raven "spirit keeper" in the shop!

my new painting, spirit keeper, is in the shop now.

we have many items to chose from, including a floor pillow!

here is the print

phone cases

here is the mug

the tote is beautiful

and here is the wall clock

and stationary cards

so many items to chose from with this painting and any of my others, at my heaven spirit creations shop!

until later,

jenny

new canvas, raven!

it finally happened.  years of raven adoration and i've finally gotten the muse involved.  sure, she was always interested, but in this case she sang.

it all started with a background that i thought was going to be for a salamander that had been calling to be painted.

this dreamy background, when done, did not call for salamander energy, though.  it insisted a raven be painted on her.  how was i to disagree with the muse.

so i sketched a couple of ravens and went with a morph of the two.

thrilled with my progress, i knew the energy was not where it needed to be yet, and i waited and stewed about where to go from here.  i loved the background, but it was too empty.  i had thought to make the raven bigger on the canvas, but decided against it for whatever reason.  now i felt stuck because i made that choice.

i had a vision of a swirling aura coming from a 'marble' in ravens mouth.  i knew it would take some time, getting the idea i had on canvas, and there would be no going back after doing so.  it was to be many layers of line work and mark-making.  those layers would dry before i could see if it was working or not.  i gritted my teeth and started, letting colors dry between layers.

i had every right to be less than impressed.

better lighting would not have helped how this looked.

i'm sure someone could make this idea work.  someone with more patience than i.  i could not wait to see if filling it all in with smaller strokes would make it look the way i intended, it looked horrible, and i just do not have the patience to make multitudes of tiny lines.  

as i was resting between layers i had the idea to add a little klimt to my raven and bring in some gold to the energy

i added gold acrylic and sprayed to let the gold drip and some of the previous color show thru.  after it dried i added more gold and sprayed some more, and then added small rings of color, let dry a bit then added more gold, letting some of the still wet areas smear thru the gold.  oh, lovely!

i'm *this* close to being done!

until later,
jenny

rebounding from a mistake

today i thought i had ruined my frida painting (read her bio here).  it was a scary few moments.

i should have left the studio well before i made the mistake, as i was making mistakes left and right it seems, including spilling almost a half bottle of high flow acrylics.  it was one of golden brands small bottles, but that stuff is worth it's weight in gold, so i used a brush and mopped it up and got most of it back into the bottle.  not wasting that stuff, no way, no how!

but, what i want to show is the before the mistake photo and the after the mistake photo.

first, i have to tell you that i thought it was a goner, thats how much a difference my oops made!  i was trying to darken some areas of her face, and just made a yellow mess of it all.  thats when the bottle tipped over and i had to clean that up, and it had dried too much on her face by the time i was done.  instead of freaking out too much, though i was freaking, i decided to mix up some more color and have another go at the skin, putting on another layer of color to rectify the yellow.

heres the progress i had made before frida went to hell;

moved a cloud, played in her eyes and lips, 

and added gold to her collar

and this is after doing my best to rectify the disaster;

pretty similar, eh???

i need to fix her right cheek facing us, as it's a little too dark, but by the time i got this far fixed, i was pretty much done with the day.  i wanted out of the studio before anything else happened!

sweet hubby bought an acrylic artist magazine at the flea market on sunday and i was able to get some ideas about fixing the shading in her eyes.  i'm thrilled with how they have come out so far!

just a few little fixes now, and she will be complete.

until later,
jenny

progression with frida

i've been enjoying my time with this canvas.  frida (read her bio here) has a definite voice in it.  she has told me the title, and refused elements that would detract from the main focus, even though i really wanted to include them.  that was frustrating, but i'm dealing with it.


this is where i left you last time;

i've been touching up her skin here and there, darkening her ears and her hair.  i wanted her to have earrings, as she is known for her jewelry, but she wanted the focus to be on her soft little smile.  i tried three times to give her some bling!

the title for this canvas is "still, she smiled".   thru all the hardships she encountered in her life she still found it in her to create.  to find her passions and create her life, not be passive in it.

i had a vision for this painting right from the background.  the red drips symbolizing her struggles; the tears i know she cried, the blood i know she shed.

i've been changing her blouse as well.  it's gone thru two color changes since the above photo, and lots of fiddling with the shade and tone after deciding on a red color.

trying out a simple gold neckline

getting there!

i added three clouds to the background, and i really like how they add to the story.  i darkened the blouse and added seams.  she still needs work here and there, but i'm close to calling her done!  she should be up in the shop by early next week.

until later,
jenny

frida canvas

i've been working on a frida canvas this weekend, and am pretty thrilled with how she has progressed (read her bio here).  the difference in my style is coming from all the classes i have taken last year into this year.  i still have the same relaxed background style, but the growth i see is amazing.

here are progress photos of this work in progress;

pretty happy with her face and neck, and will be working on her blouse next.

to give you a glimpse at where i was at three years ago, here is a journal page i did at that time;

it was a beginning.  a perfectly acceptable beginning, and thats where i could have stayed if i had not  taken classes and practiced for three years!

here's to growth!

until later,

jenny

sketching

i've been doing some sketching for ideas lately.  some tries at frida kahlo for "freeing your inner frida", a class taught by jenn bonneteau, and brought to you by kara bullock.  frida is an inspiration to me, as i'm sure she is to many artists, with and without chronic pain issues (read her bio here).  as soon as i heard about this class, taught by an incredible artist who's style i adore, i knew i wanted in!

a raccoon and a donkey

 i enjoy the scribble quality to this little guy.  

this dude needs more work

both animals were from royalty free reference photos, located on pixabay, i believe.  i've been using the royalty free sites or my own photos as much as i can, as i never know when the urge to paint something will hit, and i don't want to step on other artists toes.  not gonna be a naughty artist, if i can help it!  

there are other royalty free sites.  https://unsplash.com is very good one i use a lot.  you can just look up "free royalty free images" or "free stock images".  i also use croquis cafe for live model sketching.  it's been a huge help to me, and i need to step up my practice with them.  they host real-time, live models, nude and clothed, who change positions during the time period given.  it's very helpful for quick sketches, and then they have a longer 5 minute pose at the end, which helps get details in.

i will be posting about my completed barn painting in a couple of weeks.  i'm finished with the painting, and waiting for a mail delivery so i can varnish it.  my brother gets first peek, but when he has it in hand, rest assured i will be showing it off!

until later,

jenny