Painting I Want To Do

- Complete the PCH series: Sunrise and Sunset
     View this post for more info on this series 
- Complete the Cherries painting I began 3 years ago and do the companion painting Life's the Pits
     I have had this idea for a few years now.  It is based off of a photo taken on my wedding day of a bowl of cherries.  It is of large size.  I want to do a smaller painting of cherry pits 
- Complete the Peacock painting
     I just want to get this one finished.  To see where it is now click here. 
- Paint my kitty Indigo
     I have a bunch of great reference photos of my kitty and I really really want to turn one of them into a painting
- Paint the Winter Doves
     Around Christmas I took a cool picture of two doves sitting on a branch at my mom's house and I would like to paint them. 
- Paint the still life Hydrangeas and Coasters
     I was going through my husband's camera the other day and found some really cool reference photos I took awhile ago and I want to paint one of them like large scale. 


So much to paint so little time! 

More Figure Paintings

Title: Modern Day Thinking Man

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size:18 x 24

Inspitarion: For my figure painting class.  First clothed figure painting.  I think it looks pretty good.  I still have issues painting itty bitty faces.  This week we start portraits so those should be fun

Title: Man

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size:18 x 24

Inspitarion: For my figure painting class.  I actually really like this piece.  It really easily flowed.  I didnt have to fight with it to make it look good.  I wanted to do a really interesting background but I didnt want to mess it up.    

Master Copy Completed and NEW Website!

Title: The Source Ingres Master Copy

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size:16 x 20

Inspitarion: For my figure painting class we have to do a figurative master copy using a limited color palette. This is the finished product.  The face was the most difficult part and I really dont like it so I think I will be repainting it after I get some feedback from the instructor.  

In other news, my new website is now up and running www.heartmelinda.com !!! Some areas are still under construction but overall I am pretty proud of it.  I have my own domain name now and everything1

Copying a Master

For my figure painting class we have to do a figurative master copy using a limited color palette.   I chose The Source by Ingres.  

Here are my works in progress for this piece.

Week 1

Week 2

Butterface

I like every part of this painting but her face.  

Title: Female Figure on an Office Chair

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size: 16x20

Inspiration: Exercise done for my Figure Painting class.  We had to begin this figure by breaking it down into 5 values and then we had to blend those values together.  This was a odd way to paint but I like the outcome. Below is the 5 value breakdown that I did.  Kind of like a paint by number.  Kind of. 

 

And We Are Back 2 School!

Back to school= less personal projects and lots more school assignments.  

This week I am doing 3 figure paintings, and a planar head drawing.  

Below is the first assignment I completed.  

Title: Male Figure Lights and Darks

Medium: Oil on Canvas Board

Size: 16x20
Inspiration: Exercise done for my Figure Painting class. 


And here is the second assignment I completed.

Title: Female Figure Seated 

Medium: Oil on Canvas Board

Size: 16x20

Inspiration: Exercise done for my Figure Painting class. 


And here is the third.

Title: Female Figure Standing

Medium: Oil on Canvas Board

Size: 16x20

Inspiration: Exercise done for my Figure Painting class. 

It has been quite a productive painting day for me :)

1 Masterpiece down 2 to go

Title: Noon on PCH 012810

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size: 35.5in x 23.75in
Inspiration: The long explanation is in my last post so the abridge version is that I was inspired by the way the ocean meets the sky.  This was a very fun relaxing painting to do. 

Beginnings

Last night I gessoed three 35.5 x 23.75 canvass and today I toned them with a nice even mixture of burnt umber and ultramarine blue.  I am going to be using this toning technique in my upcoming classes so I figure I might as well get some practice in before class starts.  I usually tone my canvass in acrylics because they dry so quick but this time I tried using oils.  I like the idea of toning in oils because it forces me to commit to doing the rest of the painting in oil but the dry time is excruciating.  I am inspired. I want to paint but instead I am sitting around twiddling my thumbs waiting for paint to dry.  Boring and annoying.  

