Summertime

Inspired by Monet's 'Woman with a Parasol' painting. All oil pastel on pastel paper :-)


I was encouraged by another artist to brighten up the grass since the shadow is so strong, so here is an updated picture. I also added a shadow for the umbrella since logically there would need to be one if the woman's shadow is so long, lol. Learning a little at a time!

Red

I went back to my trusty oil pastels this week, after finding a reference photo for this on an art forum. It was originally a white water lily but I think its looks so good in red! Keith gave me the idea for the moon :-) I think I could work on the reflections in the water a bit more, and the blending of colors in the sky. As far as details, this is all oil pastels on watercolor paper, about 9"x12". I'm considering this one a work in progress since I'll probably tweak it some more. I'm so excited to work more on art stuff because today I moved my desk and supplies out of the playroom into our bedroom! Took some finagling but it looks good and so peaceful, with no tiny fingers touching everything, lol.



Here's an updated picture. I added more layers and blended a little more to get rid of the 'boxy' feel in the reflections.

Hmmm...

I created this blog to keep track of my journey in learning art....which means I should show all of my pieces and not just the ones I like, lol. So here is the latest piece. Its acrylic on canvas with oil pastel added. I am really new to acrylic so I played around a lot with layering in this one. Eventually I decided to take a razor blade to it to see what would happen, and this is the effect! Part of me really likes it, and the other part thinks its totally off the wall, but either way, here it is in all its...glory? I call it Hope.



Touched Up....

Flowers

Just finished another! Wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this. I knew I wanted gray, and had actually painted the outline of a hand before covering it up and going in a whole different direction. It was a lot of fun. This one is about 1 sq ft, and is all acrylic.

Bath Time!

For all those moms out there with children at home, this one's for you :) A nice hot bath, some good smelling soap and a good book. Aaahhh...
This one is approx. 12in by 6in with acrylic as the background and oil pastels on top.

Uncharted Territory

I was convinced that I would not enjoy painting. I never could seem to get the brush to do what I wanted, so I stuck with my trusty oil pastels. But....I just finished my first acrylic painting and I actually enjoyed painting it! Its an abstract, which I seem to enjoy doing a lot more than realism or portrait type things. So without further ado, here it is. Its approx. 2ft by 1 1/2ft acrylic on canvas. Comments are welcome, and tell me what you see because everyone sees something different! Now I don't know what to do with myself, I just finished reading a book and a painting in the same day...




Ok, its a few days later and I've touched up the painting to make the foreground a little brighter than the background. Which do you prefer?



and yet again...I think I'm leaving it alone now.

The Watchman and Mother's Day

I haven't been on here in quite a while, nor have I done any artwork that is really recent, but I do have a couple that I haven't shared on the blog yet, so here it goes!
This first one is a watchman that I painted for our church newsletter (go Joni!). I got the inspiration for it from a photograph and changed it up so as not to steal that guy's thunder. With this one, I learned how to take away from a picture without having to completely redo it - my helper was a small straight edge razor! The cool thing about oil pastels is that they have the texture of lipstick and never completely dry, so a handy blade did the trick when I needed to take some away.




This next one was an attempt at a Mother's Day gift for my mother-in-law that went south, ha. I intended on making a picture for each mom, but after getting frustrated with this one, I stopped altogether and bought them some mugs and jewelry. This one is incomplete as you can tell from the white around the fingers, unfinished blending and the misshapen face of the boy (my hubby, isn't he adorable?!) but I wanted to share it anyway. I have learned that I don't really enjoy portraits, especially of people I know. One tiny wrong move and it alters their appearance so much! So alas, this is what I have for now. Sorry Ma! :oP

Pencil Sketchin'...

They say that no matter what medium you work with, a good foundation is always good sketching or drawing. I did this one while the boys were playing in the backyard. Its basic pencil and took about 30 minutes to draw, with one freak out moment when Caleb decided to ride it when I was halfway done, lol. :o)

New Work in Progress....

Well, its been a busy last couple of weeks but I think things are slowing down. I started this picture a couple of days ago and am still trying to decide if I like it, and how to make the grass look more realistic. It wasn't what I intended to do but decided to try and put down what was in my head. Besides fixing the grass, I need to flatten the horizon some more. There is a slight glare on the right side from the light coming in the window when I took the pic.
This painting (weird that they call drawings made with pastels paintings) has made me realize that I do not like details. They take too long! Same reason I don't like puzzles. But I imagine if I ever want something to be done well or look good, then the details matter.

Abstract Art

Well its been a while since I've posted. Most likely because I found an awesome forum where I can pick the brains of artists of all kinds! - WetCanvas.com - I love it! They tear me to shreds....but in a good way, lol. There's classrooms you can visit and even a Reference Image Library where people have uploaded photos for anyone to copy or create from without all the copyright mess. I highly recommend it.

