"A New Beginning", again

"A New Beginning", Pastel, "7x5"

I am delighted to share that I have received an Honorable Mention for "A New Beginning".  It is currently in the New Braunfels Art League show, "Small Works for Big Holidays", in New Braunfels, Texas.  The show has some beautiful art work on display and will be running until December 29, 2014, and it is a must see.  The show was judged on all media (no categories).

For the whole story, go to my blog of August 2014 (right column, Blog Archive).

"Lunch in the Garden", Finished

After squeezing in a day here and a day there, I have finished "Lunch in the Garden".  Yeaaah!!  Now I need to frame it so I will stop over thinking it and piddle.  Nothing else to add, except-----enjoy.

"Lunch in the Garden", Pastel on velour board, 12"x24"

"Lunch in the Garden", WIP #6

Well, I have been away from my studio for three weeks and I am so anxious to get back to this painting.  This WIP is where I left off.  When I had last worked on it, I had decided I wanted to put more blue violet in the flowers.  Somehow I had gotten them too red violet.  Plus, I want to work on the background to add more depth to it.  And here I thought I was almost done!  Really shouldn't take much more time :).  The last thing I will do is adding detail to the flowers of the top butterfly, a little at the middle one, and haven't decided about the bottom butterfly.  The hardest thing will be knowing when to stop.

So, my next post should be the finished painting.

Enjoy, and thanks for reading.

Pastel on velour board, 24"x12"

"Better Than Diamonds"

"Better than Diamonds"     

Fancy and I

Back in the earlier part of this year, I received an email with a pic/saying on it that said "Who ever said that diamonds are a girl's best friend....never owned a dog" (no author name). It was a pic of a little girl with her dog. I loved it, but wanted to personalize it. 

Well, around the first part of Oct., Jon, Fancy, and I were visiting Jon's long time friend, Skeet, who is now living with his daughter, husband, and a lot of animals, on a ranch near Wallis, Tx..  I saw a scene that was perfect for what I had in mind. I set it up, and Linda took the photos. Found my favorite and cropped it. Viola!!  I love it. It is now hanging in my studio--and I feel a painting coming on!!

p.s.  I also took a lot of good reference photos. 

"Lunch in the Garden", WIP #5

After a nice weekend, I am back in my studio, ready for the challenge ahead.  I did manage to peak at my WIP--to make sure it was still there :). bit really to see if anything jumped out that didn't look right.  My main work, now, is the background.  Found the left side of my brain arguing with the right, saying…"you know you've got to paint all those leaves, and in detail…", with a response from the right…"no, I don't--just make it look like I have."  That's an accomplishment for me, since I am a very detailed person!

I want to say that practice makes perfect, but let's keep it at better.  Starting to get a hang for the background.  I think I could do a BlueMist flower blindfolded.  I put a photo of the WIP in my ValueViewer app. and, to me, it looks good, but I'm still learning about how to apply Notan--so, I will say "based on my knowledge".

To Be Continued….

"Lunch in the Garden", WIP #4

I decided to do background from top to bottom.  I can keep track of my color trail and put the flowers in where I want them.  The flowers are named "Gregg's BlueMist" and have been told they are like a "high" for the butterflies.  They can, also, have a blue violet cast to them.  The day I took the referance photos, the garden was full of butterflies and they were all over the flowers.

I have decided to plant a butterfly garden in the spring and will be sure to include the BlueMist.  Have also read, they like zinnias and dill.  Just think of all the referance photos I can take!

To Be Continued...

"Lunch in the Garden", WIP #3

Did 2nd. butterfly.  So far, so good.

Did 3rd. butterfly.  A little harder to do because of flowers in front of it--bits and pieces.  Now for the background---WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?!!  Who's idea was this, anyhow?  Oh yeah--mine!!

Next day--It is a good thing us artists have to sleep at night.  It gets us away from what we're working on and there is a fresh perspective when we view it the next time.  I saw that the butterflies needed more shading and highlights, to give them volume/form.

To Be Continued…..

"Lunch in the Garden", #2

After I did some of the top part, I decided to do the main butterfly--to get a feel for how the colors of it would go with the background.  I was pleased.  The first pic I took showed the rock a blurb, so I worked on it, tweaked some flowers, and took another pic.

I then decided to do the other two butterflies, so I could do the background to accent them and include my color trail.  Will post the second butterfly, soon.

To Be Continued….

I'm Trying Something New--for me.

I love posting to my blog, but have not finished anything, recently.  So…..I have decided to do a W.I.P. (work in progress).  Usually I don't show my paintings until they are finished.  Any one else do that?  This one is titled "Lunch in the Garden".  Our local library has a butterfly garden and I just happened to check it out one day when the monarchs were all over the place.  Luckily, I had my camera with me and took quite a few pics.

On my computer I zoomed in and cropped three of the butterflies and flipped one because it was facing the wrong direction.  I decided on my format, 12"x24", paper--velour board(sand color).  Did my drawing on tracing paper, putting in only the butterflies and a few placements for flowers.  I am going to do the background as my creativeness inspires (that scares me).

The main butterfly was put in the focal area, and I used harmonic armature to place the minor monarchs, then transferred the drawing to my support (paper).  I try to remember that some of you are not artists--and, yes, we do have our own language/terminology.  One of my apps. I have started using quite a bit, is Adobe Photoshop Express, on my iPad.  It is really easy to use.  One of the features is called Looks/Premium Looks.  I took my original photo and applied Spring.  I gave me a more vibrant color for the butterflies.  I thought the foliage was too vibrant, so will change that.  See comparison below….

