It's 100!

The first time each year when the temperature hits 100 is always a bit of a surprise. 100 is hot, even in the shade, and especially when the highs had been 85-90. But give me a month, when it's 110, and I'll be saying how cool 100 is. It's just a matter of getting used to the heat.

While I was a bit hot at times today, I did manage to get a fair amount of work done. I made a few corrections to the dog portrait. I am about half done with the Father's Day portrait. And I finished an oil artcard. I do kind of wish I had time to work on my sculpture, but I've decided to be a bit more disciplined and get all portraits done ASAP. Besides, I'm not used to the heat yet and I would die if I went out and worked in a respirator at 2 pm.

One nice thing about the heat is that oils dry faster! Here's my latest artcard:

This bald eagle has good points and bad points. First the bad. The pose looks awkward eventhough it's really how the bird looked. Then I don't like the white feathers under the beak -- they look off, but I never could figure out why so I couldn't correct them. Now the good. I like the bright sunshiny white head. I did a great job on the eye and beak. I like the textured surface. Overall, it's fine -- not one of my best, but pretty good. It was, afterall, an experiment on using thin 'washes' of oil paints. I usually like a nice thick paint layer, but this was done almost like a watercolor. It came out well enough that I do plan on doing this technique with some larger pieces!

Show and Tell

Well, I finished a couple more things, including the one portrait commission from way back when, and I actually got them all scanned in. So, tonight we are having show and tell!

First up, is the portrait commission:

This dog was done in oil on canvas as part of a demonstration for my website. I don't know whether it was that or just the problems of doing a black dog, but I had a hard time getting it done. I know I wanted it to be perfect, so I probably was trying too hard. At last, I just to hell with it and finished it off. As you can see, I don't think it turned out too badly. I still have to send it to owner and hope she's not totally pissed off at me!

Next is a pink waterlily:

This is just a small 5x7 oil on canvas of a pink waterlily. What I was more interested in was the water, the highlights on the water, and the lily leaves, but I didn't figure anyone would be interested in just leaves and water. So, I also included a flower. Why did I have to pick a pink flower??? Here's a little secret -- getting certain pink flowers to look realistic is tough, very tough. Normally, you have to mix white, permanent rose, and a bit of yellow to get the light areas. And then to get the dark, ... well, I've never figured that out for sure. If you add blue, you get a dirty purple. If you add black, it turns brownish. If you add purple, it turns brownish. I usually just keep adding layer upon layer until it's right. One of these days, I will figure out pink shadows!

Then a ruddy duck art card:

This is just a quick watercolor painting of a ruddy duck. Again, I was looking more to learn about the water and it's reflection than the duck. Although, I am rather fond of ruddies. The are just so perky. One of these days, when I have nothing else to do, I will do a larger version of this and I may even carve a ruddy duck decoy. (For those that want to see either of these, come back in about a year!)

That's it for now.

One Down, One to Go

So far this weekend, I've been very productive. Ignoring all the household tasks I've caught up on, I actually finished one of the two older commissions and I just finished (maybe) a small painting.

Let's start with the latter. It's a small oil (5x7) on canvas of a pink waterlily. It's basically done, except... and this is where I get into trouble... I want to make a few corrections. I've done what I can today and am letting it dry a bit over night. Maybe then I'll decide there's nothing to be done or maybe I'll make the corrections. In any case, I can show folks a scan of it now because it's wet!

The one I can show you is this:

It's a western bluebird sitting on a fence post. I think the painting is terrific, but there's a tiny problem. The person wanted a mountain bluebird and had sent me this photo. Well, the more I worked on the piece, the more I realized that (1) the bird in the photo was a juvenile and (2) a mountain bluebird with it's pale blue breast wouldn't look as good as a western bluebird. So, it'll be interesting to see what happens -- either I'll keep this one (to sell on eBay) and paint a new bluebird or not. (Actually, I wouldn't mind doing an actual mountain bluebird, but it won't be on a fence post!)

Speaking of eBay, things sure are slow there. I guess I should email my former buyers and let them know I'm back to listing things. That reminds me, I just put up this art card:

It's a ram's head lady slipper orchid in watercolor. I really like the lady slipper orchids (or lady's slipper, or ladyslipper -- take your pick on the spelling) and am planning on doing a set of 8 small botanicals of them and then 2 or 3 larger paintings of them.

Anyway, since it's a holiday, I'm giving myself the night off and watching a DVD. After I medicate Emily, clean the litter boxes, do the dishes, call hubby, ...

Groan and Whine!

Today was just not a good day. I was busy doing stuff most of today, but I didn't get much done. And I really didn't feel like doing anything about that! I guess I do need to take a day or so off and I should have taken today off instead of half doing today.

My big accomplishment is listing my artcard for today:

This the orchid Lemboglossum cordatum. It was done in oil on 100% rag matboard. I really like the way it came out. And it was relatively quick to do. (Go bid! Like that sales pitch?!)

In a number of groups, artists are talking about how art cards are great for marketing and how some people actually are powersellers with just art cards. Others are talking about a new gimmick, OSWOA -- Original Small Works Of Art. (By the way, it's a trademarked term, so you have to belong to the group to use it.) This is art that's original and 4x6 inches, with the idea they can be sent as postcards or put in a photo album. Supposedly this is another great marketing tool.

Well, I suppose both formats are useful in introducing your work to new clients. So I'm toying with the idea of doing some of each on a regular basis. Maybe one each a week? They are a lot of work for little return, although I'm seeing more and more starting at higher prices. (And more and more of thee not ending with bids!) Still, I'd like to expand my active client basis so it may be the price I have to pay.