An Irish Quilt (an ode to green)

  "Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises." 

Pedro Calderon de la Barca, Spanish Poet and Playwright, 1600-1681

Today, I knew exactly what I wanted to paint. Combine an abstracted (and in this case imagined) landscape that celebrated a wide variety of greens in honor of St. Pat's tomorrow. As an artist I love all colors, but I'm particularly drawn to the unbelievable of variety of greens in nature--from the lightest, coolest aquas to the richest, deepest olives and emeralds. In fact, I read the human eye can discern the most variety in the color green.

I've traveled to England but never Ireland, but I had an idea of the landscape elements I wanted to evoke. Misty trees, stony fields, cliffs dropping into a cold sea, etc.  In this mixed media painting (acrylic and oil pastel), I started with a very warm under painting--magentas, oranges, yellows knowing that they would later work as complements under the green final layers. 

As I've mentioned before, I typically use a limited palette, meaning I use mix my greens from "from scratch" using blue and yellow pigments such as ultramarine and lemon, or thalo blue and quin gold (perhaps my all time favorite green mix), etc. but in this painting I added pure acidic Thalo Green to my palette for the extra green zing I was after. My favorite part was mixing the variety of greens--really trying to push the value range and intensity range. I had a such a good time, I may try another one tomorrow.  

Ampersands of Time

Happy Monday everyone! Lately, I felt it was time to push myself to do a larger, more expressive and graphic non-representational painting. So over the weekend I bought a 3 foot by 4 foot gallery wrap canvas and which lurked liked a big white wall for a few hours. For me the best way to get started is to just dive in and start making marks--working with line and mass (more sold shapes).  I also used acrylic paint here so I could quickly stamp into areas, collage, etc.

Painting Detail

I always enjoy incorporating symbols, gylphs, words, letters, numbers, etc. into my art. In this piece, I wanted to include two of my favorite symbols: the ampersand and asterisk (which derives from the Latin for little star).
I read that asterisks where originally used to denote birth dates in family trees and the ampersand is an ancient symbol dating back to the first century.  It represents the written Latin "et" meaning "and" as you might have guessed. 

Since I was thinking about words and how they relate to art, I thought it would be fun to write a haiku (a traditional Japanese poetry form that follows the 5/7/5 syllable format) about painting abstractly. (I'm a former English major, but my poetry writing is a bit rusty, but here goes...)

Paint marks on canvas
Letters value hue collide
Whatever you have


White wall towers empty
Brushes tell a story
Colors sing in harmony


Colors swim below
Shapes emerge born of shadow
Brushes reach the sky

For those of you who paint on large surfaces you know how freeing this can be.  While I think I've still got a few adjustments to make, this was one of the most enjoyable pieces I've worked on recently.  Quick welcome and thanks to my new March students, as always I look forward to helping you reach your art goals while enjoying the process along the way!

Friday Sale: Horse Code

"Horse Code" 

8x8 oil on panel equine abstract painting

SOLD

Thanks again to the Artists Helping Artists for their fantastic blog tips show yesterday. Based on Leslie and Dreama's helpful comments, starting today in my blog, I'm going to try to have at least Friday as a featured Daily Painting sale day for all my blog readers.Also, starting this week I'll be selling a few of my older (but still good!) Daily Paintings on eBay all starting at under $50.

Finally, welcome to all my new summer students this week and next, I look forward to painting some masterpieces with all you! Have a great weekend!

Yesterday's Apple & Blurbing

Happy Thursday everyone! I've spent almost all day working on my new art book from Blurb--a site where you can create your own book of text, photos, imagery whatever you. I noticed several other artists were using Blurb on the web and I so I've had creating a book on my art "to do" list for a while now.

It's also been insightful and emotional to sift through almost a decade of folders of past paintings--some hits, some misses. Some I barely remember. And of course, I'm already mourning a few pieces that I just can't find an image for and have long lost the buyer's name (note to self!).  I'm pleased to say that many of the paintings were sold years ago though  so a quick thanks to all my collectors over the years for your support!

There's something very cathartic about bringing all your art together in one place. Though trying to decide what to put on the cover is much tougher than I thought it would be. Abstract? Landscape? Animal? I don't think I'll able to choose just one. 

While I'm creating the book (working title Colorful Connections, of course) mostly for myself and family, I plan to have a link where you can purchase the book if you like through Blurb. 

When I ordered Carol Marine's Blurb book last week, in addition to looking forward to seeing 100 of her beautiful, jewel-like daily oil paintings, I was eager to see the quality. And I was very pleased given the reasonable price for a 4-color 100 page book. Blurb also has a Blurb bookstore where you can search for other artists or art topics such as daily painting. Another attractive daily painting book I spotted Clair Hartmann's Yesterday's Paintings--isn't that a fantastic cover??

