Silver ornaments - in progress

I'm still undecorated for Christmas for the most part, but I'll get there.  As long as I have the tree up by Christmas Eve, I'll be doing fine.  I have been unearthing decorations and pulled out a couple of special ones.  These are Indian and the one on the left is a cone made of pale blue crazed glass captured in a cage of silver.  I love the intricate nature and detail of it.   The ornament on the right is silver, lined and indented in perfect symmetry.  They are too heavy to place on a tree, so they are reserved for a bowl or nestled in a centrepiece of greenery to give some sparkle from candle light.

I haven't done a pen and ink piece for a long time, and not one using pointillism.  It seemed I was foiled at every attempt by all my technical pens.  They were cleaned, emptied and put away after the last project, but still will not let ink flow to the nibs.  I turned eventually to a little Micron pen to satisfy my 'dotting' need.

Here is the progress of the piece so far.  I do a little dotting during the news or a few minutes in the morning before work then it slowly builds.  Perhaps it will become next year's Christmas card. Its on 9 x 12 Bristol smooth, the drawing itself is about 5 x 8 inches.

Fuzzy

This is a last minute Christmas gift portrait of my mother's cat.   When you're 87, it becomes a challenge to find gifts that are needed or wanted.  Her cats play a role in her life, so I thought a portrait may make a good gift idea.

This cat, like many others she has adopted over the years arrived as one of the kittens from a pregnant cat that seemed to think my mother's house was the maternity ward.  It was hand raised as the owner of the mother cat claimed it back, and left one of the kittens as thanks, but really too soon to be taken from its mother.   The cat is probably 13 or 14 years old now, a huge, long haired beast, with enough fur to withstand a Siberian winter.

This painting was done from a blurry cell phone image of the cat, so there's a bit of guesswork and reference to other similarly coloured cats that had to be done. There is another cat, mostly black, at my mother's house, but it never stays still long enough to get an image of it.  So the companion piece for this may have to wait.

The painting is 8" x 8" in acrylic on a canvas panel.

Clementine I - complete

 Clementine I

8" x 8" 

oil on canvas panel

 SOLD

I don't think there are a lot of significant differences in this image and the previous update for the clementine painting, but there are some more layers and tweaking, til I'm now ready to say its done and let it leave my hands ready to pass into someone else's.

For the life of me I cannot get the intense glow of colour that is present in the clementine to reproduce on the screen.  Its as if the camera has a built in censor for glow.  But in real life, this fruit has presence and feels as if there is a light coming from within it.  All the water in the fruit acts as reflectors and when sun hits it, it does glow.

So now this is complete, its time to do some Christmas baking and a little decorating.  Snow is now forecast for tomorrow, so it just may set the scene.

Joining the dots

 

My week has been wildly busy.  Christmas is nearly on the doorstep and I'm well behind in preparation with not a decoration to be seen or the scent of a seasonal cake in the air.  This weekend I'll need to get moving and make some progress.  Busyness unfortunately often leaves painting and drawing in the background and I really don't like that and feel uneasy if I don't get something down on paper or canvas.  I have a few stolen moments in early morning or evening and still try to do some drawing of something each day.  

Here's a small pointillist ink piece done with half an eye to the news.  A little silver ornament was next to me.  A pen and paper not far away and this was the result.

I should do another pen and ink piece.  Its quite soothing, all those little dots and seeing them take shape on paper.

Clementine update

I've added a few more details to the clementine that I started a couple of weeks ago, trying to find the exact moment when the colour and value work together instead of competing against each other.   With the peel that moment is a struggle.  I thought the peel would be the easier part of this painting.  Guess I was wrong there, its kicking my butt!

So another few layers, another day or two of drying, then another few layers and hopefully I can declare it complete.

Its all in the presentation

I've been thinking about plans for the coming year and working out little things that may seem little, but have a lasting impact on the impression you give to those who purchase your art.  One of those things is packaging and how the final piece looks when the buyer opens their package.

This season, I am tucking small paintings into Christmas boxes that come with gift tags, all ready to present to the recipient.  That's one less thing the buyer needs to think about if the piece is meant as a gift. This little marble painting is still available in my Etsy shop and comes gift boxed, ready to tuck under the tree. If you're local, there's still lots of time to make someone happy with this original painting.

There are other options in packaging that guide the buyer in how to display the piece.  A small display easel included in the package lets the painting be displayed without a frame for instant enjoyment.

Boxes are supplied by many packing companies and you can find others in interesting places.  My find was a cash and carry and a stack of generic pizza boxes.  These are perfect for shipping, allowing enough room to protect a painting with packing and sturdy enough cardboard for shipping, but still thin enough to reduce shipping costs.  The boxes come in various sizes and I can add labels to the outer or inner box to personalize them.  They look professional and are economical to buy.

Clear or translucent plastic boxes are also available  that can house paintings or note cards.  I use natural kraft boxes with clear lids and kraft envelopes to hold 6 cards, then tie the box up with a piece of hemp string.

