NELVIA'SART.COM

Spent most of today trying to figure out why blogger won't let me comment on your comments, no matter what platform I am on.   Blogger wants to say Apple's fault and Goggle wants to say Apple's fault.  Will end up and email you guys as I am disgusted and still can't comment. Memories

Winter's Day Well have to thank both Sheila and Diane for nominating me to do black and white photos because it got me back to Blogger which has changed since I was last using it.

Public Face As you, my friends know, I have been on a journey for a while to try to connect with my inner creativity.   That has bubbled up an old desire that I would like to write.   But about what and how?   "How-to" books and videos on painting/drawing abound.  But I've always wondered where picture concepts and ideas come from?   Looking at Hubpages there are a lot of articles on art, but not necessarily the thought process of developing a specific story and painting process painting by painting.  Thinking one person's thoughts might be a niche and of interest to other beginners and intermediates.  There is an exercise that many writers do, they take a picture and write a story or character profile around it.   So that is what I did for this painting and this is a first draft for a potential Hubpage article to test the waters for interest level. THE STORY:   First question I had was why the mirror covered the eyes, easily the...

Alluring I have to admit that while I have dabbled in it, I haven't been such a huge fan of charcoal.  Know a lot of the lessons I have combine paints and charcoal, and I have approached cautiously.  I just don't like the dirty look, or the mud that you can easily get.  Heck, I don't have any problem doing that with my paints. This week we had Robert Kelley as our instructor.  This guy is a master manipulator of charcoal.  He is a master.  It was wonderful to watch his several hours worth of video and listen to his thought process. Of course I always seem to have to deviate.  I thought I was going to try to do the straight lessons this year.  But Again I have finally decided to maybe use the same reference, or not, but let "my style" try to shine through.  I am not real sure what it is, but I am trying to give it free rein.  So I decided to use charcoal, but also add some color.  We have had nothing but days and days...

Seems that Blogger was having some hiccups and I stopped posting here.  Then guess I got lazy and just didn't check until now if they were back in business.  But in the meanwhile, February has come and gone and ended up being busy working with Figurary and trying to stay on top of my lessons.  Great outlet with lots of wonderful, inspirational artists was posting daily with 30 Day Creative Challenge.  This challenge group was designed to replace Leslie Saeta's as she has moved on to other endeavors close to her heart.

Shades of Pink This is kind of a culmination of lots of things I have been working on for the last couple of  months.  It started with a photo I liked, putting it into GIMP I wanted to put it into color dropper and see what colors/tones were coming up.  They weren't quite striking enough so I then went to adjusting the color curves.   Came up with several options that I really liked.   Thought it might be a great fun way to better learn how to mix colors and do a little mini series as well.  Going to call it Shades of.... Then it was back into oils.   I kind of am addicted to them now that I got through the first painting.   I do really like how they blend.   Currently am using a styrofoam meat tray as my palette so I can just toss it when it is to messy to clean.  However this was more complex or something and I wasn't able to get it finished in just one sitting.  So I needed to utilize some of the painting medium for my oil...

China Doll Well this was a real slug fest.  I almost quit her 3-4 times but decided I had invested so much time and energy I was going to add some collage, some facial paint and let it go as it was.  This is for a challenge with the word prompt steam punk.   I have seen steam punk photos, (this is from Michael Cain) but really didn't get it.  But it has conventions with a pretty big following and lots of people really enjoy it, so ... It started out as a trial because I used some paper from the company that used to make Kitty Wallace paper (that was supposed to be the best paper).  It is sanded and while I have tried it before, I didn't like it then, so thought I'd try it again.   Still don't like it.  But started going forward with my pan pastels and was doing pretty well and realized I made her nose way toooooo long.   But I was pretty well down the path so lengthened some more things and moved onward.  Got most of the face in and af...

Sunbathing Still working on pastel and experimenting with color block and bolder skin tones.   I wanted to work larger, so this is 16"x20".   Since I don't have pastel paper that size I decided to try painting it in that technique I had used for pastels.   It really didn't work out the way I imagined.   So experiment time began. I was working on hot press watercolor block and after I blocked in all colors I added a layer of clear gesso.  Now I thought I would be set up for working with pastel.  It buckled a bit, was not too much.  So I then began to add similar colors to the darker underpainting and I was off.   Now I know there is a lot of color and not sure I would go again with this palette, but I think it is interesting.  I was worried about the hair but think it actually turned out ok.     While I worked with a posterized palette I ended up not using the reference and tended to add different colors into the wide ...

