Dooce's Favorites. Painting number one

There are two different attitudes that usually manifest themselves as I begin a new painting or series of paintings.  'Total Excitement' or 'Confidence Crushing Fear'.  This painting brought out a little bit of both!  As the first painting  in the series of Dooce's Favorites from her travels to Bangladesh with the charity Every Mother Counts, I knew that this painting was going to set the tone for the whole group.

I loved this photo as soon as I saw it - the expressions on the children's faces, the pattern of their clothing, the gestures of their hands.  I started with a loose sketch in oil on a panel, 24" x 36".

From the beginning i knew I wanted the focus to be on the tallest girl of the three.  I wanted a lot of layers, transparent under opaque, dark under light, lots of focus on pattern and texture.

This layer is a little spooky...transparent glazes and a bit of color on top.

I think this is when I realize I made the arm of the tallest girl too short.  I was really upset, because I loved the color and the shape, but it was in the wrong place!  But painting in oil is very forgiving, because every layer adds texture and interest, so I painted it over...

Experimenting with background color...would a cool blue work? Does it need more detail?

Warmer background, but now there was SO much going on in the painting, I was losing the focus on the face of the tallest girl - should I block out the other two faces to balance it out?

Sticking with the plan to fill in the background, I inserted a little girl from a different photo, thinking she would address the negative space along the left.  It didn't work...everything was feeling too pieced together and not cohesive.

After talking it thru with a couple of my fellow artists, I added the faces back onto the two other girls.  Now, they felt like they belonged together.

I toned down the blues, going back to my initial plan of utilizing an earthy palette.  I still wasn't sure about the girl on the left, and...painted her over...

...and now it's done!  

These three girls have unique personalities, and the whole time I painted I was thinking about their Potential, how their future might somehow be written on their face.  How would the little girl on the right be served by her defiance and self confidence?  How would the young lady in the middle turn her level-headed temper and ability to empathise with those around  her into her biggest asset?  How would the pretty one on the left force you to see past her beauty, and realize that she has ideas to change the world?  

This painting will be auctioned on-line starting October 10th with net proceeds benefiting Team Every Mother Counts , participating in the New York City Marathon on November 6th.

Click here to bid!

Dooce's Favorites. The Story behind the Bangladesh Series.

Earlier this year, I was beyond thrilled when Heather Armstrong featured a portrait I created of her daughter, Leta, on her blog.  Following that beautiful post, I was overwhelmed by the kindness, enthusiasm, and support that came forth from her amazing community and beyond.  I have been lucky enough to create dozens of beautiful portraits for clients all around the world who were introduced to my work thru Heather.  It's been incredibly satisfying, challenging, joyful! to be creating custom portraits for clients who were inspired by Leta's painting.

A couple of months ago, Heather shared her experiences when she traveled to Bangladesh with the Charity Every Mother Counts.   The stories she shared were emotional and compelling, accompanied as always by her  illustrious photos.

(Detail, Painting One)

As I read the stories and learned more about the charity, I couldn't help but be completely enamored by the beautiful faces of the men, women and children she met on her trip.  As a portrait artist, I am always looking at people's faces - watching how the light reacts to their skin tone, noticing how their eyebrows frame their face, taking note of how they tend to tilt their head when they talk, what Presence they have.   The subjects of Heather's photos were beautiful, not only for their engaging eyes and sculpted lips, but the honest emotional content in every nuance of their expressions.

Could I ever, as a portrait artist, rise to a level where I can capture all those beautiful things that Heather captured in her photos - the light, the context, the story, the emotions - in a painting?  I spent many restless nights running those photos thru my head, dreaming of ways to translate her photos into paintings.

(Detail, Painting two)

After a week of tossing and turning, I knew I had to try to paint these portraits.  But - Why?  Just to see if I can? It had to be bigger than that.  So I contacted Heather and proposed an idea: "Heather, you did so much for me, my family, and my business this year...Could I create a series of portraits based on some of your favorite photos from Bangladesh, and then we can auction the series of paintings on-line, with all of the proceeds going to the charity Every Mother Counts?"

Then I held my breath...

And Heather said "YES!!!"

So I pored thru her Bangladesh photos on Flickr and watched her video about a hundred times, coming up with a list of about 15 photos that kept stopping me again and again.   When Heather finalized the list, "Dooce's Favorites" were ready to be painted.

(Detail, Painting three)

I began the first painting on August 3rd, and just finished the fifth painting over this past weekend.  In those two months, I have spent hundreds of hours in front of my easel, trying to do justice to my subjects, while considering the fact that an amazing woman has trusted me with her personal experiences, and believes in me to create something - mind blowing? spiritual? moving? pretty? - to the best of my ability!

So here we are - the five paintings are done, and I can't wait to share them with you.  The plan is to introduce a painting each day this week, and then start the auction on-line Monday October 10th. The auction will run for ten days, and all of the money raised (minus the auction site fees) will be going to Team Every Mother Counts ,  participating in the New York City Marathon on November 6th.

(Detail, painting four)

I don't know if these painting will inspire you the way they have inspired me, but I hope they do, and I hope you consider donating to the charity, even if you don't bid in the auction.  I couldn't get on a plane to see these strong-willed, able bodied, positive, and hard-working men, women and children in person, and I am so grateful that Heather DID go, and brought their story to my attention.  It made me realize and appreciate how lucky I was before, during, and after my two pregnancies.

(Detail, Painting five)

Every Mother Counts.  I want to count.  Women around the world want to count.  Their Children want to count.  Their husbands want them to count.  This auction could be small, it could be huge - who knows?  EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS, when it comes from the sense that You are part of Something Bigger.

Click here to bid!

