Almost too busy to paint!

This past week, I was extremely busy in my full-time job and had little energy left to paint. I did try to paint a few minutes every night, but with my eyes closing with fatigue...not the best conditions for a painter:-) I am posting the artistic results of this low energy week.

The first photo is of the probably finished strawberry trio: Forever Friends, three optimistic berries who don't realize that they will soon find themselves in a real jam :-)

This watercolor painting is on a white background and will be sold matted in white ( with a black core showing at the beveled edge) to 5"X 7" to fit a 8"X10" frame. It is a great companion piece for the other berry paintings shown in previous posts.

.

Click her to purchase with Paypal or credit card

The next painting will be on my list of "to redo". I like parts of it, but I don't find it "crisp and clean" enough , It is from a picture offered free of copyright to artists by Billie Crain on the Paint my Photo site. It is 7.5 X 9.5" approx. and would fit an 11"X 14" frame.

I also bought myself a few new toys: oil paints, brushes and medium. I don't think that I will ever find a painting medium that I like more than watercolors, but why not give oils a try. Who knows?

Have a great week and I hope that we will all have the time and the energy to create beautiful art:-)

Two recent features on Red Bubble

I have had two new features on the Red Bubble site lately:
My Laundry Day in Venice watercolor (above) has just been featured in, what else, the Wash Day Group. This is the 4th Red Bubble feature for this painting that also ranked in the top ten in one of that site's artists challenges.

My two strawberries in  Let's Talk  were recently featured in the Fruit and Veg Shop group.

It's always fun to check the Red Bubble site and find out that one of my paintings has been highlighted. This always sends me right back to my brushes - an instant motivator!
Have a great Saturday evening.

Work in progress - Forever Friends

The heat wave that won't go away is making me lazy and I have not painted as much as I should have. nevertheless, I want to show you what I am working on: ANOTHER small strawberry painting. After painting one lonely strawberry, two seriously-talking strawberries, I am now depicting three optimistic strawberries - "Forever Friends".  This is only a WIP at this stage since I still have a lot of work to do it...the green leaves and the shadows should improve its impact; however, I have been working at night again, and that's never when I do my best work:-(

I want to start adding a bit more complexity to these berry paintings. Here is a picture of  part of a  linen lace placemat  that I would like to use next time - although I may have photographed the wrong side of it:-).  What do you think?

"Let's talk!": New strawberry painting

As I mentioned below, I sold a strawberry watercolor at last weekend's art show. People liked them because they look so realistic with all their seeds and highlights.Today I finished one of the strawberry watercolor paintings I had started, but not finished for that show.

This one is called "Let's talk!" since these two strawberries really seem to be having a serious "tête-à-tête".
It is on Arches 140lb CP watercolor paper. The background is left white in order to focus on the strawberries and their shadows. It is matted in white with interior dimensions of  approximately 4.5" X 6.5" and will fit a 8"X10" frame. The mat can be all white, or, if I find another, with a black core line showing at the beveled edge as with my single berry below.

I am really having a lot of fun painting these strawberries -each one  seems to have  its own character:-)
 I have another sketch ready, with three strawberries this time -an increment of one with each new watercolor.

$50 US, matted, unframed. Free shipping in North America

This is a great companion piece to the watercolor below, "Berry Lonely", which is also on Arches 140 lb CP watercolor paper and painted with Windsor and Newton professional grade watercolor paint.It is on a white background ( although the background looks pinkish on my monitor) and is also matted in white ( with black core showing at the beveled edge of the mat) with interior dimensions of  approximately 4.5" X 6.5" and will fit a 8"X10" frame.

$49 Canadian, matted, unframed. Free shipping in North America

I am looking forward to reading your comments on the new berry...my next painting will probably be a floral so that you don't all get sick and tired of looking at strawberries.
If you have any questions, email me at chris_kingsley@hotmail.com
Have a great Sunday.

A beautiful gift

Yesterday, I received a most stunning gift in the mail: "Gardenia", an original watercolor painting by Vicki Green that I won through one of Vicki's regular give aways. You can see a picture of that painting in my post of July 16th. You really have to touch this painting to fully appreciate it: Vicki has attached it to a gallery wrap canvas and then varnished it. This finishing means that the watercolor does not need to be framed under glass!This painting is already proudly displayed on one of my walls, beside a wonderful painting I won in Rhonda Carpenter's giveaway a few months ago. I have started quite the collection:-)

An added treat treat yesterday in the beautifully-wrapped parcel was the note card below, Ocean Swim, from an original watercolor painting by Vicki.

Thank you, Vicki. I will treasure these.

