Luminous Berries and Art Life Updates

Luminous Berry

5 x 5 watercolor on paper

click here to purchase

For the last several months painting has constantly been on my mind. I dream up ideas for future paintings, my hands itch to hold a brush, and I try to figure out how to get 26 hours out of each day, or require less than 5 hours of sleep at night, so I can get more painting time.

Since the new year came and the holidays are gone for another year (YASSS) I made a promise to myself that I would paint every day. If only for 15 minutes. Well. . . . I haven't kept that promise. Some days I just can't make it to paint. Which IS frustrating. BUT on the positive side I have painted more this month than I did the last six months combined. So I think I'm onto something here.

This painting is the first watercolor daily painting (never mind that it took me about 6 days to finish instead of 1) I've finished in. . . 3 years I think. And I have found a lot of satisfaction in that.

I'm excited to keep on painting, I have SO many ideas sketched out! We'll see how well I do at keeping this blog updated too.

Thanks for following along with my artwork!

Hugs,

Crystal

I is for. . . Iron Man SOLD

'Iron Man' 

4 x 4 inches 

watercolor on paper SOLD

Back to work with my alphabet series. 'I' is for, you guessed it, Iron Man - Lego style. In our house, superheroes and Legos are king. 

I got my kids involved with this painting, because I could NOT find Iron Man's tiny Lego mask. And well, without his mask he's just Tony Stark, which while Tony Stark is awesome, he is not quite as awesome as Iron Man. ;) Also Tony starts with a T. ;)

So, we took a bunch of photos of all different kinds of Lego guys, Batman and Catwoman, Storm Troopers and Jedis, and the riders of Rohan and the Uruk Hai army. Not sure that I'll get to painting all of them, but it was a lot of fun. And I organized all the Legos while we were at it for about the hundredth time. Let's hope they stay that way for more than a month.  

We've got a bunch of home improvement projects going on right now, and I am loaded with commissions (a good thing :) so I may need to take a break from this series for a little while, but I'll be back to it for sure. Hopefully soon because it is a lot of fun. 

Huzzah to you my friends! May your week be filled with cupcakes and acts of superheroism! 

Listening to: "The Ballad of John Henry" by Joe Bonamassa

Reading: The Unwanteds

Watching: Supernatural reruns

Snacking on: half baked, fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies

Drinking: diet Coke with lime 

Grapelight - G is for Grape

'Grapelight' 

5 x 7 inches 

colored pencil on Ampersand Pastelbord

$100 plus $7 US shipping/$15 International

Every time I do a colored pencil piece I have a series of conflicting feelings: 

1. (Infatuated beginning) "This is SO much fun! Why don't I do these more often? I can't wait to do more. I want to do a pony, and a puppy, and some glass bottles, and some orange slices, and some shiny ribbon, etc. etc. etc." *manic grin*

2. (Midway through) *sigh* "This is taking forever. I want to be done. Maybe I'll just call it done. No wait, I can't because I've already spent like forever working on this." *sigh* "And I'm all out of cookies." *heavy sigh* 

3. (Almost done) "Almost done! Huzzah!!!" *lackluster fist pump*

4. (All done) "I am never doing one of these again. Never." *takes bite out of cookie* *thoughtful gazing at finished piece which I'm very proud of even though my fingers are totally sore now from pressing so hard* "Well. . . maybe not for a few days at least."

In other words, it's something like this: 

This is G for grape in my alphabet series.

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends!! :D

Juicies SOLD

 'Juicies'  SOLD

4 x 6 inches 

watercolor on paper

So. I've decided that this painting needs a home to love him. This was one of my favorite still life's that I've painted. I just LOVE the color of the oranges and the shadows. And the light. Of course. It's always about the light. 

I think I need to paint some more backlit fruit since it's nearly summer and all. :)

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Prisms and a pep talk

'Prisms' 

5 x 7 inches oil on masonite

$65 plus $7 US shipping, or $15 International

Revisiting my favorite glass bottles again, this time in oils. The bottle on the left is clear glass but for some reason I saw lots of purple and warm reds in the glass. I don't know what it could be reflecting, unless maybe I was wearing a pink shirt again, which is actually very likely. :) 

In other news, my son came home from school the other day dying to show me this youtube video he had seen in school. So we watched it. And watched it again. And again. It is SO awesome and inspiring. So here I am sharing it with you in case you need some motivation on a Thursday (because really Monday's aren't the only days we need it right?). 

Enjoy, a pep talk from Kid President. Huzzah!! :)

Bird's Eye Bottles

'Bird's Eye Bottles' 

6 x 9 inches, watercolor and gouache on paper

$100 plus $7 US shipping, or $15 International

This is another painting that I started last spring then abandoned later on. I started painting this as a demo at an 'artist's night' at our local high school. I brought a bunch of my paintings and several of my sketchbooks and there were a lot of kids that just loved art that stopped by to talk to me.

My sketchbooks seemed to be a big hit with them, I think they really liked seeing the less than perfect scribbles and drawings. I don't even show you guys those. ;) But I felt like it was important for young artists to see that not every painting or drawing will be as good as you want or try for it to be, and that's okay. 

That's how this job works, we are always striving to be better than we are today so naturally some of what we do will fall short. Especially in sketchbooks, which by their nature are meant to be quick studies, and charmingly imperfect. At least that's what I tell myself. ;)

These are some of those bottles that I showed you a photo of that are sitting in my living room on a shelf. I saw these two at a book store that also sold some small home decor items. They are made by hand, so the glass is thicker, and their shape isn't machine perfect. Which is what makes me love them so much. I think I'll be painting them more. I definitely want to try them in colored pencil next. 

