BLUE HORIZON

BLUE HORIZON by Sea Dean 8 x 10 inches 2011-2020

I found this 2011 canvas panel painting while I was spring cleaning my studio. I decided to add to it. I was amazed at how quickly I could critique and adjust. I suppose 9 years of professional artistry teaches you something. I’m very happy with it now. Pop it into a frame and it will grace any home.

IRELAND THE BEAUTIFUL - NORTHERN IRELAND SLIDE TOUR - DRAMATIC COAST and ROCKY SHORE

DRAMATIC COAST ACEO
By Sea Dean

SOLD

This is a slide tour of Northern Ireland that my friend Bob Jones created from his trip last July. I'm so fortunate that Bob allows me to paint from his wonderful images. These days I rarely follow an image exactly because I like to add my own colors and tweak the composition, but Bob's work does inspire me.

Above and below are sold ACEO that remind me of the dramatic coast of Northern Ireland. If you love one or both of them, I would enjoy painting something similar in a larger work, so just contact me through this blog.

ROCKY SHORE ACEO
By Sea Dean
SOLD

TRY THIS TRICK TO SELL YOUR PAINTINGS

MISTY WALK ON LONG BEACH by Sea Dean 24" x 36"

There is something strange I've noticed about really good art...

To stay current, I read many many art blogs, reviews and newsletters and see over 200 paintings a day. You learn a lot when you see that much art passing in front of your eyes. The thing I most love to analyse is the work of masters, past and present, to discover why these paintings in particular have sold and/or stood the test of time.

When viewing art, I try to consider my current painting challenges, the media I am experimenting with, composition, colour combinations, subject matter etc. It is therefore not surprising that I often notice strong compositional technique (because this is an area I am challenged with). One of the most amazing things I've concluded over the years is that no matter how much you zoom in, crop, photo shop or mess around in any way with a master painting, it always looks amazing. Each part is awe inspiring. Each brushstroke has meaning. Each shift in light and dark is planned (or accidental and embellished by the artist's infallible mastery). Even the size and shape is important

MISTY WALK ON LONG BEACH by Sea Dean 12" x 36"

Try it some time. Take a high quality image of a Monet, or equally great masterpiece and crop it into as many small paintings as you can. How many can you create from one large work? I'm talking about crops that retain the same awesome quality as the whole, even if they are a tiny abstracts. First try different crops with the main focal point included. Make some modern crops, cutting off part of the main subject. Group crops to create a completely different abstract work. Move around the edges and see how interesting they can be.

Monet, particularly as he got older, left portions of bare canvas mainly on the edge. Some may consider this sloppy, but this can add interest to a painting and a crop. A little trick I've discovered is that one of the most interesting crops is usually near the artist's signature, but not necessarily including it.

MISTY WALK ON LONG BEACH by Sea Dean 12" x 12"

Some artists paint on flat canvas and crop paintings out of the large piece later. This works really well for abstracts, but can be used on any genre. It is particularly useful for paintings that are languishing in the back of the studio because they've hung in every gallery, show, exhibition and website and haven't sold in many years.

I've know artists that reconfigure their own paintings and on occasion, I've done it myself (see the painting above). A dynamic crop and a new mat or frame can do wonders for an older piece. This is also a great thing to try if you create prints of your work. Perhaps you don't want to sell prints of the whole piece, but what about interesting small portions cropped to put on art cards, cell phones, pillows etc? Professional artists are constantly looking for ways to stretch their creative time, and this is one way to do it without compromising your original art sales.

MISTY WALK ON LONG BEACH by Sea Dean 12" x 16"

VIew my online Gallery of large works and Limited Editions at ARTFINDER
View my online Gallery of small works at DAILY PAINTWORKS
Shop for Limited Edition ACEO and printed products here
Art Cards $5 and Art Postcards $3 here

OCEAN PAINTING - Walking the dog

SPACE
By Sea Dean
5" x 7" Canvas Panel

Back to the ocean. This was painted for a Daily Paintworks challenge to choose a word and illustrate it. I chose space, and I think this makes a good rendition of the feeling of space you get when walking a tidal beach. One of the beaches we used to visit when I was a child was like this, when the tide was out you had to walk what seemed like miles to my little legs to get to the water. Beaches like this are great places to walk, which is exactly what the tiny figure is doing. 

