30 PAINTINGS IN 30 DAYS - # 26 - INDIGO ROSE ACEO

INDIGO ROSE ACEO

2.5" x 3.5" Pastel on Daler-Rowney Pre-cut ACEO Card
 



Continuing my pastel discovery week, I decided to try some of the coloured pastel card in the pack. This is painted on the black card. I've painted a blue rose ACEO in acrylics, but I found this much easier. The battle with the fast drying medium and darkening colours as it dries is a real challenge with acrylic and pastel has none of that. 

There are other challenges with pastel such as more pre-planning because pastel will only take so much layering. There is also only a limited possibility of mixing by layering the pastel, so you must have most colours you need available. That having been said, I think this is my most successful rose to date. They have always been my nemesis with acrylic, so in the future if I want to paint a rose I think I will choose pastels.

SHIPPING 16th MARCH 2016 OR LATER - SOME PAINTINGS AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE DISPATCH FROM MY OUTLETS AS NOTED IN DESCRIPTION ON DAILY PAINTWORKS

Stay tuned for more new paintings in the final week of the challenge.

If you are an artist and would like to join in, here is the link - 30 in 30
Posted as # 47 on 30 in 30 Blog

DAY 28 - 30 PAINTINGS IN 30 DAYS - GOLDEN COSMOS ACEO

GOLDEN COSMOS
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
3.5" x 2.5"
On auction at Daily Paintworks starting at just $11

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 my available ACEO in my Facebook Gallery here.

The sun came out today and it made me want to paint something bright. The background was darker but I lightened the value with some violet to give it charisma. I'm getting clearer and clearer that the most important thing in a painting is value. Here the dark value is on the edge and in the center of this circular composition to keep the eye focused on the subject. The subject is simple and could be boring, but I've livened it up with bold brush strokes.

I used my two favourite paint colours, Matisse Indigo and Matisse Australian Sky Blue, both made in Austraia. I love the thick consistency and intense pigment in these paints. Some of their colours are too strong and need to be handled carefully, but my two favourites are perfect.

Cat 13229 Golden Cosmos ACEO
Posted on 30 in 30 as number 33
Inspired by Suzanne Wallick Paint My Photo

DAY 12 - 30 PAINTINGS IN 30 DAYS - CALLA LILY ESSENCE PAINTING - FINDING YOUR BEST WORK

 

CALLA LILY
ORIGINAL ESSENCE PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
8" x 6" on Windpower
On auction at Daily Paintworks starting at just $29

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 my available ACEO in my Facebook Gallery here.

Call Lilies have such grace. They have a simple form but that doesn't make them any easier to paint.They are usually white, which is one of the most difficult flowers to paint.I was fully prepared to change the colour of this lily to red or pink, but after shading with the background indigo and using lime green and cream judiciously, I think I produced a good likeness. 

This is one of my Essence Paintings which show the hidden lines of air, light and the breath of the flower. this magical essence is present around all living things and can be picked up in special light conditions or special cameras. Here I have added both light copper/bronze and violet now you see it, now you don't paints to the movement of the air.

FINDING YOUR BEST WORK

It is often said that an artist is not the best judge of their work, yet in the world of a modern professional artist, we are constantly asked to make a selection. We need to decide what to feature on our websites and what to submit to juries on a constant basis. Rather than repeat this each time, I do a review every few months and keep a separate file for submissions. 

It's submission season, so yesterday I was had to face one of my most arduous tasks, trying to decide what to submit to juried exhibtions, galleries and exhibtion spaces over the next few months. Although I haven't done this for a while, it's a good idea to create a collage postcard, a disc, a ready to send slide show or a You Tube video which you can offer up at a moments notice.

I paint daily, so perhaps the task is a bit more challenging for me. Yesterday I whittled 300 paintings down to 30 and from that I have to choose 3 for a particular submission. I keep a catalog of all my paintings online, on my laptop and on a memory stick. Each painting receives a unique identifier at birth and they are already in order, so part of my work is already complete. 

So how do you choose your best work?

1. View as much of your work as possible spread out. I like to do this with thumbnails on my computer because most juries use some form of digital viewing these days. Viewing the thumbnails help me select the best compositions and the strongest value differentiation. What pops?

2. In the selection process I ask myself which has the most impact, which has the most pleasing colours, which has the most appealing subject matter and which makes me want to click further to see a larger version?

3. I copy my top selections into a separate file. I view them again and see if there are two similar paintings and choose the best between them.

4. I view each one in large format with a critical eye and see if there are any glaring errors or ones that need a better image.

5. You don't want to bombard the viewer, so you should end up with between 10 and 30 paintings. You will need more paintings for a slide show and less for a postcard. If you are brave, this is the point you ask friends, relatives, Facebook buddies etc. for help. Ask them to be honest and let you know if you should drop any of them.

