Little Women Studies

I'm studying right now! I've bought a few more art books and am watching Peggy Kroll Robert's videos on demand. I love watching other artists paint! It's so relaxing and inspiring at the same time. My favorite workshops are Richard Robinson's landscape workshops, but I love painting people too, so I was thrilled to find Peggy's videos. I actually first found her from a plein air site which was advertising her workshop coming up in Palos Verdes, this March but I'm not able to take the workshop at this time. Her videos are a great substitution

 and are pretty reasonably priced. 

I read an article last week about how art school is a waste of money. That's a little controversial, I'm sure, but I was happy to find several links to videos and recommended readings that are supposed to take the place of school. It was a very well thought out article, that mentioned about the need for a mentor. Hmmm, don't know where I'll find that around here, but I do my best with my online resources. Of course if money was no object I would find a mentor online and pay for their expertise…but…that's not quite where I'm at right now. I did have someone I refer to as my mentor, but that was before I was this serious about my art. While in college, I worked for a wonderful landscape artist who painted large pastel landscapes. He taught me a lot about the art world, but I wasn't taking notes! I wish I could go back and pick his brain. I actually just heard from him the other day and it's been years! Is that a sign?  

I guess I should tell you about my art education. I've taken just about every class that my community college, in Torrance, had to offer; three semesters of art history,(although I would really like to take a whole course on the impressionists)drawing, lettering, design, painting, and sculpting(one of my favorite classes). I also had two amazing semester of life drawing from an amazing professor. El Camino College had the best instructors, at least for art. My sculpture class was taught by a professor from Long Beach State which has a very competitive art department. So even though I don't have a BFA, I got the most from what was available to me at the time. Since then, I've been teaching myself through books and more recently, videos. The videos are great for me, as I'm a visual learner. 

But someday, I hope to be able to take a workshop in person and even better yet, teach my own! 

Jennifer

Finished my Palos Verdes, California Coastal Painting!

available here

I'm not used to painting this large and it taking so much time. I tried to rush it posting my progress everyday, which I will continue to do. However, I need to take a step back, give it a few days before I post it for sale. I ended up making a few changes to make the diagonal lines less prominent by adding some curves. Sometimes when I'm not sure of what to change, I go to my favorite workshop site, Richard Robinson's The Complete Artist. The people on there are always helpful and sometimes, if I'm lucky, I get input from Richard, himself! Michael Severin, is so knowledgeable about painting and design, I always learn something from his help! 

Jennifer

Coastal Painting in Progress

Here's what's on my easel this week! It's an oil on 24x36 canvas; large for me! I've been posting my progress on my Facebook page and hopefully will finish it up this weekend! 

This is the view from Torrance/Redondo Beach sidewalk. It's where I grew up. Thirty years of my life were spent there, actually thirty one if you count the year I moved back. I miss it…a lot. It's hard when you grow up in such a beautiful place being able to roller skate to the beach, spending the whole day there 'til the sunsets. I have the best memories from this place! It's my home, and always will be. I'm displaced right now, in the mountains, so far from the ocean. How can you miss a place so much it hurts? I feel the same way about Hawaii though and I didn't grow up there. Must be the ocean, it gives me life! 

Anyway, as you can see, this painting has a very deep meaning to me. I could almost paint it from memory. I'm mostly using a brush for this one, with some areas needing a palette knife for a nice edge. The flowers in the foreground are from blooming ice-plant (which brings back memories of writing on the sidewalk with it. Did you ever done that?) 

The blooms are a beautiful magenta and bright yellow (which I haven't added yet). Ice-plant is not the most aesthetic of plants but I'm trying to achieve an impressionistic feel to it so that it's more appealing. 

The sand in the above stage was to saturated in color so I toned it down adding some ultra marine blue and more white, to the mix. This set it back further and made the hill come forward. I feel the hill is too dark though so I'l lightened it up with some a little lighter but saturated color mixed with areas of greys. 

This was stage one. I toned the canvas with orange since it would be a predominantly blue piece, this would give the painting some warmth and unity. I sketched in the scene very roughly with a brush.

 I usually use a darker color but this one worked. 

The lines aren't visible in the end so it didn't matter. 

This stage was done with acrylics. 

So, this is what I'll be doing this weekend! What are you up to? 

Jennifer

Final Woman in Red Dress Painting SOLD!

