New Painting "Sweeties"

Here is my latest...Click on the painting to bid.

"Sweeties"

~ Site of the Day ~

The cat lovers out there will
love this video...

http://pagentsprogress.com/?p=281

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

Back to work...

Hi everyone! I've been soooo busy getting back to work - for those of you who don't know, I work as a social worker in a middle school. I had my summer off, but now it's time to go back to work. I probably won't be able to post as much on my blog, but I promise I'll do my best to keep up with it. Click on any painting to bid.

I finished this little painting Saturday - I love Friesian horses, and their lines are so elegant.

 

This was a fun little painting I finished Thursday night. Even though I'm working full time now, I'm going to try to at least do a few paintings a week.

 

 

I'm now offering a very limited edition of ten Giclées for "Friesian Thoughts". Giclées are a wonderful way to have a large piece of art work for a fraction of the price of the original.

I couldn't resist the challenges of these bubbles, and capturing the carefree feel of this simple pleasure.

I finished this Sunday, and I LOVE how it came out! I've been itching to do some clouds, and I'm sure I'll do more in the near future. This painting was so much fun to create. Just put down water, drop in paint, and let the clouds create themselves, just like in nature! Who doesn't love painting a piece that creates itself?

I've had this painting for a while, and for some reason just haven't listed it. Enjoy!

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

Giclées of Photographs available!

I have a few new horse and siamese paintings, so enjoy!

I was looking at some of my photos today, wishing I could paint them all, and a thought came to me: why not offer a few as giclée prints? So below is one of my photographs. I would love feedback. What would you rather have (different sizes, color, subjects) I'd love to hear all opinions and thoughts!

 

 

This is a giclée of a picture I took in my garden. I have it listed as 16" x 20" but different sizes and prices are available. It's also available in black and white. Just let me know if you'r einterested in more info.

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

Getting ready for Prevent Child Abuse auction!

I haven't had too many new originals for Ebay since I've been working on paintings for an event for Prevent Child Abuse South Carolina. This will be an art silent auction, so I'll let you know how it goes! Just click on each image if interested in more info.

These two paintings of children are for the auction. If they don't sell you'll see them on Ebay!

 

 

This is a commission I just finished...

 

~ Site(s) of the Day ~

(Warning - some people do a bit of swearing when they realize what's going on in these videos!)

www.longawkwardpose.com

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

New Work...

I decided that it would be fun to do a larger painting of a horse, so I chose one of my favorite breeds, the Friesian. Bred to carry knights into battle and parade nobles about their domains, this is a romantic steed. This painting is available as a giclée, print, or original. Click on the paintings to see them on Ebay.

This is a painting of Myrtle Beach South Carolina at sunrise...

My kitty Sadie!

~ Site(s) of the Day ~

This is a video of an artist creating a painting. Click here to see his work on Ebay.

http://www.youtube.com

Here's a funny video of a creative way to use treadmills...

http://www.fugufish.org/frog/?p=38

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

Cats and Motorcycles...

Here's what I've been working on...

I continue to try to refine my technique, and I love how this ear came out. In order to achieve the subtle gradations in tone, I had to wet the whole area, then put richer paint in the darker areas, and more diluted in the lighter. Then, the water moves the paint particles, and achieves affects only possible with watercolor. This is what makes watercolor an exciting medium for me - the water does the work!

This is a commission I'm working on. It's huge!

I use a different technique on a project like this. Each part of the bike has to be painted like a separate painting, each done individually. This piece is 30x36 inches (Hundreds of little paintings!)

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

New Calendars!

I'm excited...I have new calendars!! Click on one to go to Ebay. I'm sorry I haven't had too many new paintings lately. I'm BURIED in commissions.

 

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

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.

 

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com

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...

 

 

Visit my website at www.rachelsstudio.com