STUDIO ORGANIZATION REVEAL Yesterday I was Miss Build It, and I assembled the organizational furniture for the art room.  Just me, a wooden hammer, and a couple of wrenches was all it took.  I felt pretty fortunate to find both of these, which think will fulfill my needs and was able to do it for under $100.   Both are quite lightweight.  No particle board or formaldehyde either.   I have been searching on and off now for a couple of years to find something to help me keep better organized.   But it really has been a pity to see how flimsy the plastic storage is and how much they want for it.  Seems there was nothing between plastic and heavier furniture.  I have art tuff, I just never can find it, even in my crates I forget what I got.  I have limited horizontal space where I paint and really want to use it when I am painting.   So had to find a place to stash the junk that was preventing that.  Also time to throw out ...

Straw Hat Got to say that the heat here has finally broken and I got to tell you it really changes my disposition.   Do you hear my husband clapping?   Anyway It really shouldn't be mid 90s in October.   Still no rain, but at least we can come and go outside without fainting. So, I guess that has kind of encouraged me to get on an art roll.   Got lots of ideas, am making GIMP do some work for me and actually getting some results that I think I can repeat.  Also broke out a set of Gallery pastels that I have had hoarded for years, the Sennilers are next on the agenda.   Tomorrow I am getting some things I ordered that should help organize my studio.  Have threatened to do for for a while and didn't spend the money.   But found some things (a plastic cube system with doors that you can make open any way you want, a rolling tray cart, that can function like drawers but is much lighter than all that fake-wood furniture) reasonably that I th...

The Future Well am doing the happy dance.  This is my second attempt at visitation by posterizing the picture.    I have been try8ing to learn how to do GIMP and figured out how to do that and take a color picture to gray tones.  Minimizing the number of gray tones also help to better see tones.  I actually took the colored reference and postruized ti down to 5 tones, but ended up having to add a few extra to get the look I was going for. This is pastel and I tried going with pastel mat.  I have worked on the pastel mat previously and wasn't super happy with it.   You just can't blend as well - at least not initially.   But the good news is that it doesn't dust everything and does hold lots of layers. Thanks much for stopping by and taking a look.

Spirit Keeper One of the things I enjoy about art is that I have to constantly learn things.  When doing this painting I wanted to portray a young Indian who would learn the tribes tradition, culture, language, spiritual teaching and respect for animals.   I couldn't think of a title that would convey he would be the person to take it to the future, The Hope, just seemed too generic.  I looked up the Cherokee word for hope, but it is a string of letters no one would know.  Since most of the native historical traditions are oral I next went to learning about the storytellers.   Storytellers are a key person in the tribe and impact their knowledge to the future generations through the native schools.   That led to me understand how desperate the US government had been to stamp out and eradicate all indian cultures.  It is truly shameful. this is acrylic and I played around with the bokeh background to keep it simple and the focus on the connection...

Secrets I haven't take a log of classes so I am not sure if the way I am doing my online lessons is correct or not.   But while I watch the videos I don't usually do the actual photo reference, usually try to find a reference similar but then work through the process with that photo.    This is a lesson that Kara Bullock did in my online course and, well, it was just fascinating to me.  So in this case I made an exception as I really like the pose for this.   I looked for something similar but didn't find it.  The lighting in this is really interesting and hard to come by. However, I took a little liberty with the background as I always struggle with making them interesting. Learned so much in this lesson, the colors are not what I would normally use in the skin tones so really just expanded that option so much. Thanks much for stopping by and taking a look.

Into The Mist It is always good to mark milestones on your journeys, and I feel like I have made one in my art over the last few weeks.  Not what you would call consistent, but I think I have hit onside winners.  I am trying to analyze what exactly is different, but not really sure what it is.   I think I am working with more with:  contrast, layers, different palette colors.  It seems there is more solidity and depth, overall a more pronounced presence in these paintings that I really like.   This is a combination of two photos, one from Neil A. Kingsbury of PMP, and another of a small girl with the cloak that I liked.  The word prompt was "in the mist"  I changed it up a bit and turned it "into the mist" as I really liked that hand coming out at you inviting you to what?????? Thanks much for stopping by and taking a look.

