Two Month Hiatus!

 The painting show (of course) didn't happen.  I was given information on the particulars of the nature of the work to be shown too late.  

I am still looking for a show, or at least a space to show my work in person, so we can have the wine and cheese and grapes and chocolates etc.  Maybe I'll have to do a summer show and call it my birthday... or do a show at my Half Birthday on Jan 16th.

Still working on ideas.  I haven't been painting much. I have been coloring in what publishers are now calling ADULT coloring books... I am calling them ALL DAY coloring books because it takes a whole 8 hours to color one page as the content is so teeny. I am having fun. However with so much to do (looking for work, looking for gifts) they are much more time consuming than Garfield themed coloring books... so I may switch back to Garfield for a bit.

Everything is OK with the hiatus.  In my profession I am either working hard 12+ hour days or hardly working and then working on projects of my own.  Here is a sample of the book I am coloring in.  It's called ANIMORPHIA by KERBY ROSANES  https://www.facebook.com/Animorphia/

http://www.zifflin.com/   this link is for the publisher's information as they are great too and you can buy the book.  I think I got mine at either Barnes and Noble or Michaels.  

He's really COOOOOOOOL!

Also, Tis the season for making presents and this is one set I have been working on:

2015 Ornaments

These ornaments are medallions cut by my Dad using fallen branches.  We found them at the base of my Grandfather's favorite cluster of Birch trees at his camp in Vermont.   My Grandfather's ashes were scattered here in July 4th 2015.  The picture below are ones I made last year from what I bought at Michael's.  It was requested I make them again from Grandpa's trees so it would be more meaningful.  I don't have pictures yet of all of them from the camp branches but the one pictured ABOVE is one.

2014 Ornaments

Happy Holidays everyone, and I hope to come back sooner with something awesome.  I may do a few stories on past paintings in my galleries that have no back story yet.  

Also I shall put more on the Etsy Paintventure site soon to buy.  I will be bringing down the prices since I don't need to save them for the show anymore.  :) Talk soon.

PREPARING: TEENY ART SHOW

Teeny Art Show

Pre-sale on Paintventure's Etsy Site

~ Art will also be in the Show - 

I have been painting on and off during the past three months.  I have some pieces now that I feel are "finished".  I will show you a few so you can get excited with me! 

Click on the pictures to go to the Etsy Site for pre-sale (and to be able to zoom in) before the art show. Thanks!

Teeny ART! (Random acts of Art)

Good Afternoon.  It is about 70 degrees on this Sunny by the beachside day.  I'm sitting inside for now, but plan to head over to the beach to read soon.  

 I love to paint and decided one night I would do what I'm best at.  Being Kind. I painted 13 teeny artist trading cards (ATC's),  put them in tiny envelopes and cards I created myself.

I am sending these out to people I know on Facebook as it was a neat and easy place to publish my give away.  I did put my blog site on every envelope ( I think!) so you all can follow me here if you want as I'm trying to get back into blogging as it's a nice head space for me. 

I don't want to give away what everyone is getting before it comes to them in the mail so I am going to post more when I hear that people have gotten their "teeny Art"

ITALIAN PAINTING

I am finally calling the Italian themed painting for my Aunt Valerie finished.  

Not much else to say but it's finished!  Horay!!

Artist Trading Cards "ATC" - because I did.

I have a stockpile of "Artist Trading Cards" blank of course, and I am always deifying these little 2.5" x 3.5" cut pieces of Acrylic Pad Paper.  They sit in my drawer, wanting to be masterpieces that I trade with friends and artists and just have this awesome Artistic lifestyle sipping Martini's and being posh and wonderful... but since that doesn't happen for reals, and most likely won't, these cards just had all this unnecessary mysticism, or hopes and dreams, put on them, that stunted their potential and growth.  

So I was cycling through an emotional roller coaster in my Artist head one evening and decided... I'm never going to be the posh cool Artist that receives this beautiful fantasy of give and take pen pal art making and I got pissed about being alone all the time, broke and invisible so I opened all the little packages and started painting them all the color brown that you see on the package below.  I don't like it when my life is not ever like my dreams.  Art Therapy.

