Painting: Three Little Birds in a Nest

It's funny, because when I started this painting, a little over a month ago, I wasn't even thinking about the oh-so-obvious: three little birds in a nest. Maybe because my third little bird wasn't yet in the nest. Now that I realize what I've done I like it even more!

Some paintings are just for fun, and this is one of those. After working in such a focused, and at times anxious, way on Scarlett's portrait I wanted to do something I didn't care about so much.

I'd thought for some time that I'd like a painting of a bird in a nest for Scarlett's room and hoped to be able to just knock it out. That doesn't always work out (case in point) but this time it went pretty quickly. I found a few pictures of robins in nests online and used them as a reference. I always paint from observation, even if I take significant liberties.

In addition to this turning out to be as quick as I'd hoped, I finished working on it this afternoon (after finally getting little Tess down for a solid nap) with my oldest, Audrey, painting on her easel next to me. So much fun! We'll have to do that some more. It's good time with her and it allows me some rare painting time.

Can't wait to get this framed and hanging in Scarlett's room.

Painting: Portrait of Scarlett

Of all the nesting projects on my list, this was perhaps the most important to me. Strange I know, as it doesn't seem to have much to do with a new baby, but I really, REALLY, wanted to finish a portrait of Scarlett before her baby sister arrived. I painted a portrait of Audrey a couple years ago and thought I should get Scarlett's completed so as not to be "behind" with two to do. There is also something about an increased focus on Scarlett as I'm worried about her transition from baby to middle child!

So I am so thrilled that I have finished this Portrait of Scarlett:

There is something so joyful about working on a portrait of someone you love. It becomes a meditation of sorts. I was able to spend hours observing her features, the personality in her stance, the coloring. I worked from some photographs I took and think this one of Scarlett on the push trike really captures her energy and confidence. She's a take-charge kind of little girl!

There is also something unnerving about working on a painting of a subject you love. My expectations are always that much higher and I am more concerned about a strong likeness, not just a good painting in itself. I had to gear myself up every time I set to paint--try and boost my confidence for the task. I was happy, however, that this seemed to go better than expected. There are parts of the painting that bothered me but surprisingly, her face came fairly easily.

Scarlett is at such a beautiful age and it's so fun to compare her to her older sister at the same age (Audrey was actually a few months younger in hers, but you wouldn't realize it given her thick head of hair!). The paintings reveal a lot I think about their different moods and personalities. And their coloring is so different! One of the many fun things about children: they are so individual. (But these two have the same cute rosebud mouth.)

Scarlett recognizes herself in this painting and seems to be pleased to have it hanging on the wall next to her sister's.

I love the chubby hands and feet at this age!

And I love that Scarlett's hair forms ringlets now!

It was fun to incorporate the push trike in this painting. I love the portraits of Sargeant that have the subjects in an environment, especially the ones of children. I didn't do quite that, but I'd like to sometime. I wanted this one to be compatible next to Audrey's, and I think it is, but I've got plans for other portraits--can't wait to do one of the three girls together!

When I last posted a painting (the Hollyhocks) someone suggested that I share a "tutorial" about it. Not really possible in my mind, but, it gave me the idea to document the progress of this painting. I haven't done that before--I've always thought I wanted to keep it under wraps until it was finished and not reveal the process or struggles along the way. But I've decided to share it, and it's kind of fun to see how the painting emerged--areas of focus, corrections, changes... If you're interested in a glimpse of the work as it progressed every few hours click below.

Painting: Hollyhocks

I took the photos from which to paint these hollyhocks almost a year ago on a neighborhood walk. I have never chosen flowers as the subject of a painting, but when I started painting again a few years ago I was excited about tackling new subjects. And, this particular one made it to my nesting list. Not exactly baby apparel I know, but this painting was something I had in mind for Scarlett's room and I am desperate to get some things finished for her so she does not become the forgotten middle child when her little sister arrives!

So, hooray! I finished the painting! Every painting is instructive (my sister and I talk about "laps in the pool") and this one was a bit surprising too. I actually roughed in the layout last December and thought I could finish it in a couple hours. I thought it shouldn't be that difficult because it was just flowers--not a portrait or anything. 