Weekend Art Show

I spent the weekend showing my work at a local art show organized by the Clarence-Rockland Art Association, a one-year old art association made up of mostly oil painters. The turn-out was composed in great part of friends of the artists, not very many paintings sold, but the weekend was very enjoyable.
I gave out a fair number of business cards,  sold several note cards and one of my two " Berry Lonely" strawberry paintings. 

Here are a few pictures: 







On the first picture, you can see two "Berry Lonely" paintings; the one at the top, the smallest berry, is the one that sold.

The second picture provides a view of most of the wall space I had. The paintings are fairly crowded, but I was pleased with the overall effect.

The show was well-organized: artists were provided with the grids and a table. This meant that all I had to bring was the paintings.
Here you see some of my note cards, printed from my pictures of my original watercolors.

My next showing is in September, where I will show only 1 painting in a group show by the Ottawa Art Association that will take place at the Ottawa Littlle Theatre and will run for about a month. One of my friends is preparing an Open House in early October for a group of 4 artists - this should be a lot of fun. In November, I will most likely enter one painting in the Ottawa Art Association Annual Fall Awards Show. I intend to keep an eye on all Call for Submissions for at least one interesting Xmas Show.
Meanwhile, I want to focus on improving the "purchase" section of my blog for internet sales.

Do internet sales work for you? What strategies do you use? Is joining a group site ( the best known probably being the Daily Painters and difficult to join at this point) the best way to go? I think these topics could start a very interesting discussion. I am looking forward to reading your insights on the topic....

Enjoy your Sunday evening.

Double Feature for "Berry Lonely"

Obviously, my lucky streak that saw me winningVicki Green's beautiful giveaway is continuing. My recent strawberry painting, that I have entitled  in a corny way "Berry Lonely Without You", has had a double feature on the Australian gallery site "Red Bubble": in Art up Close and in Realist Traditional Art.

In spite of all my good intentions to paint several more of these strawberries in the last week, I have not finished any new one so far; I have spent the entire weekend cutting mats and foam core, installing hanging wire and framing for my show next weekend. I have about a dozen paintings ready to go and  another half-dozen in various stages of framing. Maybe tonight I will treat myself to a good painting session:-)

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

I am so excited...

I am so thrilled! I have just won Vicki Green's July giveaway! It is a stunning, gorgeous painting entitled "Gardenia".  

It is a 5x7 inch watercolor that is mounted on a 9x12 gallery wrap canvas and then varnished. Wow!

Thank you so much, Vicki! I will certainly cherish this beautiful piece.


Here is Vicki's blog. Don't miss her next generous giveaway!

Strawberry, anyone?

Today, I painted this small  5" X 7" watercolor painting in preparation for my show in two weeks. I would like to paint a few more on the same theme: the next one with two strawberries, then one with three etc.
The picture was taken inside with a flash unfortunately.


I always love to read your comments and suggestions.

Peony and Friends: Winner of Red Bubble Challenge

I am quite excited that my painting "Peony and Friends" has just won the "Say it with Flowers" challenge on Red Bubble  and will become the avatar for the Art up Close group! I also become their fourth featured member .
.

                                                                 Peony and Friends

Approx. 8” X11”
Arches CP watercolor paper

Available for purchase

Have a great holiday weekend!

Magnolia II for Canada Day

 I have a four-day weekend because of Canada Day. It was so enjoyable to spend the day painting. After the small details of the strawberry and the maze of the peony petals, I wanted something easy and relaxing. I painted a variation of my "Southern Belle" magnolia painting ( see earlier post below). This is a smaller size than my initial version and is less dramatic...but I think that in general it is better painted. Or at least should be once I have smoothed some areas and some edges.

Arches 140 CP watercolor paper with W&N paints.
7.5" X 9.5"
The background is almost black with plum highlights.

Small video workshop study and question

I am completing a small strawberry study from Jacqueline Gnott's video " My Favorite Things". Jacqueline makes one take a real close-up look at a strawberry. Wow. I had never noticed all those small details before. Fascinating! Here is my humble  5" x7" rendition of Jacqueline's fruit:

My husband laughed yesterday afternoon as he found me in the kitchen taking pictures of almost every strawberry in the basket he had purchased earlier. I was looking for strawberries with stems...but there was none!!!

I will be in a two-day show at the end of July. Apparently last year not a single painting sold at that show:-(  I think I should have small paintings of this size either framed or just matted to offer some less expensive art. What do you think?

Most artists at that upcoming show work in oil or acrylic. I believe that there will be only one other watercolor artist. I found that surprising. That brought me to reflect on what medium is used on the various daily painters sites. Most daily  works are in oils; acrylic is next. Watercolor is fairly rare. Why is that?
Do people hesitate to buy online a painting that is either not yet framed or is framed in glass that could break in transit? Is it that watercolor is not popular or is perceive of lesser value than oil or acrylic paintings?

