Fine art: February 2007 Archives

the painter's canvas is always blank, and sometimes in the end it's still blank...

So I purchased a couple of canvases the other day and got inspired to paint...

So far I have no idea what I'm going to paint. I started with just painting the two canvases with a gold metallic color for the background. I do know that I want to hang them side by side. And I think I'm going for an abstract style. I got the gold idea from a favorite artist of mine, Gustav Klimt.

If you don't recognize his name, here is one of his most famous pieces,'The Kiss.' Believe me, just go into any college dorm room and you're sure to find a poster of it hanging up.

You can learn more about him at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Klimt

I love to shop, you could say it's my religion. Being an artist, I especially love shopping for art supplies. Living in York, there aren't too many options for a really good art store. Sure, there are the local craft stores and places like Wal-Mart. But if you want a place where the sales staff knows and breathes art, then I recommend taking a trip to Lemoyne and check out Dick Blick. The store is smaller than any of the above-mentioned craft stores, but the selection and knowledge of the staff well surpasses them all. The sales people are all artists themselves, some are graphic artists, sculptors, fine art artists, illustrators and painters, but they're all artists.

I had a great time there this weekend, and could have spent all day there. I ended up buying 3 canvases and some paint brushes, acrylics and a pack of stickers for my 2-year-old.

If you can't get to Lemoyne, then check out the Dick Blick Web site...
http://www.dickblick.com/

A close friend of the family had put their beloved pet dog to sleep. I offered to do a pet portrait for them in rememberance.

Here is the final painting.

I did a preliminary sketch of the dog using watercolor pencils. And then started painting the background in first. The dog is white and sometimes thats a bit challenging when painting a white animal on a a white background. But if you look carefully at any type of white subject you'll see shades of gray and even see colors that get reflected from surrounding objects.