The work Behind a Painting

How do you prepare yourself for a piece of work?  As for me, my paintings don’t just jump out.  Idea, brainstorm, lots of thumbnail sketches .  Finally, getting the drawing onto the paper or canvas and then working out the colors.  This swatch?  I had a painting ready and wanted to choose three good, warm colors that would compliment each other.  So, when you see anybody’s art , appreciate it for how much consideration and work has gone into it.  AND... this is a hint of things to come!! 

New Studio Work

I am really loving the new designs coming out of my studio. It’s been an exploration of color and texture.

This piece is a good example. It’s heavy cotton rag paper, so the surface is uneven.  So, when I print the design, it takes in places, and doesn’t in others.  Also, I’ve got layers of color-changing and shimmery paints underneath, and they all accept or don’t accept paint in different ways.  

This adds up to some cool effects and textures!  It reminds me of flocked wallpaper.  Remember that?!  Really cool to touch and an affordable price too. 🙂. Good combination. At a mere $35.00, you can find it at www.colorcatstudios101.etsy.com.  Please help starving artists - man, business has NOT been good during this quarantine!

Quarantine Lino Printing

My last post showed first prints with my newly finished lino block. This one shows how it looks on a color chart I made. 

Absolutely love the colors peeking through the black pattterns.

You can see in the third photo that I labeled the colors so I could tell how each interacted with the others. I like the layers, and even the words under it all. Do you?

Quarantine Printing

The beautiful thing about block printing is that each piece has its own characteristics and no two are the same.  I love the way you can see right through these.

You can find more of my work at 

Colorcatstudios101 at Etsy. COOL STUFF!!!

An Artist’s Palette

I love working with this silver paint by Golden Products.  It’s SUPER shiny and silvery.  Paints and other materials really can make or break a painting.  If you want great work, use great stuff.

New Year’s Resolution - Cleaning

Let’s take a moment to laud the lowly stir stick.  Beautiful in their own right where would we be without them, after all?  As for me, I’d have very colorful fingers. Today is studio cleaning day which involves a lot of gathering and putting things into their rightful place.

The background is a handmade linen scarf we bought from a vendor in Belgium.  We were traveling on a particularly chilly day.  Gary bought a sweatshirt, I bought this scarf.  The two items made our day and we were nice and cozy after that!  I first laid the stir sticks on my desk, but the desk looks the same so it was like they were wearing camouflage.  Had to find a plain background! 🤭

This unsung paint sticks really ARE beautiful, aren’t they? And now I actually have them all in one place instead of scattered all over the house and garage.  Maybe.  Now... what else can I organize around here...

‘Watermark’ Fluid Art Painting

I named this one ‘Watermark’ because it reminds me of the effects of water and time on stone.  The textures of the paint flow draw your eyes through the painting over and over again to explore the mystery of it.  The golds and iridescents reflect and dance and you can see how the painting changes in different lights.  Looks pretty good with our son holding it; pretty sure it’d look good in your home too!

Kind of blends in with the bricks, huh. :)

Under different lighting it changes.  This shot shows the golds better...

One more... my son is saying ‘Please buy this painting so I don’t have to hold it again...’. Find it at 

www.colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

Creative, Problems

This was my morning layout to get resin on all these pieces.  It was an adventure, to be sure.  I learned a few things - 1.  An assistant is a must (thanks, Noah and Melody)!  2.  If you work with resin in 100 degree heat, the exothermic reaction will kick into high gear and the resin will burn your hand (even through gloves,) and 3.  Whilst getting your hand burned turn off the blowtorch so you don’t start a secondary fire.  This said, I am READY to continue the work EARLY in the supposed cool of the morning and have made up my mind to never do this with my art classes. I like my students to have adventures, but not quite THIS much adventure! Watch here and my website in the coming days for all these lovely coasters, and a couple small paintings, to be added. :) 

Luscious Art Supplies

Aren’t these gorgeous? Sennelier is coming out with some lovely new products.  Of course as a creative person, I would like to try every new product out on the market, but that balances nicely with my classes.  I’m always on the search for new art supplies because my students come back to me year after year and I want them to experience a broad range of supplies.  THESE are wonderful!!! 🙂. Bright and blend nicely.  Primary colors - sometimes it’s just about all you need, most of the time. 🙂 

Artists Naming Works of Art

This is my lion painting.  I named him King for obvious reasons, which comes to another point; why do artists give such stupid names to their works of art? Why, if you painted a lady sewing, for instance, would you name the piece ‘Woman Sewing?’ (Renoir). Or... following the thought here, ‘Girl with a Watering Can?’ Renoir again.  Renoir, I feel you.

Would you like to know the secret of artists through history, myself included?  We really just want to paint.  We want to paint beautiful things and have people BUY them, so we can paint MORE beautiful things!  Once the painting is finished, we don’t CARE what the painting’s name is!  As for me, I just want to make it, finish it, love it, and then do it again with another piece. The naming thing is distracting from the first desire, to create. 

All this being said, ‘King’ really IS a good name for this one, don’t you think?  And artists out there? How DO you name your work?  This piece is for sale on my website which you can click on below.  Will somebody please buy King so I can paint another painting?  Thank you! In the meantime, I’m going to go paint flowers.  I think I’m going to be really original and name that painting ‘Flowers.’

colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

In the Art Studio

This was a good portion of today’s work.  After a lot of sketching I finally laid out my new painting, this time on cradled wood, not canvas.  Once I sketched in the entire plan it was time to choose paints. Test, mix, compare, eliminate.  Once done with all this, I make careful notes for posterity as to exact type of paint and medium.  

