Hawaiian beach

Hawaiian Beach 24 X 30 Acrylic

This last weekend I stopped my current projects to get this done in a hurry.  Originally I was asked for ideas on making a board for my bosses birthday, like she makes for us. Here is an idea of what that looks like, it's at the very bottom of the post Valentines day and my birthday. This seemed boring, and yet time consuming.  A quick discussion with a co-worker validated my thought of doing something a bit more permanent and lasting with my time. 

My boss not only loves Hawaii, but rainbows, not the "hi, I live an alternative lifestyle" rainbow but the promise of God to never flood the earth again kind.  Since I was looking for an honest rainbow, I went with the most translucent and iridescent representation I could.  Also, I feel it is important to let you know that the beach is really not so yellow in reality, but I'm having a challenging time with color correcting here.

The base was done with an airbrush, along with the clouds and the rainbow.  The rest of the painting was done with traditional brush work. 

What ever you do, give it your best. Find the beauty in the world around you.

Week 9 - Silhouette Elk in Moon

Silhouette Elk in Moon (9 X 12)

I love painting with my airbrush!  It takes a bit to set up and clean, but the effects are fantastic.  This piece is much smaller than the other moon I did in the past, along with the surface being different as well.  The moon detail was not easy to create with the highlights and shadows, I will have to do another piece to work more on that.  My main focus this time was in the sky, making the back ground different with the leaves in the back ground.  I like putting the nature into the sky to add interest and beauty.   

I primarily used Lascaux acrylics for this piece. They dry quickly and are opaque so I can layer colors in order to sharpen lines where I want them sharp and yet I am able to have the haze as well with the blending capability of the airbrush.  I used my Iwata Eclipse on this piece, I have much better control and can get sharper lines than with my other air brush.  Quality products are much better to work with.  

For all of you artists out there, create the things you love. Remember that not all artists paint with brushes, some prefer the palates of food, words, drama, math, or music.  We are all artists, and all of us have things to create. Have a great week!

Week Four - Tree of Creativity

 

Tree of Creativity 

(9x12) Ink & Acrylic on Canvas

This tree was a last minute decision, and it was finished just a few minutes late, hopefully it will still be accepted.  If they check their email tomorrow and are not sticklers about the time stamp on the email.  I really enjoyed doing this piece, but I also really got frustrated in this process.  If it could go wrong, it did.  I was interrupted many many times, and then when I did have uninterrupted time I blew a fuse and fought with paint that really didn't want to dry quickly at all.
I must say, deadlines really make me push myself to get things done.  Airbrush is a fun way to paint, and yet it can be very time consuming. I tried to hand paint the tree over the ink back ground, but the ink was lifted up every time I tried to lay the paint over it, so airbrush was the way to go.

Here are some of the in process pictures, just to give you an idea.

This is the back ground, which was a process in and of itself.  More on that in a later blog.

Using the template to lay down the colors.

Finished it up with the dark highlights.

Hair dryers can be such a great help when under a time crunch, but do not forget to clean your equipment when you are done.  You should never be in such a hurry that you do not clean your equipment.  Hardened paint destroys brushes, and airbrushes alike.   

Silhouette Cactus

Silhouette Cactus (9" x 12")

Acrylic Airbrush on Canvas Panel

I planned to create this as a Christmas present, but it took more time than first anticipated.  I used multiple acrylic paints on this piece, including Galleria and Lascaux.  My preference are the Lascaux paints, but a deeper red was needed than what was available in my selection of Lascaux paints.I only have a small starter set, in order to determine if I like them, which I found that I do.

The back ground texture was added into this piece to reflect the needles on the cactus.  The bright highlights were the last detail that were not originally planned on, but were needed to make it complete.

Winter Abstract

Winter Abstract - Ink 16" x 20"

This is my second piece of art in this style, and it has become a great motivator for me.  I have decided to begin the long project of scanning my artwork for the ability to sell prints.  I love the colors of this piece it  is unique and beautiful, it make people think fairies are hiding somewhere in the mist, just behind one of the flowers.  I have done a couple of other pieces that were inspired by this one, and it's predecessor, and others will be inspired by them in the future.

 Now that it is scanned I will look to have it framed.  Many thanks to Becky for encouraging me to pursue this dream of mine.