Presentation does make a difference.  It reflects on how you see your art.  Is it beautiful and should be presented as such or would you rather shove it into a crumpled paper sack and give the impression that you don't care about your work?  Each piece of art is a gift and as such should be wrapped as beautifully as possible so the recipient knows that a treat lies inside.

How do you wrap your art?

The Last Drop II

I don't seem to have long enough blocks of time to sit down and completely a painting, so I chip away at it in minutes and hours til its done.  This is why you see endless 'in progress' pieces on the blog. 

I have started this image a number of times.  I swear my grand daughter will be grown up by the time I finish something I will be happy with.   This painting was put aside and I wasn't happy with the skin tones, too blue and cool, even if she is quite pale and blonde with the skin tones that are more blue than pink.

I pulled it out in the wee hours of the morning when I could not sleep to see if I could revitalize it.  I seem to switch from tight realism to loose impressionism at will.  The original painting was tighter and I wanted something looser this time around.  I wanted to let some of the underpainting come through but also give the skin a feeling of life.  Its a little pallid right now but more colour will come.

It is 8 x 8 inches in oil.

The S-Bend

Cold weather hasn't shown up much so far this year and virtually no snow except for one storm a few weeks ago, so its a bonus for painters who want to get outside to photograph or paint.  It also makes wetlands and woods more accessible, so I'm stocking up on images and sketches before the snow flies.

There are lots of bogs and wetlands around my property and when the vegetation dies back a little in winter, the bones of the landscape reveal themselves.  This little....I'm not quite sure what to call it - stream perhaps? - winds its way through the hummocks of fading grasses on its journey to the distant sea.  It comes from ground water in the distant hills, through the forest and on through the bog, filtering and giving life as it goes.

The field in the distance is ploughed and flecked with dried grasses and the sea is a tiny sliver of light on the horizon.

This is acrylic on an 8 x 10 inch canvas panel.

Mare's Tails

 Mare's Tails

8 x 10

acrylic

I did a demo of clouds at a recent art class using acrylics.  I haven't used acrylic paint for awhile and getting used to the quick drying again took a little adjusting from the oils I'd been accustomed to using.

Clouds, I find, are best created with a very dry brush with a minute amount of pigment on it.  Building layer over layer gives some structure to the cloud amd I've found that using a Q-Tip end is perfect for feathering out edges of the cloud into those transparent, wispy edges.

These clouds are cirrus and one of the most abundant.  The wind teases them out into streamers and thin layers and usually indicate a change in weather within 24 hours, often fine weather.

The Snowflake Man

 Plate XIX of "Studies among the Snow Crystals ... " by Wilson Bentley 1902

Wikipedia commons - Public domain

I have been doing some research for an etching and wanted to try a snowflake.  In looking for images, I came across The Snowflake Man.  Wilson Bentley, a Vermont farmer, was obsessed with the structure of snow crystals and learned to photograph individual flakes, through a microscope and bellows camera,  creating an amazing series of hundreds of separate images.

No two snow flakes are ever alike.  Wilson Bentley indeed proved this back in the late 1800s.

The Cold Storyteller - in progress

I've neglected my water pieces for awhile and really need to concentrate on them again.  It was one of my goals this year, to produce a body of work in water.  Since the beginning of the year I've produced probably half the pieces with water as a subject that I should have.  Not a body of work, so I need to buckle down and concentrate instead of getting sidetracked down rabbit holes.

Of course there will always be other subject matter, but to become really proficient, repetitive work has to take place until water almost forms itself without a lot of thought from me.

This is the first few layers of a new piece, 11" x 14" in oils.  The surface of water can be so rich in movement and colour and texture.  There is so much symbolism in a painting of just water, with no reference to land or person or plant.

My daily work deals with death and life and water is a strong element in both.  I know it intimately in many ways and see many things in a water surface.  Water is a cold storyteller, and holds a hundred thousand stories, not all of them pleasant.

Kewpie doll - complete

Kewpie dolls go back to 1909, based on a comic strip-like illustration by Rosie O'Neill which appeared in Ladies Home Journal.

Their name, often shortened to "Kewpies", is derived from "cupid", the Roman god of beauty and – as Eros is the Greek version of Cupid – erotic love. The early dolls, especially signed or bisque, are highly collectible and worth thousands of dollars. The time capsule at the 1939 New York World's Fair contained a Kewpie doll. The term "Kewpie doll" is sometimes mistakenly applied to the troll doll.

This particular style of doll was awarded as a carnival prize and often collected and this is where my memory of them lies.  They were a constant at the annual Regatta and I recall coming home with one attached to a stick from many of these events.

This is the completed painting in oils on 8" x 16" canvas panel.  The underpainting was started a few days ago and left to dry before adding the final layers of paint.

Clementine in progress

I always associate clementines with Christmas, as they are seasonally available.  I don't recall them from my childhood though.  We had big navel oranges at Christmas then and kumquats sometimes, but I don't remember these little clementines.

