The quest for a purple Lotus

This is the beginning sketch. I've found some brush painting tutorials, and I have my books.  But I thought rather than do this in Sumi ink first I would sketch our the  general idea first.  I mean I'm adding in fish as well as changing some of the composition, I should get the idea out in pencil so I can scratch and erase.

I really didn't do that much though, but it was low on the paper. I had the flower centered well so the bottom filled up with an empty sky line.  I will be completing this with a purple flower and creating a logo of sorts for Power up for PCOS.

There is always a meaning in the Chinese culture, so here is what I know: two fish are a symbol of harmony and married bliss in China. The lotus is a symbol of purity, summer and fertility, and when accompanied by a fish, love.
The purple lotus is a rather mystical symbol itself and has meanings in many cultures.  I have loved the freshness of Brush painting and am delighted to know that this sketch is being well received by those it is intended for.

Week 29 - Mysterious Enduring thoughts

Mysterious Enduring Thoughts - Dawn Marie Black

I have decided to take a break form butterflies for a moment and do another floral.  These are calming and cathartic to paint.  I wanted to incorporate some of the fall hues as we enter into the Autumn season, if only the weather felt a bit more seasonal. 

Week 27- Butterfly Kisses

Butterfly Kisses

This piece has taken me all summer long.  The black in the butterfly took the longest, so this took a lot of patience.  This summer has bee filled with dragonflies and butterflies, there are still more to go, so keep your eyes open.  I also worked on another piece this weekend, but it is not complete.  I will continue to finish the airbrushing and the details in the up coming week.  Be aware of the wonders around you. 

Week 25 - Pink Lemonade - a soft pastel Plumeria for summer

Pink Lemonade

by Dawn Marie Black

Sounds of summer, splashing water in the back ground, ocean breezes, kids laughing...

I am fond of these sounds, sights, fragrances, and they have been distracting me lately.  This brilliant weather is what we all miss during the dark months of winter.

This piece decided it's own fate, as I could not put the dark background on this piece, it was so alive and ready for bright summer living.  I am still learning to enjoy these moments of artwork speaking to me as I contemplate the final  touches.

Enjoy the summer, and all of it's pleasures.  Let life move you.

Week 19 - Devoted Love

Devoted Love

This week I completed a pretty pink plumeria flower.  This flower is mostly recognized in the white flower, with the yellow inside but there are many different colors of blooms.  I've been wanting to do another plumeria, and yet I want not ready to do another single white bloom, but this flower captured my attention.  There are various meanings all over the world, but devotion and love are two of the flowers meanings.

Have a great week creating beauty in the world around you.

Week 18 - Farewell Beauty

Farewell Beauty

This week's flower is late in that it was to have put up for Mother's Day.  This one is for my mom, Gerbera Daisy's were her favorite.  This one was my first attempt, and I'm sure it will not be my last.  There are many meanings to daisy's and farewell and beauty are two of them, I have combined them here in the title to honor my mother.
I will be working to get the color more accurate before posting to my website for sale, it's really a bit darker pink than this picture shows.

Week 14 - Refined Beauty & Arcadia

Arcadia

Refined Beauty

This week was a very interesting and fun week for me; I completed these two pieces of art, and began to work on a couple of other pieces. There are moments in our lives that inspire us, or drive us to do things that might be above our normal self. Take advantage of these moments in your life, they may become defining moments for you. A dream is born, and then comes action, that movement puts our dreams into motion.


I watched "The Blindside" again tonight, and I was again inspired by one family who stepped out of their comfort zone to help another, in so doing they were all changed. I may have smaller defining moments, but one day I may come to a greater decision like they faced at that moment I want to know that I planned to give my all, that I would step up and become greater than myself. I think that you all have the same possibilities in your lives as well, little things that test who you are. These little things may be the building blocks that will help you become the person that you always knew you could be. I am taking small steps in the art world, and building a collection, and setting deadlines so I can meet them. One day these little steps will prove to be a good discipline, for the future I am working to create for myself.


I hope that you can relate, whether your dream is related to art or some other goal. Take the small steps to prepare yourself for the larger steps that will come into play. Take the leap when the greater moments come, even if they seem to be more than what you feel you can handle, rise to the occasion. Let your greatness shine. Do not let fear hold you back. Have a great week, and keep on creating.

Click here to see more lilies in soft pastel.

Week 8 - Hybiscus

 

I have been busy working on another piece, and I was hoping to be able to post it this week, but The best laid schemes of mice and men....

This however, is my first attempt at the hibiscus, and I am happy with how it turned out for being my first try.  I love flowers, and feel that their essence should be caught in many different art forms.   Spring is coming, and I am waiting with baited breath, to smell deeply the freshly washed air that comes after the spring rains.  Chinese brush painting is a fun and loose way of painting for me, it helps me not get to tight and wrapped up in the details.  The flowing ink that can not be erased or fixed, the delicate paper that soaks up the ink and water, the art form that has been around for centuries, it is perfect beauty.  

I think my next attempt at the hibiscus I will be a bouquet of flowers, that could be beautiful.  I have also decided to do the same picture in multiple mediums to see how the different mediums impact the subject.  I think I will need to locate a hibiscus photo that I can begin to paint in various mediums.  Have a great week and take the time to appreciate the beauty around you!

