I’ve been enjoying the long weekend and being very productive.  It’s been a nice change from the previous weeks and the weird mood I’ve been in regarding my art.  I haven’t been very productive at all and it’s been bugging me.  But I finally dove in this weekend and ended up working on several things.  What’s really nice is that it was a mixture of realistic and non-realistic.  I like a little of both.



First, I’ve been putting the final touches on the pet portrait.  I was going back and forth between painting the sides brown or gray.  I consulted a few friends and finally decided on gray.  I’m rather happy with the results.  It was a bit nerve wracking painting them, but I took it slow and easy and I didn’t get any gray on the front of the painting.  Success!  It’s now hanging and drying, waiting for the retouch varnish.  I’m trying to decide on a name.  That is my least favorite part of painting. 




After working all that time on such a realistic painting, I wanted to just play around and have some fun with something less realistic.  I had taken a photo of a poppy earlier this summer (which you can find in an earlier blog entry) and that poppy has been sticking with me.  I finally decided to do something with it.  So I watered down some acrylics and put them in some small spray bottles then grabbed a series of three canvases I had bought on impulse the other week, then sprayed them with the paint.  Then after it had dried, I sketched some poppies and started painting them.  They were quite fun to do.



Saturday I had some running around to do, but I wanted to have a little fun, too.  I was in great need of some coffee, so before I left the house, I grabbed my sketchbook and pencil.  I decided to stop by Barnes and Noble and sketch for a spell in the cafe.  I’m a little addicted to the Starbucks Frappucinos and they have that delicious M&M blondie blast treat.  Mmmm!

I have a photo of my best friend that I’ve wanted to do something with for a while now.  Just on a whim, I grabbed that, too.  So, after getting my sugary treats, I sat down and did a few sketches for the Art-o-mat blocks (which are on their way!) and then whipped out the photo and got started.



I worked on it for quite a while, at least until a couple sat down next to me that I thought would end up breaking out in some violent spat.  That got a little uncomfortable.  I’ve continued to develop the drawing and will be updating this blog as progress continues.  I’m hoping to get an even closer resemblance by the time I’m done.  I need and want to challenge myself more often by attempting this.  I love to do the quirky, fun sketches, but it’s just as important that I do realistic, as well.

Saturday night I sat down to get caught up on some TV and I grabbed a small 5×5 canvas that I had painted previously.  It had this hideous pink background that I couldn’t stand, so I thought I’d just slap some paint on and see what came of it.



The summer we’ve been having here in Alaska can be described with one word: rainy.  It’s been driving me crazy and I keep dreaming of the vacations I have planned for November and February.  I’ll be going to my future home of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.  One of the things I love seeing in Hawaii is those gorgeous palm trees against the brilliant blue sky.  That’s what I ended up painting on that little canvas.  I can hardly wait to see the real thing in two months, but until then (or until this piece sells) I’ll enjoy seeing it on the canvas. 


While working on the sketches for the Art-o-mat blocks, I’ve stumbled across some girls that I call The Quirky Girls.  They’re a little kooky or nerdy, but I love that in a person.  These girls have been great fun to create.



I had an 11×14 hardboard and another 5×5 canvas lying around, so I have used both of them to bring two of the Quirky Girls – Quincy and Frankie – to life.  Above, you’ll see Frankie.  She was done on the 5×5 canvas and, like the palm tree and summer poppies, is available in my ArtFire shop.  I’m still working on Quincy, but she’ll be making your acquaintance soon.  It’s been good to do these pieces and it’s helped me to work out a few things for when the blocks get here this week.

So that’s the update for now. I tend to do longer updates for this blog every week or two, rather than shorter updates a few times a week.  However, if you follow me on Twitter or on Facebook, I do show pictures of works in progress and update people on various projects.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and I’ll be sure to post my progress on the above projects soon!

It's been a very busy time lately, but the past six days have been heavenly. I took four days off work, plus the weekend and have been painting every day. My sister and her husband will be leaving July 10th to get their hawaiian condo ready for rental. So, I'm on a mission to get as many paintings done before then as possible. I love the challenge that this has created for me. It's got my creative juices flowing and me working on a steady basis.