6. Choose one or two methods of showing your collection. You Tube is an underused and very fantastic tool. A large postcard with all your contact details and a collage of your best work is also handy.

7. For a postcard, Vistaprint does an inexpensive and good quality postcard. There are tools to create it online or you may wish to use an app or program which you are familiar with.

8. I've not yet created a You Tube video, so I will cover this once I have done my research and attempted it. (Any advice here would be much appreciated).

9. File your finished show and tells in at least 3 different places so you can access them easily anywhere and they are safe from disasters like crashes and deletions.

10. Get out somewhere nice and celebrate. You've accomplished a very important task and you should be proud of yourself!


See the other 30 paintings in 30 Days Artists work here.


Cat 13223 Calla Lily Essence
Posted on Leslie Saeta 30 in 30 as number 8
Photo inspiration by Katinka Matson

DAY 10 - 30 PAINTINGS IN 30 DAYS - TROPICAL LEAF DROP ACEO - Letting Go

TROPICAL LEAF DROP
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN

3.5" x 2.5"
On Auction starting at just $11

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.

What attracted me to this photo from "Paint my Photo" was the coloured circles in the background. I know this is caused by a particular lens but I've often walked in the forest after rain and almost felt the rain drops all around like this. My tropical leaf has a tiny drop of gold at the end of one point.

I've always loved drop shaped things, with most of my favourite earrings being in this shape. For some reason I believe that drops are full of potential. You never know how long one will hold on and when they will let go and fall into the unknown. Letting go unlocks the door to so much potential that will never be reached by holding on and living in the past.

Perhaps this is something that exists only in my mind. Do you like raindrops?


Cat 13221 Tropical Leaf Drop
Posted on 30 in 30 as number 7
Image inspiration by Jess of Paint my Photo

ARTIZAN ACEO - Brush with care

PHOTO OF PAINTING

ARTIZAN
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
3.5" x 2.5"
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.

I've drawn many figures in my time but I used to struggle with painting them, especially with Acrylic. Acrylic paint dries fast and has a tendency to create hard edges as it dries. I'm learning though. A prime example of portraiture is of course Leonardo's Mona Lisa and you can see there isn't a hard edge to be seen in her features.

Part of my learning process is adding a few key colours of GOLDEN OPEN which is a slow drying professional Acrylic paint. In the beginning I didn't like the runny consistency of OPEN, which seems to get everywhere, but when it's combined with more structured paint like HEAVY BODY LIQUITEX, they moderate each other. OPEN encourages the HEAVY BODY to dry at a more leisurely pace and HEAVY BODY thickens OPEN to a more buttery consistency.

SCAN OF PAINTING

Another part of the process is placing each brush stroke with care and precision. I've always admired Artist who have a loose style, because my natural style comes from my graphic design days of precise and hard edges. I've spent many hours working on looseness, but with portraiture precision is the key. In the last few months I've managed to combine loose style with precise brush strokes and it must be working because I love the last few portraits and I'm not spending a whole day on a figurative ACEO like I used to.

The original image for this painting was taken by a friend, Bob Jones, on a trip to Peru. I felt a real connection while painting her. Here I was, an Artizan working in pigment and there she was, an Artizan working in textile. That's what I love most about portrait painting, the human connection which erases all barriers of language, race, status etc. 


Cat 13197 Artizan

DRAMATIC MOUNTAINS ACEO and SNOWFALL ACEO

Each Blog this month I will show you two paintings, my newest original, hot off the easel and an original you may have seen before. They are both available to purchase and I would love to hear what you think of them. I usually choose to pair them because they would make a wonderful DUO mated and framed together. I particularly like today´s combination of ACEOs.

DRAMATIC MOUNTAINS
ORIGINAL ACEO
2.5" x 3.5"
SOLD - however, a similar original or a print of this painting may be available by contacting me.

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 new Facebook Gallery here.

SNOWFALL

ORIGINAL ACEO
2.5" x 3.5"
DPW Price $15 Regular $25

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.

Feedback is so important that each day this month I´m posting an unsold painting here and in the Daily Paintworks `CRITIQUE ME` Challenge. Anyone can practice being an Art Critic by going to the challenge and clicking on any painting you would like to comment on. Don´t be shy, whether you´re a fellow Artist or an Art Lover, your opinion is valuable.

SNOWFALL is the latest candidate for feedback. I realize this is a frosty scene, but it was originally posted in the winter. Sometimes a painting doesn´t sell because of lack of exposure or bad timing, but what else may be holding it back. I´m tough, so please help me grow as an Artist by leaving a comment either below or at the DPW Challenge here.

If you would like feedback for your own work, post it here on DPW, it´s free to do so.


Cat 13010 Snowfall   -   Cat 13136 Dramatic Mountains