I tried to photograph the image to show some of the irridescent paint which highlights places around the canvas. This catches the room lights and represents the bright sunlight hitting tidal pools, just like it does on one of those glorious summer walks.

I haven't had an auction on Daily Paintworks for a while, so this one is on auction for one week. You can bid by following the link to my Daily Paintworks gallery below. It starts at only $10

VIew my online Gallery of large works and Limited Editions at ARTFINDER
View my online Gallery of small works at DAILY PAINTWORKS
Shop for Limited Edition ACEO and printed products here
Art Cards $5 and Art Postcards $3 here

SUNSET OVER THE SEA - DAILY PAINTWORKS AUCTION PICK

SUNSET OVER THE SEA
Original Painting by Sea Dean
10" x 10" Premium Gallery Wrap Canvas

To view my Gallery please visit Daily Paintworks

I was inspired to paint a lovely red and peach sunset with stunning rolling clouds, but when I thought I had finished, something wasn't right. I realized that towards the end of the day clouds draw in over the ocean and obscure the upper layers of lighter cloud. I added purple clouds and it suddenly looked much more natural. The low hilly islands are typical of the pacific north west coast of Canada and the USA. 

This painting is on top quality, deep gallery wrap canvas, which costs a little more to ship but it's worth it.  Stronger, heavier, stretcher bars means no likelihood of your painting warping even in a very humid climate. This is a lovely painting, even better in reality.


Cat # 14117 - Sunset over the sea

THE ISLAND

 

THE ISLAND

6" x 6" BY SEA DEAN
on Gallery Wrap Canvas

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

One of my favourite paintings. Here I was working on making the foreground bolder and more painterly and fading the detail in the distance. I really love the soft greys in the water and the sages and purples in the foreground. 

Cat # 11035 The Island

HEADING HOME - iPad and Painting Give-away - Day 25 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

HEADING HOME
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
10" x 8"Gallery Wrap Canvas with painted sides

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me. 

TO ENTER THE GIVE-AWAYS USE BOTH BOXES AT THE END OF MY BLOG
You must click and enter each Give-away separately because you are submitting for two different draws. Leaving a comment on this blog, tweeting, Like-ing on Facebook etc. does not enter you for the draw, you must come back to confirm what you did in the Give-away box to earn the points. The more points you accumulate until January 31st the more chances of winning. You can enter many times each day. 

Some paintings go through a few adjustments until you are 100% happy and this is one of them. I really love the magenta, orchid tones of this sunset and the golden highlights. I love the ocean and have a real connection with the story of hard working fishermen heading home for much deserved rest. But there was something not quite right... 

I've studied the painting many times and tried to think it through, but it wasn't until today that I had the answer. As the subject, the boat needed to stand out and in life it would be silhouetted against bright water. A quick look at Google images confirmed that the shimmer needed to circle the the boat. Aha! 

I added about half an hour of careful brushwork and now I think it's just perfect. I'm learning so much from making these small adjustments. I find it very exciting to see what a difference they make.



Cat # 12026 Heading Home

BEACH REFLECTIONS on Windpower

PHOTO OF PAINTING

BEACH REFLECTIONS
ORIGINAL BY SEA DEAN
6" x 8" on Windpower
On Auction at Daily Paintworks

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals in the same series or prints may be available by contacting me. 

I'm taking a little break from the Italian paintings today. I love doing these beach scenes. Here, I was fascinated by the dappled sand and the way the light reflected in the little pools of seawater. This is a tidal flat which is completely inundated by the tides and perfect for shellfish. Another of my small paintings that would look equally good in a large format.

13192 Beach Reflections

SECRET BEACH ACEO

SECRET BEACH
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
2.5" x 3.5"
On Auction

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me. You may also view ALL my available ACEO in my Facebook Gallery here.

Sometimes when you're hiking you reach a vantage point and see something spectacular like this. You are already tired but the beach looks so inviting. There isn't a soul in sight and thoughts of skinny dipping come to mind. That path looks pretty steep and treacherous though and there's another few hours of hiking to get to the camp.

Decisions, decisions!


