Happy New Year 2010 Video Poem ecard

Happy New Year to one and all.

playing around with crafts

I have been working trying to get a handle on the polymer clay. I am pretty pleased with this attempt. It does take some work to get the hang of using and moulding the stuff. It didnt help that this image is all of about 3 inches high.

Working on holiday cheer

Ok I had this pattern from a magazine I got years ago. The cutest elf pattern you ever did see. It took me 2 days to work on it but I finally finished. I always wanted to do it but never got the nerve. My grand daughter named her.

Christmas With a Capital "C"

statue

This is one of the statues at the Philadelphia museum. It has such a marvelous quality that would make a good fantasy illustration. Any one wanna have a go and do a picture. Please email me with results if you go for it.

Can I say wow

For my anniversary, my husband took me to the Philadelphia of Art(http://www.philamuseum.org/). Really awe inspiring to see art hundreds of years old. It was a long and I have to say tiring day but so worth the trip, as it was inspiring too. I thought I would share some of the paintings that I took some pictures of after I do some research, a little art instruction too. Might be a cool idea of those that follow or visit my blog, join in for a copy a piece of art. I don't mean copy to be plageristic,(spell check doesnt recognize that word), but a learning experience. Could be fun.

plein air group

Its been a while. Five of us have joined together and under Jim's co-ordination have formed the beginnings of the NJ art group. http://njag.yolasite.com/. Gathered together in Flemington were Jim, Celeste and I on a Thursday night in the park in town. 2 of the members are missing. We have only been at it for a few weeks so hopefully it will grow. It is surprising that people don't know what plein air painting is. Tonight we were in Clinton. The people strolling by with their ice cream and iced coffee, were pleased to see painters out on the street. I will keep you updated as things progress.

new paintings

OK if anyone was wondering. I did not disappear. Just busy. It is funny but after my trip to England I have been in the bit of a fantasy mode. Hence the few drawings. One is a drawing of my grand daughter Abby. I must say I was quite surprised that I was able to capture her image. The paintings are from an art group that I have connected with. Locals would recognize the Clinton Mill. I plan to finish the windows. Jessica was down by the river painting. The floral was at the arboretum in lebanon.

plein air painting

I went out yesterday with my friend Celeste. She is starting to get interested in plein air painting. We went to the D and R canal park, (beautiful place I might add). It did take us a while to find the place but after we got there we set out to work. This is my reproduction of the two trees that flanked the path through the park. Needs some tweaking but I thought I would post.

horses name

The horse's name is Beazle. She recognized it. So I guess I did ok. COOL

Jamies Birthday

Not much you can get a 28 year old who's birthday is tomorrow. So besides the wc paintings I brought her from England, I decided for her card to do a pencil rendering of a picture of what ever the name of this horse is on my computer. If it works and she recognizes it I may be able to tell you the name. Horses are as individual as humans in expression and temperament. Well we shall see tomorrow if I captured this horse, because she will call it by name when she sees the picture if it looks like the horse I drew. Sounds like a bit of a prolonged conversation here LOL.

some new work

I have been trying to keep up with some painting. Life has been busy. It is hard trying to balance wanting to paint my life away but having to do all the tasks that a wife mother and grandmother has to do. I understand the statement I have heard somewhere that a woman needs a wife. It sure would help getting everything done. If I let things go to do painting, the house doesnt get picked up. I did get out to do some plein air last week and the barn picture is the result. I have also been thinking of doing the 4 horses of the apocalypse. Not sure why. They took 2 tries. They dont look to frightening. LOL. I guess I just dont have it in me. But I did it in wc which is not my medium of choice, but I did it for a greeting card for someone.

a couple days work

Sometimes I go out looking for someplace to paint. I can spend the whole day driving. I get to see alot of nice scenery but no work. On the positive side, I do get to see some gorgeous sights. It is much like a gift from GOD. You go around a bend in the road and there before you is a beautiful sight. Usually there is no place to park the car so I have to say ah and keep driving. You dont get much work done that way. But it is so nice. I did one of wildflowers in a field and the building was a start of one I did while out rambling yesterday. I need to finish.

