A Change in Blogging Attitude and How Meridian Fields Finally Dried

Meridian Fields
oil and cold wax
9 x 12 inch panel
purchase here

There is a beautiful farm close to where I live here in Kansas and one day as the sun was setting, the field was all aglow.  I turned my car around, parked, and took a picture and that photo was my guide for this painting.  Of course the red-headed figure was not there, she is just my own added touch to the scene.  Perhaps the farmer's wife?  

I have shared this painting before...seems like many moons ago and it is finally dry.  I think it had something to do with the cold wax to paint ratio?  I am not sure, but the final result made me very happy.

To my fellow blog friends
Life is throwing some curveballs lately which is the reason for my absence from your blogs.  I know we don't owe each other apologies for such things, but I wanted you to know there are reasons. Not to worry, all is okay with me and my family.  However, I am not feeling as free to share personal things on the internet anymore for various reasons.  I have shared much in the past, and I figured many of you that know me through this blog might take notice of this change.  Please know I am the same old Lisa...I care about you and I care that you care about me.  I fear coming across on my blog as cold or as some sort of painting robot, but it seems necessary to just stick to artwork here from now on. I will aim to still be personable...just without the personal...if that makes sense.  Thank you in advance for understanding my change of pace here.

In gratitude for you my friends,

♥Lisa

At Evening's End

At Evening's End
16 x 20 inch oil on canvas panel
SOLD

This painting was in the works for so long, I can't remember when I started it.  It is a very detailed work for my lack of artistic ability, but I am patting myself on the back because I had some specific visions and they came to be.  To begin with I wanted to paint a scene in a room because that is what my next exhibit is going to be called...Rooms.  I also wanted a fireplace in the scene and from that point everything else sort of happened. The figures revealed themselves as I painted.  As the figure on the left appeared I thought "why not make this one a man?" and there you have it.  Their story is up for discussion.

At Evening's End
detail

The picture hanging on the wall was originally a landscape painting, but then I thought it would be more interesting to make it a portrait of this couple.

At Evening's End
detail

 This chair beneath their portrait was added at the very last.  One chair just didn't make sense. I made the pillows blue...they sort of fight with all the earth tones in the rest of the painting, but something about the pop of color worked in my opinion.  The pillows could have been any color with any pattern, it was hard to decide which way to go. They were more of a black, but I thought they were boring that way.

At Evening's End
detail

 The fireplace was actually pretty easy, which was a pleasant surprise.  I used a knife to smear on the paint in spots which made them look like stone...or at least I think they look like stone.  The wooden mantle, the lantern and the flames in the fireplace were pure luck too.  I looked at images of fire on the internet to help me.

At Evening's End
detail

The hardest part of this painting was the man.  I don't paint many men and for a long time his figure and his face looked very feminine.  When I smeared light blue on his face to create sort of razor stubble I said "ah ha!", then broadened his shoulders and voila...a man...a dude!

At Evening's End
detail

The woman was the easy part...at least this one was.  However trying to create wrinkles and light where her thumb is indenting the pillow was impossible and I gave up on it.  I even took a picture of my own hand grasping a pillow to use as a reference, but I think the small area I was painting in made it too difficult.  

There is something special to me about this painting and it makes me kind of sad to think of actually selling it, so I might change my mind.

This is one of the oil paintings that needs oiling out because it dried so dully.  I am tempted to just spray it with Kamar varnish which I know will make the colors pop, but it adds so much gloss and I am not sure that's what I want for this piece.  I think somewhere in the middle of high gloss and very matte would be best.   I am open to suggestions if you have any.

I hope you all had a great weekend!  Thank you for visiting!  

Meridian Fields...the Finished Painting Revealed

detail of Meridian Fields while in progress

I am not sure if you remember this image or not...it was a WIP from several posts ago...an oil and cold wax painting.

It is finished now.  It seems to be taking forever to dry...I think it is because of the cold wax.  I can scratch paint off of it rather easily with my fingernail.  I have had to touch up the green grass three times to cover up my scratch marks.

Meridian Fields
oil and cold wax
on 9 x 12 inch gessoed panel
available here

It was inspired by this photo that I took close to home.  The lighting at sunset earlier this fall made these fields glow so beautifully.  

Kansas field
Lisa Graham

Below is some music to go with the art...Eva Cassidy's version of Fields of Gold.

It's a beautiful song that was originally written and performed by Sting.

Have a great start to your week!

♥ Lisa

Small Portraits in Oil

Quiet Manner

oil on 5 x 7 inch paper

available on Etsy

As I have mentioned before, I love working with oil on paper.  These are all 5 x 7" with no border...I painted them laying flat.  I used 140 lb paper which holds up nicely to the oil.  The only thing I don't care for is that they are very dull when they dry, so I spray them with Kamar varnish and that really shines them up.

I have been gluing these small paper works to a firm matte board...also 5x7"... and that makes them so easy to place in a standard frame.  

Blue Wallflower

oil on 5 x 7" paper

available on Etsy

Night in White Satin

oil on 5 x 7" paper

available on Etsy

Since my art show Friday night, I have watched a ton of movies...I think vegging helps the recuperation process.  :)   We spent a lot of time with family this past weekend too.  This week I am hard at work on a commission painting for someone in western U.S.  It is coming along nicely and I will show it soon...I have a long way to go...it's a 30x24".   It is so fun to work on big canvases!  I like small too though, they are easier to store.

Tonight, the newlyweds are coming over for dinner.  We love getting to spend time with them!