My original inspiration for these paintings was the point at which the sky meets the earth during a sunset as I was driving up the Pacific Coast Highway.  The way the orange of the sky and the blue contrasted each other was beautiful then also the way the orange near the horizon transitions into the light blue of the sky. So beautiful.  Then the next day at about noon I was driving back down PCH and the same sky meeting the ocean looked so much different then it did 19 hours before.  So I was inspired to create a series of the horizon at different points in the day.  

My goal for these is for them to not be overly realistic but more abstract, simple, and relaxing.  I want to remind the viewer of how vast and amazing the sky and the ocean are.  Since I really learned how to use oils I haven't played with them.  I have only done realistic pieces.  I have played with acrylics plenty but oils not so much.  This is going to be my chance to just play with oils and enjoy the medium.  

I know I have said a lot and it is because of how excited I am to do these paintings.  There not for school, not for a friend, and not a commission.  They are for me and my enjoyment.  I haven't painted large scale just for me in quite a long while.  

I am glad to feel inspired again.  I hope these paintings turn out as I intend them to and I will be sure to post them here when I finish.  :)   

Islands 2010 Calender July

Title: Palm

Medium: Watercolor on Paper  

Size: 9x12
Inspiration: Watching HSN there was a woman hawking her watercolor sets and had pre drawn flowers for purchasers to color in.  I thought, "I can do that," so I did.  The image is from a calender my mom got for Christmas.  Not my best work but I was nice to paint.  In the actual image the colors are a bit brighter.  

Thought of the Day

It's raining

It's pouring

The old man is snoring

He went to bed

and bumped his head

and couldn't get up in the morning

It is quite a rainy day today.  
I am having flash backs to the crazy island winters.  
This is supposed to go on for a week or two.  
I hope the hills don't fall down.  
On another note, I got my art supplies! 
Yeah!  
Now art can be created.  
I am excited for next semester in school.  
I am taking Drawing Heads and Hands, Figure Painting, Art history thru the 19th Century, and Comparative Religions.  
After this semester I have 17 classes left so if I work really really hard I can be done by Fall 2011.  
6 years to get my bachelors.  
Go me!  
Thats what I get for taking a year off. 

Peace, Love, and Chicken Grease.  

Flamingo

Title: Flamingo

Medium: Pastel on Brown Packing Paper  

Size: approx. 30x17
Inspiration: I went to the zoo this week with my best friend and did a quick sketch of a flamingo.  When deciding what to do with the sketch I thought it would be cool to draw the flamingo balancing on a ball, and then though what if the ball was in a kiddy pool filled with water.  Thus you get what you see above.  I used pastel because the same friend who went with me to the zoo was cleaning out her apartment and had these pastels she didn't want so I took them.  I haven't used pastels since 2002 in high school art class.  I think I like using them.  They blend really nicely.   

School begins soon.  I am excited but it is going to be stressful.  We still haven't found the perfect house so I am going to be setting up my art studio in the basement that we are currently living in.  It should be interesting.  Wish me luck.   


p.s.  I changed the name from A Creative Dump to A Creative Spot.  "Dump" made me think of poop or of trash and my art is not either of those so a name change was needed.  

Work

I feel like this is best read out loud because it kind of has a poetic quality to it so if you get a chance please read this out loud.  Thank you. 

Life is Work

     Life is work. We begin life with guesswork. Is this how I talk? Is this how I walk? Then, like clockwork, comes schoolwork, which turns into homework that is just busywork. They tell us they are creating the framework for our lives.

     In secondary school we find part time work to fund the nonwork things we like to do. After school, when we are all grown up, there is housework and with housework comes yardwork.

     As an artist my work is to create artwork with beautiful brushwork. When I finish a piece I stand back, admire my handiwork, and hope there is nothing I have to rework. To sell my work I need to network in order to outwork the competition.

     By the time our masterwork is completed we are overworked.

     So what is a person’s lifework? Work.