I thought it would be kind of fun to show these very translucent glass bottles against an opaque gouache background. I like the contrast between those two, I think it really makes the transparent watercolors glow.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a happy St. Patty's day! I'm planning a fun green dinner for my kids that night as we speak. :)

Juicies

'Juicies'

4" x 6" watercolor on paper

$50 plus $7 US shipping or $15 Int.

 

Sometimes I just feel like painting a still life. Not very often, but sometimes. :)

 

My sons love these little Clementines that come into the stores around Christmas time. I think it's partly because they are yummy but also because they are little and cute. My now four year old boy insists on eating them because he can peel them himself. :)

 

And I just want to say thank you, so much, for all of you who visit this blog, whether you comment or not (but if you do take the time to comment here's an extra *hug* for you). Your support and kindness means so much to me. More than I can say. I try to reply to comments or questions but it may take me a while if I get behind (which, if I'm being honest, is pretty much all the time).

 

Just want you all to know how much I appreciate you. Every single one of you. :) Have a great day everyone!

Jingle Jingle Jingle SOLD

'Sleigh Bells Ring' SOLD

5" x 7" watercolor

click here to bid

I remember sitting in the elementary school's library, when I was about seven years old, in this little circular seating area, and listening to the librarian read 'The Polar Express' by Chris Van Allsburg for the first time. I was captivated. I don't think I moved during that entire story time.

I LOVED that book. I loved the whole idea of being taken to the North Pole on Christmas Eve on the Polar Express, listening to the wolves howl outside the train, tasting the rich, hot chocolate on the ride up there, and of course the chance of being chosen by Santa to receive the first gift of Christmas. 

And the thing I think I wanted for Christmas the most that year was one sleigh bell. A real one from Santa's sleigh, preferrably from Dasher's own harness (who was my favorite reindeer). 

On Christmas morning I was thrilled to see that one small present under the tree that I knew had to be a jingle bell from Santa's sleigh. When I opened it and saw the small silver bell inside, and held it to my ear to hear it's soft jingle, I knew that Santa had come through for me. Christmas was magic.

And now that I'm grown up and I get to see Christmas through my boys' eyes it still is. More so now than it ever was. :)

P.S. I think I am developing alarming magpie-like tendencies as I hunt down every shiny and reflective object I can find just so I can paint them. I feel like that dog from 'Up' who kept shouting 'Squirrel!' only instead of squirrel it's 'Shiny!'  :)

See you later friends. Huzzah!!

Dragon vs. Heffalump SOLD

Dragon vs. Heffalump

6" x 6" watercolor

SOLD

I had to paint the Heffalump again*. He's starting to act a little diva-ish, demanding that I paint him. Even when I told him I was going to put him in a face off with this fierce dragon, he still wanted to pose.

I don't think he realized what he was in for. I mean look at that face! So clueless, so trusting. Poor little guy.

But I must admit that I underestimated this little Heffalump. In a classic case of the victorious underdog, he defeated the dragon. Killed him with kindness I guess you could say. Well not really killed since the dragon did live to see another day, but a defeat just the same!

They seemed to reach an agreement without having to exchange blows (phew! I did not want to explain to my son why his Heffalump was suddenly sporting a black eye. . . or worse). Heffalump said he would not give Dragon that cute look anymore as long as Dragon promised to end his evil-attempted-maiden-eating days and use his mighty powers for good instead.

 Dragon agreed. . . somewhat reluctantly. :)

* A few side notes about this painting:

1. I am a sucker for dragons (expect to see a little more of this guy).

2. I am also a sucker for a good vs. evil story. Especially when the evil one decides to fight his dragonish (vampir-ish, Severus Snape-ish, zombie-ish, etc.) ways and chooses to be good.

3. I've been struggling with feelings of inadequacy with my paintings lately. It seems like everything I touch just doesn't measure up! *Sigh* Frustrating and demoralizing is what it is. I thought a fun little painting might help with that. :) I know this will pass, it always does. Nevah give up! Huzzah!  

Have a great loooong weekend everyone. :D 

Beauty Inside SOLD

Beauty Inside SOLD

6" x 6" watercolor

click here to bid

Kiwi's are ugly little beasts aren't they? Well, at least on the outside. I wonder what in the world possessed the first person to slice that hairy brown *thing* up and take a peek?

 Hunger induced madness? Pending zombie apocalypse? Or just plain old curiosity?

I don't know, but I would have loved to have seen the look on their face when they saw the beauty trapped inside. Because they are beautiful once you slice them open.

Jewel bright and shining with all those lovely unorganized, yet sort of organized black seeds. And that gorgeous semi-transparency that lets sunlight flood in and just sparkle and glow.

*sigh*

Yessss, precioussss. The inside of a kiwi is very pretty indeed.

This is technically my first official still life*. And I rather like it. It was a lot of fun to do and I can see the value in painting subjects that I don't paint very often. It forced me to do some experimenting with color mixing and value.

And probably most important, it gave me a chance to really push myself and see how much drama and interest I could come up with when painting something other than a human face.

So, keep an eye out for future still lifes from me. I'm already thinking of what I should paint next. Ideas anyone? ;)

* I credit two artists for inspiring me with a desire to paint a still life. The first, Kim Rempel, for her lovely brushwork, exciting color combinations, simple-yet-striking composition, and her ability to turn something very ordinary into a thing of beauty. And the second, Carol Marine, for much of the same things that I admire about Kim's work. This painting was created in Carol's honor for her birthday at the Daily Paintworks Challenge.