Week 7 - Pansy

Pansy

This week went by so fast, the time just flew by.  This next week is looking to be about the same speed, fast.  Times like this are both good and tiring.  Boredom is not a friend of mine, so time going quickly is wonderful, but it does leave me a bit worn out when I come home to relax and create.  The good news is, I have many different ideas already piled high.
I take quick walks around my office during the day, very short 3 minute breaks to clear my head and move.  This last week the flowers blooming have caught my eye, Pansy's.  They are bright and cheery flowers.  Spring is not here yet, but it is coming and these bright flowers are reminders of the beauty of springs bright blooms.
This water color I used the primary colors and mixed the purples.  I like the depth of color mixing the purple brings out.  The next pansy I paint I will focus on other areas, but this one I wanted bright and fresh like spring.   Have a great week, take the time to see the beauty around you.

Week 5 - Purple Rose

 

Purple Rose

This week I have not felt well, and this piece was the closest to being complete.  The deadline came upon me fast this weekend.  I am still working on color saturation and yet not over working the piece.  I will be painting this flower again as I think there is more to show, more depth that has not really come through on this one.  I do like the pinks and purples in the petals though, I did not want to get a flat look with only a few shades of purple.  There was so much more color in that rose.  Originally this flower was given to my sister by a very young admirer, years ago.  It was such a lovely bud though I begged to take pictures to be able to capture it in paint.  Thank you my sister and young admirers everywhere, young love is a beautiful inspiration.  Roses are a classic flower, and I will continue to do more.  Have a great week and paint the things you love!

Three White Flowers - Week 2

"Three White Flowers" Pastel on Fabriano paper

Here I am at week two, and I've completed a project I had begun a while ago.  Some of the before photos will be included in this post, so you can see the evolution of this piece.
I have not been a lengthy writer on this blog since the main purpose is the art, but this week I felt like saying more.  Art is judged by a variety of things, composition, color, use of the medium etc.  This piece was created in a rather unorthodox manner, and the pastels are layers onto water color paper primed with a purple gesso paint.  I've been experimenting with many mediums and different ways to utilize the mediums, this particular piece will only be one of two.  I will be using other paper to pair with pastels, something that allows me to layer better.  The "Lacey" effect is on purpose, I wanted more interest in the flowers than just painting a lifelike piece.  I hope it moves you, or captures your attention for a while.

Flowering Cactus

Flowering Cactus 

Water Color 10" X 7"

Here is the first piece complete on my missing to complete one piece or art each week this year.  The actual flower was mainly white with just a stripe of pink on the petals, so this piece enhanced the color without making a brilliantly colored flower.
To view this piece without the watermark you can go to Fine art America and check it out there.  I'm sure that I will repaint this piece at another time, just to see what else I can pull from it.   I will be working more in water color to see how much I can improve this year in this medium, I tend to paint very light in color. 


Available for sale @ http://fineartamerica.com/featured/flowering-cactus-dawn-marie-black.html?newartwork=true

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.

Breakfast 

 Carousel Horse

Wild Flowers

Emmet Kelly Jr

Dreams

Elk in Moon

 French Clown

Grey Girl

Sadness

Safe Harbor

Promenade

Plumeria

The Climber

  The Hiker

To see other pieces that are available please check out my account at Fine Art America 

There are others which have yet to be posted there, you can leave me a comment regarding them and I will gladly assist you in any way I can.

To view a slide show of other pieces I have created: IDrawandpaint

Pencil Sketches

Cactus with Butterflies

Graphite pencil 15" x 18"

Carmen

White colored pencil on black board 16" x 13 7/8"

Circus Elephant

Graphite pencil 7.5" x 10.25"

Lady at the Foot of the Cross

White colored pencil on black board 23" x 22"

White Roses

White colored pencil on black board 18.75" x 17"

These are a sampling of pencil drawings that I love.  My favorite is still the White Roses, I love flowers of all types.  Pencil drawings are a labor of love for me, and I take time in completing them.  It may be a while before I post more pencil drawings.

The signature on Carmen is actually the singers signature.  I had friends who knew him and got it signed for me.  I was excited to have that particular autograph, it's the only one that I have like that.  I'm sure that pencil drawings will never become my signature piece, but I do like to branch out and express myself in different mediums all the time.  These are the more conservative artistic voice.

Soft Pastels

 

"Cactus Bloom" in Soft Pastel (13x20)

This Cactus Bloom was inspired in part by my cousin's art.  He does fantastic pastels, and I thought I would give them a try.  I have another that I am in the process on, but I'm a bit stuck for the moment.
I changed the back ground on this one multiple times trying to get it the cactus to stand out the way I wanted.
My next is a compilation of three white flowers, which I am very excited about.  I'm just looking to add in the depth and interest that will express what I'm seeing.

"Huntington Beach" in Soft Pastel (12.5 x 17)

This is the first soft pastel I completed.  I wanted a very loose and arity feeling to come through for this beach scene.  I think for my first piece it turned out well, I have been planning to do another of this scene to show some more of the depth.

Here is a link to Brian & Jennifer Thornton's web page, she has also posted some lovely pieces.
He inspires me to do better everytime I see his work. 
http://homepage.mac.com/uwblt/Menu7.html