Well, turns out that flowers are much more complex than I realized. I invested many more hours. But I also am more fond of this painting than I thought. I was thinking of it as "decorator" painting to fill a spot in a room as opposed to a serious composition but I like how it turned out! And I also really like it in Scarlett's room. A bunch of vibrant pink hollyhocks is about as girly as it gets--fun for my little girl's room.

This painting is 20x16--a much more comfortable scale. The flowers are about life size, which I love to do.

I wasn't sure about framing... I wanted something with more of a cottage than a formal feel. I ended up buying a pretty basic frame with a strange black and brown finish on sale at Michael's and using a can of Krylon to paint it robin's egg blue ("Blue Ocean Breeze" actually). I think it works. And it was a great price! And, it was instant DIY gratification.

I have a couple other things in mind for Scarlett's walls. This went smoothly enough that I'm motivated! I'll get her room finished yet.

Painting: Phoenix Landscape with Resting Zoe

I was able to take the afternoon off work and go paint instead and I FINALLY finished this painting I started long ago. I have loved the idea of doing something like this for years now--I love this Carob tree in my in-laws back yard. Our sweet dog, Zoe, isn't doing so well lately and I love the mental image of her resting in the sun on the lawn under this tree. I thought it would make a nice little composition. However, I must resolve, again, to not paint such small canvases. I really don't like using such small brushes.

I used a glazing technique, both warm and cool, to finish this. Something I was able to do since it had sat around for so many months. I don't use glazes very often so it was fun to do. I realized I really needed to push the values much more than I had--darker upright tree, lighter landscape in back. I am much happier with it now.

Nothing like a Christmas deadline to force the time for painting. I decided to finish this and give it to my MIL. I hope she likes it. A bit risky to give a painting again this year. Hopefully they won't think, "are we going to get a painting every year?"

Painting: Beach Day Portrait

I wanted to try painting some figures in a landscape, so I looked through our pictures from our last San Diego trip and found a few I could use for inspiration. There are some really cute images of Audrey playing on the beach on a rather cloudy day with her grandparents.

I thought it shouldn't be any big deal to do a couple figures in a landscape. I was imagining treating the figures relatively impressionistically. I should have known. This ended up being three portraits because I really did want some likeness even if there isn't a lot of detail.

I also made it more tricky by using some photos where the light was coming from different directions. I had to compose the figures together and change the light on one of them to make it work.

I had never painted the ocean before and I thought it was really fun. Kind of like painting clouds. My favorite part of this painting are the reflections in the wet sand. I loved painting those and think they turned out pretty well.

I thought I had this painting finished a couple classes ago but it kept bothering me so I put it away and then took it out recently and looked at it again. I ended up finishing it at home. I finally realized some of the shadows were wrong given the light source!

I finished this up early for Christmas for once because with this baby coming I am predicting I won't have time later. I decided to give it to my in-laws. I hope they like it. I think it's a cute scene of them with Audrey.

Painting: Back to It!

I have only painted once since Scarlett was born--that was to finish up a Christmas gift--and I have been dying to get back to it. Sewing has provided such a great creative outlet but I really want to keep up the painting and have a few portraits I have been asked to do so I really need to get back into the rhythm. So today I did it! I typically work a half day Mondays but I took some vacation and went to the painting studio instead.

Last time I painted I had started a little painting of my old dog, currently my in-law's dog, Zoe, resting in the shade of a big Carob tree in their backyard in Phoenix. So I worked on that today. Some sort of composition involving this tree has been on my list for a long time. It was pretty difficult getting warmed up. I felt like I couldn't remember how to do it. At one point I thought the painting was a complete disaster. That would have been ok really. I chose the subject because I've never painted anything like it--so much green foliage. That has been my M.O. with painting: I have wanted to try new things. Landscapes aren't my typical subject. I did figures in the landscape. I want to try flowers next. I figure it's all about learning and practice.

But thankfully by the end of the class time I felt like this painting has some potential. This is a little detail--a piece that I like. I'm now excited to finish it and move on to something else (hollyhocks I think). I just need to figure out how to get back to the studio again.

Painting: Hollyhocks for Inspiration

My girls and I were walking home from a birthday party around the corner this evening and I spotted these gorgeous flowers. Couldn't resist pulling out the camera to take a few pictures--I think they deserve to be painted. I think a smallish hollyhock painting would be perfect in Scarlett's room.

