Sketching

It's been a while since I sat and sketched, I haven't sat down and done it since we moved to our new house in August.

So last night was all about sketching. It nicely fit in with my nephew's upcoming birthday this Saturday, so why not try my hand at sketching someone I know. Strangers are easy to sketch, you don't have to make them look like themselves, you can just...take artistic license with them, when it's someone you know, the pressure is on!

So I have a ridiculously cute little nephew! He's got one of the most expressive faces! I figured, with such defined features, that this would be easy...yeah, not the case!

Here's my nephew:

And here are the sketches:

Even now, coming back and seeing them I am unsure of the likeness. I know it's him, but that's simply because I meant it to be.

It's the smallest things that seem to define a person. But looking at them, I can't pin point exactly what small change would transform these sketches from simple sketches that vaguely resemble my nephew, to sketches that capture him completely. 

The Stages of Painting

Recently I made a large 3 canvas painting for my sister in law. It's been quite popular as I've now made 3 in total (one smaller, on 2 canvases, and the next the same size). All of them are different, as can be expected when something is handmade.

The large scope of this painting (3 canvas combined at nearly 3m long!) meant that I had to paint fast as I work with acrylics (which dry faster then oils) so to blend my levels of color, I needed to be on the ball.

The effect works out well, as I have always been a fast painter, but it leaves me exhausted once I'm done the first layer.

So here's how it goes. To do something this big you need to set up the canvases. I learned from my 1st try at this painting and enlisted 3 easels instead of the two I was trying to get away with.

After that you can start painting!

I've got the base done (above). When doing something this big I forgo using my nice clean separated pallet and instead go for a big plastic plate. Since the colors are blending, I have to work from the first color (dark brown) and blend towards the beige in the middle. It's always worked better in my mind to just keep adding whatever I needed for each layer.  It always goes a whole lot faster.

When you are working as fast as I was, it tends to get messy as well! So be prepared, paint will fly!

After this I have to wait for it to dry then I can move on to the tree!

You start with the base, the main limbs as I view them. I love painting trees because of how organic the branches are (well that's an obvious statement!). Don't paint a tree perfectly straight. Trees bend, they buckle, the bulge. And where those bulges are there' usually a stick or a new branch, something growing out of it.

You just keep working bigger branch to smaller branch and so on and so forth. I find there's rarely a branch is naturally alone. it is always connected or connecting, moving to divide into 2 or 3 new branches!

The finishing touches are then added. For me, white flowers. I don't get too specific, when you look at a tree you're eyes will "assume" what they are seeing - if that makes sense. Things become an overall picture, try not to concentrate on ALL the detail, but rather do an overall, and add details as needed. It is often needed only a little bit.

I chose to do the flowers smaller on this one, though later I added large white flowers - still not as large as the first one I did.  Even when paintings are meant to look the same, they never do. It's too hard, each painting has a mind of it's own, it's tree (in this particular group of paintings) goes it's own way and flows it's branches out a different way.

Here's an example, the above is the last one I did. Below you will see the smaller piece I did, and then the first one I did. Each changes, but they are all meant to be one and the same.

The Move



All packed and ready to go!

 I hate moving for multiple reasons, many of which you will see if you are on Twitter.

Packing - sucks

Not having your stuff easily accessible - sucks.

This box is just wine and alcohol related glasses.... i don't think its healthy to have a box that large for just those things.



The urge to drink - well it doesn't suck, but it isn't healthy.



important things are unpacked.



However the moving part is done. Now comes the unpacking. Ugh the unpacking. I've already done most of our closet (need to find the shoes...wherever they are), bathroom is done, bedroom is mostly done, office/library is done (well my portion.), and the kitchen is mostly done. However there are 3 important rooms that aren't. The living room, family room, and the garage/exercise room/studio/mancave. 

So unpacking is going as expected.



We have started taking the dog for walks 2-3 times a day now that he doesn't have 10 acres to run around on. Neo (the dog) has gotten a lot better behaved on walks, and we are starting to get exercise. Though i am often tempted to just not go, I do. That's the point right? Though I could reason that with all the lifting and stair climbing I've done in the past 2 days that I have had more then enough exercise...but I also know we have eaten out for almost every meal. This morning was our first time eating a meal in the house...and it was a bagel.

hiding under the bed.

