barn painting

this piece was close to my heart.  my brother commissioned a painting of our childhood barn.  the one i played in during my growing-up years.  my childhood on the farm was magical, and i wanted to put that magic on the canvas for him.

my big sis and i with our pup, becky, in the barn

normally i don't paint commission work and that fact showed up in communication problems, anxiety, sleepless nights, and the amount of antacids i consumed.  my husband was my rock during some freak-out moments, talking me down many times.  i just want people to be happy, and my perfectionistic ways override the joy i feel when in the middle of my work.  as long as i was in the zone i was fine.  once back into mundane land i was a wreck.  i think i will continue painting for myself, and if someone loves a painting so much they want the original instead of a print i may sell it to them.

back in the old days

i decided to condense our farm into the canvas.  many, many acres of well loved land are depicted where we would not normally see it all.  i sketched in the back pasture, the river where i used to wade and have 'boat races' with pieces of wood the family hammered together, and our little farm road that goes to the back fields.

then i started painting the underpainting and background layers.

many layers and hours later and we are at completion!

to make this artwork even more magical for my brother, i included a word from a poetry book our dad wrote way back when, called "cape cod moods".  the word i chose to include was "peace".  i clipped it from one of the copies i have stashed, and included it in the clouds.

i brought the painting up to the living room to sit with it, just to make sure it was done-done, and pixel kitty gave it two paws up;

this is such an important painting to me.  i know my brother will cherish it for a lifetime, as it holds our childhood memories and our dads view of heaven on earth.

now to paint one for myself!

until later,
jenny

this and that

still working on my 21emBODY challenge where we celebrate our body with a painting for 21 days.

i left you with the unfinished back from march 8th;

i've since called it done;

march 9th was bones;

this one fought me till i called quits

march 10th was hands;

march 11th was feet.  i was gone most of the day, so did a quick sketch the night before thinking i'd paint the next day.  turns out the next day was just as full, so i let myself off the hook as far as painting.

march 12th was arms;

and yesterday was eyes.  i did it today.  i don't know what i was doing, i just went with it.  turned out kind of creepy, but thats ok.  i'm thinking dots are in order.

over the weekend my brother came to me with a commission on his mind!  he wants me to paint our childhood barn for his house, and i'm happy to oblige, as it's one of my favorite subjects.  i think i will be painting versions of our barn for years to come!  some of you might remember the mini i put onto my shop a bit ago. 

that was my first go at the barn on canvas, and it was credit card sized.  this one is going to be H.U.G.E and i can't wait to get my hands painty with it!  i'm waiting for the delivery of the canvas, but in the meantime i will hunt for more photos of the barn.  it had pine trees in front, in different states of maturity thru the years.  i also want the background in this painting to be more like our little valley, and might have to paint some of our beloved critters frolicking in the pasture.

i'm also getting more involved in sketching the face in preparation for doing more portraits.  the many classes i'm taking this year are so inspiring and i'm learning so much.  i've got a way to go, but i've come so far in the 2 years that i've been seriously painting.

here is the sketch i did yesterday of my granddaughter, serenity;

and with the photo reference;

it's off, but i can live with it for a first attempt

today's another big storm day.  supposed to get hammered by the snow gods with 12-24 inches!  the man is home from work and doing his snow-blowing duties today.   i've made some banana bread and will be making some spaghetti squash casserole.  i may paint, i may sketch, i may plan, or i may just watch movies all day.  who knows what a snow-day holds!

until later,

jenny

zebra love goes home!

a while ago i posted about getting my first commission, but i don't recall if i posted about the second one that came in at the same time.  if not, here is the news again.

this is to be for a young family with a soon to be baby boy.  i have known cassie, the mommy to be, for her whole life.  literally.  cassies mom, nancy, and i were room mates in the hospital after having our babies!    nancy and i have been best friends since that day, the connection was so strong.  cassie is like a daughter and friend all wrapped up into one for me, and now i was being commissioned to paint something for her new baby boy.  talk about honored!

the new nursery is a 'jungle theme' with monkeys, trees, and a giraffe mural painted on the walls, and they thought maybe a lion or zebra would go well.  i had an idea for a painting i had wanted to try, a pose that one of our childhood ponys had in a photo, so i asked cassie if that would work and she agreed.