Cat 13169 Secret Beach

LUMINOUS SUNSET on Windpower

LUMINOUS SUNSET
ORIGINAL BY SEA DEAN
6" x 8" on Windpower
On Auction at Daily Paintworks

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals in the same series or prints may be available by contacting me. 

"Red Sun at night a Shepherds delight"

A very similar colour combination to LUMINOUS WAVE, BREAKING WAVE, and LUMINOUS BREAKER. I´ve witnessed many beautiful sunsets and sunrises over the water. It´s amazing how brilliant they can be especially after a lovely day. I used Cadmium Orange Golden Open and Cadmium Medium Liquitex Heavy Body. I modified with Matisse Australian Sky Blue, Liquitex Heavy Body Permanent Light Blue and Flesh tones. 

Cat 13162 Luminous Sunset

PADDLING THE INLET Postcard and COMPOSITION CHALLENGE

PADDLING THE INLET
ORIGINAL BY SEA DEAN
6" x 4" OSWOA Postcard
On Auction at Daily Paintworks

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals in the same series or prints may be available by contacting me. 

Every day I battle over this ... When I photograph a painting it has depth but the colours pick up more ambient light, so if I photograph in the afternoon they will be more yellow or pink and in the morning they are more blue-grey. When I scan the colours are more true and bright but the image doesn´t show the depth of impasto and the whole effect is pasty and thin. I often don´t have time to do both until much later, unless the rendition is too inaccurate to blog. Another factor is that when I post on Daily Paintworks, the customers usually only see a small thumbnail before they decide whether to click for more detail, this thumbnail gives another view which isn´t always appealing even if the photo or scan looks good closeup. 

Sometimes scans and photos are similar depending on the colours and type of pigment used. At other times they are radically different. Above I have a morning photo and a scan, which do you prefer and why, or what have you found helpful in this regard?

THE COMPOSITION CHALLENGE

Every week Daily Paintworks offers a new challenge to Artists whether they are a member or the site or not. I don´t do all of them, but it´s a good exercise to try something different. This challenge caught my attention and the organizer, Kara K. Bigda had some good simple composition advice. See below. I think I got most of them and I like the result.

The idea: This week’s challenge is to create a dynamic composition - really think outside the box - and pay particular attention to your design. I’ve listed a few of my favorite “rules to a good composition” that I use to help guide my students (and me!) to dynamic arrangements of space that will draw people into the painting. Feel free to use some of them, all of them, none of them . . . whatever helps you:

- create depth through foreground, mid-ground and background; overlap shapes
- use diagonals (oh so much more interesting than horizontals!)
- use "run-off" (have objects run off the page on all four sides – but be sure to avoid having them just "touch" the edges)
- employ the rule of thirds (divide your paper into thirds rather than halves – horizon lines and focal points should all fall on these lines - stay away from centering - create INFORMAL BALANCE
- create “shards” of negative space (maintain interest through contrasting sizes and shapes of negative shapes)
- keep 80-90 percent of your space positive (enlarge your image to fit your space, no one wants to look at a page of empty space)
- use contrast (create apparent differences in size, shape and value)
- stagger objects (avoid lining objects up)

Cat 13162 Paddling the Inlet

BEACH WONDER ACEO, TOPIARY ROSES OSWOA and HOME AND NATIVE LAND Canadian Flag

BEACH WONDER
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
2.5" x 3.5"
On Auction

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me. You may also view ALL my available ACEO in my Facebook Gallery here.

This looks like a plain and simple painting of a beach scene, but it was not so simple to paint. The scene is one of my multi layered paintings with the final layers including iridescent pearl, iridescent bronze and interference gold to create the effect of sunlight on the waves. Here I was working on making a simple scene awesome and I think I achieved a great result. One day when I have a permanent home I will paint this for my bedroom in a very large size with a great big set of brushes.

I've read many Artist's advice on how to paint water and a very well known artist whose name escapes me, wrote that wave strokes must connect to make it look realistic. Well, when I was in Paris and had a opportunity to study Monet's work close up, I realized the previously mentioned expert was obviously wrong, however, I do admit it is very difficult to pull off. The first layers of the water were painted using Claude Monet's style of rapid dashes to denote waves. The final layer of glints and glistens on the water were added using the same effect and were even more challenging to achieve while still making the scene look natural.