In Transition

Title: Rose

Medium: Colored Pencil on Recycled Paper 

Size: 8x11

Inspiration: Walking into my In Law's house they had this beautiful rose bush.  I took tons of pictures of the roses and decided to draw this one.  It is done in colored pencil because all of my painting supplies are in boxes.  

The lack of art would be due to the fact that I am in transition.  I moved internationally about a month and a half ago and so almost all of may art supplies are pack up and on there way.  We haven't found a house yet so that would be another part of being in transition.  I am ready to be settled.  Hopefully it will happen soon. 

Wordle and Remember Poems

In my Creative Writing class were were giving the prompt " I remember" and here are the poems I wrote. 

#1

I remember when I figured out

no matter what age you are

17, 22, 29, 44, 71

you havent figured it out 

#2

I remember

going to my Grandma and Grandpa's

playing with my sisters and cousins 

we would tie a jump rope

to an old skateboard

one person would be on the skateboard

the rider

oner person would pull the skateboard

the horse

We played this game for hours

I remember

swimming in the pool

and Grandpa playing 

hits from the 20's and 30's 

through the speaker that

was mounted over the sliding glass door

I remember 

endless birthdays

when Grandma would make 

angel food cake and homemade chocolate iceing

the birthday boy or girl always got to lick the bowl

I remember

getting together almost every weekend

and having a big family breakfast

Grandma would make the most amazing waffles

She would make a few extra crispy ones just for Grandpa and me

We would buy strawberries from a corner vendor

and have those and whipped cream on top of our waffles

I remember

on special occasions

Grandpa would pile 4-5 of us kids

into the 1929 Model A

and drive us to Baskin Robins

for icecream

It always took 3 or 4 trips

because there were some many kids

I remember

 many hoildays

everyone packed around the table

eating rolls, turkey, ham, beats, stuffing, and jello with fruit and marshmellows

kids ate first, then adults

I didnt know where I fit in

so I ate with both

I remember

a time before they had the big screen TV and the nice computer

when there was always a puzzle on the table

and board games to be played

I remember 

when I thought things

would never change 

I put #2 into Wordle.com as you can see in the image at the top.

I have been doing some painting and drawing lately but just havent taken pictures or scanned anything.    

Throw the rules away

Title: F* the Rules

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas 

Size:24x35

Inspiration: I decided I was tired of following the art rules and I just wanted to relax and let go.  I began by losely putting paint on to the canvas and then I started throw paint at it for fun.   Not my best most inspired piece but it felt good to relax and not care what it ended up looking like.  This will probably be covered over and turned into something else. 

I had lots of leftover paint and so decided to painting another canvas. 

Title: Jessica

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas 

Size:9x12

Inspiration: I saw a painting in a magazine with this sort of idea.  I had my little sister in mind as I was doing it because tomorrow is her birthday.  The numbers of lines all have something to do with her. The top 9 are her birth month, the right 12 are her birth day, the bottom 19 are her age, the left 7 are her first name, the 4 horizontal are her middle name, 7 more for her last name, 7 for my name, and then 3 for how many years part we are.  I like this one much better then the other one.  

Sketchbook Poetry

 

*click to view larger

Last night I was lying in bed trying but failing to fall asleep when the most amazing thing happened.  

The first few lines to a poem popped into my head.  

Mind you, this hasnt happened in years and I mean years so I had to jump out of bed, find my sketchbook and a pen, and write it down.  

Once I was writing it all just kept flowing out.  

Here are the poems in the order I wrote them.

They are still rough and probably have a lot to be worked out. 

_

Before 23

Were you at all like me 

Before you turned 23?

Did your help you Mom through cancer

making you become stronger then you thought you would ever be?

Did you move across the country

When you were just 18

And begin a new life

In a place like you had never seen?

Did you find true love

and end up getting married

to the one you knew you would be with

until you were buried?

Did you move to an island

In the middle of the ocean blue 

Where everything you experienced

Was absolutely brand new?

