"Farm Roots" painting progress and result

hi there, and good morning, or afternoon, or evening.  i'm meeting you wherever and whenever you are, cause that's how i roll.

as of starting this post, it is monday, july 19, and my goal for the foreseeable future is to work on sketches and paintings each weekday.  i'm going at my own pace, as my body permits, so it may be slow progress, but i'm documenting as i go.

this morning i did a quick sketch (if you remember this is going to be a not-perfect abstract painting of my childhood home) on my drippy canvas with water-reactive pencil and then sprayed lightly with fixative.

 

i'm pretty pleased to have this unique perspective of the house before it was renovated and the shape of the back was changed.  this is the look of many memories playing on that lower shed roof, trying to climb my way up.  a happy day it was when i finally had the strength in my little body to fight my way to the crest!  that roof is no longer there, as it now has a big, beautiful sun room on top of it, but the base holds the sun room just as strongly as it holds some beautiful memories in my heart.

a little more work to the sketch, and it was onto the fun part of painting this piece!  i am going for it this time, and chose wild, fun colors to represent the endless days of exploration i had as a young child.

i decided to make the windows much smaller, and i like that look for this painting.

 

i chose colors based on the values in the B&W photo i have.

i didn't like how my focus was drawn away from the little shed

whose roof was the main subject for me

 

i like this color better for the shed, even though the value is off

and here is how it hung on my wall for a while as i pondered the next move. 

i'm thinking it needs a little bit more, and am waiting on some art supplies to come in so i can play a bit more on the canvas but with new stuff!

 

tuesday morning, after thinking about what and how to add, and talking it out with sweetie, i had a plan, and it was good.  didn't want to wait for new supplies, i just went in and did it!

 

here is my final piece, titled "Farm Roots".

i added my swing set and a drippy tree that i saw in the paint to the right, and added the word "roots" in pink, darkened some pink areas here and there and in the windows.  i darkened the green behind the house and added a 'bush' to the left of the house to soften the lines and to represent the huge lilac bush that hides that side of the house.  all those drips reminded me of roots and i ran with the theme of that, up-played all the drippiness, and used the play of words for the title.  

i took a lot of artistic license to this painting and i'm happy and proud i was able to get to this point of experience that i can play with my art instead of trying for exact likeness to the photo.

until later,

jenny

new products in the stores!

hi there!

we were busy getting the 'lily pond' series up in my society6 and redbubble stores yesterday.  we had a bit of trouble getting the colors correct, but came close, and each has a bit of a different shade, but I adore how they go together like a family.  different but same.  and, I'm pretty excited about some new products available.

first, in my society6 shop
*click on the link under each photo to get to product.  scroll down on page to find other products

"Lily Pond Abstract 1"

Art Print

Outside Cushion

"Lily Pond Abstract 2"

Art Print

Folding Stool

"Lily Pond Abstract 3"

Art Print

Framed Mini Art

"Lily Pond Abstract 4"

Art Print

Cutting Board

"Lily Pond Abstract 5"

Art Print

Wall Mural

now for my redbubble shop
*click on print name to find all products with this image

"Lily Pond Abstract 1"

A-line dress

"Lily Pond Abstract 2"

Comforter

"Lily Pond Abstract 3"

Socks!

"Lily Pond Abstract 4"

Spiral Notebook

"Lily Pond Abstract 5"

Water Bottle

I hope you enjoy browsing my stores and explore my other artworks there!  it's going to take a little work to make sure each painting is available on each piece of merchandise, so bare with me while I activate them.

until later,

Jenny

new raven minis... maybe

I started a new series of minis with my beloved raven/crow totem as a subject on October 13th.  I just realized it's a full moon tonight, too, so even more magic is in these!

it all started with a background of gesso and pencil to add color and texture to the overall piece, as well as just a loosening up activity.