I've noticed that I have a lot more fun when I do abstract art. There's not a lot of rules to follow, and I can envision something without all the measuring and dimensional aspects, although those are always good to know. So my latest piece is above and was inspired by our lightning storm we had last night. Let me know what you think.

The Eye

I thought it would be good for me to practice on things that I find hard to create...like facial features. This was actually supposed to be Keith's eye, but I made it too almond shaped. His is definitely more round. Overall, its not too bad. Hopefully I can refine my details over time....and I think I need some china markers!

Playing with Colors

There is a very cool artist on youtube who makes fantastic portraits of people using bright, vivid colors. This was my attempt at something similar. I find that capturing every detail and facet of peeople's faces is hard, but I will say that this one was a lot of fun!

Meet With Me

I REALLY should be in bed right now, but at least I finished another picture! I'll probably regret this tomorrow....but that's what coffee is for, right?
This one captured that sentiment I get when I really just feel the Lord near me. I guess it could be a continuation of the 'Contentment' painting. The one draws me to the other. Lord, I'm here to meet with You, come and meet with me.

I'm not sure exactly how I feel about the technicalities of this one. The chair is not exactly as I had planned, nor the rock, but I think it still captures the mood. I'm learning that mixing too many colors on top of one another will come back to bite you. They start to get muddy on the paper due to the texture not being able to grab the oils in the pastels anymore. One step at a time... :)

Contentment

This is today's creation, most of which I did while the boys were napping. I titled it 'Contentment' because its something the Lord is teaching me right now. I love change, and the excitement it brings, but there are seasons when I need to just be happy and at peace with where I am. Thank you Lord.

Copyright Laws...

Well I guess it was inevitable that I would need to educate myself on copyright laws as I get more into my oil pastel drawings or 'paintings'. Some of the ones I have done so far were based off of photographs I found online, though not complete replicas. At this point, I think I find it safer to try and do things on my own (yikes!), or at least just use the photos as inspiration for other pieces, and not as the model for my stuff (or does that infringe on the idea/expression dichotomy...although I don't believe so)
Crating art on my own will be a big step for me....I hope it works out, haha!

Feet of Jesus

This one was difficult, I'm not very good at getting shadows and depth perception down, but it turned out ok. I was inspired by a photograph online and wanted to make it a little more meaningful which is why I made it the feet of Jesus.

He was persecuted for His love, but overcame. Can we walk as He did?

One Drop, Many Ripples

Couldn't sleep...so onto another drawing! Inspired by another painting I saw, this one is not near as good, but I love the many ways this could be interpreted. I love the warm color hues together.

One drop may not seem like much, but look at all the ripples it creates...

Summer Rain

I saw a painting similar to this online and loved the imagery! Enjoying the summer rain in the summer sunshine :o)

Heart Piece Continued...

Well, I've done more on the Heart piece, but still not very happy with it. I like the colors, but I can't get past the shape of the heart not being how I want it, nor it being centered on the page. I'll probably leave this one as is, and start a new one soon. :o) I do like how the colors look like flames around the heart. Blending is so fun!

Progression of Worship

I know, I know. This is like my 4th post today...but at least I'm being productive! Its just so much fun!
Ok, so this is the one I made today during the boys' naptime. Your first thought is probably "Skittles....taste the rainbow", but alas, that is not the depiction.
To me, this not only symbolizes my family's love of music, but also a progression of worship to the Lord. So often, we are caught up in ourselves and our circumstances but as we begin to praise and worship Him, our focus changes. We are no longer trapped by selfish thoughts, but as our "thoughts are stayed on Him", our worship becomes pure and passionate. Truly its all about Him.

Tree In Sunset

This is the one I did yesterday, while my son was making a birthday card for his Mima.
I really like this one! I was inspired to do this while on a drive down a country road at sunset, looking at all the beautiful trees still in slumber from the harshness of winter. I had some blending issues with this one, but I checked out some youtube videos to give me some blending techniques.

Second Piece, Unfinished...

This is the second piece. I based it off of an image I found online. I have an artist friend helping me with this one, so its still under construction. I'd like to do a nice background color, but haven't decided what color yet.

First Oil Pastel Piece

So this is the first piece I've done. I copied it from a painting I have in my home. Lacks a lot, should not have used charcoal pencil underneath, but I do like the flower and the background colors!

Trying Again!

So I tried to keep a blog not too long ago, more about personal things, and I think I made about 2 posts, haha!
This time, I'm more excited!I've been wanting to learn how to use art as an outlet, but without art classes, I didn't know how to start. I'd only really done pencil sketching. But as of late, I've discovered the wonderful oil pastels! Kind of like pencil sketching...but prettier and more forgiving! So this blog will be an outlet for me to share my journey of learning art, especially with oil pastels.
I'd love to hear any comments or especially tips, if you're an artist yourself!