Peeking Behind the Easel – Page 7

We have lots of bunnies in the yard year round. There are at least four right now that hang out around the yard. They are a blast to watch when they start playing and chasing each other around the grass. They are very comfortable…. ok, overly comfortable…..

and show little fear when we are around the yard. When the dog is out and about in the yard, they stay where they are, nestle down in the flowers or grass, and just watch him. Often they continue to munch on grass while they keep an eye on him. Occasionally the dog spots them and then the chase is on. The bunnies always win and slip away through the fence. I had the image of the bunnies nestled down in the flowers, keeping an eye on the dog, when I painted this little miniature painting:

And that is a peek behind my easel for the story behind the painting. : ) You can find this painting in my Etsy shop.

April 4, 2012

Kathy

4 Comments

Looking at Forsythia

Posted in Peeking Behind the Easel, and Reference Photos

I think it is so interesting that many of the first spring flowers are pink or yellow. I have daffodils planted near forsythia in the yard. It was not done intentionally, but I love that they both bloom roughly the same time. The big burst of yellow shouts out Spring! like nothing else. Here's burst of yellow from the Forsythia:

You can see each flower is held onto the branch by a little bit of green stem and four petals.

Inside each flower, there is also a touch of green near the upper base of the stamen. Each flower has 4 petals with a faint raised line down the center of the petal.

I like painting then with any shade of blue background – my preference is a grey-blue or a cerulean blue, depending on what mood Iam aiming for. A painting with single branch loaded with flowers makes a statement. But I also like painting them as a peek into the entire bush ,like the left side of photo above, where the flowers seem to go on and on. No matter what the composition, they are just fun to paint for the sheer joy of burst of yellow color and the sign that spring is on it's way.

March 30, 2012

Kathy

11 Comments

Daffodils on Glass

Posted in Art Work, and Peeking Behind the Easel

I just love seeing all the daffodils in full bloom around the yard. I used them as my inspiration for my newest wine glasses. I used a rough sketch drawn in my sketch book last week and looking out my window as my guide for painting.

And here they are –

I enjoy the challenge of painting on glass and treat the glass as if it was a canvas. Glass paint is a bit sticky and takes some convincing to lay smoothly on the ultra smooth glass surface. Once I build up 3 -4 layers of paint to create an opaque surface base, then the fun of painting in details and adding colors begins. These cheerful glasses will bring a touch of spring all year round and can be found in my Etsy shop.

February 1, 2012

Kathy

2 Comments

New Painting: Part 1

Posted in Art Work, and Peeking Behind the Easel

I am almost finished another painting in my series of fruits and vegetable kitchen art. This new one features strawberries. I used photos I took of strawberries on my counter this past summer.

Sometimes I use tracing paper to sketch out the drawing so I can get the shapes and composition precisely how I want it. In this case I knew exactly how I wanted the composition and there wasn't much room for error on this smaller 6 x 6 inch canvas. After chalking the back of the drawing and tracing my drawing on to the canvas, I got to work painting. Here is the work in progress:

This is what i call the ugly stage. Not anything to call home about….yet. : ) The strawberries are based with the midtones, with some shadows and highlights. The leaves need tweaking because the shape of the leaves is off. The strawberry caps need to be painted and the highlights/shadows adjusted. Stop by tomorrow and see the finished painting. It looks a lot better than this!

January 6, 2012

Kathy

2 Comments

Fresh, Clean and Ready To Paint

Posted in Organization, and Peeking Behind the Easel

I'm finishing up the yearly major clean up of my studio. It's always amazing what has been lost behind canvases, what has been misplaced, and what I forgot I have. I started the end of the year clean up when I was doing a large amount of custom painting for private clients. The push to finish orders from September into December always turned my workspace into a hot mess by the end of the holiday season.

I like having a clean, well organized workspace to start off the beginning of the year. It's a chance to do an inventory check for taxes as well. Everything in the studio gets cleaned, dusted, vacuumed, wiped down from top to bottom. Old paint brushes get donated to children art classes, almost empty paint containers get placed in front to be used up first, canvases and paper get sorted by sizes and placed in their labeled spaces. Photos and reference materials are an ongoing challenge but they at least get placed on their shelves and photo cards near the computer. It's a jump start on one of my new year resolutions and a great way to start the year.

Photo credit: allthingsstylish.tumblr.com via Lindsey at Pinterest

I'm excited to be picking up my paintbrushes and getting started on painting. I'll have new paintings to share starting next week!

Category: Peeking Behind the Easel

Bunnies In My Yard And On My Canvas

Looking at Forsythia

Daffodils on Glass

New Painting: Part 1

Fresh, Clean and Ready To Paint