This started as an assignment from the book "Drawing Lab."  A person is to make art using a small inanimate object.  I chose these that live in the drawer dedicated to pencils in my drawing desk drawer: 

Wooden Sculptures acquired years ago Mom gave them to me.   I don't know who she got them from.

The gist of the assignment is limit your color palette and only use the object throughout a series of drawings that you complete each in five minutes or less.  The rule of the book is don't get too precious about it.  The assignment is fun and sketchy and no pressure art.  I really free up creatively when I "draw" with paint, I don't really relax drawing with pencil, I can't really "paint over" mistakes when I draw.  Erasers don't really erase.  

I started with four dinky acrylics that comes-with-the-dollar-stretched-canvas-purchased-at-Christmas Tree Shops and used those to "use them up"  but they actually ended up nice flowing paints.  Ivory Black, Yellow Ochre, Cobalt Blue, and Cad Orange.   I started just using two round brushes size 0 and 2.

Then this one had to start coming alive.  I was having a great time with the assignment just being what it was, and then this magical thing happened where my imagination just started flowing through my arm and doing that Zone/Sync thing and a story happened, and an unlikely friendship happened.  :)  So for the last two I broke out all the little brushes, including my awesome Princeton Select brushes.  I used a teeny bit of white (cheater) and definitely took more than five minutes (sigh... FAIL at directions...)

EYE CRINKLES!! SIGH :) Happy Giraffe is happy.

THESE BRUSHES HAVE SOULS I SWEAR!!

The finished pieces did end up getting a proper home to my good friend Annie. I was visiting and I have a compulsive need to gift her something when visiting.  We went out to chill at the lake where I dug some sweet caverns with my feet in the sand as she talked about all things.  Annie is one of my only friends that I really listen to and don't cut in with advice too early. 

 Her husband Matt came home while we were out.  Annie had left the cards on the Kitchen table.  When we came back, Matt said VERBATIM what was going on in my head when I was making them. He was describing the little story that was on the table.  I wanted to cry... it was so moving.  I don't think I said a word though.  It was just one of those things that never happens.  My thoughts transferred into the work.  :)  "He was going to eat him, and then he doesn't, because he thinks 'this one isn't scared and could be a friend'"

It was just so arresting because he said it exactly in the same words as I had in my head.  Psychically connected, or psychically imprinted into the art?  hmmm.

I may have just teared  up.  It was pretty Magical, the whole experience and I definitely hope to make some more someday and see if I show someone and that happens again.  If I ever die I want Matt to write all the reviews of my work to let people know what was going on in my head.  :)

So here's the next batch to be painted, someday. :)  I have to get back to Val's painting!  AHHH!  :)  I must stop being so precious about that one too, and just get some wine and dimples paint already.  

Carla is cool too, and you should check out her website sometime and her art.  

Dimples Paint.

I went out with a co-worker (who is 20) the other night and we being frustrated working part-time at a retail shop decided to go out and, well... whine like babies.  When I (35) should be getting off my ass and getting more film work I was swearing a lot about suffering through this retail job.  Like every other word.  I am proud of it, yes I am because it's better for me than that quiet thing called holding it in, or even meditating, which isn't really an outlet.  The difference that day was we were sitting next to a family in "Not your Average Joe's" and well... we were trying to clean it up with code word "dimples."

So "DIMPLES" get to the DIMPLES point already, Paintdimplesventure.

This week my main focus has been the detailed task of cleaning up my shaping, perspective lines, coloring, and my language.

my coffee went cold you can tell because it's the map from harry potter on the cup when it's hot.

I am having perspective issues with the cheese and cracker board.   It's been a little hard to imagine the vanishing line for me.  So feel free to steal the photo and draw over it in PS if you can see what it should be.  The "Ah HAH" moment has been lost on me.

Dimples Grapes and Dimples Sunflowers.

