Happy Autumn!

Joy and happy thoughts to you all! I just finished my newest painting and I'm pleased as punch about it now that it is done.

It was hard going for a while though. I went a bit wild and crazy with the leaves and covered up way too much of the dog. So I took the canvas to the sink and used a scrubby pad to remove the offending leaves.Then I had to repaint in the dog and the leaves.

The whole painting was so much better after washing it off and repainting, crazy I know! It is funny to realize that when things are not going the right direction that you can back up and start over! But the key is to never give up. It usually ends up as a learning experience even if the final painting isn't quite what you anticipated.

Remember to do something creative every day!
Cheers!
Stephanie

Pocket Squirrel?

Hi there! I thought I'd share my newest painting with a couple photos of the process.

Start with the basic blocking in and then work my way through the layers of the Ugly stage to the Finished painting.

I have been learning that every painting has an ugly stage at least with acrylic paintings.

After the initial blocking in and working in the dark and light tones you really start to see the form of the subject. Then you start working in more and more detail until it is finished to your liking.




One of the coolest things about Acrylic painting is that acrylic paint dries so fast! You can really have a completed painting in just a few hours of work.




If you paint in something that you don't like, you can dry the painting and paint right over that part of the painting over and over again. There was a lot of drying and doing over on this painting :) Getting little Chippy in with a bit of personality was a challenge but I think I got it pretty well in the end.

Getting more and more refined...

Finished!

I even put in the top stitching on all the seams. I'm pretty darned pleased with this painting too!

If you found this interesting please leave a comment and let me know!

The photo I worked from was taken by the Awesome Photographer Betsy Seeton--Painted with her permission!

Remember to get out and do something creative today!
Cheers-Stephanie

1945 Ford F1 Rusty Farm Truck...

I had the opportunity to do a Live class with Cinnamon Cooney on Youtube.

I actually finished the painting in less than 2.5 hours along with the live class!! 

This was a great class with loads of new to me techniques! I have been so excited by these classes the opportunities to learn about acrylic painting in a fun and supportive environment. If you have a chance check her out!

A rose by any other name...

I just realized that I hadn't posted this rose to my blog! What an oversight.

I  did something just for my self! 

I painted this 16"x20" Rose! It is based on a rose from Paint My Photo and an online class by Cinnamon Cooney. It took me about 3 hours to do  

I think there may be a bit more work to be done on it. But I can live with it this way so I'm calling it finished...for now. 

smile emoticon

On the Wild side!

Hello! It is time for another painting. This time it is one that I designed myself. I worked for several evenings on it and I think it is pretty much done. The School that I work at has the Wildcat as a mascot and we are celebrating our 20th school year. There are about 5 people still working at the building that have been there since the first day. and I'm proud to say that I'm one of them!

So here's the sketch based on a photo that I found on the internet - I painted the background (Phalo Blue and Yellow Oxide and Diazonine Purple making a neat greeny, blue purple) let it dry and then drew the sketch with a white watercolor pencil.

 The painting was then done over several days. Blocking in then working the details in  with just a few colors(Cadmium Yellow Medium, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, Yellow Oxide, Burnt Umber and Mars Black) and lots of mixing to get the shades and tones. I really am happy with how the eyes turned out. I'm still working on making fur look furry but as with everything it's a learning curve!


Thanks for looking and remember to get out and do something creative everyday!

I'd love to hear what you think and if you are interested in starting to paint in acrylics I really recommend Cinnamon Cooney - The Art Sherpa. Her art is accessible to all ages and she is such a positive person who really helps you see what  you are capable of.