Painting: Utah Landscape

I have always loved this particular view off I-15 north of Salt Lake City. I painted it once in highschool and thought I'd try it again. I did it the first time all with palette knife, which was really fun and I like the result--very textural. But I thought it would be interesting to try it again and try and get the values more accurate.

It turned out decently I think. I actually liked it in better in the beginning when I quickly laid in the composition and colors, but all-in-all I think it's working pretty well.

Painting: Cliffs Near Zion National Park

After the portraits of Audrey and Zoe I needed to do something with a little less pressure! So I went to my stack of photos and found some images I shot down near Zion National Park last year. These cliffs are somewhere outside the park (north of the park) and I think they are so great looking!

This is a small one again, 8"x10", because I was hoping to finish it in one sitting. It took two, but it's still finished! I like it. I wouldn't mind it on one of my walls. Might work nicely for a present for someone too.

Painting: A Portrait of Audrey for Father's Day

When I gave David the Zoe portrait for Christmas I told him I thought it was a safe subject--he loves the dog, so he had to at least like the idea of a portrait of her. He said something about, "but I'd like a portrait of Audrey too..." So it was fixed. I was determined to paint one (put it on the "to paint" list for 2008). Especially since capturing Zoe's likeness felt about like doing a person portrait.

This portrait of Audrey is about life sized and it was such an amazing experience to paint it when I worked on it every week. It was like a meditation on my daughter for a few hours. Time in which I got to observe her beauty and appreciate the gift she is in my life. I love her and I can't wait to paint her more. I can imagine all kinds of compositions! This portrait is based on a photo I took of Audrey in our backyard. I love it because she had just been walking a few weeks and to me she appears to be rounding the corner from baby to little girl.

Audrey often has this kind of serious expression, so it captures her personality. This was taken last summer so now her hair is darker and she of course looks a bit older. It was interesting because as I was working on this portrait it seemed I sometimes painted her as I see her now rather than being as loyal to the photograph.

I chose purple for the sash on this dress because it is Audrey's favorite color.

A few times during the painting process I would pull this out and ask Audrey what she thought. The first time she immediately recognized herself so I thought I was on the right track.

When David opened this he didn't seem very surprised. I guess he figured I would paint Audrey. I felt it a strong compliment when he immediately started talking about where we should hang it. It has a prominent spot in our living room.

It's nice to have finished something I feel good about. I have decided that portraits are still my love. I enjoy all kinds of subjects but portaits are the most rewarding, in part I think because they are the most challenging.

It was so much fun to have my family come over to celebrate Father's Day and have Audrey show them her picture. She seems pretty excited about it hanging there on the wall.

Painting: Zoe Dog Portrait for Christmas

After having fun with landscapes I decided to get back into what I've always loved: portraits. I thought I'd start a bit easier with a portrait of our dog, Zoe. (Explanation about Zoe: I got her when I was dating David and then about a year after we married we moved to the Bay Area and Zoe went to my in-laws in Phoenix, we thought for a few months, but it's been about 8 years. When we moved back to Utah, and a fenced yard, we just couldn't take her away from them, so though she still seems like ours she is a pet we visit rather than live with.) I also thought it would be an easy pick of a subject to do a painting for David for Christmas because he loves Zoe!

Well, it was so much fun working on this! I do love portraits. I love the challenge. I can't be lazy at all if I'm trying to get a good likeness and that was the case here. I thought Zoe would be a bit easier but I might as well have been painting my daughter, Audrey, because it seemed that degree of difficulty.

I feel like this is my first strong painting since getting back into it. It's nice to have completed something I'm excited about. It was especially fun to see David's, and his parents', reactions when he opened it for Christmas. They were surprised and loved it. In fact, I should probably do one sometime for David's father because he's always drawn to dog paintings.

This is a small canvas too--8"x10--but because it's a close up it felt about right in terms of brush size, strokes and the level of detail I wanted. Now I know...

Painting: Landscape with Cows

I decided to switch it up a bit last class with a landscape with cows in it. I think I took this photo somewhere near Flaming Gorge. I took a lot of photos of bovine landscapes for a while--I liked the look.

