New painting "Serene" 20" x 16"

Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted anything. My goal is to change that and post more often.  I have things to say and they just roll around in my head, keeping me up at night so maybe typing it up here will be good for me and hopefully you too. 

For today, I just wanted to post my latest painting, "Serene". The model for this painting was so good at posing during the photo shoot that I let her run the show, sort of. She had so many ideas and didn't need me to tell her anything, she just struck a pose.

This painting was one of those that just flowed and I enjoyed every minute of it. I was excited every day to work on it. I believe that if you don't love what your painting, then you probably won't love the final result even if it's done technically well. Joy will come through in your artwork. 

I'm currently working on a very large commission of a horse and rider.  I hope to post that soon. 

Brainerd, MN portrait commission

Good Monday morning!  Here is a recently finished painting that was commissioned by a client in Nisswa, MN.  He wanted to surprise his wife with the painting because the reference photo was taken a couple of years ago of his daughter who doesn't take naps anymore and the beloved family pet who they fear is not going to be here much longer due to advanced age.  This moment was captured with an iphone camera with bright, cool, snow reflected, light coming in the window behind the sofa.  This gave me a very challenging lighting situation as the subjects had two different light sources falling on them.  Cool light from the window and warm light from a lamp.  I made the decision to choose one temperature, the cool, blue light from the window, to prevail.  The next challenge was to lighten all the areas that were not directly in the light.  I know from experience that those shadow areas would not have been that dark in real life.  The next picture is the actual reference photo I was given.

Painting the little girl and the dog was actually the easiest part.  I struggled most with the couch.  Because it is so shadowed and neutral it was hard to tell the actual color, I felt like I needed to get it just right. 

I think it turned out pretty nice in the end.  This next photo is my favorite:)

Now the exciting part!  I got to deliver this painting in person.  I live in Fayetteville AR and the client lives in Minnesota.  My dad's side of the family lives in MN and it just so happened that they were having the "Gross Family Picnic" that I rarely get to attend.  So I left the kids with the hubby and rode the 12hrs with my dad to Minneapolis and went to the picnic.  Then rented a car and drove 2 1/2 hrs north to Nisswa to meet this family.  They were SO wonderful!  Barely out of my car and the entire family greeted me with hugs.  They immediately whisked me away to lunch, by boat, to Bar Harbor Supper Club on Gull Lake.  Then that evening we traveled by boat yet again to Madden's Resort where we played a little tennis and ate pizza.  Let me say that my actual tennis game that night didn't come close to the tennis game I had talked up beforehand.  How embarrassing!  I blame it on the nerves and the turf courts and the humidity.  Yeah, that's what it was.

The next day we visited Grandview Lodge and Resort.  Beautiful!  The gardens and grounds are perfectly kept.  Not a dead flower anywhere!  I WILL take my family there someday!

I can't tell you what a wonderful experience this was for me.  To have someone appreciate what I do and show such kindness and hospitality was just the boost I needed to keep me moving forward in my art career.  It can be so hard but also so very rewarding too.  I hope that isn't the last trip I make to Nisswa and Brainerd. 

"Abby" pet portrait commission

This is the last commissioned painting due before Christmas and I delivered it today. What a cute puppy Abby was. I think this pose captures her perfectly! The client brought her to my house for me to photograph and she was so excited that we barely got her to sit still for anything. I think I will go to the clients house next time where the dog (or child) is in their own familiar surroundings. Live and learn, huh?

Now I can focus on Christmas for my family. Wish I felt better though. Woke up sneezing and now have a head cold that's making me just want to crawl back into bed. But I have art prints to ship and cleaning to do so no nap today. Merry Christmas to everyone!

Wino Wednesdays

What a great day today was. I spent it with my friends and fellow artists Tim Tyler and Vicki Ross. I've studied with Tim for about three years and have learned so much from him. He's a great teacher but now a great friend. We meet at Tim's about 9:00 am every Wednesday, paint, talk and listen to great music. We go to lunch, have a couple glasses of wine and then it's back to painting. Today I finished the dog that I've been working on for a while. This dog belongs to the same client who owns Bailey from a previous post. I believe this one's name is Scarlett. I'm excited to let the client know that I'm finished. I have one more dog of hers to paint. Today I also worked on a still life that Tim set up for me of a vase with a beautiful leather mask hanging from it. Can't wait to get back to that next wednesday.

Lukas

Here is my latest painting. It sure did give me trouble but I'm declaring it finished. I'm sure my trouble was with my reference photo. It's just not possible to paint a child from life so it had to do.

Today I am finishing up some odds and ends and getting ready for a mural job tomorrow. Hope to have a photo to post of that tomorrow night.

Chocolate Cocker Spaniel and Lime DumDum

It would appear I've already failed at my attempts to paint every day. However, I did paint each day since my first post, just not the small paintings like I hoped. I had a commission to finish and was then called to do a mural. I can see this will be harder than I thought. Today, even though short on time I made myself paint a very small 3"x4" canvas. The subject was a lime DumDum which I thought would be very fun. I've learned that I don't like the stretched canvas for these small paintings because the texture, to me, is distracting. I plan to use masonite board in the future. Also, Here is the commissioned painting I finished of a chocolate cocker spaniel.