Art Projects
Elk Couple on a Hill Thursday, 10 June 2010 12:07
Although this picture shows a still unfinished painting, I must admit it is in a more advanced stage of completion. I should have showed the first couple of times I worked on this but it was not something I even wanted to show. I apologize and will definitely show the earlier stages of progress for my next new painting. I'm making great progress on the three current projects and sometimes stopping to take pictures (and remembering to take pictures) and then writing about then on my website is just taking time away from painting and the other writing projects I have going on. 
Horses on Watch - in ProgressTuesday, 08 June 2010 17:42
Another 30x40 painting that I'm working on is a challenge for me. And I do love a challenge! It is from a photo that I took on one of my trips (with my husband, Jim) out west to Montana. Whenever I saw any animal(s) standing off the road, or with Bison, even standing in the middle of the road, I would have to stop to take pictures. I love horses so much and seeing a group of them standing together just screams TAKE PICTURES to me! I thought it was interesting that while I was taking their picture, they all stood perfectly motionless, staring at me, as if waiting to see what I would do next.
The painting on the left is a rough fill-in of the horses - getting their shapes and putting in a rough background. As I've mentioned before, I like to fill in the canvas, that is my first goal, while getting in the major shapes. The painting on the right obviously has more detail as I began working on the faces and more of the bodies of the horses and their stances. I've set it aside to dry for a few days before working on it more.   Wolf and Pup - in ProgressTuesday, 08 June 2010 15:50
This painting is taken from a photo I took at a photo shoot during a week long workshop with artist Carl Brenders. We spent one day at a wildlife reserve taking photos of the various animals as they ran around an open grassy area. Most of them were restrained on leashes led by workers at the reserve. I got a lot of photos, many of which I'm still using for paintings.  I decided to show this work in an advanced stage of completion. Although I still have much work to do, you can see I've already worked out the composition and much of the detail. I've set it aside to work on other paintings, giving this one a chance to dry somewhat before I continue. I love the pose of the pup curling under its mom, his head up to her as they walk along together. I'm going to name it Puppy Love.
Big Blue Elephant - CompleteTuesday, 08 June 2010 14:25
Big Blue Elephant (cont-2)Wednesday, 24 March 2010 16:32
 I'm very excited about the progress I'm making with the current (3) projects I'm working on - 'Tiger, Tiger', 'Elephant Big Boy', and 'Fox Hunting'. I've spent the last couple of weeks working on the Elephant and the Fox and this is how the Elephant currently looks. I'm almost finished with him and I have just a little more to work on, such as his eyes and his tusks, and then I'm signing my name. This has been a wonderful experience, painting large scale. I have 4 more 30x40 canvases and am lining up the next paintings I will be starting, probably in the next couple of weeks. I will have the final Elephant Big Boy painting to share when I have completed the painting. Stay tuned! Big Blue ElephantThursday, 04 March 2010 11:02
Working on three paintings at the same time feels just about right. That way, while one is drying I can work on the next one and while that one is drying and the first isn't quite ready to be worked on again, I have a third one to paint.
Fox Hunting - FinishedTuesday, 04 May 2010 09:50
And now, many months later, I finally finished Fox Hunting! I guess the final part always does take the longest. You're going along, adding to the painting, getting the large shapes in, then you start narrowing it down and add in the smaller shapes and however much detail you want, this is where the time comes in, refining and making it your own with your signature style. I'm pleased with the results and can now move forward and complete the elephant next, I'm very close to completion on him, and then the tiger. I've already selected my subjects for the three large-scale paintings I'll be working on next, too.
 But I have to admit, I have not been spending ALL my time on these three paintings. I've been spending more time on our Eye Help Animals business, participating in a local show and working on other items to offer in our gift shop. I've also painted several smaller pieces and will be offering them in my gallery, too. And I'm participating in a few art shows during the summer months so I'll be gearing up for that. And with the warmer months coming (actually they're already here!) we are getting out more, gardening, golfing, and enjoying our brief spring/summer season. So here it is, the final version of Fox Hunting! Fox Hunting (cont-2)Wednesday, 24 March 2010 21:17
Fox Hunting, although only 18x24, feels like a bigger painting. It is taking me as long to finish this piece as it is to finish the 30x40 paintings. Today I noticed my Fox was looking a little too realistic and I knew he needed something. I stood back, looked from all angles, and realized he was too blah, he needed more colors. So, I added colors. You might think I'm making a statement, and I very well may be, but I believe art should be interpreted by the viewer. I have my interpretation and it may be completely dfferent from what you are thinking. All that matters is, does it speak to you? If it does, great! I'm happy. If it speaks to you so strongly that you have to have it, even better. I paint what I love, what I feel passion for, and it comforts me to know that there are others who feel exactly the same, who see my fox, in all its glorious colors, as so beautiful, so alive.
