194/365 Captured Moments - Buttercup Fields - Acrylic Painting

Tentacles of fog slowly slip across the golden yellow field of buttercups.

Buttercups Acrylic on Canvas $150

191/365 Captured Moments - Acrylic Painting - Standoff

Having fun with color!

Yesterday after working on this piece I came across the following quote.

 "Unless you do something beyond what you have already mastered you will never grow."  Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Which leads me to admitting that I  fear color!  Yes that's one of my guilty secrets, (we won't get into the others) I can match color which isn't a problem when I work on realistic paintings, but when it comes to changing color I have issues, this goes so far back that I can clearly remember my older sister always telling me my clothes were clashing.  

That being said I have decided to work on color for a bit with this being my first attempt at moving out of my comfort zone.

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169/365 Captured Moments - Acrylic Painting - Wild Flowers

Inspired by the blue wild flowers I posted  here.  This was a fun little painting, very loosely painted with multiple glazes and finished off with a thick layer of Golden Soft Gel, although it is supposed to be self leveling after it dried I noticed it still had some dips so I added another thinner layer of gel.

158/365 Captured Moments - Through the Forest

Through the Forest

24" x 24" Acrylic on Canvas

Purple Haze - Boundary Bay - Acrylic Painting

After weeks of painting water reflections I decided to move inland painting this soft and calming pastoral scene.  The reference photo was shot last summer on a day trip to Boundary Bay.  It was one of those days when you know that once the sun breaks through it's going to be a bright hot day but for now the light is softly diffused giving the country side a softness not seen under the bright sun.

Boundary Bay Bird Sanctuary

24" x 20" Acrylic on canvas

Duck Trails - Acrylic Painting

It's late afternoon on a warm September day, as the sun sets, a duck glides through the placid pond creating abstract patterns upon the waters.

The following passage by Annie Dillard - Pilgrim at Tinker Creek speaks to the child in me, growing up as a tom boy much of my time was spent mucking around slow moving creeks and ponds.

"In summer's low water, flags and bulrushes grow along a series of shallow pools cooled by the lazy current. Water striders patrol the surface film, crayfish hump along the silt bottom eating filth, frogs shout and glare, and shiners and a small bream hide among roots from the sulky green heron's eye."
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

Duck Trails

Abstract Reflections V

12" x 12" acrylic on canvas

The Coy Koi - Abstract Reflections IV

What a great day, I was finally able to devote most of today to painting. It's been a busy couple of weeks for me, what with work and Realtor showings of my house, leaving me with just little snatches of painting time.


Today I finished The Coy Koi this painting is No. IV in my series of Abstract Reflections.  I went a little larger on this painting using a 24" x 24" canvas, I really wanted the the koi to pop and didn't feel the smaller canvas would give it the impact that the larger one does.

The Coy Koi

Abstract Reflections IV

24" x 24" acrylic on canvas 

The Backstory

This is how it looked in the beginning.  I very loosely drew the Koi  in with a large round brush and filled it in with cadmium red medium.  At this point i'm not to concerned about getting the exact color I just want to get some local color down to use as guidelines.  I quickly brushed on some green on one side and paynes gray on the other, added some random spots on the fish and ta da it's done.  Ready for the next step.

Temptation - Acrylic Painting

One of the pleasures of summer is the bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Is it possible to resist this tasty temptation with its cheesecake base, creamy whip topping, sweet strawberry glaze, and luscious plump red berry.... ah no I confess after the photo shoot I devoured it right down to that last little drop of strawberry glaze.

Just like music, artwork triggers memories both during the painting process as well as when I look back on them.  As I sit here looking at this painting with the song Summer Wine by Deana Carter playing  in the background my memory spirals me back to other summers. Gorging on fresh fruits, the strawberries being the first fruits of the summer, running around barefoot, swimming in Harrison Lake, sleep outs with friends, endless days and long hot summer nights, first loves, temptations.....

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Temptation

12" x 12" acrylic on canvas

Water Reflections - Acrylic Painting

Taoist Proverb

"We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see."

I've tried to meditate, but trying to shut down the conversations and thoughts that scamper through my mind is not an easy thing to accomplish; yet I can sit for hours watching the play of color and movement in a body of water without a single thought in my mind. 

I'm currently working on a group of small paintings featuring water reflections, some are from images that I shot purposefully but others were pleasant surprises that I found as I culled my photos.  I hope you enjoy my walk on the abstract side.

Abstract Water Reflection I

12" x 12" Acrylic on canvas

The Spirit of Trickster

Raven - In Northwest Coastal Native lore the raven is known as a trickster, curious and mischievous it often misbehaves but is never boring.

I find it interesting to look back over the journey of a painting. This one began with a photo that I took in Stanley Park, Vancouver of a crow, yes the original was just a plain ordinary crow, but crows are so common I changed it to a Raven. (artistic licence)  I had planned on staying pretty close to the photo reference, but as I worked on the background things began to change. What was supposed to be muted grays and browns turned into blues/grays and green/grays, shadowy totem poles emerged out of the mist and a creek showed itself at the bottom of the painting.  Not at all what I planned but sometimes you just have to let the painting dictate the outcome.

