Stencils and Mixed Media

"Morning Meeting"

I'm preparing for my home studio "Painting Birds" workshop, and wanted the last day's lesson to be a very easy one.  So, I decided to emphasize stencils and show them how to do a very easy illusionary painting. BTW, I only used 2 colors in this painting. (quinacridone gold and neutral tint) I will be having a mail order lesson on this process available soon, if you are interested.  It's a fun way to paint!
The image is 11" x 14" and is available for $145.

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 22

"Pretty as a Peacock"  $145  Watercolor and acrylic  (11" x 11" image)

This was a very ambitious painting for me to attempt for this challenge, but now that I'm done, I'm glad I did it!  I will be painting many more peacocks in the future!  I love to negative paint, so that was my favorite part of this process.  (The white spots are painted with acrylic paint and are the spaces between the feathers, that I negative painted.)  I started this painting by masking out the peacock's head and neck.  Then I wet the whole paper, and laid gauze on top, and painted the feathers through the gauze.  See photo below.

(Peacock in progress)

After it dried overnight, I began to paint the peacock in a traditional manner.  Lastly, I negative painted the white spots that were the background, peeking through the feathers. I could have done more detail on the feathers, but decided that I liked them left to the imagination.  The effect of the gauze did the work for me!

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 21!!

"I've Got Rhythm!"  $145  (watercolor and markers)  11" x 11" image

Yesterday, I babysat my granddaughters all day, so by the end of the day, I was pooped.  No painting at all yesterday.  So, this morning, I thought, keep it simple, and get 'er done!  I love elegant writer pens, because you can sketch with them, and then if you put a wet brush on the lines later, it will smear. I like that "out of focus" effect.  I did a contour drawing of another crow, and decided to add doodling within his body.  Keeping the background simple was a "must" against the busy crow.  Because it has piano keys in the body, and because he looks like he's stepping out, I named it "I've got Rhythm". 

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 20!!

 

"Looking to the Future"  $145  Watercolor and Acrylic  (11" x 11" image)

Well, what do you know?  I made it 2/3 of the way through the challenge!!!  These last 2 paintings are a set.  I dug out an old painting that had failed, and used it for the background of these silhouetted birds. I wove the dark pathway to lead to the bird, and increased the contrast by adding white acrylic to the light areas.  This painting and yesterday's painting are meant to be a set.  If you are interested in buying both, the set sells for $275.  Redoing old paintings is fun to do.  I may be digging into that pile more often!  So, there you go!  Never throw anything away!  My sister reuses coats and suits to make beautiful computer bags, and handbags.  It must run in the family!  To check out her work, go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/FunctionalArtWA  She also has a Facebook page and it you "like" it, you will receive any new posts when she has new products.  https://www.facebook.com/FunctionalArtWa/posts/297572400374192 

30 Paintings in 30 Day: Day 19!

"Love is in the Air" $145  watercolor and acrylic  (11" x 11" image)

I had no time to paint yesterday, so this morning, I played "catch up" on my 30 day challenge.  I decided to look through my failed paintings and grab one that might make a good background.  The failed painting was too busy (surprise, surprise!) with no focus.  So, I decided to add a silhouette of 2 birds. I knew I didn't want to just paint the birds as if they had been stuck on with construction paper, so I negative painted around some of the lines that went right through them.  I also brought back more contrast in the painting by painting the light shapes with white acrylic paint.  I like the energy of the swirls, which prompted me to name this one, "Love is in the Air".  Now, I've got a card ready for Valentine's Day!  If you're interested in giving your sweetheart this painting, contact me!

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 18!

"Sleeping on the Job"  $145  Watercolor and Acrylic  (11" x 11" image)

I knew that I wanted 2 owls in my series.  One that was wide awake, and one that was getting sleepy!  There is a double meaning to this painting.  I'm half asleep these days too!  Again, I want to thank Sarah Rosedahl for the use of her photo.  Love the way this owl's eyes are half open.  I used the same colors in this painting as yesterday's, just in case someone is interested in purchasing the two of them as a set.  Working on a wet surface is an easy way to get the feathers on the owl, but you must work with thicker paint so that the paint doesn't spread out too much.  This was a fun painting to do!

