Sharing the process

Thought I would share the steps involved in making my latest seascape.  

"A Dusting of Yellow"  Oil on canvas,  9 x 12 inches

                                 Available at DPWs

I started with a combination of texture and color combinations.  The texture is a mixture of oil paint, pigment and egg yoke, this mixture is nice because it dries at the same rate as the rest of the oil painting.  I put down my dominate color of blue and a point of red as a focal point.

Then a layer of yellow high light is added to bring back in light and warmth.    

The third step was to develop structure.  The last step is to refine the painting over all.

Mary

Schiros_Art 

Water is not blue

Already day 8 of painting 30 paintings in 30 days

Color of Water, 12 x 9 inches, oil on canvas

                             Available at DPWs

With small bodies of water, like lakes and ponds, the color depends on the depth of the water, and what is growing in the water.  I noticed that often the color will appear brown, unless there is a strong reflection of light from the sky.  In the case of this pond there were a lot of lilies that were turning tan in color breaking down yet still floating. Fall is here and the nights are cool, so like the leaves on the trees the lilies turn color.  Interesting to keep in mind what is happening in nature when your painting nature.
Mary
Schiros_Art

Art Series

the 3 completed, lined up out on the patio 

  

I made a resolution this year to paint in series of three.

Some times I end up with 3 paintings that are wonderful and go well together.

Other times it takes 3 tries to get what I want.  So far I am learning a great deal from painting this way and plan to keep working with this practice.

   With my last series of three, I ended up two that are perfect together and one that got painted over.  But even with the one that didn’t work out, it started me in another direction. 

  The two I like I call more sky writing, the idea that everything about the world is there before our eyes, only in a language we can not read yet.  The one that I painted over fell away from that direction and frankly reminded me of a bad Bob Ross painting.  But after painting over about 2 thirds of it I saw an ocean pattern developing and decided to start writing by waves.

    

Mary's websites:

Artavia       Fine Art  

   Artmajeur

 Zazzle

the 2 keepers

 

last look before saying good bye

painting over what I did not like

the remake in process

Insomnia

Insomnia

What to do when you just cannot fall asleep. Give up and put it to work.

The other night I just could not fall a sleep. Not particular reason why and luckily I did not have to be up early the next day. I gave up, got up and then went to the studio and started messing around.

I have a few tubes of water-soluble oils but really know very little about how to use them. Being curious as to how well they mix and how long they take to dry I set up a chart. Using a cheap canvas panel sectioned off into a grid, I started mixing colors with a pallet knife, making notes on colors and brands. I dated the chart, and have left it to dry.

So far, I have learned that Holbein Duo dries the fastest about 4 days, unless mixed with white. Artisan is the slowest. White seems to slow the drying process mixed with any color. I also found that mixing a small amount of water into the oils reduces shine and dries faster. Also that mixing a small amount of acrylic white paint in really speeds up the drying process but produces a matte finish.

I also did a small painting with the oils…not bad for one nights work. After that, I fell soundly asleep form 6 am to noon, and did not feel the least bit guilty. After all, I did accomplish something that night.

Just thought I would share my insomniac adventure with you.