A New Painting

It started with this sketch in my sketchbook.

And I made some changes and created this 8"x8" painting.

It started with a messy background of papers and paint and I went with balloons instead of a hat.

Then I made the background a more solid color but I tried to keep the texture of the brush strokes.

I call it "Happiness" because you just can't help smiling when you see an elephant on rollerskates with balloons.

The original 8"x8" painting on wood panel is available in my Etsy shop as well as prints.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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In The Studio

It's been forever, but today I got to work over 3 hours in a row in the studio. Weeeeeee!

Hopefully I will be able to get more time this weekend so I can finish this elephant painting.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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Bitten by the Comparison Bug

It happens to all artists. We look at other artists' work. We love what we see and then we start to compare our work to theirs. I try very very hard not to do this. I know comparison is the death of creativity. So, if I find myself comparing, I try and take a more analytical approach. I don't want to paint like the artists I admire but I do wonder "what do they have that I am missing in my art?".

So I looked at the Etsy shops of some of my favorite artists to see if I could figure out the quality or qualities these artists have that. I checked out Juliette Crane's, Mindy Lacefield's and Danita's. Each of these women have a very distinctive style and a consistent style. It doesn't matter what the subject matter is, you can look at any of these artists' work and know who the painter is. This was an "aha" moment and a "well duh" moment too. I can tell a Renoir from a Degas no matter what they painted. So, I looked at the work I have created over the past year. I can see some consistency in my work but I think my style changes when the subject matter changes.

These girl paintings have a similar look.

And so do these but, I'm not sure the style is similar to the ones above.

These animal paintings are similar in style but, do they go with the girl paintings?

And then I've been making this style of animal. I used collage and watercolor on these atcs. Do they go with my other paintings?

I'm still learning I suppose. Developing my style and finding out how I like to paint. I admit I'm still all over the place. Exploring art supplies and what I enjoy drawing. I love color and whimsy. I also love my serene girls. Ugh! I don't know. The only thing I can keep doing is paint, draw and paint and draw some more. The other thing that the artists I admire have in common is years of experience. They've been painting a long time and it likely took more than a year for them to find their style. Comparison isn't always a bad thing. It can help you be objective. You just can't get stuck in the "comparison mode". You have to move on and just paint.

 

Printing Fun with My Gelli Plate

I've been working on a large painting for about a month. I'm pretty sure it's finished (post on it coming soon) and I wanted a break from creating a painting of any kind. So, I pulled out my Gelli Plate by Gelliarts and made papers!

 

The Gelli Plate is a gelatin like surface that can be used over and over again to create interesting textures on paper. I have this fabulous art video from artist Jane Davies and she uses the Gelli Plate. (She also has other wonderful painted paper techniques. I highly recommend the video). There are also many videos on YouTube showing how to use the Gelli Plate.

 

A scene from the video. I watch the disc on my computer so I can paint along.

This plate is so fun to use. My daughter helped out too. It's like magic when you lift the paper up to see what you created.

Here are my piles of goodness!

I used a variety of paints, stamps, stencils and found objects to create these papers. The possibilities are endless! I will likely add more layers to these papers and then I will use them in my art!

If you have a Gelli Plate I hope I've inspired you to take it out and play. If you don't, you can use plexiglass, freezer paper (the shiny side) or paint palette paper to create Monoprints, but the Gelli Plate rocks!

 

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