The appeal of easy opening and sweet tasting flesh makes them irresistible, and like potato chips, its hard to have just one.

I set up a partially peeled clementine and started this oil painting on an 8 x 8 canvas panel.  Light through the flesh almost glows and I'm getting there with that.  Now the peel to form and texture is the next challenge.

Wooden it be nice...

When time is short or inspiration lacking, its good to pick up other things and play.  This little disembodied head is wooden and I've stained it with watercolour.  I love how the grain of the wood shows through the transparent colour.

Off and on, I've experimented with whimsical wooden pieces.  These were cut out with a jigsaw then painted - more years ago than I remember.  I rediscovered them in the cold room (which is a veg/fruit room in the house that has vents to the outside) when looking for something else.

Kewpie doll

I've started and wiped several paintings this week.  I can't seem to concentrate or get enough time to concentrate, but I have some ideas that are coming together. 

This is the start of a piece in oils.  The background the result of a combination of colours from one of the wiped paintings.  It just happened to be the right shade of grey for what I wanted.  Of course, with oils, I need some time between layers to build, but the shape is there.  Whether it will do as I hope is another thing.

I recall these Kewpie dolls from my childhood and each year they would be the coveted prize at a stall at the annual Regatta.  The rounded features and shiny surface make an interesting object to paint.  With the grey undercoat, this looks like a ghost image so far.  More to come soon!

Marsh mist

Early morning light just hitting a wetland works magic with mist and fog as it rises off the land. With just enough light to have a glimmer of colour back into the landscape, the mist surrounds it, softening shapes and giving the small river a silvery look as it cuts through the vegetation.

6 x 6" on masonite panel in oils.

Alleys

As a child, glass marbles that we played with were usually called 'alleys'. They originally got their name from Alabaster, which is a soft stone related to marble. Alleys have come to mean very good marbles, or marbles in general.  If you can't remember how to play 'alleys', here's a refresher course.


In between ideas for larger pieces, I revert back to marbles lately.  Quick, easy and satisfying to paint, they fulfil the everyday need to paint and don't let me over complicate things. They look simple initially, but a sphere is always challenging.

This is about an hours worth of painting on this one.  Once this layer dries a little, I'll intensify the darks and call it done.

Its in oils 8 x 8" canvas panel.

East North East

 East North East

When I travel or sketch on site, I take minimal items with me, usually those that can fit in a pocket easily.  My most common companions are a mechanical pencil, a technical pen and a sketch and wash pencil and waterbrush.  I can make notes about colour if needed and add it back in the studio.

Sometimes I take some watercolour pencils, but usually just want the grey scale version of what's in front of me.  This was the case when I did this sketch.  It was a windy day, but in a sheltered cove, and the waves provided a constant pattern breaking on the shore line.  From the shelter of the car, I did this sketch and wash that may have potential for a painting.  It is about 3 x 6 on watercolour paper.

Snow and sales

The first major snowfall of the season is due tomorrow.  It may be a snow day, and if that's the case, I can get some painting time in, otherwise, its work as usual.  Days off due to snow are fairly rare these last few years and snow is getting scarcer or at least major storms such as the ones I remember as a child.  Not that I wish a snowstorm on anyone.  They make driving horrendous and some drivers still believe its summer and don't adjust driving to reflect the weather.

In case you're lounging tomorrow because of weather, or if you're American and have had your fill of turkey and family, you may like to get a head start on some Christmas shopping at my Etsy shop.  I'm having a sort of Black Friday sale.  I say sort of, because the sale is on today, Thursday and Friday, with 20% off everything in the shop.  Bargains in original, reproduction and print art are to be had.  Just enter BLACK11 at checkout and magically 20% will disappear off the price!

The glass coasters, above, are the most recent addition to my art objects that will be up for sale soon.  These coasters feature 4 images from some of my paintings.  They come in muted colours or black surrounds and fit nicely into a wooden case for storage when not being used.  More details about them will be coming soon.

Tripod will feature on some new flat Christmas cards that are coming up as well.  His begrudging pose in his Christmas hat was too good to pass up for him to be the poster cat for the season.  He just demands more tuna as royalties.  Pre-ordering for these cards is welcome and they should be available within a week.

Flower - update

I do a little clear out of the studio now and then, just so I can move around more easily.  Things pile up it seems...  Anyway, I unearthed the flower painting that I had started and I added a few more layers to it, but its still a long way to completion.  I used a 16 x 20 piece of Arches watercolour board for this.  Its not a support that I had used before and I quite like the velvety surface it seems to create with the paint. (no, the the Elvis on velvet surface!)

I will finish this flower.  It may be funky and unflowerlike by the time I finish it.  Or I may give it to someone to actually knows how to paint flowers to finish!  No, I wouldn't be that cruel.  I'll suck it up and work on it.  Its just all that pink...perhaps I should have done it smaller...its a flower...I don't do flowers...

See how those voices in my head push and jostle?

Ok.  Time to be brave and face the flower.  I'm going in.