then I added my paint in short, choppy strokes

 all together

a close up

after fiddling with the backgrounds a bit I decided we would scan them to make some fun pillows and totes in my shops.  upon further inspection I was re-thinking painting crows on them, as I just really liked the Monet lily pond vibe they were giving when turned a certain way;

I think when I'm done with the backgrounds I'll be uploading them to my online stores to be used for merchandise.  I think they would look well as dresses and such!


as I sat with these backgrounds I became thoughtful of how much beauty was in them as-is, and had a bit of a frustration over painting over such beauty.  so I posted on my personal facebook page to see what my peeps thought.  they seemed to be 50/50 about it.  some told me that maybe I should pick a few I enjoyed more and paint crow/raven energy over the rest, others really appreciated the delicate Monet feel of them.  in the end I decided to let nature take its course with them.  to set them up for sale as-is with the statement that they may be getting painted over at some point, so if they saw something they liked they better hurry and get them, cause they may change soon!

so, here they are~ my non corvid painted paintings!

 Lily Pond Abstract 1

3x3"

$17

acrylic

 Lily Pond Abstract 3

3x3"

$17

acrylic

 Lily Pond Abstract 2

3x3"

$17

acrylic

 Lily Pond Abstract 5

3x3"

$17

acrylic

Lily Pond Abstract 4

3x3"

$17

acrylic

they will not be varnished until such time as they are sold so as to not interfere with painting corvid energy at a later date.

until later,

Jenny

new items in the shop

we finally got the last of my september challenge photos off the camera and into the shop, including the final painting.

i present to you, "lady of the lilies, unfolding"

find her print, here

her tote

makes a beautiful throw pillow

and a pretty appropriate shower curtain

more items with this print are in the shop as well

here is "challenge 6"

the print

tote

all over print shirt

and more!

and finally, "challenge 7"

print

travel mug

and duvet cover

find these and much more in my shop!

until later,

jenny

day 15, halfway there!

i'm halfway to the goal with this challenge and feeling great about it.  i finally received a vision last night of where it may lead to, so today added some background elements of the final piece, knowing that they will probably get lost in upcoming layers.  it's ok, because i know i can just add them back.  it's only paint.

more lilies, 

and there will be even more before i'm done

 love!

i've been trying to get photos on my good camera in order to put into my store.  i cannot bring this huge canvas outside to photograph by myself, so must rely on the lighting i have in the studio.  we will see what i have captured this weekend when mark is around.  once a day is done, the previous canvas is lost, so i hope i have some worthwhile shots.

until later,

jenny

day 9

i forgot to take a photo yesterday or today of yesterday progress, such as it was.  i had a couple bites of some bad chicken and the tummy was unhappy, but i tried my hand at drawing a few leaf shapes with ink.  it didn't look the way i wanted, so i sprayed it with water and let it drip.  when all else fails, drips are the way to go.

i had a few ideas of what i wanted to do today.  one was to use a white pen to outline some drips that i like.  and i used another favorite stencil, but i didn't like how that looked, so... yep, sprayed it down and let it drip out.  i'm thinking most of this month will be primarily layers of drips, but i'm totally ok with that.  i love the look and really enjoy watching the magic happen.  as long as i am able to balance the colors and lights and darks, it's good.

closer to the end of the month i want to add more words, and i wrote a kind of poem i want to scratch into paint.  i want this to be more visible when all is said and done, so i'll wait a little longer to add it.

todays progress;

added green and yellow fluid acrylics mixed with airbrush medium

some white pen outlining with drips covering it

lots of layers

more white outlining

until later,

jenny

new painting in the shop

i had mark photograph yesterdays challenge stopping point and it looks great!

we've put it in the shop for prints and other items, and they are just so beautiful.  thats the good thing with my abstract paintings in that we can crop it and it still looks great.

"challenge 1" as a travel mug

 as cards

 as a shirt

and a tote

i have yet to do anything on the canvas today, unfortunately, as i hurt myself at the store.  can't take me anywhere.  i have an idea for my next layer, but today i'll just do a small addition.

until later,

jenny