acrylics

002So far Rose was able to get this far. The wall needed to be separated or to look as though there are two walls. Painting the wall coming towards you in a few darker tones allows the bend to take place. Adding purple to gray paint will allow a natural recess in distance space.

The problem with acrylics is they dry extremely fast. Unless you are looking for fast drying paint then you are in luck, but for artist that need more blending  from the paint then try to use a blender extender in the paint. The extender has a shine to it though even when dry. So, play around first to see the results for yourself. In the following pictures these are Rose’s acrylic painting she wants to finish from years ago. The problem can be in matching tones and values of the colors used in another time. It can be done if you can read value and tone in color. I suggest using glazes to add the realism. Use this technique for oils as well. If you try to match existing  colors you most likely will be repainting the painting. This is where I can teach you to improve your artwork.

Okay, lets break it down:

1. Use the blender extender to equal parts to a paint color you want to use. You can use water but the color will dry flat and a value lighter.  For example;009

We worked on the bottom of the urn. we added a thin layer of a terra-cotta color with blender mixed in a shade darker than the urn. You can even use two shades darker to start to shade and develop depth to create more form or realism. So the darker color went into the cracks and around the sides of the urn. The value of the lightest will be on the highest closest part of the form and the values will reverse in paint; lightest to darkest in value and color.

REMEMBER:  the dark values are towards the back/sides or the parts of the forms that are the most far from you. Anything cool tone color will sink in space and appear away from you. Light values will come towards you in space. This is physics, law of the universe and the way God designed it!

In the above picture you can see a shine which is the blender. It does settle a bit once completely dried, but you can steal it once dry with a protective  acrylic spray and the blender wont be seen. In the  picture below look closely at the bottom two leaves against the urn. These two have been glazed with paint and blender to start to create form and shape of the leaf itself. Look at the upper leaves they are flat and need realism. Stay continued to see this painting develop.

004

TIP: You can place a wet paper towel over the paint, cover with tin foil and place in the refrigerator. Should last a good twelve hours.

TIP:  If your canvas becomes rippled because of being sketched from leaning on something all you need to do is water the spot on the back and use a hair dryer to tighten up canvas. That should work, may need to do twice.

Elvis the goat!

Here is the progression of Elvis the goat in graphite pencils; 4H {warm tone}, 4B {cool tone} and a HB Neutral tone. Notice how I only have an outline sketched and not set in stone. When you have trouble sketching a form out start with one shape such as an eye. Work from one eye out, therefore allowing it to be easy to erase an outside form lines. If you try to draw the outside lines first and then go back and “TRY TO FIT” in the eyes in later in an open space it will not work unless you have Mastered drawing and realism drawing. Work from one form such as an eye and work from the eye and outward.

Use the warm and cool tones of the graphite to set form in space; remember warms tones will come forward and cool tones will go back in space to help create form and shape. Without the darks there is no realism.002

In the following picture this is how far I was able to get in two hours.

001I can not stress enough if you are an over-sketcher on cheap paper of 140lbs. or less you are wasting value sketches turned into a drawing on CHEAP paper. You are not doing yourself any favors by doing this. Get yourself a really good drawing paper pad of 140lb or better. Even buy Illustration hot press drawing board this way when your over-sketched  doodle is over-sketched it can become a serious composition because it is on good acid free paper or board. Use the cheaper drawing pads of 140lb. or less for Doodles or thumb-nail sketches. You have better results from the graphite on better paper too. Cheap papers are not made to hold serious artwork.001

When I get a moment…..

As soon as I get an extra moment I will up load several life drawing sketches and a few friends’ artworks. Keep sketching and working on your next masterpieces!

I finally am able to print out my art directions regarding miniature flowers I design. What a huge hurdle that was….Now if I can only get the files to email? Tried everything. Anyway, as soon as I have an extra hour I will try to figure out what to do next. The flowers I have posted in the Miniature Flower section the Directions are for sale. I can only print them at this point. I will mail them to you vs. email a PDF.  Payment would be through Paypal to my email.  Please email me if interested. Thanks.

In the next day or so I will post the amount of pages per flower and the directions I have so far; such as container ideas etc.

I was going to sell and post per flowers directions; I think it will be easier if I combined three flowers and their directions per mini book. I will figure out the cost for printing color ink, folder and shipping in US and I will post soon. Please look for a new menu tab in the near future for Mini Flower Directions for sale.

How to recognize a con-artist.

There are copyright laws for a reason, please respect them. As a true artist we hold a self-respect to a high standard regarding our and other artist artwork. DO NOT EVER take credit for another artist artwork. If you do that…… then call yourself a con-artist.

These type of people you don’t want to work with anyway, so shake it off. What does Jesus say; pick yourself up and dust your sandles off and keep moving. God will acknowledge your honesty and open doors and bless you! Always do the right thing in everything.

Juried shows

Entering juried shows today is so easy compared to the “Olden days” before heavy use of ordinary people computer usage. I have found two kind of juried shows so far; a show where you are only required to enter online by submitting digital imagines without being matted. Other juried shows where you first submit a digital imagine and then if you make the first cut you will need to take the actual artwork to the show location. Make sure of the rules before you enter; you don’t want to enter a show half way across the US. I guess you can mail an entry, but you better check with the show before you mail. Most shows will not be responsible for the condition once received and or returning the art to you. If you are looking for art completions to enter the best way is to get an art magazine such as The Artist’s magazine or American Artist magazine and or go to your local book store; most will have several to choose from.