Original photo

Enhanced

To Be Continued……..(need to go work on it)

"A New Beginning"

Back in May, I ordered two DVD sets from Eric Wilson (see My Favorite Links on side bar), and fell in love with his technique.  It is so much like how I am trying to work.  I have watched both sets, which are quite lengthy, but so thorough.  You are able to see almost every stroke he makes.  I will be watching them again and again and again.  The painting below is my first attempt at applying his technique.  I could feel the integration of his technique with my style--I've heard that's what we are suppose to do.  Enjoy!!  And be sure to check out his website--you will love it!!

My referance photo was taken a couple of years ago, while Jon, Fancy, and I were doing our morning walk.  We happened upon this little fawn, way too close to the side of the road.  I wish I had taken more pics, but was afraid of scaring it.

"A New Beginning", Pastel on pastel mat, 7" x 5"

A new award and a new friend

On June 30th., I entered the "Texas" Show at the New Braunfels Art League and Gallery, sponsored by Heineken Premium Light.  It is a beautiful show and we had a great turnout at the reception.  Texas was well represented by some outstanding art work.  I am happy to announce that I received an Honorable Mention in the water and drawing media category, for "Ready to Work".  Cheers to Fancy (my border collie who posed for the pic)!!

"Ready to Work", Pastel, 12" x 16"

I have also made a new friend and fellow artist via the internet.  Upon posting a comment on my Lesley Harrison website, Kay contacted me, and we discovered we had a lot in common.  I have added her website to my Favorite Links, www.wildwolfportraits.com.  She does beautiful work!!  I think it is so great that we are able to communicate with others so far away (WVA), however, I wish I lived closer so I could take a workshop from her.  Enjoy!

"And God Provides"

I didn't even have to think on a title for this one--it just came to me.  The butterfly is a symbol of new life in Christ, and God provides for us (all creatures), abundantly.  Just look at all that lantana.  The butterfly is definitely having a good meal.

I used several photo references(all I took), and also used my creativeness, changing leaves and adding lantana, and coming up with my own background.

reference photo

reference photo

This painting is quite different from my "Worn Traveler", posted May 19, 2012.  I wanted it higher keyed, lighter.  I have an app on my iPad that I use more and more.  It is called ValueViewer.  As I come to certain stages in the painting, I take a pic with my iPhone, it goes to my iPad via Photo Stream.  I import it into ValueViewer where I can see my grays, Notan or levels of black, white and grays.  I love it!!  There is, also, the red acetate that helps me see the values.  I haven't automatically learned how to see or remember how each color is on the value scale.  I still see light green as a light value, but it is still darker than even some darker yellows.

 levels

 Notan

 grays

This is where I decided to stop--I kept pickin on it--so easy to do.  When I cut the mats, I messed up and reversed the dimensions, so will have to recut.  Guess what--I will be doing another different butterfly painting, to use the first mats cut.  Maybe it wasn't an accident?!

Enjoy!

"And God Provides", Pastel, 8" x 10"

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas

They can come from any source or direction.  We just have to keep our ears and right side of our brain open to them.

One night my husband (aka Jon) and I were fixing crab legs and I asked him to remind me to fix the drawn butter.  He immediately replied,  Are you going to get your pencils out and draw the butter?  (He was trying to get a smile out of me).

I was in the process of trying to decide what to work on next in my art.  My enjoyment of working with charcoal had been renewed from doing "Beaver Pond", but I wanted something easy and quicker to do than my regular painting.  I had one of those "aha" moments.  Thus, the idea of "Drawn Butter :)" was born.  I have since come up with a few more.  Any ideas from my readers are welcome.  Let's see how much fun we can make of this venture.  Jon has also named this series my "Runaway Art".

"Drawn Butter :)"

Charcoal, 6" x 6" 

Accolades

The Canyon Lake Art Guild is currently having their annual "Lasting Impressions" show at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery, in downtown New Braunfels, Texas.  The show is running from April 5th. to April 30th., 2014.  We had our reception on April 6th. with a beautiful turnout, good food, and a fun time!

I would also like to mention that while I was chairperson for the show this year, it all came together because of all the hard work of the members who volunteered to help and coordinate what had to be done to make it a success.  You have my utmost appreciation and gratefulness for making it happen!  THANKS A BUNCH!!

I am happy to report that both of my paintings, won ribbons.  "Beaver Pond" received 1st. Place in the Pastel/Drawing category, and "Ready to Work" won Honorable Mention in the same category.

"Beaver Pond"

"Beaver Pond", Charcoal, 8" x 10"

 Many artists I have read about and talked to, say "keep your old or never finished artwork.  Not only is it good to go back and see how you have improved, but you can redo them and improve them.  Such is the case with "Beaver Pond".  When I came upon it in my stack of "unwanteds" I saw why I wasn't pleased with it at the time.  So many of my values were wrong, and I needed to recrop for a better composition.  Now I know I still need improvement, especially since I am not a "landscape" artist (at least now right now), but I like it a lot better.  The referance photo is courtesy of James R. Rodgers, my brother, who took it while on a trip to Colorado.  Thanks, Jim!! 

"Ready to Work"

"Ready to Work", Pastel (on pastel mat), 12" x 16"

This is another painting I've been wanting to do, every time I came across it.  It is a typical stance of a border collie, and shows what concentration they can have when they are getting ready to work.  They can keep that position for a looong time!!  However, I have to tell you--Fancy is not ready to work.  She is waiting to catch her frisbee.  Having two senior citizens for masters and no goats, her work is herding us and playing with her frisbee, outside, and catching her handball indoors.