Art by Dawn Marie Black: elk

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

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!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Goals for the new year, and a viewing of pieces in private collections

I am not generally a writer when it comes to my art, I feel it is much more important for people to view the pieces and let them speak for themselves. Today though it seems a good time to start with goals for the up coming year, not resolutions as those are too easily broken.
I have only begun to paint and create again, so I have not done to many new pieces and have not developed a clear direction up to this point. This decision will not work any longer, I must have a clear objective. From my readings on the expectations of galleries it seems that many artists produce at the very least 2 - 3 pieces of work a week. My goal this year is to increase my productivity to 1 - 2 pieces a week. This goal may be small in comparison, but it is larger than I have accomplished in previous years.
I have four pieces of art that are laying in my make shift studio, waiting to be finished. I do plan to complete two of them this weekend, and of course I will capture them in photographs and post them here.
I have three different collections that I would like to build this year. One of these would be my abstracts with nature objects and bright colors, I enjoy these pieces very much. The second group will be my adventure series which will include an Ice Climber, Mountain biker, and White water rafter, etc. The third group will be the desert flowers and cactus, these do not share any one medium but only the subject matter. I'm open to other portfolio ideas if anyone chooses to leave a comment. For now I will leave you with some pieces that are in private collections, have a great new year.