Cherry Reflections (SOLD)

I'm playing with oils again... I'm so not used to being able to change my mind - but with oils you can change things endlessly. Talk about safety nets - if I do something I don't like, brush right over it and it magically goes away till I get it right. Acrylics does not offer that luxury unless I'm working with the new GOLDEN "Open" Acrylics, that don't dry fast. They offer lots of flexibility as well, and I'm experimenting with them too. Its clear to me that my style of painting changes a bit with the type of materials I use - and I'm working a bit slower with oils. As I get more familiar with them I'm sure I'll speed up. But for now, its a good learning experience. One of the most difficult parts of the entire painting was signing my name - since I use large brushes, plus the oily surface is wet and slippery - I couldn't get any delicate brushstroke or "traction". Nothing was working. So I had to chop down one of my brushes to get it small enough to get a tiny signature. I was ready to leave it unsigned ...but stuck with it and finally got my name painted ... I'll get it figured out sooner or later.

Cherry Reflections

6x6" oil on canvasboard

Click Here to Bid

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Jon's House

This is a house painting commission I did from a photograph the client gave me. Many house paintings I see look like they came off an architectural drafting table - or a CAD software program. I wanted to give the house some real personality - like real people with colorful lives live there. I found out they had a cat, so I added that. Then I thought, why not put in a halloween pumpkin to go with the black cat. It added a nice spot of color to go with the fall leaves.

Jon's House

16x20 Acrylic on Canvas NFS

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Cherry Tango (SOLD)

I decided to try my hand at oils last night. Admittedly, I'm not as familiar with oils as I am with acrylics, but there were some obvious aspects of working with them that I enjoyed - easy blending, easy manipulating, no build up of bumpy texture, a nice precision to brush strokes, etc etc. I could go on and on. The pigment load is much higher too, so a little goes a long way. I felt a bit clutsy at first, mainly because acrylics are the consistency of yogurt, and the oil paints I was using were the consistency of cold butter (how do you pick this stuff up?) I'm used to scooping up large blobs of "goopy" acrylic in one fell swoop - its not that way with oils. Bottom line is there are plusses and minuses to everything - its all about finding the best vehicle to express your artistic voice.

Cherry Tango

Oil on Canvas, 6x6"
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Pink Rose

For Valentines day, a Pink Rose, (my favorite) from my sweetie.

Pink Rose

8x10 Acrylic on Canvas

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Pooch Du Jour

Rube Goldberg would have smiled. No sooner had I settled in yesterday at my desk for a marathon day of 4 digital illustrations (for a Monday - today- morning deadline) with a steaming cup of coffee, when my 3-legged rescue kitty, Tut (as in King) jumped up to keep me company, and in doing so bumped my glass beaded lamp which toppled over towards the window propelling me to intercept the flying lamp causing me to knock over the entire mug of coffee which in turn spilled over, under and into both my laptop and my Wacom tablet. COMMAND Z!!!!! Next order of business was to soak up the pools of coffee and spend hours taking apart the now defunct Wacom Tablet, hit the innards with the blow dryer, jiggle cords, press buttons, restart the computer 10 times, call tech support, and ultimately go out and buy two new Wacom Tablets. Thats the easy part. Now its time to create 4 illustrations for my publishing client in 4 less hours than I originally thought I had. Um, what was that I was saying about digital artwork having more safety nets than traditional? How easily I forget...

Pooch Du Jour

Digital Image for Commercial Usage

Bandana Dog

Not all of the artwork I create is done traditionally, with paint and brushes, altho 99% of it is. Here is one piece of a series of pet fashion posters I have designed that will be going to press next week. I "drew" and "painted" the images with a Wacom tablet using a pressure sensitive stylus pen. The awesome thing about working digitally is that there are so many layers, literally, of safety nets built in. You can try anything - colors, different brush strokes, certain effects, etc. and if you don't like what you did, just hit the good old Command Z keystroke (or Edit>Undo). And poof - its gone, simple as that.