My signature on the left here shows up more than in the actual painting because it is created in interference gold which is only visible from certain angles.

For some reason my blog has become out of sync with the start of my Daily Paintworks auctions, so today you have the pleasure of two new works from my studio. Here is the second.

TOPIARY ROSES
OSWOA Postcard
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
6" x 4"
On Auction

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me. You may also view ALL my available ACEO in my Facebook Gallery here.


And finally, as CANADA DAY is upon us I´m passing on this great photo from Loblaws via Artist Barbara Muir´s blog. 

And below is one of my patriotic flag paintings. 


HOME AND NATIVE LAND
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
8" x 6" Canvas Panel


 
 









Cat # 13157  Beach Wonder    
Cat # 13158 Topiary Roses  
Cat # 12065 Home and Native Land

MISTY WALK and HOW MANY PAINTINGS DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST

Re-posted from my Artslant Blog, April 2012 ..... It's fun to look in the rear view mirror occasionally. 

My goal is to complete 100 paintings this year. This may seem like a lot but read on and you'll see why. A close friend mentioned the other day that she thought I was very prolific and then said "how many have you sold?". To people on the outside looking in this is a logical question but it's difficult to answer with a simple number and it's easy to get depressed when you have to say zero.

Firstly it helps to compare Artists to professionals in other fields. Would you ask a medical student in the first year of college how many people they had operated on? The thought wouldn't even come to mind because we expect a few years study and practical supervision before a medical student takes a scalpel to anyone. And yet we think an Artist should start selling work as soon as they pick up a paintbrush. Why is that?

As an Artist, you start producing work at the offset and that work has SOME value, at least to compensate for the ever escalating cost of supplies. But you can't expect to earn a living and call yourself a "Professional Artist" until you have a certain amount of study and practical application under your belt. It doesn't really matter if your education is at a famous Art School, at night school or alone with a computer and a paint brush, you will eventually hone your skills and embed what you've learnt so deeply that your work takes on a professional look. A certain "something" starts to shine through and that is the point when sales take off. This doesn't happen overnight and somewhat depends on the hours you are willing to dedicate and how serious you are about making a living from your art. Many students have dropped out of medical school to take up another field of study and many would be Artists have given up after they experience a few rejections. As in all fields it is the dedicated few that achieve a comfortable income and/or make it to the top.

I was reading the "Artist's Statement" of a prolific Professional Artist yesterday ... his name escapes me but he states that most experts say it takes 15 years to become established. He did it in 3. He also said it took 645 paintings before he had his big break. Now I'm not a mathematician, but even I can see that's over 200 paintings a year ... roughly 4 a week!

Another Artist, Iris Scott, who is making a living from her work, had a breakthrough in 2009 after she spent a year in Taiwan. She said you have to get away and live somewhere cheap so you can create at least a painting a day for a year. If you calculate in a little R & R you can still see that is over 200 paintings a year. Living cheap for a while means you can spend the bulk of any income on supplies. Iris recommends selling those first paintings for whatever you can, in order to buy more supplies. Daily Paintworks http://www.dailypaintworks.com/original-fine-art-auctions or eBay are a good place to start.

It is nothing new for artists to have challenges selling their work and since wealthy patrons seem to have gone the way of the Dodo, learning how to market your work is another skill you need to develop which I will talk about in a later blog. Make sure your friends know you are serious not just dabbling and you need money to develop your skill: Ask them to consider one of your works as a gift or to purchase one for themselves. Let them know you are willing to negotiate a price or a payment schedule that works for both of you. After all Leonardo carried Mona Lisa everywhere with him until his death probably hoping he would find a wealthy buyer. And look at Van Gogh... perhaps if he had produced a painting a day and stepped up his sales skills to pay for supplies he would have kept his ear and died rich.

One of my mentors, Okanagan Artist Julia Trops has sold over 1100 paintings in 10 years. I've just realised that is SOLD not PAINTED and I would like to know how many she had to create to sell 110 a year ... I must ask her. Another mentor Roisin O'Farrell in Ireland appears to sell about 100 paintings a year even in this economy and they are mainly 80 - 120 cm square which is a considerable size with the amount of detail she adds. She is also raising a family so where she finds the time I've no idea.