I also spent just a few minutes this morning checking out an oil painting instructional DVD I ordered from another busy Daily Painter and Teacher, Hall Groat II.  He has a wide variety of DVDs, but as a foodie and a painter, I couldn't resist Painting Desserts DVD. Though I may need to pick up a few "pastry models" at my favorite French bakery (Trompeau if you are ever in the Denver area) in order to practice tomorrow. OK. Better get back to my book.

Bon soir everyone and thanks for stopping by.

The Trip to Bountiful

Usually, I tell my students that you can't go too wrong if you keep things simple while painting. And normally, I try to adhere to my own advice but once in a while I don't get that message. This multi-layered oil painting on panel took me a few weeks from start to finish. It contains a kitchen sink of techniques--some new and some tried and true.

Just a few include painting the first layer with Golden Acrylics an old gift card (Victoria Secret BTW for those of you who like details) and scraping the paint over the gessoed Masonite board (18 x 18). (This idea came from an online demo I saw a while ago of an artist creating an entire painting with plastic cards as brushes.)

I also built up additional texture with a thick gesso using a variety of tools such as palette knife, stamping, and some stencils. Lately, I've been really drawn to waxy encaustic paintings and so I glazed some of the shapes back with milky opaque colors. This piece started out as a purely abstract color study demo for one of my abstract students with reds and golds. When a figure and face began to emerge I decided to work with that imagery. I added the dream catcher at the bottom just for "good luck" and because I love circles.

Quick thanks to all my students who continue to work hard and paint during the summer--I know it's a season with many other temptations. I love seeing each week what you are working on from dogs to pheasants, from florals to seascapes to aspens. Speaking of aspens, this weekend I'm off to Aspen and can't wait to take some photos up there. Have a great weekend everyone!

Monday Morning Chickens

Well, today is "the big day"--I'm just about to pack up to head off to my new group class at the Curtice Street Art Studio in Littleton.  As much as I love teaching in my home studio one on one most of the week, I'm really looking forward to to teaching a new group.

For those of you who've been lucky enough to be in a painting, art, or creative group you know it can be a great place to find new ideas, support, and personal growth. I can't recommend it enough. At first you may feel a bit "exposed" painting in a group (I sure did) but I quickly got used to it and in fact came to love the instant comments and feedback from other artists. Painting with dozens of artists each week also gave me the opportunity to learn a wide variety of techniques that would have taken me years to learn otherwise. Or have never tried on my own.


This is one of my favorite watercolors (it's a collection of one my watercolor mentor's wooden chickens) from that time. Like many artists, I've often struggled with keeping the act of creating art enjoyable with my desire to excel at and grow my craft.  So this painting also reminds me not to take art too seriously and to have no fear.  Plus, it's always a fun challenge to paint a collection of things. I'm certain viewers and buyers sense too when you've enjoyed yourself during the painting process.  

So on that note, whatever you paint this week, be be bold, be yourself, be creative, and have fun! See you in the studio...P.S. I'll be sparticipating in the Harvard Gulch Community Center Art Festival on Saturday, May 15. There will be about 30-40 local Denver artists selling affordable arts and crafts from 9AM to 2PM. Be sure to check it out if you are in the area!

Sparkling Vine

Last October on one of the last really nice, warm autumn days I went looking for abstract oil painting inspiration in our local park. In the planted formal garden, most of the flora was already dead or dying, but I noticed that with the leaves withering one could more clearly see the "skeleton" of  the bare plants which was perfect for organic abstracts. And in this particular case it was also casting an interesting and tangled shadow against a wall and some steps.

Ever since I was quite young, I've loved to paint interwoven organic shapes. My brain finds it very soothing, like a giant puzzle--maybe it's the organizing of nature's chaos. It's the kind of painting where I just let my "art brain" take over and I'm just along for the ride. So these nature-inspired abstract paintings are always a bit of surprise even to me when I'm done.  Because of the linear nature inherent in vines, twigs, branches, etc. like to start these paintings with a very gestural drawing sometimes with a brush but this time I used a dark blue oil pastel on a 18 x 18 canvas panel.

Speaking of panels, I'm hoping tomorrow will be warm enough to start making some GM (gessoed masonite) panels. While these can be a bit of a pain to make--run to Home Depot, cut them, gesso, dry, gesso, dry, etc.  But, if you tend to be a frugal artiste as I am, these "homemade" panels are a fantastic deal (a 24 x 48 board is less than $4).  GM panels are one of my favorite painting surfaces for oils and acrylics, particularly for abstracts and mixed media where you need a sturdy smooth surface that stands up to stamping, glazing, stenciling, leafing, collage, etc. 

