Art 102

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all well today.

I am doing good, still fighting with this cold that doesn't want to go away completely but, oh well, such is winter time I guess.

I have been painting more this week and I wanted to show you two paintings that I finished up on.

The first one I completed about two weeks ago.  

It is ok, nothing spectacular, I was learning about reflections and practicing my beach grass and just playing with colors.   

I am not thrilled with how it came out but that's ok, I learned about distances and details and trying to reflect a time of day or type of weather.

My next painting I did on a bigger canvas, 12 x 24.

This one took me a while and a couple of do-overs. 

That is what I love about acrylics, if you don't like it you can paint right over it and start again.

I found that I love masking tape. :)

It really helps so much.

It was fun trying new things with colors, especially with the sand.

I would have never guessed that you would used blues and purples in the sand but when they are mixed with other colors I was having so much fun applying them.

I was really nervous about the driftwood and I have found that blocking in colors and then layering really helps.  Above I blocked in the driftwood and then later added the details.

Same with the grasses (though I still need to work on them) blocking in a section and then building on it works much easier than painting every blade of grass and gives depth to the area.

I am pretty happy with how this turned out, there are still lots of things that I need to improve on like waves, grass, color mixing and glazing.

I had a good time with this one though and took my time completing steps on different days and it helped that I could walk away when I wasn't  doing so well.

Some of you expressed your interest in picking up that brush again and I say go for it!!

I am really enjoying this and find myself actually finding myself!

Does that makes sense? 

I am happy when I am painting and I have even found myself thinking about what kind of painter I want to be, finding a style and a certain feel to my paintings.

More on that later though,

 right now I am enjoying the journey and seeing what I can do. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!

Art 101

So earlier this year, like three weeks ago, I mentioned how I wanted to pick up a paint brush again.

Not one for the walls, but one for canvas.

I took art classes all through high school and college and have always loved to paint and draw.

I have been a bit nervous since it has been about 17 years since I have painted and "learned" how to paint.

I have so much to relearn and so much to learn that is new.

Since I am a very visual learner, I picked up a few books and found a wonderful website that hopefully will start me on my way.

"Color Mixing Recipes" is great.  

This book shows what colors and how much of each to use to make almost any color under the sun.

"Paint Charming Seaside Scenes" is a wonderful step by step guide.   

"Jacqueline Penney's  love of the ocean is always 
present in her art, which feature sailboats, 
sandy beaches, ocean views and warm 
tropical vacations. Her award winning 
paintings include a self-portrait entitled, “Me”, 
that is in the National Association of Women 
Artist’s permanent collection housed at the 
Zimmerli Art Museum."

You can click on her name to see some of her beautiful seaside paintings.

She also has two other books that I hope to get my hands on one day as well.

She starts off by telling the reader what brushes, paints and other supplies that she uses in the book for all her lessons.

She lays out each step by telling the reader which colors to use with what brush and how to do strokes and/or techniques for that step.

Before each "lesson" she tells us what colors and what brushes/supplies she will be using for that particular lesson.

Great for me because I am be able to have what I need instead of guessing what brush or color I will need.

I don't normally guess well.

So, I lined up my supplies and jumped right in!

Learning new ways to lay out your paint.

Of course I have my little helpers.

He is doing his watercolor, the dog is apparently deep in thought or bored out of her mind. :)

After a few hours of reading, rereading, trying, retrying I finished my first lesson.

I have to say I have a LONG way to go but it was so fun and felt so good to pick up a brush again and create something,

even if it is a copy of someone else's work.

The website that I am in love with right now is Will Kemp's Art School.

He is amazing and give's both written and video tutorials and goes from beginner to advanced.

I have to tell you that I have learned so much already from him and he is so kind and always answers questions and his wonderful accent and enthusiasm for his work just makes me want to learn more.

Hopefully I will begin another lesson this week and it is good for me to take things step by step.  

I have learned a some patience (which is not easy for me sometimes) and I am ok that I am not a master artist in one week. :)

It is the journey, right?

I also wanted to welcome my new friends and THANK you so much for joining me on my crazy journey!

I am having so much fun getting to know you.

A few Sea-Inspired Crafts

Hello beach beauties!!

I hope that you are enjoying your summer so far.

We have been busy here and the weather has been a bit on the PMS side, going from HOT one day to COLD the next!!

It is raining right now and chilly but it looks like the next week is supposed to be beautiful.

Yesterday really wasn't a beach day with scattered showers popping up all over so after doctors appointments we decided to paint on the deck.

I have not receive the shark sheets yet from PB kids so I have not picked out any paint for the furniture, but I tried my hand at another knock off for my sons shark room.

I love these, but at $50 buck a pop I decided that a home-made one might be better at this point.

I started with the Tiger Shark.

So, we got out the paints and went to town.

I had everything so this cost me nothing!

BONUS!

After I drew the shark on, I filled in the background first and then filled in the shark and fish.

I used Sharpies for the writing, I think the next one I will see if I can find paint pens because the only colors that really showed up were the dark colors.

Once again he is happy with his shark.

Well as happy as the cheesy smile says. :)

It didn't turn out too bad but the the fish look like the Gold Fish Crackers!

Also yesterday I finally made my driftwood yacht from a huge piece of driftwood that I picked up last year and a new piece (mast) that we found at the beach the other day.

I used some leftover fabric that was lying around for the sails.

Very simple, very plain.

I like it.

Now I just need to find a spot for my yacht.

Too bad I can't sail away on it.

:)