Sunday, February 27, 2011

Horse Painting - New Work



Some things take a long time and a lot of patience. Finally, after much contemplation and deliberation, I have arrived at a method that I can relax with and create something that I really enjoy looking at. It is a good balance of cool and warm colors, positive and negative and basically push and pull. I have spent this new year not painting as much as thinking about where I wanted to be with my art. This came about because my time is more limited and I was becoming frustrated with my final pieces. I realized that I was not having much luck painting on canvas. The surface seemed to make my work flat. I did like the Golden Open Acrylics but again thought they went flat on the canvas. After much thought, I decided that it was the surface and also that I needed some transparency or white space to allow the painting to breathe. I was missing some of the wonderful characteristics of the watercolors but was determined to make the Opens work. I switched my surface to a very heavy watercolor paper that can take abuse and hold lots of water and stuck with the Opens as I really like the saturation of color. This is the result. Sometimes you just need to take a break and relax to get past the frustration and blocks.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Mud Island, Memphis, TN

I find landscapes really difficult. I have about 5 pounds of paint on this small painting and many, many hours spent moving the paint around. I also find trees extremely difficult. There were many times that I felt that I would be better off if I would toss this one and start on another (non-landscape). I opted to just have some fun with color and try to learn more about using acrylic paint. This painting went through so many (awful) stages that I am not sure if I actually like it. I do like the colors and I did learn a lot about painting trees. This is from a photo I took while living on Mud Island, Memphis, TN and shows some of the park and the Mississippi River Bridge.

Gonzeaux - Yorkie Terrier

Meet Gonzeaux (Gonzo) a/k/a spoiled rotten. This is my sister-in-law's little cutie and I think he's a 4 pounder. I used a snapshot to work from and am trying my hand at the Golden Open Acrylics.

Saturday, February 12, 2011


Everyone was ready for the snow to go away! Izzy was sure that the best place to be was inside!