* unfortunately i think i trashed my scanned photo of the pony while cleaning out my completed paintings reference photos.  and i'll never find it in my non-organized photos.  so...  imagine a very closely cropped photo of a shaggy little pony sticking it's nose close to the camera and you get the idea.  basically just a photo of his face very close, with little body showing.

i went to work sketching and planning and painting and painting over, and re-sketching, and head-scratching.  i was going on multiple reference photos- my photo of the pony and several zebra photos- as i couldn't find one that had one looking the way i wanted it to look.

i wanted the zebra to be more prominent on the canvas, 
but making the proportions right was tricky

getting more color and texture on the canvas around the zebra

the head was coming out just the way i wanted
 notice the hearts in the eyes

but the body was too long

so, i scrapped this canvas, as the background is india inks and painting over the zebra would be too noticeable.  on to zebra 2.0...

much better proportions

because i had to ruthlessly delete from both my phone and my computer to gain space, you just get the finished painting instead of progress and close-ups of his wonderful brown eyes and texture photos that i like to add...  cause, it's me, and i like close-ups of texture. 

introducing, "zebra love"

i hope Cassie, Jon, and soon-to-be born Blake have many years of enjoyment playing while zebra watches from the wall.  

until later,

jenny

healing hands to a new home!

my first commission made it's journey to it's new home today!

this was to be a birthday surprise for a young man who does healing work and wishes to do more in this field of work.  i had a sketch i had done earlier and my client agreed that it would be a good basis for the painting for him.

i had an idea for the energies and wanted the background to be fluid like the energy was to be, so i started with my india inks in greens and blues.

the only progress photo 

i blew some inks in the energy colors around the canvas where i wanted the energy to be, then got the hands down in acrylics, and added more inks on top so the energy would be going around the hands.  i also scratched the word 'heal' into the acrylic on the top arm, and i am happy with the result.

i struggled with the skin tones for a bit, but i am so pleased that i was able to get the result i was after.  and lastly i was concerned when i looked at the painting from across the room that it looked like it all blended into one shape, so i outlined the hands with charcoal and that brought it out the way i had hoped it would.

prints are up in the shop

i'm so pleased that the birthday boy is happy with the result, and i wish him success in his journey.  i hope the painting blesses him in his path.

until later,
jenny

sketching and dreaming

i have so many ideas in my head lately and a list of paintings i want to accomplish soon.  of course i have two commissions that need to happen, but these are for my down times.  this weekend i will be picking up an appropriate size canvas for one of my commissions then i will be working both at once.  exciting times!

i'm getting more 'likes' on the paintings that are up for sale in my society6 shop, and those are important!  mark and i have been going to the "new art" page and have never seen my artwork posted.  it seems your art needs a certain amount of likes or "promoters" in order for them to be put up on the front pages for all to see.  it doesn't matter how many artworks i have in my shop, or how many items i have sold, it matters if those artworks have been noticed and promoted by others.  i have put a call to my Facebook friends, and i ask you to check out my work and if you have an account to 'like' the art that speaks to you.  and, maybe make an account if you don't have one and do the same if called to do so.  it would mean so much to me to be seen on those 'new art' pages!  it's so easy to get lost in all the art out there and this would be a huge stepping stone, especially since it's my only platform to sell my art currently.  one of these days i'll try to step out and try my hand at an art show, but until i get the merchandise to sell, (which is another story altogether, and i have ideas!) this is it.

i'm still working away at some long lost art that called me back, and i have put the final touches on a couple of big pieces, and a mini canvas.  those minis are calling to me again!

my moon goddess received a little tending 

and will be up in the store soon

and my newest mini

"dreaming of a starry night"

and i have ideas about a frida canvas and an "afghan girl" canvas, which i sketched out quickly this morning.  she will need some tweaking here and there, but it's a good start;

until later,

jenny

big things brewing

i can feel it happening.  it's coming together, people are interested in my art, and the shift is upon me!  mark and i worked on designing my business cards and i think it's time we just get them made.

i received my tote bag the other day, and i have a feeling more people will be asking for my information when i'm out and about with it

this is the medium one!

this morning i woke to a commission!  this will be the first one i have accepted, and i'm a bundle of nerves.  the client is someone i know and love dearly, and she asked my opinion about what subject would be best for the situation she spoke about.  i already had an idea in mind and asked her if she thought it would fit and she agreed it would.  i'm excited to get to work on this painting, which won't be posted until later.  she wanted the original, which is such an honor.   this weekend i need to buy a canvas in the correct size.  i also need a good, small paintbrush.  yay for shopping!

a few hours after getting the good news about my commission, mark called me on his way to work.  he told me that while he stopped to get his lunch at our grocery store in town he spoke to the cashier and she told him that she heard a hobby lobby will be coming soon to the plaza!  thats good news and very dangerous news, hehehe.  mark told her that his wife is a painter and she sounded interested so he gave her my information!

yep.  time for business cards!

since i don't yet have a canvas to start my new painting i guess that means i must start working on my octopus eye.  i've been adding to the coral reef, but have been procrastinating on the eye.

adore the colors and texture in the coral!

time to grit my teeth and get to work!

until later,
jenny