Monday, January 28, 2019

bear finally finished!

it's been over a year since working on this mama bear started in November of 2017, and I found it in me to continue and finish her over the weekend.  I blogged about her, but failed to update when I added to the sketch a few days later and from where she sat until Sunday.

here's where she sat for over a year


it was a nice little painting, but her eyes got lost, and she didn't say all she needed to say.  I felt bad about leaving her all that time, but I'm happier now that I put more work into her.

her tale started as a dream.  in it, my son, Winter-Orion, waded thru the river (where he drown in my reality in 1998, though in the dream it was a small stream) to the other side, where he met up with a mama bear who walked with him over a bridge back to me.  I found the dream healing and soothing, especially after reading a bit about the symbolism of the bear and how it fit into my dream.

yesterday I worked on her, trying to hint at that story a little bit.  I worked on her eyes until they could be distinguished from her fur in her face and worked on the back fur a bit more.  I also decided to bring in some gold chevron pointing up to symbolize the communication with spirit world in my dream, and more gold to highlight some of the fur.



I then decided to darken the background a bit with my signature drippy goodness in shades of green and turquoise.  I knew that the paint would be repelled by the gold, and wasn't disappointed by the effect.



I felt that the painting was too dark, and the bear was lost in the darkness.  today I worked to rectify that by bringing out the gold chevrons again then mixing some lighter greens and blues and dabbing my brush around her, kind of in a leafy halo effect, and then turning the canvas upside down and letting some green gold drip to represent trees.

 titled "The Bear Awakens"


 her eyes pop only after struggling with the colors


 the washi tape still shows

texture and drips are my obsession!


edit to add for more work done;

needed leafy texture at the bottom for balance

she will be added to the store at some point this week.

until later,
Jenny

Sunday, January 20, 2019

new in the shop!

hi all, just a quick one to say "Legend of the Raven" is up in the shop!

we noticed that society6 has many more items on which to put my artwork, and have been adding them onto my already established artwork.  there are now yoga mats, stools, cutting boards and more!  if we havnt gotten to adding merchandise to a painting you wish to purchase, please just email me the painting and what item you wish, and I'll see if it is the right size be added for you.


presenting "Legend of the Raven", and some of the new merchandise;










I'm very excited about these new products, and if they are as well made as the totes, they are worth every penny!

until later,
Jenny

Saturday, January 19, 2019

class work to date and another new painting

I have made it a goal to do as many classes this year in lets face it as I can, to make it a priority in my life to actually attempt the class each week.

I've done my first two weeks so far, and felt ok with the work, so I'm doing well in that aspect so far.  the mediums so far have not been my favorite (graphite and pen), so I have not been able to put my heart and soul into the work and said "good enough" at about an hour or so in for each.


week 1 with kara bullock
graphite

in week 1 I did ok, but had a few errors and wasn't able to erase and didn't have it in me to keep going, so it doesn't really look like my reference photo.  the more I look at it the more unhappy I am with it.



week 2 I had more fun with;

 week 2 
with Joan Martin (webpage, facebook)
pen

Joan had us using pens in both hands and doing a loose drawing.  apparently I like loose and free, cause I love how this turned out!

 then I made the lines more bold 
and used cross hatching to shade



I couldn't leave it alone 
and added color to some of the flowers



I also started another new painting that gave me only a little trouble at the end.  




"She Believes"

Portraits are getting easier for me but the pose was a difficult one for me, so I struggled a little.  It still makes me happy to know that this painting didn’t exist before I started painting it and it’s not bad.  It gives me hope.  I’ve named it “She believes”, because to me she looks hopeful for herself, and the way she’s looking up makes me think she’s looking forward to something.  She feels strong and determined to me.  and thats what I needed to paint!

until later,
Jenny

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

raven painting is possibly complete

well, I dug in and had fun with the ravens eye this morning.  I'm really pleased at how it turned out.  yesterday I added a star to create more of the story of how raven stole the moon, stars and sun.  I'm glad I did a little snooping and found the story, as the painting does seem more interesting and like there is a story there, if one chooses to look for it.


 may add little touches here and there



I love the textures

pretty little raven eye

as always, I will update here when we have put it in the shop.  but first I must reexamine our title of it and do a little paperwork for it for the shop.  we had thought "Raven Moon" was a good title, but now that I added the star and it fits a story, I'll probably change it.

until later,
Jenny

Monday, January 14, 2019

raven in progress

I'm still adding layers to the moon and starting to work with the raven now with loose brush strokes for the feather work.  I'm not getting bogged down with details and such, as I want this to be loose and colorful.

I've carved down the beak a bit and filled in more of the moon with more white, and I've done a couple of feather layers so far.





I love how it's different when the sun hits it;

the colors are gorgeous!


and when it's in shade;

moody!



now to get the eye in, and see what else she asks me to bring to the painting.

until later,
Jenny

Sunday, January 13, 2019

new painting in progress

hi there.  I'd come down with a cold that held me hostage for a bit, but I'm back up and fighting, for the most part.

I found some inspiration from somewhere, probably facebook, and wanted to paint my favorite bird, the raven again.

I first started with my layered drippy background


flipped it, as I knew position I wanted the raven standing



and saw a landscape in it, but I knew I wanted the raven to be large in the painting.  I wondered about adding in a woman, but felt this one didn't want the human element, just the raven

it was a stupid time of day for photo taking when I finished, but I snapped a couple photos anyway.

 pretty colors and drips

I saw mountains and lake


then I started getting the raven on canvas and adding drips in the background while she dried a bit.  with these drips, I saw the moon shining behind the raven, and got excited about that idea;


 filling out the raven, adding drips in the sky 
and greening up the mountains with drips


starting the moon, but not feeling her yet
freehand was not working!


rounded out the moon, and feeling better about her now
it frames her body so perfectly


while I was letting the painting dry these past few days I wondered if there was a connection between the raven and the moon so did some google-fu.  turns out it's a Native American story.  how the raven stole the sun, moon and stars.  now I love ravens even more, and I know there will be more raven and crow paintings in my future!



I still have more work to do for the moon and a lot of work with the raven to go, but I'm so pleased with how it's working out so far.

until later,
Jenny

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

work on my elf painting

I'm just about done with this painting- I think- and at a place where I'm not embarrassed by it, so figured I'd post a little update before the finishing details.

this was my inspiration


I got right to work in my new spot upstairs, where it's warmer;

 notice how small this canvas is?
the face is even smaller!


 I laughed way too much at the evil elf eyes that happened
when I dragged the blue around for the iris


 tiny details are really difficult, 
and I struggled with the lightness of the face in the photo


 getting there with the face (it looks like me as a child)
but the background is too dark


very close to finishing
need to work on the eyes a bit


I'm pretty happy with how it's coming together, even with changing the background that I was loving.  I know I can create that look again, so I didn't hesitate too much with that decision.  if I can find a way to get the eyes looking better close-up I'd be ecstatic, but I don't know if I have a steady enough hand or a small enough brush.  my worry is when blowing it up for a tote or something it will be all fuzzy and distorted.  and this is why working on large canvasses is a bit easier if I am putting them on other merchandise.  I suppose its easier with more abstract pieces, or if I weren't a perfectionist.

as always, I'll update when it's up in the store(s)

until later,
Jenny