a day of gardening and sketching

Much of this dreary day I spent gardening and sketching. The gardening went well. I was able to get quite a bit done and I love being out there digging in the dirt! The sketching, on the other hand, did not go so well.  This was my best sketch of the day. I was fairly rusty. Between work and the yard calling for my attention, I haven't been able to draw and paint as much as I would like.  I started a sketch of a friend and no matter what I did I could not get it to look like her! I am grateful that I had the time to sketch today though... I need the practice!! Can't complain too much... a day of gardening and sketching is a dream day if you ask me!

my new easel

I am so excited I have a new easel! My husband spotted it on Craig's List for a great price and it's exactly what I wanted! Can't wait to break it in! 

Pet Portraits

Mastiff

19.5 x 25

charcoal on paper

I am very excited to be doing more pet portraits lately! I am going to start actually marketing them around Omaha and expanding the category on my website as well.  I really enjoy painting animals and many people have shown interest. 

If you or anyone you know might be interested, let me know! Prices are actually very reasonable.  Charcoals start at $75 and oil paintings start at $125! That is for something that will last for a lifetime :) 

Funny, I have painted both my pets and would love to have them hanging in my house, but my pets are just too cute! They keep selling paintings for me! I guess I just have to keep painting them! 

From Drawing to Painting

Emily

above: charcoal on paper

below: oil on canvas

It is interesting to think about whether an artist is born with natural, God-given ability or whether it is learned. I think it's a bit of both. I believe that God created me the way I am for a purpose... I have a passion for art and He wants me to use it. At the same time, I know that much of my ability comes from hours and hours of practicing my drawing skills. (He gave me the interest so I wouldn't get bored though!)

Drawing is really a prerequisite for painting.  If a person struggles with being able to draw proportionately, he will still struggle with it whether he uses a paintbrush or a pencil. Achieving a likeness of someone means being able to measure proportions. A successful drawing also has a variation of values, good composition and perhaps some interesting texture. Paint adds another challenge on top of all that (not to mention color!) Mixing the paint, making sure the edges are visually compelling, waiting for it to dry... these all create their own challenges. I have found that it is very important to keep up my drawing skills because it makes my paintings go that much more smoothly.  I have enough to worry about without having to redo something because it was laid out incorrectly! Painting isn't necessarily more difficult, there are just other things to think about. It can actually be a lot more difficult to fix a drawing than an oil painting. Drawing and painting are very different mediums, but they complement each other so well!

New Easel

I am on the hunt for a new easel. I am very excited to be adding an additional painting corner to my life! I will be setting up an easel at my husband's design studio so that I can be there to help customers and help my husband :) So, I will be needing another easel. Hopefully, I will be able to find one that is a little more functional than the one that I currently own. I definitely need an H frame... that is crucial... other than that, I don't really know what I'm looking for. There are so many options out there! I have seen some pretty cool homemade easel setups, but I don't know that I have to time or energy to make my own custom easel. I will let you know what I find! Anyone know of any great deals out there?

My painting corner

I thought I'd show you how I sometimes work from the computer.  It works really well actually... it is convenient to have the computer right there so I can listen to music or a sermon, check my email and also zoom in on the photo I'm working from.  I have seen other artists that have a computer screen mounted to their easel which would be nice, but this works just as well. I have a very small space to work in, but it's all I need for right now.  The only problem is that I sometimes forget to step back from my little corner.  I need to work on that.

Oakley

Oakley

10 x 10

oil on canvas

SOLD

Here is my most recent commission of Oakley the cat! He was a lot of fun to paint. Gotta love those blue eyes!