A few new ones...

Here are the latest! I've been working on a HUGE commission, so I haven't been able to get a lot more done for EBay.

~ Site of the Day ~

Learn a foreign language!

www.languageguide.org

 

 

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

A few new ones...

Click on each picture to go to Ebay!

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

I babysat a Chihuahua

Look who I got to babysit today! This is my next door neighbor's chihuahua puppy. You will be seeing this as a painting soon!

Sadie is not impressed with her new visitor, who is rudely eating HER food.

Here's another painting in progress!!!!

First Wash

2nd Wash

3rd wash - Notice I made the foreground grass darker than the background grass. I chose a really dark background to emphasize the graceful curves of the horses' backs.

This painting just didn't look right for a long time, and I finally figured it out. I needed to make the shadows darker to give more definition to the horses. This is called tone, which is how light or dark something is. Tone is THE most important part of a painting to make it look realistic. I had to fiddle with the tones a lot with this painting. Since it's a white horse, it was tricking me into thinking I needed to leave the horse light. But even white horses have shadows! So I kept darkening until he looked right.

 

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Work in Progress "Arab Galloping"

I've started something new! For select paintings, I'll be donating part of the proceeds to a charity that serves the subject of the art.

I decided to paint this horse because of the beautiful light. A painting always needs a hook, whether it's good light, an interesting pattern, beautiful color, or a compelling subject. Hopefully, it will have a few of these elements! Here I've put in the first wash. To get beautifully rippling muscles, I wet the whole horse, then float in paint the consistency of cream. You've really have to get a feel for this, because if the paper is too wet, the color will spread everywhere, and if the paper is too dry, the paint will not get those nice soft edges.

That green stuff is called masking. It's like a liquid plastic, and I put it on areas that I want to keep white. After I apply it, I allow it to dry, and then I can paint over areas that will stay light. In this painting, I used it to make light hairs in the mane. Here I've added the next wash of dark.

I've taken the mask off and refined the mane. I didn't like that light band of purple on his cheek; it leads the eye away from the area of interest in the painting, which is the eye area. Next I talk more about how an artist paints so that the eye is led around the painting and towards the area of interest.

What makes this painting work? The negative space around the horse has a pleasing composition. (See an earlier blog to learn about negative space). Each part is a different shape and size. The light is striking. And, the way it's been composed leads the eye to the point of interest, the eye. That's why I've put the most contrast and detail in this area. Notice above his back, I've made the background lighter, so that it does not contrast too much and lead your eye there for too long. A well composed painting leads your eye around the painting through the use of contrast, detail, line, and color with the resting spot the area of interest. The path is circular in this painting. It starts at the eye, and then the lines of the mane lead you down the neck. The mane then points down, and then you come full circle by coming back up the muzzle to the eye again. Click on the painting to go to Ebay.

The lines of the Arab make for a great painting subject. Look at those subtle curves on his face!

Here are a couple more I finished today...

 

 

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Blooming Sunflowers!

My sunflowers are blooming like crazy - all of them have at least four buds each!

Here are the latest - click on each to go to Ebay!

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

New Offerings!

Hello Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I finished up a couple commissions and enjoyed my company from France. Below are some new offerings - just click on them to go to their Ebay page!

 

This is a commission I finished this weekend

 

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

I got french kissed!

I had a visitor from France today. I am a member of a website where you register your information, then people traveling in your area can email you and ask to stay with you. Of course, you can do the same when you're traveling. So I got to meet Nathalie. She's from France and studying to get her masters in education.

 

I added some greeting cards to my cafepress store. Click to go see them!

~ Site of the Day ~

kittenwar.com

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

In Good Company

Wow, I had a great response to my little contest. We'll have to do that more often. It was really wonderful to get email from the members I don't hear from as often! I worked on a siamese cat painting all day. Last night I finished this fresh little painting of the horses. I love this loose, expressive style. You can almost feel the fresh summer day! See below for some new prices on originals and a really cute site of the day. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful weekend!

Click on the painting to go to its Ebay page.

 

This consumed most of my day! (They were really wonderful company) Click here for a print.

 

Check out a few new prices...

$100

$350

~ Site of the Day ~

http://catsinsinks.com/

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

"Inky"

Rachel's Studio members, let's have some fun! The first person who emails me with the misspelled word in TODAY'S blog gets a free print of their choice. The rest who respond with the correct answer will get $5 off their next order. Just be sure to remind me.

I've updated my Cafepress store, so take a peek. I have a bunch of 16 x 20 posters available now that you may enjoy.

http://www.cafepress.com/rachels_studio

I also made a t-shirt for myself. Click on it to see a larger version.

 

Here's a little painting I finished last night. Click for Ebay.

~ Work in Progress ~

I worked on another commission today - his name is Inky.

This is called the first wash. I lay in the lightest colors first.

One of many muses - Her tongue matches my toes!

More about pinting...

Complimentary colors are an important concept to understand for an artist. A complimentary color is the opposite of another color. For example, red is the complimentary color of green. Why? Because red is the one primary color not contained in green, which is made of yellow and blue. Complimentary colors are important for an artist to understand because a color can be made to look brighter when placed near its complimentary color. I used red highlights in this painting to make the cat's eyes appear brighter.

 

~ Site of the Day ~

http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/

Visit me website at www.rachelsstudio.com

Sunflower in Oil

I worked on an oil painting today. I thought some of you might like to learn about what makes a painting good, so below are a few comments about how I designed this particular piece.

About composition: It is good to have a part of the picture
touching the sides of your painting; this anchors it.

 

The design of the negative space is just as important as the positive. In this painting, the negative space would be the dark part, and the positive is the flower. It's important to make sure your negative spaces are different shapes, and that those shapes are interesting. How'd I do? (Check the one below)

 

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Commissions Galore!

All of a sudden I have four commissions to paint, so I haven't been able to do a lot for Ebay. But here's one; click on it to go to Ebay.

"Window Treatment"

Here's a commission I finished - it's for my artist friend Michel
(click here to check out her website)

I woke up at 4:30 this morning for some reason, so I decided
to go take pictures of the sunrise at the beach. Here are a few...

I always wanted to have long legs!! (I'm 5'1)

 

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com