Paint Party Friday - Tranquility

After the crazy storms and major flooding we had yesterday I wanted to paint something tranquil. A place I would very much like to be right now. And this is what I came up with, a nice little beach with an inviting view of the sea and a beckoning lighthouse. A girl can dream right?
Linking up to PPF
I will be working all day today and tomorrow (I got the job at Walmart as the new cake decorator!) and my internet is down due to the storms so it may take me a while to comment on all the wonderful artwork. I would also like to thank everyone for the tremendous response and wonderful comments you left last Friday for Drawing Drew. I can not express how much it means to me.

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Paint Party Friday - Drawing Drew

Pencil Drawing

Does a pencil sketch count for PPF? Hmm. I was hoping to get some painting done this week but I have not been home for days so I used what I had with me and decided to try a portrait.  Rather than do a family member I wanted to do a celebrity as they are typically more recognizable.  I would love to do some pencil drawings of my bf's nieces and nephews for his mom for Christmas but definitely need some practice to further my skills.  Why Drew Barrymore?  No particular reason other than I think she is adorable and it was a great reference photo to work from.  Thoughts? Tips?  Not sure what happened with the bottom right portion of the pic, I had to use my camera phone again and something went awry with the editing of the photo but for the most part you can see the contrast and all that good stuff.

Side by Side comparison with the reference photo.

As I was searching for images and looking for some videos on portrait drawing techniques, I happened to come across a post about it not being legal to sell portrait drawings of celebrities. Not that I have any intentions of doing this, it just peaked my curiosity because I see many artists selling pencil drawings of celebrities on Etsy, Ebay, etc.  Anyone out there ever come across this issue before?

In other news, I had two interviews with Walmart for their bakery department yesterday.  As a cake decorator.  I worked in a grocery store bakery a few years ago and loved it.  I have a third interview with the store manager today.  Keeping my fingers crossed that things are finally starting to look up!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend.  We've been having nothing but rain and cooler weather the past few days.  I think I have forgotten what the sun looks like.  BTW, this sketch took me about 10 hours to complete.  I'm definitely not the fastest sketch artist that ever lived. :)

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.  Stop by to see the many wonderfully creative artists, you won't be disappointed!

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Paint Party Friday - Seascape

Seascape Oil on 16x20 Canvas

So I'm a tad bit obsessed with Bob Ross. I can spend half a day just watching him paint happy little trees and clouds.  I know there is a bit of controversy over his painting style, many artists feel that he isn't what is considered a fine arts artist.  That; however, is untrue.  Bob started as a traditional fine arts oil painter and learned the wet on wet technique from William Alexander who also hosted his own show on PBS.  It was a way to teach people that anyone can paint with a little practice.  That being said, I've tried a few of his paintings, some with success, some not so much but I love the learning process.  His show is still being aired on both PBS and the Create channel in my area so I have tons of reference paintings to choose from.  Lots of happy little trees will be flowing off my brushes in the near future!

I also finished my daughter's Ganesha painting.  She is absolutely thrilled with it which makes me very happy.  She had sent me a reference photo of the one both she and her fiance liked best.  I was a little worried about sketching him out on such a large canvas, not to mention that the dimensions of the canvas size she picked was taller and narrower than the original photo but I did it!  It's the first time I've sketched an image right onto the canvas and I had to make some adjustments to make him appear longer without distorting his proportions too much.

'Ganesha' Acrylic on 24x36 canvas

I'm linking up to Paint Party Friday where you can find some really amazing artists so please check out their wonderful works of art.  Happy Friday!

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'Hoppy' Easter - PPF

'Hoppy Easter' Oil on 3x5 Canvas Board

Spring is finally making an appearance here in the windy city.  We had temps in the mid 40's today which prompted me to paint something with flowers.  I found this pattern in the April 2011 Paint Works magazine.  The original was done in acrylics on a small wood cabinet but I wanted to try something other than landscapes with my oil paints.  My boyfriend's mom loves to decorate for all of the holidays so I'm giving this to her as an Easter gift when we go to brunch on Sunday.

I'm linking up to the Paint Party Friday blog so 'hop' on over and check out all of the other great artists.  Happy Friday!

