bears, and sloths, and online store uploads (oh my)

I blogged last time about my bears being completed.  I've since completed 3 more paintings in one day, as I was on a roll.

sloth love!!!  

they were fun to work with!

Saturday morning had us bringing my bears to Bates Crafters Gallery

 pocket-sized bears

"what are you doing"

"you said to get pictures.  I'm getting pictures"

these 3 photos by Fran at Bates Crafters Gallery

 this guy was sold almost immediately.

my mom-in-law saw it was at the store and went to grab it,

so I still have visitation rights

we then went home to the task of putting all these new beauties up in my redbubble and society6 online stores.  the textures really pop with these high resolution uploads

on to the eye candy!  I'll make it quick, though.  

redbubble first

*click on the link below each photo that will bring you to all the items for the painting.   enjoy browsing!

The Bear Guide 

kids tee-shirt

"Strength From Within"

spiral notebook

"Resting Sloth"

photographic print (very affordable!)

LOOK~ HE HUGS YOU!

"Carry the Love"

contrast tank

and...

"Be Yourself"

postcards

on to society6

*click link to go to painting- then scroll to bottom of page to find other items with the same art.   enjoy browsing!

"The Bear Guide"

shower curtain

"Strength From Within"

coasters

"Resting Sloth"

phone skin

"Carry the Love"

poster

"Be Yourself"

serving tray

thats the very full news from the week!

until later,

Jenny

thinking out loud

I finished my bears yesterday.  heres where they were;

then I got inspired by this dried up bit on my palette

heres where they ended up

"Bear Guide" and "Strength from Within"

I used the yellow I mixed up with a pallet knife and dabbed it down in just a few spots, then mixed some teal and white and carefully dragged it and dabbed it around the still wet areas.  they are so full of texture, and I love them!

I also finished this weeks Lets Face It class with Ivy Newport yesterday.  we learned 'the box technique' where you put a box directly around your subject, hitting all the outermost points, and find the shapes within the box to map out your focal point.  my attempt wasn't as successful as I had hoped it would be as we dont have toner for our printer at the moment, so my proportions were off.  I couldn't map it with my ruler...

got frustrated at the head and face, 

so jotted some notes and left it

yesterday was a really good mental health day for me. mark got home and I was bubbly and talkative and smiling. not one tiny bit of anxiety or sadness. it was a feeling I'd like to repeat as often as I can!

went to bed tired last night, as I usually do. had a hard time settling down, as I usually do. one thing was different, though. instead of anxiety, it was paint color choices that I was excited about for my next minis. subject matter is decided, reference photos found, and now color! I so wanted to skip sleep and start working!

so, today I start working on my newest minis, and varnish my bears which got scanned last night for my society6 and redbubble shops. this weekend has a lot of art business stuff happening, including adding more items to both online shops, and bringing my bears to Bates Crafters Gallery. busy, busy trying to get my name out there!

until later,
Jenny

canvasses in progress, and redbubble shop news

the weekend was busy for painting and life stuff.

I started concentrating on my little bear canvasses out of the 7 little guys I had told you about last time I blogged.  well, I'd had an idea and needed to take action on that as well, so have three more in progress, making it a total of 10 in various stages of completion.

here are the bears

 I think I'm to go back to a more green background for them.

layers...  they make a painting come alive

and help with the decisions

this is collage work, done in a series

as they stand now

and heres a bigger dude I had forgotten to blog about.

he's in a waiting pattern 

while I concentrate on the smaller ones

and, I dove in and did the watercolor portion of last weeks class with Danielle Mack;

the next step in the process uses colored pencil.  hopefully that brings her out, again.  I'm kind of impressed with how the watercolor turned out.  I fully used her instruction, pausing the video as I went, so that helped.  it's not bad for my first real foray into the medium.  I'd dabbled here and there, but never gotten the hang of it on my own.

sweetie and I are working on getting more items up on my redbubble online store each weekend until caught up.   many of my older paintings had been left behind in the shuffle of creating the account.  so many paintings, so little time.  so, we have decided to re-commit to getting it all up, little by little.

our first installment has my three finished bear paintings;

"Spirit Cub Finds the Honey"

 framed print

spiral bound journal

"Twin Cubs at Dawn"

 photographic print

which is a great deal for artwork!

 drawstring bag

 hardcover journal

front of journal

look at the detail of the textures!

and, "The Bear Awakens"

 art board

another inexpensive option

 contrast tank

they have inexpensive postcards, too

so, while my shop at redbubble does have many of the same items as my society6 online shop has, they also have different options, and some of them are a less expensive way to go to get my art into your home.  if anything, I'm all for helping you out, guys!  I know how hard it is to get original art into the home in an affordable way and this is a great way to do so.

until later,

Jenny

bear cubs in the shop!

my sweetie was able to get both new paintings up into society6 today.  we have some work catching up with putting paintings up in my redbubble shop, but he will be slowly adding when he can.

I love that the items show all of the textures and layers I create in my paintings!

"Spirit Cub Finds the Honey"

print

wrapping paper

laptop sleeve

and the t-shirt is cool, even though there is no bear showing;

and, "Twin Cubs at Dawn";

prints

wall tapestry

 serving tray

I love the yoga mat

and the t-shirt is hilarious, so we kept it in case someone needs a halloween costume or a funny shirt;

all of these and many, many more items for sale with these paintings and more at my society6 store.  take a look and enjoy your time exploring my colorful world!

until later,

Jenny

it's all in the details

the push and pull of detail work is a struggle for me.  probably with all artists.  how far can I push a painting before it all gets lost?  or before I ruin it?  what if it all goes horribly wrong?  what if I'm not putting in enough detail before calling it complete?  would it look simplistic or juvenile?

art is hard, guys!

yesterday I stopped progress at this point;

I loved the pink hearts that appeared here and there, 

and especially under his chin.

unfortunately, it created a focus that wasn't on the bear, 

so it had to go

yesterday and today I did more work getting the bears to be more the main focus and then starting little details

 I added a halo of teal around them to get them out of the background a little bit, and then decided to add a bit of the brushstrokes that are in the mama bear painting.  it didn't call for a lot of brush work here.  I tried.  adding, taking away.  sometimes less is more.

added a couple of trees to the right

made sure the accidental hearts by the trees stayed strong

added bright pink, 

a few gold dots, and grasses

under the log to move the eye more

I added gold highlights and dots here and there 

with the head of a pin. 

again, to call back the mama bear painting

 the family together

mama looks on as I continue working the cubs

they are getting close; just a few touches to the faces is all I'm thinking for now.  we'll see if they tell me differently.  I'm assuming that we'll be able to put them in the shop this weekend (if hubby is feeling well enough, as he has a cold currently).

until later,

Jenny