TIP: When taking a good photograph take the picture in natural light if you can and not in direct sunlight. Direct bright sunlight will wash the colors out in the picture. Do not add color and change color or whatever in a photo program!!! If the show requires art submitted created in the past 10 years for example don’t change the date and enter. Firstly, it is cheating, dishonest and simply wrong. God can’t and will not take your art to the next level based on a lie and you want to be Blessed for the get go!.

 I entered a juried show today for the first time in a long time. Honestly, who has an extra $100 just lying around? It cost $60.00 for three entries which was the cheapest I have come across compared to some other shows. What are you gonna do? If you want your art to be “Out there” you need an extra $100. Bucks!

My Studio!

One of the best decision I ever made was to make a space for myself to work on my artwork. I like to call it my studio, makes me feel inspired to create. If I added my sewing machine it would be an old lady’s craft room! Anyway, I cleaned my space tonight and of course I wish it was larger…..but I am grateful for what I have.  My dollhouse is in the other corner to the left. I was thinking of trying to turn my dollhouse’s large table somehow thinking I would have more space…….but I love to look at Zanadu Mansion in all its unfinished splender. 

Watercolour portrait

I like to spell watercolour with a “U”, feels more artist like!  Anyway,  I worked for about an hour on this morning, adding and working up the realism. Now, I need to let it sit for a day or so and give my eyes a rest. Plus, I want to let the paint really dry and take hold and settle. Once that happens I will go back into it add ridiculous realism. Certainly, the painting can stay as is and be called finished, but I need to take it to the next level. 

 I thought about this many times why I need to take my artwork into realism and I came to the conclusion that I can not change what kind of artist God made me or gave me the eyes to see as an artist; I can only work hard with what I do know as an artist and honor God, enhance, plus develop what I know as an artist and take my artwork to the next level. I have been working hard in Life drawing and actually seeing results I enjoy, so that is a good thing. Two minute poses are hard for me because I want to draw not sketch gesture drawings. I don’t know if it is that I only had about thousand hours spent in  life drawing classes or I am at a point I can skip that section of class? Good question. All I do know is that I Thank God for my life and what He is doing in it, especially as an artist. Without The Lord I would Not be standing, all my Blessing are because of Him whom died on that cross at Calvary for me.

One very important fact; Do Not ever think Your Art is not worth creating! Being an Artist is a gift from God. {period}. Do Not let the devil set your a** up!  Take the time to look around  sometime; at nature, the birds chirping, a child’s smile or your own life. What obstacles you have overcome in life and are still standing. Do not ever think “Where is God?”, He is and was right there with you the whole time. He is the Creator and what an Artist is He. So, if you are an artist and reading this right now realize that God gave you a part of Himself; the artist. What is important to you is important to God.

I really like the scarf and the way the folds are. I want to enhance the pattern yet and I will come back to it in a day or so. Right now I am going to try to downsize this easel my Dad made me when I was in college. The problem is it so big! My Dad always made things for giants! Once he made a picnic table that when you sat down at it the actual table top was at your chin! No lie! lol. Funny stuff. Wish I had a picture of that. So, I probably could make two easel just with the one.

My Dollhouse named Zanadumansion.

Hi, I wanted to add this website link [ #1] called The Throne Miniature Rooms. If you can look these miniature rooms up and be amazed at the craftmanship  and beauty these room boxes are. I will start to add website connections to other dollhouse sites as well.

I must send a sincere Thank you for a comment from a viewer [1865 civil war home] on my blog for the kind words about my dollhouse. Your comment Inspired me Not to break down my dollhouse. I haven’t had the time that I’d like to donate too working on my mansion. This past year I have been working hard to build my studio and putting time and effort into fueling my art passion.  I can put two drawings on hold and begin to work on the construction. My problem is I like to decorate, add furniture before the rooms are completed. Once I have the back walls on [that open] and the finishing construction on the entrance palor I will be in good shape.

#1: http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/thorne

#2:http://www.minishop.com/museum/Mottpics.htm

Color study

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This color study has been a “Hoot” experimenting with color. I had an idea about what I wanted it to look like, but I really enjoy the colors and play on light. The colors are so more vivid in person. I have no idea why the colors here are not as bright as shown below. The size is a bit large for me as well, I usually paint wc in tight realism. I am not completely finished….I need to work up the  door knob and detail a few things yet. But, for the moment I am going to sit this aside in my studio and just look at it for a while before I go back into it. The title will be “December shadow”. I looked to see if I could re-photograph this shot and the light  and shadow are not there at this point in time. The angle of the sun changes the shadows. I took this picture in December, so the name is perfect..This painting has become a color study of sorts.  I came across these English watercolors from the 40’s and 50’s and they are extremely translucent, transparent and bizarre to work with. Not what an experienced  watercolor artist would expect from the medium. The pictures do not capture the brightness or vividness that the colors really are. I want to work this to a point where all colors can be seen through a monotone color palette. I rarely paint so freely; not sure if I like this or not? What do you think?