Soo.. I promise some videos are coming! As you know, we have moved out to a new house.. (the new old house).. and with moving into a "older" home and out in the country.. we are experiencing some technical difficulties with our internet! SWEEET!! lol.
We have internet out in our warehouse.. which is on the back of our property.. and we thought we could just use it in our house as well. All connect into the same line. BUT it appears that while we can (and it's even a hard line into the wall???).. it is super sketchy and cuts out ALL the time! We only get wireless in ONE room of our house.. and so yea it's a pain right now. My problem is, I can't seem to get a connection in my office (which off of my bedroom) to last long enough to upload a entire video.. SOO we are working on that! Hopefully it will be fixed THIS week!
In the MEANTIME.. I thought it would be fun to share a little art project I did a few weeks ago, at the art retreat I hosted here at my house! While I LOVE painting girls (and they are my first love).. I also really love creating what I call Abstract art. it's probably not so abstract.. but you know.. I like to make up words to mean what I need them to mean lol. SO to me I call them abstract :).
There are a couple of things I love about painting with this technique.. one.. i can paint REALLY large and it doesn't intimidate me!
This painting is a 3' by 4' deep edge canvas. Not the largest I have created.. but still SUPER fun!
The other thing I LOVE about painting this way is that it involves creating a TON with the background.. and usually on a girl, you have to stop at a certain point and go.. okay this is enough.. if I do anymore, it will be WAY too busy.
But with this background, you can keep going and going.. adding more detail and more layers and more depth.. because for ME (and I know there are a lot of artists who paint this way and don't like to add the detail as much as I do).. but for me.. oh goodness I love all the little pockets of goodness that shine through..after the painting is done.
What I also love is that I don't really need to know before hand what it is I am going to create in the final project!! It could be flowers, it could be a large sun, it could be a large symbol of some sort (like a butterfly or a heart with wings).
here, after I was done playing and having fun with the background, i decided to go with a sort of flower look with fun little stems and words coming off the stems.
really the ideas are endless with this method. I know with some people, they like to look at the background and see what the background looks like and create shapes based on what they see.. but for me.. I really like just creating designs that make me happy!
It's a really fun way of painting, that doesn't require a whole lot of thought process in the beginning. It's just fun and relaxing and honestly a way to just relax when you are stuck on a more structured painting like a girl or a house or something else.
I also LOVE using spray paint and stencils with this background method.. even modeling paste. Its like taking all the things i do with a regular background for a girl and magnifying it times 10! it's backgrounds on crack lol. and it's SUPER fun.
Of course I LOVE the end process as well, not only coming up with the designing but going back in and adding details with rubons, and stamps, and my trust Scarlet Lime Doodle pen (um hello.. i can't resist using those on a canvas).
this little cutie is heading on it's way to a dear friend, Liz Eaton, who was responsible for gathering her sisters and mom to come to the retreat. Those girls were SO much fun and when I got done with it. I KNEW it had to be hers.. so I am sending it to her this week! Which is great because it makes room for me to paint another one for my house or art studio!
They honestly make awesome gifts for friends and family. NO one expects it and its so personal and different! Unique in every way!
So.. I just thought I would share this with you!
I plan on doing an online workshop this fall .. so watch for it! AND SPEAKING of online workshops I have two I will be announcing SOON! One that starts in just a few weeks.. and it's something different, something fun.. something SUPER hot right now.. (it has to do with Chalk.. and hand lettering.. and even a SPIN on canvas! ) Oh you are going to LOVE it! I will be announcing it NEXT monday!
Hope you have a HAPPY tuesdsay!
xxoxo
I love that!!! Will this be the topic of your fall workshop?
Posted by: Susan Reaney | July 30, 2013 at 01:05 PM
words cant explain!!
Posted by: liz eaton | July 30, 2013 at 01:05 PM
I love this. As usual you are so inspirational. It keeps me going. Thank you.
Posted by: Lisa reed | July 30, 2013 at 12:54 PM
fun fun!
love you!
m.
Posted by: margie romney-aslett | July 30, 2013 at 12:36 PM
Love it!! Did you use a white pen or just paint (if you used a pen which one). I think I could even do this. I make great backgrounds, but not very good with the foreground. Thanks for always sharing!
Posted by: Patti | July 30, 2013 at 12:10 PM
Beautiful work and I can't wait to see what your new workshops are going to be!
Posted by: Megan Hare | July 30, 2013 at 12:05 PM