Did you fly on a KC-10, KC-135, C-5

and get to watch in flight refueling

or get to sit in the cockpit

for a landing?

Did you travel to Germany,

Luxembourg, Portugal, Italy, and Spain

and even to England

with only 4 days notice to get on a plane?

Did you think you knew all of life's answers?

Like who and what you wanted to be.

Were you at all like me

before you turned 23?

_

Inspiration:  I know this poem sounds a bit like bragging but it is more meant to be a reminder to me about all I have accomplished.  I just turned 22 and I was not to excited about 22 at all.  I was telling my husband this and he reminded me to think about what I have done before I turned 22.  That made getting older not feel so bad.

_

Creativity

builds up

boils over

until it can

be contained

no more

spills out

releases itself

from the confines

we create

to tame it

explodes

expands

consumes

when it 

is let out

_

Inspiration:  I wanted to describe how it felt when creativity hits. 

_

A Visit

A quiet night

all alone, every-being is asleep

the rain falls down

the wind pushed through the trees

I lay down to rest

close my eyes

my head is filled with

thoughts

plans

worries

then it strikes

the perfect few lines

I must find paper and

pen quick

to make sure

these great ideas stick

Creativity has struck again

welcome back dear old friend

_

Inspiration: I wrote this to describe exactly what happened to get me out of bed at 1AM. 

_

Even after I had these all out of me I still couldnt sleep. 

I feels really cool to have some inspiration and creativity back.  

I strove all summer to feel creative and it randomly hits at 1AM.

Summer is Over :(

So summer is officially over I am back to school.  

I have changed this blogs name from a Painting A Day to Drawings, Paintings, Thoughts- A Creative Dump. 

This will now be a place for me to share my art without any constraints. 

I am taking a creative writing course and 2 art history courses this semester so you will probably be reading some of my writings too.

Now for your viewing pleasure some sketches I have done in the past few days.

 

Title: Doorknob

Medium: Pen on Paper

Size:8.5x11

Inspiration: Sitting on the couch, sketchbook in my lap, I wanted to draw something.  This was the prettiest thing in my line of sight. Partially done in the dark as the sun was setting while I was drawing and I didnt want to move to turn the light on. 

Title: Resting Backie Dog

Medium: Pen on Paper

Size:8.5x11

Inspiration: Again sitting on the couch, my dog was laying there sleeping looking so cute I had to grab my sketchbook and draw her.  This is how far I got before she moved.  I tried to draw my Pomeranian but she has some 6th sense that whenever I look at her she knows and so doesnt sit still. 

Day 107- Shawna's Aunt Commission WIP

Title: Shawna's Aunt Commission Work in Progress 

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size: 9x12

Inspiration: Over a year ago my friend Shawna asked me to do a portrait of her Aunt who has breast cancer.  I have been really afraid to work on/ finish this painting.  I am really intimidated.  I think the more I work on it and the more it comes along the more I will like it.  I like the way the uncle is looking , Auntie needs a bit more work but she is coming along. 

Day 106- Shawna's Aunt Commission

Title: Shawna's Aunt Commission Work in Progress 

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size: 9x12

Inspiration: Over a year ago my friend Shawna asked me to do a portrait of her Aunt who has breast cancer.  I have been really afraid to work on/ finish this painting.  I am really intimidated.  I think the more I work on it and the more it comes along the more I will like it.  Originally I was going to do this in acrylic but when I started it I didnt like the way the colors were working so I decided that I would finish it in oils. Below is the step before this one where you can see more of the acrylic underpainting.   

Day 87- Drips

Day 87
Title: Drips
Medium: Watercolor on Yupo
Size: 9x12
Inspiration: I wanted to see what it would look like if I dripped paint down onto a piece of Yupo. I was hoping it would splatter but instead in just pooled into dots. I made those dots into flowers and connected them with a branch. Then as it was drying my dog dragged her face through it so I decided to make it drip. It was a very organic process and I really like the result.