"Cherry Branch Study" Slide Show! 10X20" oil on canvas 2007

I was considering a redo of my Cherry Branch Painting that you can view in my regular painting blog. While I was painting up a new version I documented it . Here is the slide show for you. I'll be heading back to Halifax, NS next month and will be giving a workshop while I'm there about Quick paintings. So this month I'll be doing a series of these paintings and documenting them to aid in the workshop.So keep checking in for more "shows"!
You can view the slide show of "Cherry Branch Study" here!

A Glimpse At My Work Space (and my assistant!)

Just a few shots to show you of my studio A.K.A. the corner of kitchen/dining room/living room..... Thank God it's a big room! I also have an assistant who sometimes can be very helpful giving me a great sense of calm, while other times her only contribution is constant meows for treats and hair in my paint (I still don't have the heart to fire her!!LOL!) Her name is Sheba A.K.A. (according to my husband who I love dearly) A pain in the A-- !! So yes I am one of those people who could have an entire blog based on my cat... but don't worry... I won't. At least not yet!!

Yeeeppppyyy... New Art books!!

So I got my butt in gear and have decided to dive back in to figure drawing. I had been away from practising the basics for way to long!!! I've been sketching for almost 2 weeks now and feel like I'm getting back into the groove again. I did a lot of figure drawing once upon a time (back in art school)!! How soon we forget that the basics must be done regularly.... Not just every few years!!! I've made a few new Art Book purchases that some of you may enjoy!!

"Cyclopedia Anatomicae"

"The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing: A Contemporary Perspective on the Classical Tradition"

"Classical Drawing Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice"

"Virtual Pose 3: The Ultimate Visual Reference Series for Drawing the Human Figure"

LOVE the Poser books... next best thing to having a real model... The book comes with a disc that allows you to rotate the figures for a full turn around. There are other books/disc's out there that can allow you to do overhead views also.

Another favorite of mine is the American Artist Drawing Highlights! You can even go to their online store and purchase past issues of their different magazines. If your in need of a little Video or Demonstration just go to their home page , pick a medium and you have a wealth of info at your figure tips (and hey... it's free)!!

I'll get around to putting up some of my "quick" studies soon... need just a little more practise before I subject myself to a mass critic!! LOL!!

Burning the Midnight Oil

We are finished 2 Self Portraits!

June 19/07
So I'm going to enter a self portrait contest...No I'm not that vain!LOL! The contest allows for up to 3 entries, but I'm going to start 4 and once I get started I'll decided which ones I'll finish for the competition.
The first thing I did was have Grant(my husband) take photo's of me. We worked out what I wanted before hand by using other paintings and photos that I liked. Played around with background ideas in photoshop. The images are in order of how they are progressing. The cropping stay the same, but the backgrounds will change. I first draw them out in color pencil and seal in the drawing with a watered down coat of acrylic varnish. This is the most important step.... the drawing must be perfect... work out all your bugs here, NOT half way through your painting! Drawing is a vital part of painting!!!(Grant will be so happy!LOL) Next I fill everything in with a transparent glaze of color in acrylic... At this stage they still resemble a paint by number, but I can still see my drawing. The next day I get into the oil paint. I'm still using transparent glazes using Original Liquin (my favorite medium!). I want to start establishing my colors. My next stage will be to start details...Shadows and highlights. At this point I've been working on this project for just over a week!

June 26/07
UPDATE!
So we are now about 3 weeks in to the project. I've narrowed it down to the 3 that I'll try and have finished for this Friday. I will go back soon and finish the 4th(I've taken it down untill I can get back to it), I've also removed the original Photographs... It's all about the paintings now! Since the last post just over a week ago I've done a few more Glazes and added some detail, basically my job for the next few days is to make any small last minute changes, get the shadows and highlights finished, add in the final details and final glazes of color to get them to the finished level. So I guess you'll be seeing all 3 of me in a few days!!

June 30/07
So we've gone from 4 portraits to 2 finished ones... don't worry I will be finishing up the other 2 in the near future and will have all the stages posted again! You can also view the finished pieces on my main blog. I'm very happy with the end result and have submitted these 2 for the contest... I should know by July 6 if any good has come of it all! On the main blog I have post a small write up on each of them. I have already decided to start working out the details for some more paintings with a similar feeling and theme. Maybe have more symbolism worked into the images, but we'll see how it goes!

Self portrait number 1/ "Remembering Durer"

Self portrait number 2/"Dreaming of Dress Up"