This is my attempt at last weeks lesson by Sabra Awlad Issa.   And wow, what a powerful lesson it was.  While I wasn't able to totally go abstract and loose I think I really captured the essence of there person.  I am not sure whether it is the reference, or the techniques (some of which I was able to use), but in the end I think it comes off as a very solid strong presence.  I saw that as well in the other student pictures.   I don't feel so bad as really no one was able to pull off what the teacher did. I have to realize that I am going to pick up and utilize what I can and flow it into how I paint.  I will try again I am sure to come up with something more abstract, but for now, this is the best I can do.   What's different in this is that it started with an underpainting.   Oh, I know about underpainting, but I don't always start with it.   Well, I should.   While it is pretty ugly and loose it does get mid tones, darks ...

Femme Fatale Well, things don't always go exactly as planned.  This was supposed to be a mixed media piece, but ....  it almost turned into a fatal piece gone so wrong - could I save her?   You be the judge. When I first saw this reference it made me think because the girl was wearing the veil - she was the perfect Russian, of course, spy from the 1940-1950s.  She was definitely going to have a glamorous mysterious look. So I painted her carefully and then boldly decided to put on some of the handmade collage paper I made especially to emulate the veil.  Well, once I started applying it definitely was too dark and you really couldn't see all the facial work beneath it.   Usually the tissue melts into transparency, different than what I usually use and boy it didn't melt away - but really was opaque.   So now I had to figure out how in the heck could I pull it off and could I repair the damage done to the paint surface, paint over the glo...

Castaway Preliminary sketch Well this is my first result with the oil/cold wax technique.  I haven't painted that much in oils and while it is similar it is definitely different.   It is like painting with butter and does made the oil quite a bit more opaque.  This technique is from my online lessons, I had heard about cold wax, thought about it, but hadn't done anything about it.  So this pushed me to go there.   I have heard this described as somewhere between encaustic and oil painting. Let's talk first about the title - why Castaway.  I watch So You Think You Can dance most seasons.  I am fascinated at how coordinated, lithe and flexible these people are.   However, it makes me think of Broadway, live theatrical, music or singing performances to note just how many talented people there are in this world.  But, unfortunately most of them don't ever get discovered.  When I watch the dance show it also makes me think of ...

The Fire Inside Meet Grace, she is the granddaughter of a photographer friend from PMP-Art, Sandie Bell.   Sandie is a wonderful photographer and has share so many photos, of her dogs and her grandchildren.  We have gotten to watch Grace grow up and she is maturing into a beautiful young woman. Wanted to try my color patch technique again and as always have to change things up.   Actually I started this using acrylic paints.   However, this palette was really, really subdued.   I just couldn't get the color to lighten up.   So decided to try an experiment.   I hear your groans!!!    Anyway, slapped on some clear gesso and decided I would switch to pastels and see how the technique worked with that.   So, I think what I came up with here is still lots of color, but not as bold, more subdued but still full of energy and vibrancy. Thanks much for stopping by and taking a look.

Littlest Brush Just had a friend tell me I was working too hard, too much and was supposed to be retired.   Got to say she has a point.   I have taken on several large yard projects (topdressing the yard, putting 12 steps up my berm and then killing all the weed/brushes crap that the builder's land clearing has put in my yard).   If you are asking am I little bit controlling yes, that is why I am doing it rather than hiring someone else - paying a lot and not really getting what and how I want it. So, moral of that long paragraph is I haven't been in the art room until today, recuperation day, and I have been utterly art starved.  I really feel the difference in my stress levels - I just haven't gotten my release. The Art Sherpa has a term for the children who paint her tutorial - Little Brushes - I thought that was so cute.   When I saw this picture and this child so full of life, color, energy - I knew I just had to paint her.   This  is o...

Inside Out I don't know about you but I do find it difficult to do someone else's tutorial.  However, I was so taken with this picture that I really tried to follow what The Art Sherpa, Cinnamon Clooney, did and not go my own way.   I just thought this was so inventive and now I am on a quest to see if I can come up with some more surreal images. This is all acrylic and yes, I did struggle with the clouds and sky in general.  Guess that is going to be one of my things to work on, maybe next year, and that will be landscapes.  Maybe there is a really good course out there for those of us who are challenged!! Anyway, thanks for stopping by and taking a look.