30 Paintings in 30 Days- Day 17

"I'm starting to see Circles!"   $125   Watercolor, Acrylic, and Collage  (11" x 11" image)

I've been planning to paint an owl from the beginning of this challenge, and got special permission from Sarah Rosedahl to use her photo as my reference.  She is a fantastic photographer and artist.  Click on her name to see her work.  I knew that I wanted to have circles in the background, to kind of accentuate the eyes of the owl.  But as I was halfway into the painting, I thought, what can I do to make this go faster and simpler?  See photo below.

Half finished painting

So, I took one of my paint jar lids and dipped it in the paint, and wallah.... doing stencils made it lots easier.  I also used caran d'ache crayons and a permanent black marker to add finishing touches.  The branch is made from a circular patterned collage paper, and then I painted back into it, so that the paper would be incorporated into the piece a little better.  I only used 4 colors to paint the background on this painting. (2 main colors, plus white and black)   I learned how to make swatches of harmonious papers from Carrie Burns Brown.  Check out her video if you get a chance.  It's one of my favorites!Tomorrow's post will also be an owl, so keep posted!  Thank you for following my blog.  It really means a lot to me to hear your comments!

30 Paintings in 30 Days- Day 16

"A Little Tipsy"  $95  Watercolor and Markers  (11" x 11" image)

In honor of the hangover that I had this morning, after a really good time last night (see yesterday's blog),  I decided to paint a crow who is getting into the wine, and he is a little tipsy!  I did a contour drawing of the crow, which gives it the feeling of a caricature!  Then I took an elegant writer calligraphy pen and drew on top of the original drawing.  When I added watercolor paint, the elegant writer smears, which is an effect that I love.  This was a pretty fast painting. 

30 Paintings in 30 Days- Day 15!!

"French Crow"   watercolor and collage  $195   (11" x 11" image) 

Half way there!!!!  Did you notice the explanation points?  I'm very proud of myself that I've made it this far!  Now for a confession.  I didn't do this painting today.  I actually did it back in October, but needed another bird painting, so I grabbed it from my pile.  I took the photo of this crow in Paris, and that's why I named it, "French Crow".  But I digress....  Explanation time.  Yesterday was a full day, with only one hour to spend in my studio.  I did get a drawing done, but that was it.  Last night, I had the pleasure of meeting some friends at a great new place where we all paint the same painting, and drink wine at the same time.  It's called Cheers Pablo, and is owned by my friend, Chriscell and her husband.  Click on the link.  It's located in Woodbury, MN.  The idea is simple.  A group of friends gather to paint a very simple painting, (no painting experience needed!) with TV sets all over the room, so everyone can see every step.  Anyway, this was a BLAST!  My painting was downright horrible, but I don't care.  (Do you think it had anything to do with the 3 glasses of wine that I had?)  But, it was FUN!   And I'm definitely going to go back there again another time.  I really recommend it!  FYI, I will paint a replacement painting for this before the 30 days are up.  I just needed something to post today.  :)  Pictures of Cheers Pablo below:

Chriscell, Pat, me, Georgia, Sonja, and Deb

Our masterpieces!

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 14!

"High Wire Act"   (11" x 11" image)    Acrylic and Collage  $125

My goal with this painting was to make it fun and really easy.  So, I started the painting by covering the whole paper with bright colored acrylics.  Then I sprayed it with a water bottle, held it vertically, and let it drip, so that the colors would be interesting.  Below is what it looked like in the early stage.  It was so much fun!!!

First Step

After that dried, I drew the bird shapes on and negative painted around them to create the birds.  The only collage on this painting is the checks.  Otherwise, it is all acrylic. I actually wanted to go further with this, but slapped my hand, reminding myself that today's goal was to keep it very simple.  :)  Don't you think this would look so cool on a canvas bag?  I might look into that!