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PPF - Tuscan Window

11x13 Watercolor on Canson 140lb Coldpress Paper

So much has been going on the past few months.  I feel like I've been gone forever.  Christmas was absolutely wonderful despite having bronchitis.  My wonderful boyfriend gave me a plasma tv, a kitchenaid mixer and a $100 giftcard to Michaels! Yes I am spoiled! I used my giftcard to purchase my Bob Ross oil paints and have been painting away.  I hope to share those over the next few weeks.

The new year brought the flu, I feel as though I have been sick more often than not this year, ugh! Two rounds of bronchitis, the flu, the stomach flu and just recently a cold.  I'm thinking it's because I'm not typically around little ones until meeting my boyfriends very large family.  Every time one of the kids has the sniffles, I get sick.

 February brought the death of one of my boyfriend's brothers. My boyfriend is the youngest of nine children and they are all very close.  It was hard to watch him go through that kind of pain.  It also brought my birthday and more spoiling from my boyfriend in the form of Kohls and Hobby Lobby giftcards. I got some great clearance deals at Kohls and a wonderful Wilton cake decorating kit along with some painting supplies from Hobby Lobby.

So far March has proved to be following along with the previous months bad luck, my bf's family dog got very sick.  I spent a week there caring for him.  Poor thing could not eat, barely walk and was having a tough time breathing.  After several vet visits and a misdiagnosis it was determined that he had metastatic cancer and we had to put him down.  One of the hardest things I've had to do.  The good news so far this month...my daughter got engaged!  They just moved into a new townhouse and needed some artwork for their walls so she came over and 'stole' some of my oil paintings for her bedroom and has asked me to do an acrylic painting of Ganesha. He's a little Indian elephant god, yikes!  My experience with acrylics has not been the best so far, but it's a pretty simple painting so hopefully it goes well!

Also hoping that April will finally bring some good news as well as some spring weather.  Can't wait to open windows and feel the warmth of the sun.  Hope you all have a great weekend, please stop by Paint Party Friday to see all of the wonderful artists and their creative works!

step one

step two

Step three

The finished piece

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PPF - Nightfall

'Nightfall' Acrylic on 12x12 stretched canvas

I painted this the other day and it is finally one that I absolutely love! After seeing so many holiday related paintings last week it put me in the mood to do a winter scene. Our weather has been unseasonably warm and I figured if I can't have real snow, I'd make my own!  My family is all fighting over who is getting it for Christmas but I'm going to have to keep this one for myself.  Again, sorry for the bad pics, but I have found a fairly reasonably priced new battery for my digital camera but it may have to wait until after Christmas. Linking up with Paint Party Friday, click here to see all of the other wonderful works of art.  Happy Friday!

Close up of the cabin.

Underpainting.

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PPF - Playing With Acrylics

My second attempt at acrylics

Wow!  It has been a veeerrry long time since I've been on my blog.  It's amazing how time can go by so quickly.  I was in the mood to paint tonight and decided to link up to the Paint Party Friday blog.  Am I the only one that freezes up when you stand in front of a blank canvas???  This painting was not inspired by anything in nature, just my imagination.  I have a lot more practice to do but I don't think it turned out too bad.  Sorry for the bad pic, my very nice digital camera is having a battery issue and won't hold a charge so I'm stuck with my camera phone and the lighting was not the best at night.  The painting is much darker in person, I was trying to shoot for a deep in the woods look.

Started with this underpainting which I absolutely loved

I think oils are much easier to work with but it is nice that acrylics dry so quickly.

I did this backwards, should have added in the grassy area before putting the trees in

I'm not sure that I love it yet but I think it's not a bad painting and my daughter loves it so it just may find it's way to her house.  To view more paint party Friday submissions, head over here.  Happy Friday!

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PPF - My First Oil Painting

Yay, I can finally participate in PPF again!  Although I have cheated a little.  Due to the packing, moving, unpacking and two weeks of my mother being here I have had no time for artwork.  So, I decided to use the very first (and only so far) oil painting I did ala Bob Ross.  I love watching Bob, he's so soothing and makes everything look so easy.  I know there are multiple problems with this one but I don't think it turned out half bad for my first try.  I am dying to do more oil paintings but need to save up some money for supplies first.  Hope you are having a wonderful day.  It is absolutely beautiful here today, not a bad way to start off the weekend!