Can you feel the thrumming of distant drums or sense the spirits near by in this place deep in the forest?  Perhaps you can hear the Raven tells his story, but you must never forget he is known as the trickster.

The Spirit of Trickster

24" x 24" Acrylic on canvas
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Prints available click here Melodie Douglas Fine Arts

Reference photo  

Tulips The Beginning of a Series? Perhaps

Another week has passed and as promised on Monday I shared with you one of last weeks Sneak Peeks paintings which was "Celebration" the inspiration for Celebration came from seeing some silk screen paintings and the hundreds of tulip photographs I have taken over time.  Now that painting has led to the idea of doing a series of small 5" x 7" tulip paintings.

Of course any good artist knows that to do a series you should have a plan so first off is how many am I going to paint?

Which leads to the great mind debate which goes like this:

In the throes of excitement the first number to jump in my head is 100 at the same time the sane part of my brain leaps in and said "WHOAAA are you crazy"  Yes yes I know I have a problem with commitment, maybe 100 is to big, maybe 30 would be a better number, yes 30 sounds good, now ms .sane jumps in again with "oh dear I don't know about 30 that's still a big commitment perhaps 10."  "10???? but that sounds so chintzy I want to do something BIG."   


As the argument continues in my mind I paint you a tulip.  The first in a series? Perhaps. One of one hundred?  Who knows.....but for now I give you #1

Forget-Me-Not

5" x 7" on canvas board

Dedicated to God

One of the meanings I found on the internet for tulips was that it represents prayer, as my painted tulip stands in a bed of Forget-Me-Not I am reminded not to forget my creator, to give praise to Him for the gifts that he has bestowed upon me, and to lift up others in prayer.  To God I dedicate this painting.

As a creative do you have on going arguments with yourself or your paintings?

Classic Ford Hood Ornament

"Classic Ford Hood Ornament " is today's featured painting on G+ with Brushes

18" x 24" x 1.5" acrylic on canvas

Painting realism is about painting what you see and pushing the value shifts.  I once read that you should never have a painted area bigger then a square inch of any one color, this is something  I always keep in the back of my mind while painting.  

Painting realistic chrome has many challenges, with it's reflective qualities it picks up everything that surrounds it, making it easy to lose track of what you are painting.  

Painting tip:  Use a wet palette.  For this painting using paynes gray & white I mixed up a value range of  5 values, which I stored on my wet palette.

Candy Apple

Yummy, sticky, candy apples take me back in time, to the much anticipated country fairs I experienced as a child.  I loved everything about them, the noise, the crowds, the aroma of sticky sweet candy floss, the anticipation and fear of wild rides, hanging out with friends, the bright lights as the day shut down and moved into night.  

Candy Apple

8" x 8" acrylic on canvas

"Tea of Life" acrylic painting

"Tea of Life" is today's featured painting on G+ with Brushes.  The geometric black and white table cloth bring a modern contemporary feel to a classic tea setting.

Tea of Life

18" x 24" acrylic on canvas

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The Manarola Painting Project

Manarola - (Cinque Terre, Italy)

24" x 20" Acrylic on canvas

Photo reference by Elia Locardi

http://blamethemonkey.com/italy-cinque-terre-manarola-moonrise

A collaborative project between Google + artists  +Maude McDonald , +Terrill Welch , +Ardith Goodwin and myself +Melodie Douglas , with photographers +Elia Locardi  ,  +Marisa Williams  , and +Mike Brzozowski 

Back in September 2011 after seeing a beautiful image of Manarola Italy the above group of artists decided that it would be fun to all create paintings from a selection of images of Manarola.  This would showcase how different our styles, techniques and interpretations would be. 

To see the photographic references and my fellow artists paintings, follow this link Manarola Paintings & Photographs

Terill requested permission from the select group of photographers Elia, Marisa, and Mike, who so graciously allowed us to use their copyrighted images as our reference photos.  

My initial intention was to do my painting in a surrealistic approach, but the brush took over and chose to go it's own way.  

The majority of my paintings, both in acrylic, and pastel usually start off with a very detailed drawing which I transfer onto the substrate.  In the case of Manarola I instead chose to do a very loose drawing, done with a liner brush and watered down burnt umber straight onto the canvas.   

The sky was done with long sweeping brush strokes, with tiny value changes, each stroke closely laid against the last.

"As the brush swishes across the canvas, stroke against stroke, layer upon layer, a calmness descends, i'm in the zone, it just me and the painting! Bliss!"

The ocean was done with the same sweeping brushstrokes but I had to be a little more cautious and use even strokes to allow the water to be calm and quiet. Thin glazes of color were applied on top of the brushstrokes to achieve various depth and light.

There was a wonderful sense of freedom to just go for it, allowing the painting to paint itself and not being caught up in the details.

A Special thank you +Elia Locardi for allowing me to use your wonderful photograph.