Karen's Birthday Present 2009

She got paintings this year. Karen loves red-white-blue and Americana. This is quite out of my comfort zone but I wanted to give it a try and see what came out. I did three small paintings that were basically the same but the color schemes were... what follows.

The frills and trills of folk art was not something I'm particularly familiar with and while I wanted to see if I could do it I was more interested in seeing how my particular style worked within those parameters. I made mistakes and when I first did the white star on the blue background I mixed it too pink and had to do it over (and I'm so glad I did) but, all in all, I was very pleased with the result.

More importantly, Karen was, too.

Progression of a Housewarming Gift

When it came down to it, this one was all about the layers. The background as a clear blue didn't work for what I wanted so I made it all messed up and dark, cooler colors. I was going for an old fantasy forest feel and this put me where I wanted to be.


The next step was getting the trees in there to establish the 'path' I was trying to convey.


And then it became mostly about shading and establishing a sense of space and distance. I liked the idea of the light being in the distance drawing the eye back rather than being where the viewer stood.

More work on that front and really getting a sense of perspective in the pathway towards the light.



And the final result. The white tree in the front is meant to 'start' the journey on the lit pathway. I was very much inspired by the background work on Sleeping Beauty for this and the two that this was a gift for loved that movie so that was a bonus.



Some of the detail work:

Spring Renewal

Old Spring wreath:



New Spring wreath:

Works in Progress

I have two paintings I've been working on for years. Both have gone through changes. One has a specific vision, it's meant to be Daphne (of Greek mythology, not of Scooby Doo... although that does bring up an interesting image) and has not wavered in that vision (until just now apparently) and the only thing that keeps it from progressing is my own procrastination and my uncertainty about actual placement. It was too cartoony before, the pose of Daphne herself was unnatural, and it just wasn't coming together. So the background got repainted in bright orange to cover up what wasn't working. Daphne got curvier and her arms took on new positions that one might actually buy from a creature who is being turned from nymph to tree and there she remains.

The other painting has never had a strong vision. It started out as something completely random and shallow and then became a completely different painting when I realized I'd lost steam. It's vision now is... solid. It's just the working of it. And I think I may have made a breakthrough. When the first dramatic change came about it turned into a sea-scape. But the water of the ocean was all sharp edges and very geometric. I thought it was an interesting viewpoint to make water that way. I then did a sky with a sun that didn't work. I tried reflecting the sun in the sharp edged water and make the rays of the sun very geometric and primal in their own way and it just... wasn't happening.

It also didn't help when a friend claimed she saw a walrus climbing up a sunbeam to eat the sun. Not that art isn't subjective but that was so out of nowhere for me that it took me right out of the work.

I got rid of the sun.

My next attempt to make it work was to keep the sharp-edged ocean and balance it with a sky that was soft and smooth and had curves of wind carved into the colors. That... sort of worked. It was an idea I liked more, certainly. I remained uncertain as to whether or not sunlight should be put in to counteract the blues and greens and purples of the ocean and sky. What I was not pleased with was how the air didn't seem to jump out as much. This painting has been hanging in my apartment since I moved in. The purpose is for me to figure out what's wrong and fix it.

I think I've finally figure out what to do. Forget the sun. No sun. It will be sky and sea. The sky will be more organic but I'll be able to use as many colors as I wish... still leaning towards blues and purples but with a more sweeping turn and grand use of color. Subtlety, I think, will not work here. The ocean will still be sharp edges and 'harder' but will reflect the sky.

So, for this, I have a vision at last and I think it's one that will actually work. Took me long enough.

Oh but it has been awhile...

So after a long hiatus of holidays followed up by a computer meltdown I'm able to post again.

The work I'm posting today was another present. This one went to my youngest sister, Jessi, for Christmas. It's interesting... when you tell people you're painting a present for someone the response I get is generally "When do I get a painting?!"

So my list of presents has grown. It's just a question of what and how. My other sister likes Americana and I have some ideas as to what to create for her... something red, white and blue with stars and stripes but with an aged and weathered look to it. It bears thought.

In the meantime, this is what I created for Jess.


Jess loves purple. So I did the background in varying layers of tone. It makes the background more interesting instead of a solid color block and this is a fairly simple painting so I wanted some variety of texture.

The branches I added deeper and more vibrant color as lowlights. With the background being a shade of purple that skies are usually not, I went with a similar theme with the coloring of the branches.

The cherry blossoms I kept as simple as possible. I thought it was a more interesting counterpoint to the textures of the background and the branches. Too much detail made it all look way too busy. I did attempt to add detail to the blossoms but it just made everything feel weighted down. The plain pink gives it a graphic touch and I like the way it turned out. Plus, I was able to add some visual interest with the splatter effects in the same pink (watered down a great deal.)

This was a tempting painting in that I kind of wanted to keep it for myself once I was done with it. I had an idea of what I wanted to create and this did not skew very far from that so I was particularly pleased with that.

A success.