Posts

Teeny, tiny (sort of) landscapes

Posted on
Image
 My beloved is preparing to go to woodworking school soon, so taht we can become a power creative couple. Meanwhile - he is able to make me lovely, well-finished cradled boards. Many of my latest paintings have been on these boards.     In order to maximize the number of cradled boards to be gotten from the sheets of Baltic birch he uses, after creating the medium size (15/16” x 20) he created several little ones (6’x12”). Now, I don’t normally work that small but it behooves me to create some smaller paintings as our local gallery is a small space, and also, it’s a good idea to practice what I’m bad at, I’ve learned.  So this week, I prepped three small boards, and created three paintings on them.  The first was a view of Cape Flattery, northwest from where I live. I started with a yellow ground, working through it back and forth. I’m fine with it, but not pleased.  The second was a sunrise over Port Ludlow piece, a study in which I wanted to show light us...
Read more

Painting for a friend

Posted on
Image
  I have this friend who really, really loves those hairless cats. I think they look like wingless bats, and she knows that I feel this way, but she loves their adorable faces and says that they have fantastic dispositions. Her youngest is "Rob," a male that's about 5 years old.  Last year she posted a picture of herself holding one of her cats while standing in her kitchen.  (I've blurred this picture for her privacy. ) We decided that this needed a Renaissance Madonna and Child paint treatment...which I feel better able to do now that I've completed a year of art history.  My reference photos include this, for the background. The Renaissance was the first time that atmospheric perspective was widely depicted in painted works.      I isolated the background from one of those paintings using AI.   I started with a blank, white canvas board. I didn't bother with a mid-tone ground because I wanted the background to be bright.  I laid ...
Read more

Spooky forest stuff.

Posted on
Image
 I live on the Olympic peninsula just a stone's throw from the Hoh rain forest. (Just kidding, it's like a 2-3 hours drive to get there. The Oly Pen is HUGE, and the Hoh is cool. The only way to get there is AROUND because other than a smattering of logging roads, there aren't many ways to get across it, maybe because there's a mountain chain.  I first saw the Hoh when I was here for the Seattle marathon over 10 years ago. We drove around the peninsula, and went for a short trail run in it, and it's this fairy mossy wonderland. Honestly, I could paint forever and never run of out subjects here. So, a mossy, damp green wonderland of ferns and trees that look like characters in a Grimm's fairy tale. One, in particular, gets photographed a lot. It arches over the path, like a gateway. And that's the scene I was after today.  I started out with a study, using some of the leftover guache that I had from Design I class. I thoroughly hate guache, but I have decided...
Read more