If only it were so easy with traditional painting. I can't tell you how many times I have put down a big thickly loaded brushstroke that just happened to totally be the wrong color, value or shape and immediately in my mind screamed, "command Z!!!" Those command Z moments are lessons learned the hard way, which is - unfortunately - the best way. Digital artwork is clean, efficient, fast and precise. I don't end up with splotches of Alizarin Crimson and Phthalo Blue smeared across my face like war paint. It has it's plusses for sure, but my heart will always be in the down and dirty tactile world of messy, drippy paints - with no safety nets allowed.

Bandana Dog

Digital Image for Commercial Usage

Bottle and Cherries (SOLD)

Yesterday was one of those deadline laden days, what else is new. I've been in the advertising business for over 30 (ahem) years , the deadlines just keep getting tighter and crazier. At least in the old days there was built in fluff time - send out for type that you physically pasted - with glue or wax - on to your boards, sending the type back for revisions... all that back and forth left plenty of time for the 3 martini lunch (for some people that is, I was never so lucky).

I have to scratch my head sometimes and ask why I have added a new self imposed deadline to the mix - daily painting. Do I really need yet another deadline? Hardly - but this one trumps all the others in terms of what it adds to my life... its for me. Its my way of showing myself that my soul needs are just as important as everyone else's business demands. I get the crumbs of time that are left over after everyone else is accommodated. But thats OK - I'll make time for it by squeezing it in somewhere, somehow, at whatever crazy hour of the day or night, because I committed to that goal. Whether the painting comes out well or is a total flop - what matters is the act of doing it.

I didn't have time to mess around with dramatic lighting - or any lighting - I just plopped the bottle and the cherries down and dove in fast. Maybe next time, when I have a little more time, I'll at least shine a light on it and see what happens. For now, this will do - I did it:-)

Now I'm running off to a trade show where I will be demo-ing and teaching people how to use acrylic pastes, gels and mediums with their paint - maybe one of my demos will be tomorrow's post...

Bottle and Cherries

Acrylic on Canvas 6x6"

Capitol Building

Often I do commissioned pieces that are for the specific needs of clients - in other words, illustration. This one happens to be for an organization in Washington, I worked on gessoed masonite and got that slippery, slick surface. It may end up on the front cover of a brochure or an ad - I did it large enough so that the resolution will work for multiple usages. If only the goings on in Washington were as cheery and colorful as they appear here...

Capitol Building

Acrylic on Masonite, 16x20"

Christmas in February

Uh oh. Now everyone will know how lame I am. The christmas gifts I bought for my siblings and parents have been collecting dust since, well, December. They somehow consistently drop to the bottom of my to-do list, since the family is more forgiving than the clients when it comes to meeting deadlines. Finally I seem to be catching up and realize its time to wrap those gifts and ship 'em out once and for all... NOT SO FAST... ooohh - the colors, the shiny ribbon, the loopy bow, the reflections! Needless to say that box of wrapped gifts was far too alluring for this painter to pass up. What's one more day, its already so late, they'll understand, right? The answer to that is yes, they will. Unless of course, Dad breaks a tooth on that fossilized carmelcorn.

Christmas in February

Acrylic on Canvas 7.25"x 7.25" $100

Click here to buy

New York Pretty

I like to do paintings in one session (called "Alla Prima") but when they have a lot of detail, as in urban landscapes, that one session can feel like a marathon. This was one of those. I started at about 1pm and finished at 11:30 pm, taking a break only to go out for a slice of pizza, and to throw the ball for my bored-silly pooch.

Once you get warmed up and into the flow, the brushwork takes on a natural, loose quality. "New starts" can show up in a multi-session painting as passages that look stiff and forced. I want the whole painting to have the same loose quality, thus the painting marathon. Plus, I'm impatient and this was a commission with a tight deadline. That always helps.

New York Pretty

Acrylic on canvas, 18x24"

Parfum Tocca

This is still wet (even tho its acrylic) and I'm still in my pajamas. A clear case of TMI (too much information) for sure, but I reveal this only to point out that until I get my daily painting done, it "hangs over my shoulders" ALL DAY. What am I going to paint? When can I squeeze it in? Is it my turn to cook dinner or can I paint at night? etc etc. Since I'm going to Les Miserables tonight -my husband, a bassist, (http://www.markhaganmusic.com) is playing the show and I get a free ticket - that set the stage (no pun intended) for my ramped up schedule, as in 'do it NOW'. So I did.