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 13

"Friends Forever"   11" x 11" image   (mixed media)    $125

Yesterday, I hit a wall.  And I really had many life lessons in the process.  A good friend called after reading yesterday's post, and encouraged me to do what I love!  Make it fun again!  And I thought all day about deadlines, and changes.  I went to get a new cell phone and told the manager that I was really phobic about losing data from my old phone.  She told me that she used to be that way too, but now, is all about minimizing "stuff" in her life.  When it really comes down to it, what's most important?  Our family and our friends!  So, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted, and I painted a simple painting and I really enjoyed doing it!!! Yay!!   I used many deli papers that I had collaged earlier for the background.  I learned this from the Anne Bagby DVD, which is one of my favorite DVD's!  What a blast it is to make all of these papers!  I used the design from one of my 30 minute sketches that I had done many years ago.  Anyway, the moral of this story is to "do what you LOVE", and life will be good!  :)

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 12

"Happy Feet"  watercolor    $295

This painting wasn't easy, but I'm pleased with the outcome.  I thought it looked as if he were starting to dance, so I called it, "Happy Feet".  The question I keep asking myself, is why I'm making this challenge so hard?!!  Illusionary paintings such as this one are very time consuming.  The good news is that I like it, so it wasn't 8 hours in vain.  The bad news is that I'm not enjoying the "process" when I work in pure watercolor.  I know in the back of my mind, I'm thinking about the Transparent Watercolor Society of America and that their deadline is coming up!  I hardly EVER do pure watercolor anymore, so pickings are slim, if I were to choose to enter.  For those who don't know about it, the paintings are awesome, and it's a national show.  They get close to 2000 entries and they accept only about 90, so it's always an honor to get juried into the show. I'm a signature member, and I love to make an annual trip to see the show personally.  It's held near Chicago, in Kenosha, WI.

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 11

"Time to Reflect"  (Mixed Media)  $125

Today, as I was painting this, I was thinking about how lucky we artists are, that we can call other artists and have "play days" from time to time.  My friend, Jeanne Larson came over and painted all day with me.  We made journals to start with, and it felt so good to not be painting a "real painting" for a change.  Just playing!  The design button never turns off with me, so even when I am painting journals, I still think about dominance, and repetition of colors, etc.  The point is that every now and then, it's important for us all to recharge, doing something that we love.  After journals, I found a half finished painting that I had done on Day 6, so this painting will be a companion painting for that one. Check it out!  I do that often- painting 2 small paintings at once, so that the buyer can hang them either vertically or horizontally.  It's a great sales technique too, since they look really nice side by side in a gallery setting.  So, anyway, I didn't have too much to do to finish this painting, and I liked that way the bird looks deep in thought.  What a great day we had painting!

30 Paintings in 30 Days- Day 10

"Martini , please!"  Acrylic   $95

This is a funny painting.  I think this bird wanted a martini so bad that he had a little accident!  I laugh when I see it.  The shadow ended up looking more like a puddle, so I thought, I'll just make it abstract by putting stripes through it.  Well, that made the shine show even more!  So I thought, "it is what it is!"  Secondly, I'm not going to tell you what kind of bird this is, cuz I'm not sure what it looks like!  I collaged the top part with torn napkins, and then painted on top of them, using black acrylic.  This painting is almost all acrylic, in fact, beside the collage.  I had to put 2 olives in the martini, because I really like them!

First 9 Days- 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"First 9 Days of 30 Paintings in 30 Days"

Leslie Saeta challenged artists to paint 30 Paintings in 30 Days, starting on January 1st.  For some reason, this has been a much harder task than last year.  Still I have always been the type to try to finish what I start. This has been fun to try to decide which bird I will do every day.  Tomorrow, it's a seagull! 
I thought many of my followers might want to learn about a fun website.  Leslie taught us how to use this last year, and I love having the ability to make my paintings into a tic tac toe format!  The website is called www.picmonkey.com  You don't even have to download anything on your computer to use it.  It's free!  Thanks so much Leslie, for showing me this great website! 