Have a great day whatever you are doing!!

Spanish Harlem is Finally Finished!

Spanish Harlem

oil, acrylic, tea bag (the dress) , ink, gel, glaze, oil pastels, Pitt pen

on 24 x 18 x 1.5 inch canvas
SOLD

I have been a painting maniac lately and I probably have about seven paintings I could post, but Spanish Harlem deserves a post all its own because it was a bear-of-a-painting to do.  Lots of lines in the buildings, every little crevice and corner calling for a different tone or value from the other.  Oh how I wish I had this color thing down, but I am self taught and it is what it is.  However, I am happy with it. 

detail of Spanish Harlem

With this painting I learned don't like to work with oils on such a large surface or on canvas.  I prefer oil on paper and for right now probably on a surface no larger than a 9 x 12". Oil overwhelms me, which is why this painting came to a screeching halt after the block-in was done.  I have much more control with acrylic and it's so much easier to wipe away mistakes.  However, oil is so blendable and the soft look of them is so pleasing, so I will keep working with those too.   

testing it out on the wall

So that's that.  Done!  

looks so different in outdoor light

Happy Tuesday!  Thank you for all your kind comments and visits.  I love hearing from you and I am doing my best to reciprocate.  Without you, there would be no point to this blog.

♥ Lisa

Bernadette's Bedroom

Bernadette's Bedrrom
11 x 14 inch oil on panel

This is an oil painting I started before I left for North Carolina and it is now finished.  In the beginning the background was just one big curtain, but it seemed so boring so I put in a smaller window and flowered wallpaper.  The carpet design was made by scratching squiggly lines into the paint.  I used a palette knife for the curtains and the bedspread. I thought about putting a vase of flowers or something on the nightstand, but decided to just leave it.  The wonderful thing about painting is you can always change it later if you want to.   I am getting more comfortable with oils the more I use them.  

Close up of Bernadette's Bedroom

My trip to North Carolina with my friends Carol and Kelly was a great time!  One evening, we spent some time drawing and I walked them through the steps of drawing a face with charcoal.  I think they did fabulous!  I really love teaching people how to draw faces, because they always seem to get so into it and really enjoy the process.  

Our drawings:
Carol's, Mine and Kelly's

Every year at our house we throw a July 4th party to celebrate Independence Day and this year we had around 40 people come.  We cooked on the grill, listened to live music...our son plays keyboards for a band and my mother and father in-law have their own 2 person band.  We also watch fireworks and it is so relaxing to sit in a lawn chair and watch our fireworks and all the others around our neighborhood.  Our street is full of families that really like to celebrate so it's quite a show.  I didn't get any photos of the fireworks this year, but here's a great one from last year...

July 4th fireworks at our house

Needless to say, it's been a busy couple of weeks and it will be nice to settle back into a routine and make some art!

See you soon.

♥ Lisa

Oils on Paper and a Quick Question for YOU

Roman Thought
oil on 6 x 8 inch paper

When I am working on the WIP I shared in the last post with the seven little faces and my eyes start to cross, I have to work on something larger.  Can you tell I overcompensated on these faces?  They are HUGE.  It could be my rebellion against the teeny tiny faces, but it could also be that I worked in oils.  Not my forte', but oh they feel marvelous on paper!  These were really quick works too, so don't be surprised if they end up in one of my shops for cheap cheap once they are dry.

                  

Susan Attends Estate Sales
oil and marker on 6 x 8 inch paper

On compositions:  the first painting I used a lovely magazine ad to aid with the layout of the woman, but then went sort of crazy with the flowers and clothes.  On the second painting here, I used my imagination 100%.  I have a thing for houses right now (they are in the background) and I love painting them.  Here I just scratched them into the painting and went over it with a marker very lightly.

QUICK QUESTION (for my blogging friends):  Do you reply to comments via your blog, by email, or not at all?  And why?  I am going back and forth on this one and if you haven't noticed, I haven't been replying at all unless asked a direct question. I have preferred to spend the time visiting blogs, but I fear I am being rude by not responding on the comments on my own blog.  This is an overdue question I know since I've been blogging over a year and half now, but  I would love your feedback...tell me your thoughts.  

           Have a great weekend everyone!
                                    ♥ Lisa                                                                                                                                                                          

Giving Julie's Fracturing Technique a Try

Girl in Striped Scarf
9 x 12 oil on stretched canvas

     Last week Julie Ford Oliver released her video showing the fracturing technique she uses in her oil paintings.  It's such a beautiful effect and something I've wanted to learn more about.  Of course Julie makes it look very easy, but for me it was not. And of course I expected this since Julie is a professional and extremely good at what she does.

  Here's my first attempt at using the fracturing technique...done in oil paints which is not my usual medium of choice, though they are really nice.  I ended up softening her face and not "fracturing" it.  It started out fractured which you will see below, but I messed up and just could not achieve that look again, so I left it soft.

I highly recommend this video if you want to loosen up in your art work or if you just love to learn new things.

Here are some photos to show the process of this painting and the sketch I used to go by.  It was a lot of fun and I want to give this a go with acrylics, though I think it will be a lot harder to do since they dry so fast.  Julie talks about that in her video.

first layer of color

more colors, details and "fractures"

I wish I would have left it at this stage...I like her face, but the background needed work.  I ended up changing the whole thing because I accidentally got paint on her face which of course forced me to change it.

Sketch used
Graphite and Watercolor  on ivory paper