 I'm not yet finish but I'm close. I have a few more changes to make to the foxes coat, and also the bare shrubs coming up through the snow - are they looking a little too uniform? Yes, they are! I just wanted to get them in place and my next step will be to add other colors to them. But they are in the background so I'm not going to spend too much time. I am happy with the shadows around them, though. I had very start shadows and knew they would not work. Then I kept adding white until I got the right blend of white for the snow and bluish purple for the shadows. I love that combination for shadow: Dioxazine Purple, Prussian Blue, and Titanium White. Makes a very striking shadow, especially on the snow. My final blog for this painting will be entered sometime in the next week. Stay tuned! Fox HuntingTuesday, 02 March 2010 17:58
I decided that I needed to work on more than one painting at a time. With oils, you have to wait for the current layer to dry somewhat before you add more paint to it otherwise you will risk making mud on your canvas. I did a miniature painting of this particular fox composition(5"x7") that is for sale through my Daily Paintings - Animals gallery. I liked it so much I thought I would do a larger painting of it. Although not as big as my Tiger painting (18"x24") it is bigger than the miniature I did and I think it will be a better composition in a larger size.
Tiger, Tiger - CompleteTuesday, 08 June 2010 14:59
And now the final painting of the first three for my Eye Help Animals Art Show, the Tiger! I'm so excited to have complete these paintings and am very happy with how they all turned out. Geretis!
Tiger Tiger (cont -3)Tuesday, 02 March 2010 15:10
I'm finding the best way to fill in the canvas is by adding more paint, lots of paint! I'm fairly stingy with paint which is part of the reason I like painting small. I put just a dab of paint out for each color that I use and it lasts for several paintings. Not so with large-scale pieces, I am going through the paint like crazy and I've had to put a shopping list together of the colors I need to replace.
Tiger Tiger (cont -2)Saturday, 20 February 2010 16:28
I'm moving right along on my tiger painting, really enjoying the large scale work. I didn't realize I would enjoy this so much. For the longest time I just avoided large scale and would continue to return to the security of my miniature paintings. In 2009 I started an 18"x36" which was the largest painting I had ever painted. I finally finished, but it took several months. I didn't have my David Sorg easel then so it wasn't easy working on it using my Julian Sketchbox easel. Some of it I actually just leaned the canvas up against a wall and sat on the floor to paint.
Tiger Tiger (cont)Sunday, 14 February 2010 15:22
 For a couple of weeks after I received my new David Sorg easel, a 30x40 canvas sat on the easel untouched, still so pure and white. I was so involved in finishing up my new website that I couldn't get to it. But now, it has paint on it! Yeah! And as you can see, it is starting to look like the Bengal Tiger. Surprising to me was how unintimidating the size was. Since I paint a lot of 2"x2", 3"x4", and 5"x7" sizes, I thought for sure that the 30"x40" size would overwhelm me. But it doesn't at all, as a matter of fact, I feel like I could paint bigger! That's a relief since I bought a box of 6 - 30x40 canvases and have 5 more to paint.
Tiger TigerTuesday, 19 January 2010 16:34
Since I divide my time between painting fine art and building my business, Eye Help Animals, LLC, with my husband, Jim, I've decided to focus more on the animals we are helping to save through Eye Help Animals. My current project is painting large scale animal paintings and since 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, and the Bengal Tiger eye was the first animal eye that I painted, a Bengal Tiger will be my first 30x40 painting. Of course, this project coincides with my recent purchase of a David Sorg studio easel. I have not attempted to paint anything larger than an 18x36 on my sketchbox easel, and even that was awkward enough. But now I can paint on almost any sized canvas I can imagine.
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