30 Paintings in 30 Days- Day 9!

"Room with a View" (11" x 11" image)  $125

OK, another busy painting!  But I like it for some strange reason, especially the title.  The only thing I would change about it next time would be to use different colors.  I was trying to limit myself to only 3 colors, but I chose WN manganese blue, which is so wimpy that I really needed to add another blue, but kept to my original goal.  I used a mixture of Davinci Red Rose Deep and WN Scarlet Lake for my red, and WN New Gamboge was my yellow.  At the end, I allow myself a mixture of alizarin crimson and winsor green for the black color.  So, that brings up the question:  When is it good to be naughty and go against the RULES????  Yes!  This is pure watercolor too, so it was time consuming for the many layers.  Tomorrow, I'm going to do an easy one and try the goal, SIMPLIFY!!!  Have you heard that before???!!!  :)

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 8

"There's Something Fishy about this Pelican"  (watercolor)  11" x 11"  $125

Yesterday, I babysat my granddaughters all day, and so I didn't get a painting done till now.  Good thing I was one day ahead with this challenge.  Now, I have to play catch up!  My oldest granddaughter, Alex, is 4 1/2 years old, so she loves to do anything artistic with grandma.  I knew that I should be painting, so I talked her into painting a pelican with me.  She decided to make her pelican purple.  I sat in awe of her artwork!  So free, no worries, always loving everything that she did!  What a lesson it was for me to just take it all in!  I had the drawing from yesterday as my start today.  I decided to make it playful, like Alex was! I did another painting similar to this with my crazy ladies.  It's pictured below.  It sold right away! If you are interested in purchasing any of my paintings, just comment below.

30 Paintings in 30 Days- Day 7

"Bird Crossing"  (11" x 11")  Watercolor    $145

Day 7!  One week done!  And today, I got an optical migraine!  I was out when it happened, so I had to drive home with one eye closed.  I get the kind of optical migraines where there are flashing lights for about 20 minutes, and when they disappear, the headache starts.  But, if I take tylenol right when I feel it coming on, it  lessens the headache by a lot!  So, I made it home safely, and laid down for awhile, and then began what was SUPPOSED to be an EASY painting!  What happened????  Why is it that I keep making this so hard?  I see others do really easy paintings, but there's something in me that always wants to do a really good painting.  I guess that's good, as long as it doesn't kill me!  :) I named this "Bird Crossing" due to the look of a railroad crossing sign. 

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 6

"Trying to Blend In" (11" x 11" mixed media)  $125

Six days into this challenge and I'm feeling really wiped out!  I keep trying to trick my mind by saying that I'm almost 1/3 of the way there, much like when I was learning to jog many years ago.  I wouldn't think that I could go another step, and then I'd say to myself, "Just make it to that next mailbox" and then when I made it, I'd make another bargain with myself.  Isn't that what life is?  Many little goals or bargains, that when you add them all up, they make a great big wonderful accomplishment!  This painting started out as a collage, where I randomly put pieces of collage papers, that were related in color.  Then I painted in a rich chocolate color around the collage papers.  When adding the drawing of the crow, I purposely overlapped it over part of the collage also, so it would seem invisible or ghost-like. 

Day 5- 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Opening Act"

 

11" x 11" image, mixed media, available for $125.  Some paintings just go smoothly.  Today was one of those days.  Hey, I deserve it, after yesterday's trials!  I knew that I wanted to collage the feathers again, and decided to have the crow sticking his head into a busy section, that would repeat the patterns on his wings.  After collaging on the right, I negative painted, using acrylic so that I could make up my own pattern.  This was fun to paint from start to finish!  I named it "Opening Act" because it looks like the crow is getting ready to go on stage.