oil painting

A Hummingbird Bulb
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A Hummingbird Bulb

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I have broken out into a whole new phase of my ornament painting. Realistic nature!

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Remember the Inktober drawing I did of a hummingbird? The photographer of the “model” for that image contacted me to commission an ornament. Something I had not contemplated before.

I had never painted a hummer in oils, and certainly not on a curved surface. I started it then panicked, “I can’t do this!”

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However, I know my process pretty well by now and panic is part of it. So I broke state, went shopping, then came back and was in a much more steadied state to finish the first layer. I began to breathe again.

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After a couple of days to let that dry to a tacky surface, I began shaping the next layers, pushing paint around and making tiny little touches. Finally, today I finished it and feel like I have had a tremendous breakthrough in my art. This will always have a special place in my heart. I plan to use this little Rufous Hummingbird to help me push through some watercolor practices in the next month. He is very inspiring.

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That Time of Year

Painting the love in peoples life – preserving memories for their tree.

I was looking at the magnified detail that can not be seen with the naked eye and it hit me that it is impressionistic.

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I push paint around and create the impression of their pet. Often with a 000 sized brush and a cat’s whisker (the cats participate via donations throughout the year.)

 

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2017 Ornaments

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This football helmeted tiger was for a high schooler whose team is the Tigers.

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A first Christmas for a new little cousin and another for some cousins who just got married.

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I first started painting these ornaments in the early 1980s. At that time my sister was very young and I copied a favorite artist (Karl Odenweller) for a gift for her. This past year, one of her own kids dropped it, so I recreated it for her, only with a slightly larger image. Second sister had the same thing happen. Hers was a Hallmark bunny that I placed in her little burrow. And no, I do not copy and sell these.

I do not know how I did those original images the size of a dime when I was younger and with no magnifier!

And speaking of magnification, I finally found a magnifying system that works for me now that I am wearing glasses. Getting older presents new challenges.

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Vintage Art

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I found a couple of old sawblades from 1984 when I was first starting out. I would sell a blade at a local consignment art shop and go buy supplies. These have been in the bottom of a box probably since 1988. A lifelong friend saw them and wanted them, so I cleaned them up today, fixing some scratches. It has me longing to paint again.

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Reverse Glass Painting and Ink

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This could have been a “throw back Thursday” post if I had thought of it yesterday. However, it was today when I began searching the internet in an attempt to discover if there are any new types of ink pens that can draw on glass (and have the ink adhere without flaking or rubbing off.)

Amazingly I could find nothing, which I don’t understand. Years ago, before the internet existed, I learned how to create reverse glass paintings and was selling them around the state.

The very first step, when making the fine lines, was to use a Koh-I-Nor Rapidograph Technical Pen, which adhere’s nicely to glass, as well as takes to oil paint being laid over the top of it without smearing or breaking down.

This was a lot of fun, easy to do (as long as you remember to paint everything “backwards” and mirror image”.) So, when I was contemplating laying ink on glass this morning, it seemed like there should be even better technology for this now than there were years ago. The internet came up empty.

The rapidograph pen is pretty thin lined. Maybe I could use a brush to accomplish the same idea for a wider line.

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. In fact, has anyone out there tried this? I can’t even remember where I learned how to do it, but I love the combination of the “sketch” look with the richness of the oil paints.

I am very interested in this now that it seems it is such a mystery. (And I am wishing I had taken more photos of those old paintings!)

 

Interesting Reference Material found during my search (which wasn’t much):

The History of Silhouettes – E. Nevill Jackson