So the past six days have yielded the following:



The half circle on the top is going to be a welcome sign that says either Aloha or Aloha Friends. Something like that. The big yellow circle will eventually be a sun. The two paintings are the hula girls set. On the sides will be partial palm trees and some taller bushes next to them. A smidgen of sea and sand will be there, too. All three of these are done in acrylics.



This one is an oil painting of a heliconia plant. It, along with the rest of the paintings, is still a work in progress. I had to let it dry a few days so that I could continue working on it.

I did have two more canvases that I worked on - finished the backgrounds of them. However, they are a gift for my sis for (last) Christmas and she reads this blog, therefore, no pictures yet. Once they are in her hot little hands, I will be sure to post a picture. :-)

I've got a number of other paintings planned for it: hibiscus, possibly plumeria and two beachy type scenes. Oh, and a painting that is just sea and sky, in all sorts of beautiful shades of blue, based on a picture I took in Maui last Christmas.

The only bad thing is that my leave has now come to an end. And I'm feeling sort of sick and depressed that these wonderful days of sitting out on the back porch, painting all afternoon in the sun are over and real life of working the 9 to 5 job and dealing with the over-the-edge curmudgeon at work is back. Oh well. The painting itself won't end and that's what really counts. :-)

Here's a look at the latest acrylic painting...



Done! Listed in my store and on the VAST Team blog at http://vastgallery.blogspot.com/. It's in very good company with lots of other art by other artists.

Now next on my list is to take the hour or two I need to finish the portrait I've been working on. Plus I have to start sketching out ideas for art for the Kona condo. I love it. :-)

I'm in the middle of my latest acrylic painting, very similar to the one in my last post. Here's a not-so-good-but-all-I-have picture of it so far:



The flowers will remain black on this one, too. However, in my next one, the blue and purple one, I think I will experiment with adding touches of color. We'll see. Plus one of my sisters and her hubby just bought a condo in Hawaii. They'll be flying over, probably in July to paint, furnish and prepare it for rental. I'm moodling over ideas for artwork for the condo. I told them I'd do a few paintings with their condo and the color scheme in mind and if they like any, they can use them. I've got a ton of ideas and need to start sketching some out. I've already decided I'm going to take a few days off, probably next month, and just paint my little heart out for those days. I did that earlier this year and it was GREAT. :-)

I finished one of the paintings from the last post! I worked on the blue and green one first and here's final result:



The sides are 1.5 inches and painted black, so it doesn't have to be framed. I'm looking forward to working on the orange background canvas next. And I've started a blue and purple one where I will paint the flowers in a dark blue, rather than black. Creating the backgrounds are quite fun and really freeing. I'm already planning the color combos I'm going to use for the next set of canvases!

What wonderful timing! My brand new acrylic paints arrived on the very first day of April. The Creative Every Day theme for April is color. And I've been dying to get my hands on those paints so that I could get the very colorful background for my newest non-portrait paintings going.

I decided to work on two canvases tonight... though I'm itching to go do another one, it's too late and I need to get some sleep tonight! I chose the colors I wanted to use. I wanted vivid, vibrant colors for these backgrounds. On the one, I chose to do a combination of blue and green. The other was a few shades of burnt orange with some yellow mixed in. Here are the results...



What you can't tell in the picture is that the orange one has a delicate golden sheen to it and the blue/green one has a blue sheen to it. It's a beautiful effect when you see it in person.

My next step will be to tape off the sides and paint them black. When that's done, I will paint (in black again) on each one a flowery/curly/swirly design I've drawn and then I might use the background colors to accent the black design. I'll give it a try and see how it turns out. I am so looking forward to experimenting with these! I love the colors and can hardly wait to experiment with new combinations of color.

I had done a Dia De Los Muertos sharpie postcard swap a few months back and decided the other night that one of the designs I did needed to become a painting. :-) The perfect activity on a Friday night after a wicked long day at work answering the blasted phone (I was seriously ready to throw it out the window.) Here's the final result:



I actually used this painting as an excuse to try painting on a gessobord... and I loved it! I have two more 7x5 gessobords to use, so now I'll try doing an oil painting on it. I have a feeling I may be doing more paintings on the gessobords then on canvas.

Now my next project is to finish the value study I did in my oil painting class and maybe do another one or two of them. :-)