I wish I could show you more but don’t as a rule when I’m working on a commission.  You’ll see the painting itself soon!

My Art Studio Today

I had to step aside from the work I’d outlined for my painting day because these hyacinths were driving me to distraction!  Their fragrance is divine and I literally carry them from room to room. Finally I prepared a canvas and did some color testing.  Pictured here are the color winners; the color losers were banished back to my paint drawers.  We artists make it our job to make creation look easy, but you can see from this photo that a whole lot of planning and work go into a piece long before brush meets canvas.

Also, sometimes I have a helper come into my studio.  Trust me, when he comes in, I stop and enjoy life for a while.

Creative Process Installment #4

Installment Four to my Creative Process Cat Painting explanation.  Good old thumbnail sketches.  Here are SOME of them.  Get the composition perfect or you might as well give up and go home.  Once I got the composition nailed down I did color testing to hone in on the exact colors I wanted to use to paint the cat himself.  After all these gorgeous blues, I ended up with Payne’s Grey, Carbon Black and Titanium White. The blues didn’t stand out against the background so were a poor color choice. Also, it’s funny to note that I always end up with my hand-scissored paintbrush.  It’s one of my faves because it’s EXACTLY what I want! Hold on for Installment Five, coming up next time! 

Creative Process Step Three

Creative Process Cat Painting Installment #3; for those of you curious as to how an artist works. You’ve seen a closeup of my cat painting and a pic of me sitting next to the finished piece in my previous two posts. This picture shows the third stage of my painting; first, paint the wood in blues.  This particular color pairing has been one of my favorites since I was a teenager, and that was a long time ago! Second, imprint it with garden leaves, and now third, adding the circle with rays.  My original intent was to put a halo around his head, Alphonse Mucha style, so the charcoal lines delineate that.  In a later stage I ditched that idea and decided to go with gold to indicate royalty. These leaf textures peek from the very back of the painting as you look, and beckon you to not only see the cat, but dig deeper into the mystery.  The same way I like complicated music, I like to give viewers a lot to look at and think about. There you have it! Lupus Regem, the start of my Wolf King cat painting creative process.  Look for Creative Process #4 next! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Amazing things can happen on Thanksgiving break; a clean desk!  Wow! Forgot what it looked like.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.  We have a lot to be thankful for.

Mixing Charts for Paintings

Charts, charts, charts... they make me a better artist. Because I use such a plethora of paints,I’m always creating mixing charts before painting. Usually at this point I’ve got in mind exactly what I want, and am searching for the exact colors to flesh out my ideas. When I’m finished with the painting, I log the paints used so I have a record for my clients. This way, years in the future, if Uncle Max tumbles into the painting, we’ll know what to do.

That being said, if you buy a painting from me, you have as an extra bonus the assurance of knowing I’ve got the best quality materials in it, and know that if it ever needs repairs, we’ll have a good starting point.

Artist’s Flatlay in Studio

I’ve done quite a lot of layouts, always in a single color.  This time I decided to celebrate the color wheel and just lay down those colors (sorry, purple, I owe you one.) Of note, gorgeous ribbons one of my students gave me on a cool gift, my metal embossed seahorse mounted on a box and a colorful swag I recently made which I toss over all kinds of things to brighten things up and celebrate. Oh, and my coolest ever striped purse from Target. And my cheap sunglasses.  (These be no rhinestone shades.)

Private Art Lessons

Thursdays are my private lesson days.  We cover all those lovely things that artists deal with every day like line, value, stump use, contrast. Generally in my privates we get about as much done as in a month of classes, and they’re fun! If you’re interested in private art lessons, message me and we can talk. 

My email address is @colorcatstudios@gmail.com.

The Continuing Saga of... (cue music) AN ARTIST’S DESK

Between each project I clean my desk and clear off all the stuff.  Okay, not ALL the stuff, but a goodly portion! Then I lay out the tools of my trade with a surgeon’s precision, albeit not that sterile, for the next great work. The brushes laid out here indicate I’m working small, which means I’m either painting a small project or working on a BIG project and getting close to being finished. Generally when I work big, I keep to big brushes for as long as possible and switch to the smaller brushes when they start to feel unwieldy. I think this keeps my work looking fresh and more immediate. And yes, I am getting close to the end of a big project.  Can’t show you yet because it’s a commission.  Dream about a painting you’d like to have and ask! I work within everyone’s budget. My email address is colorcatstudios@gmail.com.

Teaching Homeschool Art Classes

It’s not Teeny Tiny Art Time, it’s Teeny Tiny Words Time! But I have so much to say! This is a teeny tiny synopsis of one of my class schedules. I’m offering seven classes for the school year. Although two of them are already filled, there’s room in the others.  These are classes during the day for homeschoolers; I teach all day Mondays and Tuesdays through the school year.

For info on schedules and supplies and probably more than you want to know about me, go to two websites:  

www.hisclasses.org

www.ttcclasses.com

There is so much more I could say; we really learn a lot.  Alongside all this, we do a massive sweep of art history.