Jerald Blackstock in Calgary, makes a living teaching Art and says he can get you past anything that ails you by showing a student how to complete a work in half an hour. Frankly, I can't even choose a subject, design a composition, prepare a canvas and brew a pre-painting expresso in half an hour, not to mention signing, varnishing, framing, photographing, and posting on facebook and my website which in my opinion is all part of the task of "finishing" a painting. We can no longer stick our head in the sand in the area of marketing - it's at least 50% of the profession.

Before chatting with Jerald I thought my "Paint a Masterpiece" class was spectacular, taking people from squeaky clean beginner through prep to completing a copy of a Masterwork, varnished, framed and ready to hang in only one day. Even for people with some Watercolour or Oil painting experience this class works to introduce them to Acrylics. My students get so excited by how much they learn and it kick starts them into becoming confident artists. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. I love it when a group of friends organise a PAM painting party because they instantly have painting buddies to share their experience with. I travel and teach this class around the world and it never ceases to amaze.

So back to my goal of 100 paintings this year! It looks pretty sad compared to the giants mentioned above. Each week I should complete about 2 paintings. We are now 16 weeks into the year so I should have 32 works; I'm at 26 plus a few touch ups from my incomplete pile which I don't count. At the rate of 200 paintings a year I should be 64.

How do successful artists do it? Well I aim to find out and I'll let you know. I understand the reasoning behind mega production and agree that if I'm really serious, I have to step up my game. I need to take my Art to the elite athlete stage of training.

Anyone got any paints and canvases they don't want?




Posted by Sea Dean on Artslant 4/23/12

MISTY WALK, FRAGRANT GARDENIA, JAPAN and WHERE WILL YOUR PAINTING FIND A HOME?

Where will your painting find a home?

I spoke of this once before on my Facebook page, Blue Sky Red Earth Gallery, but a few months later I was surprised when a curator at one of my galleries mentioned that I should consider the buyer's colour scheme. Investors often consider a painting a lifetime purchase so I think this is valid feedback. Fashion is constantly on the move and many customers are looking for art to match their new decor, but even more buyers need art which fits in their current decor. 

Generally speaking, if you paint natural landscapes, portraits and tonal compositions, you are fairly safe.Buyers are more likely to imagine your work in their home if you stick to neutrals. Acrylics should be muted and soft pastels softly coloured to attract both male and female buyers. 

Black, grey, umber and cream work anywhere, but what if you have a hankering for pushing colour or creating stunning Abstracts? Certainly contemporary, brightly coloured work sells in a modern city environment, but if you're a prairie Artist it's difficult to find and maintain distant Galleries. 

One possibility is that buyers seem to overcome their fear of colour when purchasing florals. Flowers provide bright relief to a colour starved artist, but the genre does come with a lot of competition. 

Some other options

Experiment with small touches of brilliance; a dash of cadmium, manganese, lime or lemon will perk up an otherwise neutral palette and still be generally acceptable.  

Hide some colour in the shadows and even the colour shy buyer will like your work. 

Experiment with using colour as value and if you are accurate you can get away with quite a colourful palette. It's surprising that in a value painting no one questions why leaves are bright blue and tree trunks are purple. 

Add a touch of iridescence, a rich and unique way to give your painting pizazz. I've tried many brands but I always return to GOLDEN copper fine which has a lovely flow but still has intensity.


Don't be afraid of colour. If you really want to produce bright paintings, go ahead. For tips on trends, visit Interior Design websites, home magazines and furniture stores. As long as you create work on target and market that work while the colours are in fashion, you will do well. As you continue on your painting journey and people start to collect you as a brand, it will be less important to "fit in" and your love of colour will be part of your unique style.

Sea Dean is a daily painter who exhibits and auctions her work at Daily Paintworks

Sea is also an Art instructor author and genealogist. Sea's brightly coloured works hang in collections and exhibitions around the world.
 
Register for ongoing "Paint a Masterpiece" blogs
http://eepurl.com/liwXz

Posted by Sea Dean on 7/15/12 | tags: modern figurative surrealism abstract digital landscape drawing photography realism painting Interior traditional pop design BUYERS buyer gallery Blog blue green neutral home house colour staging sculpture red mixed-media