This is another wonderful little gift from hubby that gets more use as a painting prop than its intended purpose. I will make sure to put a touch of it behind my ears tonight!

Parfum Tocca

Acrylic on Canvas, 6x6"

PS ... he's also an excellent artist http://www.markhaganstudios.com/haganMain.html )

Blue Imperial

Sadly, I missed out on the days of these stylish, elegant, fin-adorned cars. Not that I wasn't around, I just don't remember much of anything. Way back in the crevices of my brain I do have a vague memory of seeing a pistachio green and ivory Thunderbird, (or was it an Edsel?) viewed from the back seat of my mother's station wagon. I distinctly remember thinking that it was really cool and maybe someday I could have one...

This painting was done as an entry in a painting challenge, of sorts, organized by my one of my favorite daily painters, Carol Marine. This challenge is just for kicks - no awards, prizes or winners, just a way of everyone painting together as group and seeing what each other is up to. Kinda like we are all in the same class painting from the same model. Its always fun to see other painters' interpretation and the variety of styles. To see the other entries, click here.

Blue Imperial

Acrylic on Canvas, 6x6" $100

5 Minute Tea Cup Demo

Sunday I taught a 5 hour workshop at Rockland Center for the Arts, my standard "How to Paint Fast, Loose and Bold". I've taught enough of these workshops that I can expect certain reactions from the participants. I hand out evaluation sheets at the end of the class, one question I pose is, "What would have made the workshop better?". Inevitably someone always responds "more time to paint". I find that a bit ironic, since this class is specifically about LESS time, not more. My goal is to show everyone how to paint quickly and confidently - working FAST. If I say so myself, thats a fairly tall order to teach diverse group of people, from total beginners to very advanced painters how it works. And it requires a certain amount of talking, explaining and demonstrating on my part. After I'm done with my part, its time for each student to do 3 paintings - the first is 45 miniutes, the second is 30 minutes and the last is 15 minutes. This is not exactly comfortable for those who are used to weekly, monthly or even bi-yearly paintings. By the time they have finished their second painting, however, the lightbulb goes off. And everyone starts to get it, as in better put down those small brushes because you got a lot of canvas to cover in a small amount of time. For those who think that its just impossible to do a 15 minute painting, I demo a 5 minute painting. In contrast, I explain, 45 minutes is a lifetime!

Daily painting is cool - you exercise your creativity/painting muscle, it stays limber and flexible. Nothing gets too precious because you don't have much time invested in it. If it works, great. If it doesn't, so what - try again tomorrow. I tell my students, anyone who is motivated enough has 15 minutes a day to paint, no matter how busy their life is. Keep your paints and brushes handy and ready go at a moments notice - paint ANYTHING. A spoon, a hammer, an orange... And if you need more time to paint, see what you can create in 5 minutes and gradually build up to 45. It will feel like a lifetime.

5 Minute Tea Cup

Acrylic on Canvas 4.5 x 4.5"

White Tulip

Anything "White" is usually anything BUT. I love painting white objects, they reveal so much color! This painting was created to be a "mate" for another tulip painting I recently did. It's a publishing commission and therefore I am trying to match the style and the overall color sense of the original tulip. It will be cropped to a square shape but I decided to paint the entire 8x10 canvas. Working within these pre-determined set of parameters is interesting because I need to keep checking my painting against the original to make sure I don't veer off into some new flight of fancy. I think they play nice together but if my client doesn't, stay tuned for "White Tulip 2".

White Tulip

Acrylic on Canvas, 8x10"

Summer Lounge (SOLD)

This was done in plein air, this past summer. I do paint in oils every now and then. I keep meaning to drag them out and play with them more, but doing the "big switch" from acrylics to oils requires me to think a bit differently, and ... well, maybe later. It was a fast pose - probably about 20-30 minutes, and the light was changing fast. No time to think - just react. Sometimes thats the best way to operate.