My cats are not accepting the change as well as I would like. No.1 they haven't moved since they were kittens. No.2 they saw the dog. they are now petrified to go downstairs in case he see them from outside. No.3 it was a really hot move. i had them in their large cat carrier with a bad of ice at the bottom for them to lay on and a small cup of water for them. Bella has adapted a bit better, despite actually having a run in with the dog, and is still the more curious of the two, however, Laine has just barely made the few steps out of under the bed...though yesterday he did get himself trapped in the living room (because the dog could see him near the stairs, he therefore couldn't go up them...).

We also don't have cable or Internet. Not for lack of trying though. Turns out that ALL of the outlets in the house are "dead". Therefore somebody else has to be called to get those working and then they can install our Internet and TV. Ugh, I don't know how long I can handle not catching up on my True Blood episodes.

That's another reason I hate moving. I still haven't seen last week's True Blood, and now I haven't seen yesterday's either.

But being in Langley is nice. The 20 minutes commute through town is much better then the hour through 3 towns. Getting home and not being exhausted, I imagine, will be even better (though I'll have to wait till the moving exhaustion goes away, to test that).



Another cool thing about moving (especially about moving with mom) is that she has all this random stuff. Okay, for the most part that's a negative, cause alot of it is shit she hasn't seen or used since she moved in with her husband, but some of it is cool. Like I went through a box and found my old sketch pad from high school! So cool! I also found an animorphs book, specifically the one I mentioned in my last blog about Book Influences. I noticed, going through the old sketch pad, that I was actually good. Alot of it was romantic, a little anime, and a little sexual - typical me in high school (that sounds a bit weird though), but it was good. i used to sketch often, and I spent much more time sketching then I do now, now it is just a outline for what I will paint (unless it's chalk and charcoal, but even then, that's a different kind of sketch). I'll scan (when comp and Internet up and running) some to show you all. But I have decided I should start sketching again. Especially faces. The last sketch was this face that had the eyes, and lips shaded, to me, beautifully. It was nobody in particular, a little bit anime, but I saw it and loved it. So I have decided to start sketching again...well once unpacking is done.



The bed has been in the same place for 3.5 years...clearly.



Also, speaking of old art - i tracked down my (really) old DeviantArt account. I used to play around with graphics and changing pics...you can see my old gallery here. It's kind of amusing to me.



Also, I had good news that I made my first sale on Etsy. albeit a bit confusing because they wanted a commission, so I didn't know if they were paying for that, or if it was for the charcoals and then they wanted to discuss the possibility of a commission later.

Next weekend will be cleaning up the old apartment. It has been vacuumed, but the walls still need to be washed, as well as the Fridge, etc. Carpets need to be cleaned - ugh.

Almost done. My mantra for the past 2 weeks. It's almost true.

Marketting Time

I've decided to be part of the Fairfield Market here in Chilliwack. I'm going to rent a table and set up my paintings.

I'm scared/nervous. Is it OK to admit that? I believe my art is worth it. I believe I am worth it. But I am still sending my babies out there to be judged, purchased, and pondered over. I am pimping my creativity. And I am doing this with an almost reckless abandon. My brain says I should think about it, but then I say "What the hell!" And I'm jumping into it!

See the lady who is setting this up, told me precisely what I needed to hear - What do I have to lose? If anything it will at least get my name and art out in front of the people.

Which is exactly it. Table rental is quite reasonable.

Some of the little things I need - I still have from the wedding, oddly enough wedding materials translate well into markets.

I know I need business cards made up and have been in contact (and procrastinating) for months with a good friend of mine who's been designing them.

So I know there are some things I need like: table cloth, backdrop perhaps, candy, cards with prices, float, and of course a sign. But is there anything I am missing? I am sure there's plenty.

What's your experience with local markets, trade shows, etc? How do you draw attention to your table/booth? And what should I expect from my first public event (basically) as Deirdre from Paintings by Deirdre?

Recycled Art and Deirdre the Downer

I've been on a rush, lately, of good vibes and power - but not it seems I am coming down.

I started an Etsy shop only a week ago, posting photos of my stock of paintings and pricing them out - figuring out shipping and so on. I had/have high hopes. Mostly to make up some of the money from the honeymoon/house fund we had to spend on bills after the Wedding.

But it's been a week (ok a week and one day) and no sales have come up yet. I know, I know. They say it takes about a month or longer for your first sale. But I keep hoping it will hurry up! Can't anyone see how talented I am?! Why is Oprah not noticing me by my small group of followers, and setting me up to make BAJILLIONS?!

Last  night, while I was still in my high of hopes, I finally finished my project painting on a recycled barn window. I was really excited about this, and if I had my own house, I would be putting this up in my own kitchen or living room. Alas we don't have the wall space in our own apartment. See! All the more reason I need to sell paintings, so we can buy a house and have room to put up the art I don't sell.