Perhaps best of all, one can cut these panels to any size you desire. Which is perfect for those bizarre, non standard frames that always seem to be lurking in studio corners. Yes, you can buy these gesso panels online or at most arts stores now--but they are relatively expensive and for me I find the surface is too slick and smooth.

For the rest of your weekend I'll leave you with one of my favorite art quotes--it's actually from architect Frank Lloyd Wright--but I think it absolutely applies to learning and teaching art as I do:  Talent is good, practice is better, passion is best. 
 

Blue Island Dream

If you've read Richard Schmid's masterful oil painting "bible" Alla Prima (thank you again Santa!), you know that he recommends (as many art teachers do) creating color charts with your basic palette. Here's a great posting by a very talented artist about the charts. Nice job Jana!

Ahh charts...I've done them in the past and can be time consuming, but absolutely worth the extra effort. And I do recommend them to both my oil painting & watercolor students. However, it's still the holidays so I thought I'd make the task a bit more enjoyable today.

Here I selected one key pigment, one of my favorites, Ultramarine Blue, and mixed it with the other colors on my very limited palette (Thalo Blue, Cad Yellow Lt, Indian Yellow, Perm Rose) and white while in turn creating an abstract painting.

For the abstract my goal was to create a dynamic composition (on the diagonal) while playing with a contrast of softer undefined shapes against sharper ones, as well as full range of values. My goal was 10--I think I have them! For extra color "pop" I added some line work with a complementary red orange oil pastel.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to try a warmer color and see where that takes me...

Abstract Tuesday

First welcome to my new visitors from around the world, thanks for stopping by!

Here's the abstract mixed-media painting ("The Invention of Color") I posted yesterday on Daily Painters Abstract Gallery. This is one of those paintings where I just set out to explore and don't really have a plan of action.

I used gessosed illustration board (so it would take the paint better) and applied many different layers of transparent Golden acrylics, pastels, graphite, collage tissue paper, and then stamping at the end to add even more depth. These kind of paintings may take you on long journey but they are worth it.

One of my favorite art books for mixed media exercises like this is Celebrate your Creative Self by Mary Todd Beam. For more information about my mixed media or acrylic painting classes, please write to me at the studio: ScarletOwl@hotmail.com.

Pillow Talk

First, welcome again to all my new visitors from the Daily Painters Abstract Gallery and American Art Collector Magazine. Thanks for stopping by!

In honor of American Art Collector's amazing figure/nude October 2009 issue I wanted to post another figure. Painting the figure from life, for me, is one of the great joys and challenges of oil painting. I just loved this pose from the minute the model decided to basically take a nap on the pillows.

Speaking of figure painting, I just came across a very interesting new art themed reality show called Star Portraits on Bravo Canada where artists are challenged each week to paint a celebrity portrait. Isn't that a great concept? I can't wait to watch them online.

My Big Debut

This month with the painters of Daily Painters Abstract Gallery, I'm in my first full page international ad in American Art Collector magazine. I've just returned from Santa Fe and was thrilled to see the magazine and the ad in one of the galleries on Canyon Road.

Since the ad is a collage I wanted to post a larger format image of the abstract painting featured in the ad here, it's one of my favorite abstract color studies. Welcome to any new visitors from the magazine!

"Infinite Possibilities" oil on canvas, 36 x 48, for purchase information please contact me.

Viva la Violets

This time of year I really start to get the urge to paint on location if I can find the time. This small oil landscape was the result my landscape workshop with fantastic landscape painter, Tim Deibler in the La Veta/Spanish Peaks area.

With wind, sun, bugs, bears--yes bears--it was a challenging, but amazing place to paint. Again, my apologies to Tim again for any foul language I may have used. But in the end, it was absolutely worth it.

P.S. Tim's book on landscape painting, Capturing the Seasons in Oil, is also excellent.

Falling Forward

I have a confession to make. As much as I love landscape painting, I'm not the world's most tolerant plein air painter. For me, plein air is the "camping" of painting, where my cozy in home studio is the Ritz. I really have to give props to those die hard plein air painters that the West is known for.

Once it a while though, despite the maddening light changes, bugs, wind, etc. as all plein air painters know--it's all worth it.

In anticipation of fall, here's a plein air painting of my beloved Washington Park. True, I did not stray more than a few blocks away, but I was outside and that always makes for a very special painting. I'm pledging here to try it again in a few weeks--though I may have lounge chair and a Starbucks mocha (with extra cinnamon) in hand.