To see more great artists and what they've been up to, hop on over to the Paint Party Friday blog.

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Paint Party Friday - Sea Turtle

I have been so excited about this week's PPF since last Friday!  I actually painted this last Friday afternoon and it has taken every bit of will power I have not to post it before today. lol.  I sketched the sea turtle out a few weeks ago but was too afraid to try painting it right away because I didn't want to mess it up.  I love him!  I used liquid frisket to mask off the light areas on his body after putting down a wash of the blue/green color then layered on some browns.  After I removed the frisket I went around the brown edges again and darkened the blue/green slightly.  I had so much fun doing this one I couldn't decide if I should post him for Sunday Sketches last week or my moon, which if you missed that post, the image is below and the post is here.

To see more wonderful PPF submissions or to join in on the fun hop on over to the Paint Party Friday blog.

PS...Looked at a very cute apartment today, has all hardwood floors,  new windows, a basement with storage space and a washer and dryer!  Little smaller than the apt we're in right now but it does have a large fenced back yard and central air.  Still going to look at another unit on Sunday.  I think we're getting closer.

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Paint Party Friday - The River

"The River"

I missed PPF last week so this week I made sure I took some time out to paint!  I didn't want anything structured where I had to sketch first so I watched a few videos on Youtube and just started slapping paint on. lol  I think it turned out pretty good.  I've been on days for the past two weeks and for some reason it seems like I don't have as much time to play.  But I go to afternoons for the next two weeks so I should have more time to practice painting.  We're still searching for a new apartment also.  We're going to look at a two bedroom condo on Sunday.  I'm super excited about this one so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's not a total dump and that it works out.  :)  I'm off to work soon but will be back later to look at all the pretty paintings!

To see all of the Paint Party Friday submissions click here.

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Paint Party Friday - Sailor's Delight

"Sailor's Delight"

Here's my week two Paint Party Friday Submission.  I'm actually quite happy with this one.  The colors are a little off from the original painting, the purple is more of a lavender color in real life.  I realize that my boat is a little skewed and the line for the sail is bowed out instead of a straight angle but overall I like this one a whole lot more than my first one.

I got the idea from Paint Works Magazine August 2010 edition.  If you've never seen this magazine and you love painting, I highly recommend checking it out.  They have ideas for acrylic, oil and watercolors in every issue.  I own several issues but this is the first time I've actually taken the plunge and have tried one.  I have the newest edition that has a beautiful watercolor tulip design that I'm really wanting to try but want to wait until I have more practice first.

If you would like to see more PPF submissions hop over to the Paint Part Friday blog here.  Happy Friday!

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Paint Party Friday - No A Five Year Old Did Not Paint This

Ugh, not loving this first watercolor attempt. Was almost too embarrassed to post it. Well, technically it's my second one but I have been getting books from the library to try to learn some techniques.  I just jumped right in the with very first one so I don't really count that one.  =p  My pink practice palm trees came out so much better than the ones in this painting.  I was also having problems with the reflection and the sky itself.  My buildings are all leaning to the right.  But I know everything takes practice.  If you could see the first few drawings I did a few years ago you would never believe it was the same person that drew them.  Practice makes perfect and with the help of PPF and more books coming from the library, I should be a pro in no time!

Visit all of the Paint Party Friday bloggers here.  Hope you all have a great weekend and I promise some interesting sketches coming up for Inspiration Avenue and Sunday Sketches!

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Happy St. Patty's Day!

I'm not really doing anything special for St Patty's Day, in fact our electricity is supposed to be shut off between 10a - 3p so they can inspect our meters.  I guess it's a good thing that we're going to work early today.  The image above was some watercolor practice from a book I found at the library.  The bottom images was teaching shadows with the wet on dry technique.  I don't think I love the hard edges but I did actually do some practice before jumping into a whole large piece. lol.

The image below was another practice piece.  It was some brickwork which I don't think turned out too badly.  I realize that I need to space the bricks closer together and on the edges where it was pretty much obliterated the instructions were to use your soft brush and fade it.  Well, either my paint was still to wet, my brush was too wet or I used to much pressure because I pretty much erased it.  Another lesson learned.

Not sure I'll have a masterpiece for Paint Party Friday but I will have something!

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