I finished this piece on day 4, Valentine's Day, appropriately! I listed it on Facebook and had it sold in

3 hours! It's always so exciting when that happens and I'm left wondering if I can do it again. Being consistent is not always easy. I recently had a discussion with a fellow artist about this subject. It is one of the most important aspect of success in this business, but being an artist, wanting to "express" my feelings, consistency can be challenging. This is when hard work and determination plays an important role. So…with all that being said, we'll see what I come up with next. 

Will I be able to do it again? Stay tuned to see! Are you being consistent? Any tips?

Jennifer

Day 3 of Woman in Red Painting

I've worked more on this one and am really enjoying the process. I think I mentioned earlier how much I love painting fabric. I remember back in my early college drawing class. 

One of the assignments was to draw a crumpled sheet. 

It seemed like an odd subject but I learned so much from it

 and was amazed when it actually became a piece of artwork. 

There's so much intricacy to the folds. Sometimes a bit challenging but in a good way! 

I'm planning on finishing this one today so hopefully will get it posted and listed on Etsy by tonight! 

Oh! Happy Valentine's Day! 

Jennifer

Progress on New Sitting Lady Painting

Here's what's on my easel today. It's an 18x24; larger than what I've been doing lately. It feels good to work on a larger canvas! So freeing (is that a word?) 

I'm going to leave the background alone…well I'm going to try to at least. It's hard to resist overpainting, 

but I want this to have a raw feeling.  She still needs work on her arms as right now she looks armless. They are resting on the sofa, so you basically all you see are her shoulders. I think her hands will be on her head, but will be very vague. More work needed on her dress. This is my favorite part. I love painting folds in fabric, especially beautiful dresses like this one. 

Jennifer

Sunset Stroll...

Here's a commission I'm finishing up this weekend. I still need to paint the figure in and work a little more on the background. I just really love the colors in this. I started it with a very colorful acrylic canvas. That way I didn't have to worry about any white peaking through.

 It's making me want to go to the beach, but that's nothing new. Thank goodness it's a sunny day here today...even though we desperately need rain here in California!  

Jennifer

Wet Paint!

available here

Fresh off the easel! Well...actually it's still on it. This one was done with a palette knife and brushes in oil. I used a Ray Mar hard panel board on this one and it an 11x14 inch. 

Jennifer

Let's Get it Started!

I'm so excited for this New Year! Time to take a look at my dream board to see how far I've come! 

...maybe make a new one. Do you have a dream board? If so, do you make a new one each year?

 I have a few art related goals in mind for the new year, 

but haven't written any down yet. But number one would be get organized! 

I have a beautiful art/craft studio on my dream board but the only thing I've accomplished for that is that I actually have a designated room for it. But hey, it's a big start! It would help if I knew how long we would be in this house though. I haven't even hung pictures yet! 

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I sure did. I got the greatest gift ever! He's furry, cuddly, and the cutest little guy ever! 

Here's my Christmas gift this year! He's a bundle of joy and trouble all in one! I haven't laughed so much in a long time! I named him Kona after my favorite place. So, I'm not sure I'll be doing the 30 in 30 challenge this month because I still have a few commissioned pieces I'm working on and am taking care of this little one! 

The paintings above are some of the commissions I did  this Christmas. I've heard from a few of their new owners so far and they were thrilled! I always love hearing that!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Merry Christmas!

I just want to say Merry Christmas to everyone out there in blogland! I hope you all have a nice Christmas and a Happy New Year! My daughter is home for Christmas, so I know I will. 

We're going to have an "art day" and paint together. 

She's just starting to do watercolors and

 I think she's a natural at it. 

This has been such an amazing 

year for me and I hope it continues into next year! 

Thank you! I really can't say that enough! 

Jennifer

Giving Thanks

Commission an artist for your own special gift! 

I just wanted to take a moment to say how thankful I am to be living my dream! Up until now my life has been far from a dream but I've never given up on my dream of being a working artist! Don't ever give up on your dream! Be persistent, do at least one step a day to get you closer to your dream, and work your little tail off! I'm not there yet, but am working hard to conquer my fears and overcome some obstacles in my way. Stay positive and live in the moment...I must remind myself of these, daily! 

Thank you to each and every one of you who have supported me along the way! Even if you're just popping over for a quick hello, sharing my work with others, or maybe even adding a piece to hang in your home, I am truly blessed to have you in my life!

As a thank you gift, I'm offering free shipping on all my items in my ETSY SHOP through Cyber Monday! Happy shopping! 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Jennifer:)