Dimples Highlights and Dimples Shading

Dimples Blurry Dimples Trees in window and Dimples more refined bricks in the Dimples wall.

There it is.  I hope to work more on the dramatic lighting this week but needed it to dry a bit before I went ahead and did some wash over the background wall.  I'm getting way more detailed than I have to, since the style is more like the reference photos in the background that I think my Aunt is looking for... but this is what happens when I paint.  I do whatever happens for a long while and then I go in and change it.  It's like it has to reach a certain Jess-style point before I can let it go and make it someone else's.  It's been happening since... I picked up a brush and dipped it in paint.

   It becomes more matchy of Aunt Val's Kitchen colors every time it's worked on, but for some reason, it's easier to have bright base colors to tone out with grays and tans later to create the sages and wine colors she likes so much... it takes a little mixing and not straight from the tube to get the subtle color with these water mixable oils since they only come in a few numbers of colors.  I'm getting there I swear with a lot of help from my color wheel :)  And all the other painter's say "DUH" but I must remember... this is the first time I'm using oils and now that I know it is a challenge to pull out the intensity of color in oil... I will be, you know... using it a lot more for my own work.  :)

This guy is way faster.  Watch :)

Three Months and a Wedding.

It has been, yes.  Too long.  I agree.  I blame my Brother and my new sister in law. 

 They were married last weekend, see, and I was having much more fun paying attention the the happiness involved in that 3 month preparation than, psht, making CRAFTS.  My Mom however, made my dress.  Look how great my dress is.   My Mommy made my dress, and I am a Princess.  lol.  :)


   I'm the girl giving a funny look all the way to the left hand side.  My father stole Dana's Bride Linda away the second they said "I Do" and Dana was saying that he still had all these ladies.  :)  My family.  

I was barefoot and I am still 10 ft taller than any "normal size" girl.  But I got the "cute" gene, so it has been working out.  I make fun art and I make everyone laugh so that has to be something.

   Everyone from both sides bonded very quickly over making floral arrangements and putting up decorations on the day.  I guess there was group crafting happening.  It was such a memorable wedding and reception I can't imagine anyone not having fun!  My GRANDFATHER married these two crazy kids.  

ALRIGHT!  Enough jibber jabber!  Do you wanna see some painting?  I have some for you:)

This is where I started.  Gasp.  Stop looking.

This is where it was in April.  Above. 
Easter.  Dana announces engagement.  We all come together and make it happen in 3 months.  Forward to this past Wednesday night :

  So it's coming along, slowly and surely.  So glad I don't have a real deadline.  Today. ::arrow down::

 Clean Palate as of tonight, and here are some lovely grapes.

See you soon!

More of the Fish painting

As a painting progresses I like to take reference photos. Having a background in animation it's fun to see the echo of the animation process in the recording a painting.   I do this for myself, well, because it looks cool. 

I experimented with some mediums in this one using Gel Medium which slows down the drying time of the acrylic paint while giving it a gooey warm jello flow.  Seemed to feel in tune with the gooey fleshy snotty consistency of things in water all the time.

 These great cartoon ghosty eyes were happening all over the painting. I added some body to them as they became their own life.  

There are some freshwater fish making their way into this painting.  I had quite a few different fresh water fish growing up that have made it into there.  A Black Molly, a Fan tail Guppy, Some fake looking seaweed from a childhood tank... I quite miss having a fish tank. 

 The detail accomplished in these eyes were not premeditated.  They just came about in the swirl making process, and I tried to preserve it as much as possible.  I have never intentionally painted or drawn in this style before and it was quite a giddy surprise that I made something so cool looking.  Naturally I took 100 photos, in case I messed it up and had to re-do.  

I also added Dill seeds into the paint around the eye to give it a bumpy texture just to see what happens.  I have some Glass Beads Gel Medium that is hard to see in this picture, but they will be more prominent in the next set of pictures I will post on this painting.

How it's going

A week ago I started some panels.  Last night I finished them.  One is brick, the other is the moon?  I dunno.  I did a bunch of texture and then painted it with what felt good.  Here they are!