its spring

I can finally say its spring and plein air is in the air, lol. Usually I know when painting time is here as it is tick time also. I pulled my first one off today. One time I was out painting, I came home and pulled off, if I remember right, 7 ticks. I went out with my husband to dinner that evening, and pulled off a couple more. Now thank GOD I havent had Lyme disease. I wonder if its just a matter of time. Well it wont stop me painting. One picture I did was a wc which I have to say I didnt do bad at. I was out this morning working on an oil painting which still needs some work but since I have to shove off to work myself the finishing touches will be for another day. It was just about 45 minutes of work but I WAS OUT in the air and sunshine so I am happy just for that!!!!!!

no time

Well I have to say the weather has been lousy. I also have had a cold and the effort to work do housework and then find time to paint has been hard. It does get discouraging when you want to do so much but can't seem to find the time to do so. At any rate Dylan and I have been drawing some star wars figures as well as 1 woman portrait I have been working on. Dylan is doing really good

Easter Greetings

Myspace Graphics, Easter Graphics at WishAFriend.com

desparation

Well yesterday was the first nice day in a while. It was supposed to get into the 60's. It was 48 when I set out to paint as it was sunny, I was so itching to get out and do something. Now I only had a short period of time as I had to get home to make a cake(german apple cake for Zacks diversity night). I also had to babysit the kids so I was under the gun. I can say it was practice and stretching my itchy fingers, but it did not turn out to be a good picture. Poor planning and maybe too much desperation that I just kinda didn't do a job that pleased me. I went to Michael's arts and craft store on Sunday. Now I like the store but I picked up a pack of bristle brushes that were only $4.99. Well you get what you pay for. The hairs were trying to come out all over and I was constantly picking stay hairs out. I usually tell people I see in Michaels looking for art stuff to pick the best they can afford. I should follow my own advice. I knew I was under a time pressure so I was careless in planning the position of the shed. Now what do I say about desperation? When does desperation get you into trouble? If you're too desperate to work things out, plan. prepare and make good decisions. Well it was a good exercise, but most disappointed at the outcome. I wonder if Rembrandt had those days. I suppose he did.

seascape

Well I did start this picture last week, but have been busy. I have been puddling around with it this morning. I don't know how I manage it but it always seems that I get the center of interest in the center of the picture. Not sure how I do it. The planning is there but I go and with enthusiasm start painting I just go ahead and do it every time. But in self defense, I am happy that I managed to handle water that has always been an issue with me as I mentioned in the previous post. I love the M.Graham paints by the way!!!!!!

new ol paints

I recently ordered some paints from Dick Blick. I needed some new whites, yellow and a few blues. If you follow my blog the last painting of seascape posted was done with new paints I ordered. I really like Maimeri, but it is very expensive. So considering the current economy I did some research and came up with an artist who has gone into the production of paint making. I can say I am really pleased with the texture and flow of the product. The seascape was done with titanium white, turquoise, manganese blue and cad yellow. The only substitute from the Graham line lineup was Maimeri primary red. I have so many red colors that I really didn't need to buy any, but I can almost wish I did buy some Graham reds. The link is I do so recommend them highly for the colors and flow of the paint. So in essence I feel like I supported an artist instead of a corporation. That made me feel good and I am so glad I made that choice.

http://www.mgraham.com/

new adventure

I can remember when I started painting, water was a difficult thing to paint. Water has such unique qualities. It reflects light and dark. It reflects its surroundings. It is not an easy thing to recreate raw nature. A tree as long as it looks like a tree one will interpret it as a tree. Water and sky there is no faking. It either is or isnt a successful image. At any rate i found this photo on Wet Canvas so I thought I would give it a try. This is the start of the picture. In fact it only took me an hour to get this far.

coming and going

Ok so where do I begin. The first picture is Dylan's copy of my painting. If you follow my other blog, you know that he is so wanting to paint like me. He is only 6 but I think he draws pretty well for his age. He gets frustrated because he cant do it like me. It doesn't help when I tell him it has taken years for me. The last picture was initially my finished product, but if you click on it and look closely at the left side the treeline made a boring hump in the picture. I softened the edge, blending it into the sky for a little more irregularity in the line so it became less of an eye sore for me at least. This was the view from my porch on a rather cloudy morning.