Live every moment... Laugh every day... Love beyond words.



I finished varnishing the recycled barn window this morning. The varnish makes the wood a bit darker but doesn't change the paint/glass. I am so happy that I did this. I'm going to try it on canvas on a sunnier day (since I'm doing it on my half covered deck)> Maybe try it on the Yoga triage that has yet to sell.

I think it's more frustrating then anything. For a bit I was full of tons of projects, and I didn't have the time to do them because of the wedding, and now - nothing.

Mostly I'm just whining because, damn it, I'm down today.

Today is one of those days I'm wallowing in my own self pity. Yesterday I was wallowing in my self rightous, I am awesome and everyone will love everything I make. Today not so much.

I know I'll get over this.

Tonight or maybe tomorrow I'll start my painting for Trees for Life. I have a plan for something deep and dark, but I keep switching ideas. Must settle quickly on my decision.

I'm already starting to get over my down mood.

It's frustrating waiting to be noticed, so instead I'm going to research how to get noticed and stop sitting on my ass and whining. In the meantime I'll bug my friends and family to either buy my stuff or forward it off to their own network, that's what friends are for, right?

Let me know what you think of the Live Laugh Love Recycled Barn Piece, I was thinking of doing more recycled pieces and wonder how they come across.

Painted Sunset with Painted Clouds

Inspiration hit this afternoon as I was high on cough medicine. Seems Andrew has strep-throat, which means so do I.

Anyway, inspiration struck. And so I came home to paint. I forewarned Andrew, who was sitting at home sick that I would be painting. He and my nieces cleaned up the craft room, which has been my main excuse for not painting. And I got to get to work!

The nieces chose to watch me paint instead of watch the Hockey game. Yeah we're not going to talk about the hockey game.


So a sunset painting it was. I love sunsets and sunrises - the sky, its so fun to paint. blending the colors, changing the feel of the painting with a different shade and detail.

So Start with the dark and work your way down. It's fun to blend. I tend to stick with the same mixing space and blend lighter or darker as I go.. so its a real blending.

Eventually it will come down to being blocks of color. But again, then you blend both up and down. bringing some of the darker sky down into the lighter, and alternating with bringing hints of the light up.

As you can still I still need to blend, but there are some places where the paint had dried, and when I brought the light up - it didn't blend. I'll end up needing to either blend farther by remixing dark paint, or just cover with a cloud - since it is sky, i have this option.

I decided that I needed to put some cloud in there. Clouds are something I love and hate. 

Here's a video my niece shot of me starting the clouds. There are a few shots of looking all over the place, and please forgive the pj's, but there are spots you can see how I do them. I am by no means a master.

When you see clouds, you notice they have layers. They aren't just white fluffy things (sometimes they are) but for the most part they have their own shading and different colors from the sky in there.

I added gold as a final detail to the clouds. I hadn't thought of it before, but it added that final warm detail that I wanted. It darkened and warmed the clouds.

And the final product:  The color is a bit off in this picture, not as vibrant as it is in person.

If you like this painting and want it for your home please contact me at deirdre.randall.puff@gmail.com
70 cm by 90 cm. Acrylic Sunset Painting.
Painting is $200 o.b.o.

Hockey, Yoga, and Bridal Showers

A healthy combination, if I say so myself!

First and foremost the news that is on almost every proud Nuckers mind. The awesome win against the Chicago Blackhawks by the Canucks! Awesome! Granted I was painting while I was listening to the game, but I caught enough of it to know it was damn exciting. Also judging by Andrew's hoots and hollers it was damn good to watch.

I was going to add a picture of the double rainbows we saw right before the game started out our window. I'm pretty sure that was a sign of good luck - and look how well it worked! I have a picture at home, will upload it's awesomeness later. Of course I remember to upload the pictures of the paintings, but not the rainbow *Sigh*.

[update] and here are the rainbows as seen from our window yesterday! 

and speaking of the painting I was doing...

A bit of Yoga to calm down the hockey fever we were feeling. I've been dying to do these for a while and finally found a spot of time to do them. I want to do one more but havent found a position I like to fill the third. I'm thinking a cloudy-midday sort of sky for the background.

This is another one of those times I wished I had sketched first, but I kind of like the fluidity and almost ... i don't know the word for it, maybe abstract parts of the body.

On Saturday the Bridal Shower was held. Here are some pictures of how it went:

Some Gifts. Yeah. I'm shexy.

 

 

 

Toilet Paper Bride Wars: