My first paintings done in 2017

It has been over three weeks since my last post.  I finished two paintings and a domino train station since then.  I also have been under the weather with the flu.  The paintings were done before I got sick but I decided to wait to do a post until after the opening reception at the Carnegie Center for the Arts Regional Show which was last Sunday.  On Monday I woke up with the flu and had no ambition to do anything except lay on the couch and watch Netflix.  It is now Friday and I am feeling much better so decided to do this post now.

I'll start with the paintings.  The first is one that I started last year then set aside to work on the Surreal Saguaro painting that I featured in the last post.  Here is what I had completed when I stopped working on it.

It sat for over a month before I finally got back to it.  Here is the finished painting which I titled "Butterfly Garden".

My next piece was a special order domino train station for someone who winters in FL and wanted one featuring flamingos.

I then decided to do another version of "Peek-a-boo Kitty" because I sold the first one the day after I painted it.  It was bought at the Three Rivers Artist Guild Holiday Show by a couple who said it reminded them of their kitty.  Since it was so cute I painted another one.

I did not win a award at the Carnegie Show this year but was honored that all three of my entries were accepted.  Here are photos of me with each of the paintings.

I also wanted to mention that my grand-daughter Samantha has a painting hanging in a show at the Open Door Gallery in Sturgis, MI.  Here is Sam and her tiger painting.

Step by Step procedure of "Surreal Saguaro" Painting

I took photos of each step of the painting process of my latest "Surreal Saguaro" painting.  The first thing I did was to paint the background solid black.  Then I drew the saguaro in chalk pencil and then divided it up into random sections.  Once that was done I started to fill each area with an undercoat
of white.

I then added color to each section.  I lost count of how many different colors I used.  Each color took two to three or more coats of paint.

When I had all the sections filled with color I floated a darker shade around the edges of each section.

That was the tedious part.  Now the fun begins.  I started to decorate each section.  The first thing I painted in was a Picasso like face.  After that I did the kitten and keyboard.  More ideas started to fill my mind.  I think the flamingo was next.  Then my grand-daughter saw the painting and suggested I put Waldo in it and my son saw it online and said it had to have Darth Vader.  We watched Christmas Story which influenced me to include the leg lamp.  The more I painted the more ideas I had.  I added dots and trim work as I went along.  Here are some close-ups of some of the things that I painted.

When I had all the sections decorated I outlined each section in black.

The last step is the scary part.  I always think maybe I shouldn't do it because as you can see the painting above looks pretty good.  The only problem is that it looks flat.  To give it a 3-D look I paint in the ribs with black then dry brush a white highlight in the center of each rib. I also add some dark shadows in black where needed.  It covers some of the detail work but gives the saguaro the dimension it needs.  Here is the finished painting.

I hope you enjoyed seeing each step I took to create this painting.  I worked on it for a couple of weeks and enjoyed the process.  I also enjoyed listening to three great audio books while I was painting.

3 Paintings that will be entered at the Carnegie Center for the Arts

After many hours of work I finished my latest version of "Surreal Saguaro" which I will be entering in the Regional Juried Arts Competition 2017 at the Carnegie Center for the Arts.  I will also enter two other paintings I did a few months ago.  This version of the saguaro painting is different from the others I have done because I added much more detail and fun items.  There are animals, musical instruments, flowers, and a few surprises like Waldo, Darth Vader, and the Leg Lamp.  I did many versions of this painting when I lived in Tucson and every one of them sold.  I am not sure if I will sell this one because I don't know if people in Michigan will be interested in hanging a southwest painting in their home.  I decided to do it anyway for the competition because I wanted something different and this one is different!  Size is 36X16X2 and it is painted on an artist box.

Here are the other two paintings I am entering in the competition.  Hopefully they will all be accepted.

"Mr. Hoots"

"Study in Patchwork #4
Shades of Grey"

I have mentioned before that for some reason some of my larger paintings appear smaller when I post the photo.  "Surreal Saguaro" is much larger then these other two in real life but appears smaller in the blog post.

I will be doing another post in a few days showing the step by step process of how I painted "Surreal Saguaro".