confessions of a plein air painter

I went out on my porch this morning. The moody sky was marvelous, looking toward the railroad tracks. It was not too cold. I bundled up well and had a blanket to sit on. I was trying to capture the dark clouds with breaks of the sky coming through. I think I got a very good start. It took me about an hour to get everything blocked in. I carried the box into the house as there is supposed to be rain off and on today. In trying to set the box up on its tripod stand I lost the whole box. It went upside town on the floor. Luckily the picture did not suffer damage but the container of turpentine dumped on the rug. Happily it was not paint on the rug or I would have had a major scrubbing event. But at least the painting at this stage of the game survived.

winter morning

Well did a little more painting this morning. Redefined some lines and some perspective as the small barn was a little off. Added more shadow to the foreground as the sun rising in the east casts a long shadow in the field from the large tree and builings over the field. I'm not sure what else I will do to it. Have to sit and look at it and see what else is needed.

new oil

If you follow my photo blog, I posted a picture of the winter morning yesterday. I loved the yellow orange tint of the trees in the early morning hours. Inspired by it I started this picture adding a horse picture that was taken by my daughters barn

snow day watercolor.

Well I did have this picture of a horse I took a while back. I just washed up my oil brushes so I thought I would give it a go with water color since I havent played with them since I did my Christmas cards. I was pleased that I got a reasonable semblance of a horse. I keep trying but I dont think I will ever get a hang of this water color business. Well as they say nothing ventured nothing gained.

Caillebotte

Well I guess I can say that I am getting tired of messing with this image. There is no way that I can adequately copy a masters painting. I was fun but I have to say, I have encountered that steep learning curve. Who I am as an artist and where I want to be. So much to learn so little time.

Caillebotte

In case anyone was interested in Caillebotte, I included a link and a video depicting some of his works. See the side bar with links as the link did not show up in the post. I guess I dont know how to link inside the posting box. He was responsible for creating 500 works in his lifetime.

the masters challenge.

Ok well on the draw and paint website in the oil group the challenge was to imitate a picture of the masters. In researching I came across Gustave Caillebotte. I have to say I was quite impressed with this painter. I choose this image. It is a challenge as 200 years have passed and we dont have the same pigments as they did. Of course it is safer to be a painter now as the pigments are more safe....I think. At any rate trying to not only reproduce the picture but the hues was a big challenge. Well I am partially done. It has been a learning experience so far. And I have had fun. I know when I started painting the instructor had us paint from pictures. I did get to the point of painting from my own pictures, but copying a master what fun. I will have to research this painter and get some ideas on his technique and the colors he used

autumn scene

This is a picture I have been working on if you followed the previous posts. I think I am pleased how it looks. Have to live with it for a while to see. Photographing it is hard as it is a 11x14 canvas done of a picture I took and photo stitched for a panoramic view. The second picture I think you can guess is my artist buddy. She used to follow me to the field when I would wander around the property for inspiration. She is getting slower so she doesn't get around much. I have never been able to take her out in the car when I went to paint as she gets car sick. Shame really but oh well.

Zack

several years ago I took a photo class at the local college. It was black and white photography. I took an image of my grandson that I have been wanting to draw. I have gotten in to drawing more lately. If you had access to my blog you would see the wwe wrestlers I have been drawing for my younger grandson. Well I am working on it and I think this looks like him which is haha new for me.

faces

I spent the afternoon drawing faces. Dylan is most disappointed that there seems to be no wwe coloring books. So I promised to draw him a couple pictures. I also tried to work on a picture of John Cena. Now I think the chin needs to be longer. The kids didnt recognize him but my daughter did so I guess I got some of it right. Well it is good practice. I did find that I was kinda arted out when I went to work on my painting.

oh i forgot.

I was going to mention a blog i follow, http://marketplace-daily-art.blogspot.com/. Now I would love to join the group, but how do they find time for daily paintings. By the time I get all the pickup done and dogs fed, if I work that day I have no time to paint. On my days off more pick up and errands. They have specific requirements regarding how often you post. If the requirements are not met you are removed from the list. Ah how I would love to paint daily. The spirit is willing but the flesh is involved elsewhere.

so some new work.

I took a picture on a gorgeous day in October using photo stitch on my camera. I have been wanting to do this picture so posted so far is the beginning wash in colors and draw in. The update on the picture painted for the January challenge. I thought after looking at it that the tree had such a cookie cutter look that was very distracting to me. So I filled in the branches some, cause I didn't like the tree in relation to the rest of the picture. Good thing about oil is that it is always correctable.