This is another little 8"x10". One thing I've decided is that I don't enjoy a composition with a lot of detail at this size! It is too hard. It drove me crazy trying to get the right amount of detail on these little cows. I don't have small enough brushes and I would rather paint with bigger strokes. It's not that I wanted this to be a detailed miniature but I had a difficult time figuring out the right amount of detail. I should say I haven't figured it out.

My favorite part of the painting are the wispy dark clouds in the upper left. I also like the color palette--the dusty purples and subdued yellows and greens. So that's something at least!

Painting: Cloud Painting II

I had so much fun with my first cloud painting, that I decided to try it again. This is another 11"x14" and it is taken from the same photograph as my First Cloud Painting. It was fun to see how this one turned out and what was similar and what was different.

I didn't bring in the first painting so I wasn't sure how the palette might have varied.

I think the two of them actually look good together! I think this would make a fun diptych. I like that there is variation in the blues too. Not sure how I'd frame this--I like a bit of space. The paintings are canvas on board so they're flat--maybe it would be possible to float them on linen. I'll have to experiment.

I'm going to try something different next week. I have a whole stack of photos now that I would like to paint from. That's one thing I have learned and loved about this class. The instructor, Susan Gallacher, does an amazing job of referencing a photo and improving on it. I have always tried to stay so true to whatever I was seeing--whether live or a photos. She has shown me how ou can colmbine a photos reference with knowledge of the subject, the way the light works in a landscape, rules about form and artistic license to produce something much better than the photo you started with. I don't know that I accomplish that necessarily but she really does and it's inspiring!

Painting: First Cloud Painting

I wanted to try painting clouds and this is it! It was so much fun! I don't know where I took the sky picture I referenced but the clouds were amazing. Somewhere driving in Utah I'm sure. This is 11"x14" and I finished it in the class time. I like painting loose and fast--the only thing I do that way!

I like the brush strokes, paint quality and colors. It's funny though. I always have something a bit different in my head. I was telling the others, "no matter what my paintings always end up looking like I painted them!" I guess one can't really change that. I am just not sure my style is my favorite style. :-)

I feel like this marks a good bit of progress from my first landscape, so the practice time seems to be paying off! Maybe I'll do another cloud landscape adn make a diptych.

Painting: Third Landscape

Third, and final I think, landscape based on the Bay of Fundy State Park. I went back to 8"x10" because I had the canvas. This view was a bit more complicated--more going on with water, and reflections on water, and misty cloud covered mountains in the distance. It was a fun challenge but I don't love the final result. It's ok I guess. Maybe it would look better in a frame.

Painting: Second Landscape

This is another landscape based on the photos from the Bay of Fundy State Park. I tried something a little bigger this time (11"x14") and still had the goal of finishing in the class time. I like working quickly.

Not sure about the results however. I like the colors but the values are a bit messed up I think... Oh well. "Time in the pool." That's how my sister, Christine, and I refer to painting time. It's about investing the time and then hopefully seeing the results, similar to when we trained for our first triathlon earlier this year and had to do laps.

So hopefully this time in the pool will start to pay off.

Painting: First Landscape

Well, the second painting class is behind me! This was the product of it. A little 8"x10" landscape based on a photo I took at Bay of Fundy State Park in New Brunswick when I was on a road trip up the coast in college. I loved the landscape--such fabulous, rich fall colors. I always hoped I would paint it.

I haven't really painted landscapes. In highschool I did a bunch of pastel landscapes, but painting has always been based on the figure.

It was fun to do this. I wanted to do a bunch of landscape studies in this class and my goal was to finish this one in the class time and I did. That's at least progress I think.

Painting: First Painting in Years!

My sister, Christine, was also an art major in college. And she hasn't painted in years either. I just got so busy in my career and then marriage and other fun creative pursuits that didn't take the same kind of mental space. And then my daughter arrived of course. But I'm back! Well, trying to get back anyway. Christine convinced me to take a painting class through the university continuing education program. We signed up with another art major friend and thought of it as a way to commit the time and spend some time together.

It was pretty funny, the three of us trying to put paint to canvas again. It was interesting how some things seemed familiar and others were completely lost! We had to laugh a lot.

So this little 8"x10" still life is my first attempt to get back in it. We painted this set up in the studio and this represents about 2 hours of work. Not bad I think given the time and given my long absence.

I just hope I can come back to this at the end of the class and see some improvement!