Summer Lounge

Oil on Canvas, 9x12"

Pink Mules

My poor husband. He buys me such hip shoes. Only to see them on canvas, as opposed to seeing them on my feet. He bought these at a punk/goth boutique called "Roadkill" in New Orleans. The owner is a friend of ours and gave us a good deal on them, as well as some black fishnets. Naturally, I was urged to wear them immediately. Trapesing around New Orleans in mules and fishnets is an interesting experience, one that I'm not compelled to repeat. Do men have any clue about the dichotomy between how these look and how they actually feel? (Does it matter?)

Pink Mules

Acrylic on Canvas 12x12"

This Weekend's Boston Workshop

Here is a small sampling of the work created in the Boston Workshop... 12 people created 87 small paintings / technique swatches in 1 day (5 hours).

Listed below are blog posts about this weekend's Boston workshop, "Not your Mother's Acrylics" written by two students that attended it.

They totally validate my own experience in working with these new acrylic materials -

1. 'why would I ever want to paint on (or with) _______ (fill in the blank with a paste, gel or ground) and
2. 'I can't stop thinking about new ways of incorporating _____(fill in the blank with a paste, gel or ground) into my work -- and I can't get to sleep!

These gals say it much better than I, so read on...

http://lindabranchdunn.blogspot.com/2011/01/just-by-doing.html

http://jeannewilliamson.blogspot.com

No wonder everyone was exhausted - in a good way, they really explored a slew of paints, gels, pastes, colors, surfaces, textures, techniques, iridescent and interference materials, and more. Some people did small reference sections on each board, with notes off to the side outlining what material and paint types they used, others did actual little paintings and used one technique for the whole thing. We encouraged everyone to write step-by-step notes of their process, because its so easy to get lost in the moment, going with the flow, then look at what you did and say "how the %$@*! did I do that?" If you want to recreate that cool thing you did, better take notes, because so much material gets covered, it can be quite overwhelming, but incredibly exciting.

I will be offering this and other types of workshops in the Rockland/Westchester area soon, through the art centers I teach at (Rockland Center for the Arts, Rye Art Center and Pelham Art Center), as well as free Lecture/Demo's where I will be giving out free paint and product samples to all that attend. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll put you on the list to be notified of upcoming classes and dates. I will post these on my blog as they are scheduled, in a new listing called "Workshops and Demos". BTW - all levels welcome!

Bold Brush Painting Contest Finalist

I just returned from a weekend in Boston, where I co-taught a workshop on Acrylic techniques using the full line of Golden products. It was a long weekend - but tons of fun. When I finally got home (a 7 hour ordeal) and was checking my emails, I saw that I was chosen as a finalist in the "Bold Brush Painting Competition". The category I won was "Outstanding Acrylic". I entered on a last minute whim... and must admit I felt really daunted when I saw the 600+ other images I was "competing" against - for the most part, very high quality work. I won a $350 prize - awesome!

Posted here is the painting I entered. I worked from a really blurry photo I took with my cell phone while on the subway. I just had to capture this New York moment - clearly the guy in the foreground had one LONG day. I know the feeling, buddy... this is exactly what I looked like today in the course of my car, bus, train, bus then taxi ride home. (hmmm, I hope there wasn't an artist with a cell phone sitting across from me!) For anyone who wants to see the winners in the show, here is the link: http://canvoo.com/boldbrush/winners/42.

Bronx Bound (SOLD)

Acrylic on Canvas, 24x24" (Sold)

Pink Buckled Handbag

Snow and sleet - just when I don't want it. Sometimes I actually do like it (the snow, never the sleet), but not tomorrow. I have to leave for Boston to teach a weekend workshop. And the weather reports are... stay home! Not an option... Boston, here I come.

Pink Buckle'd Handbag

Acrylic on Canvas 12x12"

Fuschia Birken Bag

I'm not the dedicated follower of fashion I once was but apparently these Birken bags are all the rage. I myself go for the fakes on Canal Street -within weeks they will be covered with paint splatters, like the rest of my clothes, a festive multi-colored effect!

Fuschia Birken Bag

Acrylic on Canvas, 12x12"