Sketchbooks, Bunnies and What I'm Reading

8 1/2 x 11" sketchbook
acrylic, colored pencil and pitt pen

 It feels like vacation right now.  I am not painting anything intended for the gallery or my Etsy shop...I'm just working when I feel like it in my sketchbooks.  I never did finish the sketch in my last post.  The children looked sweet as they were so I left them alone.  Leaving things alone is good practice for me because I often keep painting to the point where I wish I would have left it alone. :)

sketchbook sweeties
tiny sketches in a tiny Moleskin
 graphite pencil 

Lately my practice is to stop in the middle of the day and do a quick tiny sketch like these sketches in my sweetie book (the tiny Moleskin).  It goes like this...start some laundry, do a sketch,  wash the dishes, do a sketch...and so on.  My favorite time to sketch these little ones is at night because that's when I'm too tired to do anything else.  It's like saying your prayers at night...only with pencil instead of words.

sketchbook sweeties
tinted charcoal left
graphite pencil right

In 2010 my husband and I went to the Kansas State Fair and I took a multitude of photographs of prize bunnies.  I had every intention to paint them, but never did.  Well, recently I've been thinking a lot about these bunnies and decided to sketch one.  That's him on the right and he turned out pretty cute.  Maybe I will paint bunnies some day.  But for now, I feel like sketching and experimenting in my sketchbooks...

What I'm reading

...and reading this book.  It was sent to me by a generous blog friend and it is a good read.  It has a lot of great insights for us blogging/tweeting/facebooking artists who share our stuff every day.  This is an easy read and I recommend it if you are interested in being more in-the-know about sharing your work in a way that is effective and interesting for others.  I wish this book had been around in 2011 when I started my blog.  I would have included fewer photos of my feet.

I hope you have a great weekend!  Thank you hugely and muchly for your visits and comments!

♥ Lisa

Millie's Midnight Sanctuary

Millie's Midnight Sanctuary
mixed media on 9 x 12 inch birch panel
available here

This makes number 90 out of the available paintings and drawings I have in my Etsy shop.  Ninety!   That's my cue.  My cue to take a break.  I am hitting the sketchbooks for a while.  I am going to create just for the sake of it and I know it's going to feel great!  

Millie was based on one of my sketchbook sweeties...tiny sketches in a tiny Moleskin. I really liked the long sort of messy hair in the sketch, but in the painting it just didn't work.  So I sanded it off and there was the happy accident of the headpiece.  It just seemed to go perfectly with her lacy gown.

For the detailing I used a white Gelly Roll  pen that you can buy just about anywhere.  I love these pens and use them a lot in my art.

Millie as a sketchbook sweetie

Wishing you all the happiest of weekends.  Maybe I'll be back Monday with some fun sketchbook work.  Thank you for your visits and comments...they mean so much. 

Casa

Casa
9 x 12 inch acrylic on paper
available here

I don't always sketch my paintings out prior to starting, but this one I did.  I used two different photos...one of a woman seated on a porch and the the other of a woman standing.  I combined them to make one composition, so it was important to get them sketched out beforehand.  

The kitties were added for interest. 

:)

What's With the Chairs?

Chair Number 8
oil on 4 x 6 inch paper
available here

I am not sure I can answer that question.  

Chair Number 9
oil on 4 x 6 inch paper
available here

There's just something about them.

These are quite fun to do.  I have been layering on acrylic paint first which acts like gesso that you would use to prep the paper before using oil on it.  It acts as a nice protective barrier for the oil, but it also adds color.  Any color.  Which means the possibilities are so endless.  This series could be endless. We will see.

I have two more chairs drying and a couple of other figurative pieces to show you next.
Until then...

♥Lisa

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

Couches and Color Palette Studies

acrylic in 5 x 7 inch sketchbook

I get the Pottery Barn catalog in the mail.  I can't afford to buy too many things from there, but their beautiful rooms full of pretty furnishings sure do provide a source of inspiration.

I think couches have their charm just as much as chairs do.  As it turns out, they are just as fun to paint.

The other night I spent an hour and half just mixing colors and then writing them down.  That is how I came up with the colors in this couch sketch.  I have never taken the time to really study color that way and right away I could see the benefits of doing it.  You can see the colors I mixed in the photo below...seven colors in all...kind of an odd combination.  When I painted the couch, I just referred to my chart and it saved a lot of time because I knew ahead of time what colors were going to go where and how to mix them.  

I knew I could do this, but I have been too lazy to spend the time.  However, after the ease of the sketch, I will be making more color charts from now on to help with future paintings.

color study in a sketchbook

A few weeks ago I watched Paul Taggart's video on basic color mixing.  I painted the below painting using the primary colors he uses in the video.  The colors did seem to provide more cohesiveness in the painting.  

Bird painting using Paul Taggart's color mixing lesson
acrylic and oil on 9 x 12 inch paper

Interesting stuff this color mixing business is.

What are you working on?

Pull up a Chair

SOLD

Hello friends!  How have you all been?  It's been a while.

Pull up a chair and let's have a chat.

SOLD

After you tell me what you've been doing...

SOLD

I will tell you what I have been doing...which is celebrating my mother's 80th birthday with lots of family...

...and stocking my Etsy shop with these chairs.

I am looking forward to making more of these...all 4 x 6 inch acrylic and oil on paper. Addiction!

Hope you are all well...see you soon!