Octopus Painting, Photography

Can you see the difference between these two photos? It’s always a challenge for me to get good photos of my art.  The first one is the pic I posted yesterday; the one with my toes is the one I just took - FINALLY - which is truer to the way it really looks!  The little glimmers where I made the green ocean swishy around the moving tentacle are, however, reflections.  More work on photography to get those out.  Yes, it is available, sans toes!

Octopus Painting

Here’s my octopus painting in its entirety.  He’s 24x30” and on my website for $800.00.  With this painting I give a nod to Maxfield Parrish who laid down scores of layers of glazing for those deep, luscious colors, and to Matisse, who loved color so much he never wanted to sully them by mixing.  Pretty much love this one.

My website is:

colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

Octopus Art

Here’s a closeup of my octopus painting that I just posted. LOVE the textures and colors on his head.  For this one I went all out for color.  I glazed thin transparent layers of hues building them up for a stained glass glow that I just can’t seem to capture with the camera.  It’s really pretty!  Still working on a name.  Maybe something like “Working Title Octopus” or something...

Newest Painting Finished!

This little cutaway is your hint of the piece I finished last night. Can you tell what it is? Take a guess! I’ll reveal tonight.  I’m really excited about this one which I did in layers of glazing color upon transparent color.  It’s downright luminous.  My only hint is in a previous post where I showed my palette; I was choosing colors for this painting.  Now... if I can only get a good photo which is hard with all this rain.  My day’s work is set. 

Natural light is best for photographing art.  My natural light, outside, is not cooperating.  It’s raining. It’s supposed to rain all day.  We shall see what happens.  

The colors in this painting are really luminous and glow through each other; this being said, they are very hard to photograph.  Because I used the glazing technique (layer upon layer of glossy, transparent color, it reflects a shine back to the camera.  A professional photographer would set up his little reflective umbrellas and have the light diffused but I don’t have that stuff.  Professional photographers everywhere - I respect and salute you!  I just can’t afford you.  Blah.

All this to say, when I DO get good pics, they still won’t be nearly as beautiful as the painting itself.  They never are.

Painting for Memories

I teach my students that one reason for making art is to remember.  I did these little pieces to remind me of our incredible trip to Orange Beach, AL.  We got our limit of both triggerfish and amberjack.  I discovered that amberjack are called ‘Sea Donkeys’ because they’re known to be one of the hardest fighters in the Gulf.  Let me tell you, I was sore for THREE DAYS after fighting with those sea donkeys!!  Precious memories of that very special moment in time.  

Used here, Pitt pens, my awesome Custom-Cindy-Designed paintbrush and Golden fluid acrylics, along with Golden’s  inference colors for that sparkly pop.

The triggerfish we caught were all I think between ten and 15 pounds.  They are SUPER YUMMY!!! I had no idea they were so tasty! The amberjacks were all between 40 and 50 pounds.  Those donkeys!!  When I paint to preserve my memories it’s always very special.  If YOU have memories you’d like me to paint, just ask.  It’s what I do.

Dot Day!

What are you doing in your art classes this week you ask? I’m glad you asked! Celebrating International Dot Day of course! September 15.  Don’t miss YOUR chance to celebrate!

Grand Ole Oprey Painting

An artist’s life is ALWAYS interesting, and one never knows what one will be doing next!  Here I recruited Melody of Refine Arts to help me paint the Grand Ole Oprey for a very special event the choir and orchestra had at church. What fun that was!  Ladders again.  It’s always ladders. #afraidofheightsoverhere

We only painted on paper that had been taped up.  VERY quick job for a temporary ‘installation.’ Yet I think it turned out really well for the time everyone spent on it!

You can see that this was a quick job.  I used to be a perfectionist.  I learned a long time ago that you do the best work you can in the amount of time you have.  We had very little time for this and it was for a one-night event.  It fit the bill perfectly and I think it turned out great.

This is how the final looked under lights.