeks early to see her in person - and I discovered several others, too.  You can find their website here and the artist I referred to is Carin Loebel-Fried.  But there's several others I loved, such as Dietrich Varez, Linda Varez, Kathy Long, Linda Rowell Stevens, and more. 

As for myself, I did a few sketches, started a painting and took a bunch of photos.  Right now, one of the sketches is being turned into a linocut, but I think I may also paint it.  Here's a look at the sketch:

As you read above, I have started doing linocuts!  I've been wanting to give them a try again for quite some time.  I figured my word this year is Expand, so it's time I did just that and start working on them again.  Plus there's a Pet Portrait painting class going on in town in June and I plan on taking that class.  It's a one week intensive, every night for five nights, from 6:30 to 9:00 pm, at the local art museum.  It's with an artist that I love - Linda Infante Lyons - and have taken several of her classes.  It ties in with a special project I have planned. 

And before I end this post, a quick look at one of the pictures I took in Hawaii.  I miss it there already:



Okay, I'll be back again soon.  I'm planning on posting an entry about the custom order I mentioned earlier.  Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

So, I'm taking a bit longer break than I thought from the bird woman painting.  I'm working out in my mind how I want to proceed.  But in the meantime, I worked out a sketch the other day that I decided I would try to paint with oils.  But I can't buy the canvas for it until this weekend, at the earliest. 

However, while I was digging through the canvases and wood panels I already have and happened upon an 8x10 wood panel that I had covered in a coat of blue months ago.  It occurred to me that I could do an acrylic version of this sketch, a more realistic owl, and then move on to the oil version.

So tonight, I sat down and got started on it:

At the top of the picture is the sketch I made and below is the first layer of paint for the tree branches.  I also wrapped the branches around onto the sides.  Here's what it looks like on one side:


There is at least a branch or two that wraps around the entire wood panel - top, bottom, and sides.  I love how it looks when hanging up.  :)  This owl, as I mentioned above, will be a more realistic owl than the usual owls I paint.  I'm looking forward to doing the even bigger version in oils.  Fun!  However, next comes finishing the tree and shading it.  Woof.  That'll be a challenge, but I'm excited and psyched to do it!

Just taking a quick second to post about my latest listing on BoundlessGallery.com.  My new painting, Tranquility, is available for purchase now, but it will not be available to ship until March 22nd at the earliest.  This is so that the painting has time to dry and also because I will be out of town from March 5th through the 21st.  Where will I be?  Someplace that looks much like the new painting! 

Here's a new vow I'm taking... I will never let myself go so long (8 months this time) without painting a portrait.  Holy cow.  Really not smart.  I lose a lot of the progress I had made and then getting started again feels somewhat traumatizing.  *g*  But I have started.  Woo hoo!

Got just an initial layer of paint on; however, there are several more, I'm sure, to be applied.  As you can see, that lovely sap green underpainting is still very much showing through.  Won't be the case when it's done.

I have to work out where the shadows are and get them applied now.  Those dark tones can be a little scary to apply, but they are what really makes the painting.  The base layer of the hair is on, but it will contain more colors, highlights, lowlights, etc.  A lot more definition.  My initial try at a background tonight was a total fail.  I ended up wiping it off.  I need to take a day or two and really think about what to do with it.  Which will be easy because I need to give the current layer of paint a day to dry a bit.  I actually do think I have an idea for the background, but I'm going to ponder it a bit longer.

And yes, I'll post a picture.  I have to give the following caveat: this is only the first layer and, thank God, by the time I finish, this will look a thousand times better.  *g*  At least I'm being positive!  :)