I would really like to hear your opinion on this topic.

Have a great Sunday.

Pink Peony - Finished- To crop or not to crop

As I was painting my Pink Peony I extended the background past what I intended to paint. I  can now leave it at 11" X 14" framed larger, or crop it to fit a 11X14 frame at about 8 X 11.
In the larger version, the peony does not have a stem and may look as if it is floating; however, I like the larger frame size and the background looks less crowded. However, some have already commented that the larger background detracts from the flower....Decisions, decisions!  Any advice? Below is the larger format .

Peony WIP part 4- Almost completed

There was an earthquake in Ottawa, Canada, today. My office building had to be evacuated and I finally went home around 3 pm...thus getting a bit of unexpected painting time. I worked on the petals of my peony. Unfortunately I worked after the natural sunlight was gone...I often make color choice errors with my artificial light. Once I had painted all the petals, I realized that all my petal colors were cool colors; so I quickly tried to add little hints of warmth here and there.|That probably was not very wise,,, Here is what the painting looks like photographed inside with a flash. I can't wait for tomorrow morning to see what it "really" looks like in daylight.  I still have quite a few finishing touches to add and a few imperfections to fix ( white streaks in the background because of smeared miskit, white that need softer edges etc).

Let me know what you think.

Pink Peony WIP - Part 3- beginning petals

Monday morning and work are fast approaching, so I took the plunge and started my petals. I added some masking to better keep some whites here and there. For the pinks, I have used Quin Rose with some cobalt and some Permanent magenta. On the right hand side, I have just started to warm up the pink a bit. I like the pinks beside the greens.

The colors are not quite accurate - I took it outside a few minutes ago, but it was already starting to get dark so the flash did go off.

Let me know what you think. Have a great week...I have a day off on Thursday...Whoopee! More painting time!

Pink Peony -Wip Part 2- the leaves

Finally, here is an update of my Pink Peony: I have now completed - for the time being anyway- the background and the leaves.  I have tried to keep the light mostly on the right hand side. I hope that these leaves don't look too overworked.
 What do you think?
I can't wait to start adding some color to the petals.

Pink Peony WIP

I have been having a lot of fun looking through all my recent photographs of peonies. It's now time to get down to work and use at least one of these photos as inspiration for a new watercolor.

 I intend to use many glazes to achieve a rich dark background as in the previous two peony paintings below.However, this time, instead of painting a white peony, I have chosen a soft pink one. The bloom was past its prime, but at least there was a bit of sunshine and shadows on this one.

Below you can see the work in progress on Arches bright white 140 lb CP. The size is approximately 11" X 14".

The first photo shows the work as I am leaving it tonight: the background is almost finished. It's black and dark green...The green may not show very much on certain monitors. The flower and leaves are covered with either liquid or film miskit.

 The second photo shows the drawing with the miskit. I spent more time than usual on this drawing: I worked on it during a two-hour train ride yesterday:-) I removed many leaves that were on the photograph..I will see if this was a wise decision of not...

I hope that I will find the time after work this week to complete this painting. I need a small painting for a show starting Sunday.. I will keep my fingers crossed that this one will be good enough. Otherwise, do you think the previous peony would do?

Have a great week.

2 features on Red Bubble in 2 days

I am thrilled that two of my paintings have been featured on Red Bubble in the last two days:
Southern Belle, today, on Painters in Modern Times -






This painting is sold, but it is one that I would like to paint again, with a different background perhaps.

My other feature was yesterday, of my recent Peony, and this time on Just Watercolors:

I am really thrilled every time I get a feature. It is really support from other artists, quite a bit like on our blogs.

Peony pictures

Saturday morning, I went to the ornamental gardens at the Ottawa Experimental Farm to take pictures of their gorgeous peonies. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and, since my husband was patiently ( ?) waiting in the car for me, I rushed with my camera from peony bush to peony bush. In about 10 minutes, I took about 140 pictures - as you can imagine, the resulting photographs will not win any prize for composition and lighting, but they will provide me with inspiration for the months to come.

Here are a few of these pictures. If some of you,  my blogging friend,s want to use them as reference for your own painting, please don't hesitate!

Peony 2 - finished

I declare this second peony finished and will sign it tonight. I did increase the contrast here and there near the whites to enhance the whites and make the picture pop a bit more. Unfortunately,  this painting did not turn out as nice as it was in my mind. Perhaps I rushed too much after the half-way point.

I think that in the next one I will use fewer colors; I will try simply different values of blue for the petals and a hint of yellow for the center. It should create a more cohesive look.

I have gone through all my pictures of peonies, but can't find one with nicer buds that in the ref picture I used here. I may just add one of these buds to my next peony painting:-)

I hope that you are all having a great week.


For purchase information,  click here.