Sketching the Live Model in Oil

As you know I work from the live model at least once a week when our figure drawing group meets in my studio.  Most of the time I work with pastel (Nupastels are my favorite) or watercolor.  Lately I have been using my oil paints more and more to work from the live model.

A couple of weeks ago I painted this 11" x 14" panel in oil, about 80 minutes of painting time.

One of two paintings I did that evening, the other was a study in watercolor.  I especially like the stool she is sitting on - I didn't fully paint all four legs, a couple are only implied, but work very well.

This past Wednesday we had another wonderful model, and I chose to create two more oil sketches from the longer poses (about 50 minutes to work on each) These are 6" x 12" textured panels.

I like the horizontal pose, the way she fits into the space, her pressure on her elbow, the subtle indication of the knee under her leg.

I only did a little work on it the next day, filling in the rest of her leg.  When I do work on these paintings the following day, I have to find that balance between defining shapes and keeping the loose, immediate quality of working right from the live model.

I also worked on the vertical pose, filling in the background the emphasize the sheer white drapery.

I was tempted to "fix" her hand - define the shape and the fingers, but restrained myself!  It would have eliminated the "abreviation" I used the night before - the quick stroke of dark skin tone on the back of her hand and the quick dab of yellow to show the light on her fingertips.  Sometimes less is best!

Citrus Colored Nudes. New Watercolor Paintings

The past few weeks I have had the privilege of working with some of my favorite models.  I've also had several requests for more paintings in the citrus colored palette that I explored early last year.  So...I have some new lovely ladies to share!

These were both created from the live model.  I used orange, lemon, fuchsia and red watercolors on 12" x 18" Archival Wallis Paper.  The paper is actually designed for pastel, but I love using it for light watercolor washes.

You can view these paintings in my Etsy shop here

http://www.etsy.com/listing/81600554/reclining-female-nude-in-citrus-colors

http://www.etsy.com/listing/81600138/original-watercolor-painting-of?ref=v1_other_2

I also did three more vertical pieces, base on some photos of another model from the previous week.

Art Print Block! Petite Artful Accents

I am so excited to offer a selection of Fine Art Prints mounted to ready-to-hang blocks in my Fine Art on Etsy shop!  There is only one of each available at this time, so don't wait...

"Pensive" Art Block

(I hope to make more in the future!)

"The Center Ring"

See the whole art block selection!

Amazing Artist Loses Her Studio in Texas Fires

I have come across Carol Marine's blog several times in the past, getting fully absorbed in her lush paint strokes and glorious color.  I was devastated for her to learn that her whole house in Texas, and her studio, were engulfed by flames only a few moments after they were warned by a neighbor that the fires were very, very close.

I hadn't seen Carol's work in a little while, and while reading about her plight and investigating her site, I found that she and her husband are the ultimate creative couple.  She paints, and teaches, and markets her work.  He builds the perfect shelves for her studio, the ultimate canvas support, or the exact light box she needs to help her make her visions come to life.  They also recently took the next step in making Carol's business thrive - they developed a platform to sell her Daily Paintings on-line, that allows Carol to continue to auction of her popular paintings without getting bogged down by the fee structure of Ebay.  This is obviously a couple that continues to strive to be successful in a time where success is eluding many others.

Carol has mentioned that she is committed to her current teaching schedule, in spite of their devastating loss.  I was inspired by her paintings before, but now I am even more in awe of this couples' commitment to each other, their level of perseverance, and the example they set for the rest of us to work, work harder, and work smarter.

I hope you take time to explore Carol's work, maybe leave a few words of encouragement on her blog.  Obviously her work has inspired thousands, as the donation set up by her friends has already raised over $18,000 for the family.  This money can not replace all of the paintings, memories, and objects they have collected over the years, but I am sure that this outpouring of positivity will be giving them a great start on building a new future together.

Can't write. Painting!

I can't believe I haven't updated my blog in three weeks!

August has been a very productive month for me in my studio.   With both kids in school most of the day, I find myself painting for long stretches of time, sometimes 4-5 hand-cramping hours.  And that is in no way a complaint - it's fantastic!  I get completely sucked into the paintings that I am working on.  My current body of work, in addition to the custom portraits that keep me busy and engaged, are really special and are demanding a great deal of my focus.  I am pushing myself to really take the pieces as far as I can, the best way that I can, using the best painting language possible.

I am not sharing the series yet...but I promise to do so - soon!!!

But what I can share is this lovely 2 hour oil painting from last Wednesday night.

The panel is 11" x 14".  I did not tone or prep the panel before we started, and I am not going to fill in the white areas now, either.  I like the loose quality of the paint and the intense moments of color on her figure, especially the two shoulders.

My son Jack and I participated in the first "Chalk Art" competition during the Marietta Square Art festival this weekend.  While the competition has a few kinks to work out, they had a great group of young artists participating and I think it can be a wonderful addition to an already vibrant show in the coming years.

Jack had so much fun drawing.

It didn't take long for the 6-yr old boy to take over.  Soon his goal wasn't to just draw but to see if he could turn the front of his hands, the back of his hands, and his entire legs blue!  He went home in his dad's car.

I find that now that I have several hours a day in my studio, away from the house (which includes the laundry, the dishes, the gardening, etc) that I am really enjoying my time with my family much more.  I'm finally allowing myself to accept the fact that I am not a 24 hour mother.  I have to continue being an Artist, and I have to find the time to be in my studio creating for several hours at a time.  And this balance is helping me become a better artist AND a better mother.  I can spend my weekends enjoying family time, without feeling like I am neglecting my painting.  I am lucky, too, that both my children enjoy school, and want to go.  That helps!

Sorry about the long stretch between posts...if you miss me, come and hang out on my facebook Art page!