Red Angus Painting Update

Here is the latest update on the Red Angus cow painting!  lol  It just wasn't working so I scraped the paint off the canvas and covered the "ghost image" with a coat of white paint.  One of these days I'll go green, recycle or whatever you want to call it and paint something else on this canvas.

When my husband saw that I had scraped off the cow, he said he was glad.  He said he hadn't said anything before because he wanted to give me time to either fix it or realize it wasn't fixable.  But since I've "erased" it, he admitted he thought it looked very amateurish and almost as though a kindergartener had painted it. 

Please don't hold back, my love!  lol  But he was right and nothing I was doing to it was helping but seemed to make it worse.  I've always said he's my best critic!

Narcissus Flowers in Water Soluble Oil

Although I haven't done any more to it, there was some paint leftover from the Red Angus cow that I wanted to use but didn't want to paint anymore on the cow.  Did you get that?  lol  In short, I was bored with the bull but didn't want to waste paint!

I had a photo of these narcissus so decide to see if I could paint them.  This is still the water soluble oil paint but on a 6 x 6 inch canvas panel.  It came out a little better than the cow, or at least I thought so.  Maybe I should just stick to painting flowers in the oils or maybe I should just practice painting animals!

Thank You, Anastasiya!

Anastasiya Malakhova at Cat and Bear Studios ( http://artpicks.catandbearstudios.com) has selected some of my art to appear on her artpicks page http://artpicks.catandbearstudios.com/selection_03_11_2014_1.html.

Thank you Anastasiya for considering my paintings worthy enough to appear on your website, I do appreciate it!

As for the Red Angus cow painting that I showed you all yesterday, it's still sitting on the easel as I just haven't had time to do any more on it yet today.  To be honest, I'm hoping for a mighty blast of "Oomph and Inspiration" as I think I can finish it in just a few hours if I just knew what to do next.  It will come and I will be patient!

As always, watch this blog!

Finally Back Painting

It's been something of a long haul getting back to painting and I'm not feeling too successful with the comeback!  I have all these ideas floating around in my head but it's as if I'm learning to paint all over again when I try to get them down on paper or canvas.

I saw this photograph at a public domain photo site and immediately wanted to paint this big girl (well, I think it's a cow and not a bull but I really don't know!)  It's on a 12x12 inch square gallery wrapped canvas and I'm using the water soluble oils as I got some new brushes that I wanted to try.

The brushes are great but the person trying to use them is more than a little rusty!  After much time, work and a few less than nice words, I just got it out of the really ugly stage to this "it's getting there" ugly stage!  I know I'm on the verge of finishing it but I'm already tired of working on it!  I know the number one problem with artists is they tend to quit too soon.  I know I need to push on with this and get those lovely twirls of winter fur tamed and she really, really needs some eyelashes!

OK, someone give me that kick in the tail that I sorely need and make me finish this!  Or, is it so bad that I need to scrape it all off and paint something else?  So many of my recent paintings have ended up in the circular file - it would be so nice to paint something that works!

Winter! with that nasty 4-letter word!

 We don't normally get a lot of snow around here and when we do, everything just about grinds to a halt!  It snowed all afternoon with about 2 - 3 inches accumulation and now the snow has turned into sleet or freezing rain.  I can hear it hitting the windows - ugh!

Fortunately, all our children are finally home safe and sound or, in my granddaughter's case, waiting it out at a girlfriend's house.  Our son got into a relatively minor accident going home from work but is fine and safe now at his home.

Our feathered friends have drained the bird feeders at least twice today.

 And not only that, but they've been fighting for position and lining up for an opportunity to feed.  We have a covered porch and there's been a "welfare line" all day!  It's the same with the feeder in the yard.

I don't know if you can see it or not, but look closely at the middle photo.  We watched as at least 10 Eastern Bluebirds crammed into this tiny bluebird house seeking shelter from the snow!  Not only that but others come and go trying to get in too.  Fortunately we have several of these houses scattered across the property and I hope they all can find shelter. 

There were a plethora of robins just yesterday but they have utterly disappeared!  I don't know where they shelter in bad weather but I hope they stay warm enough!

I know people who are used to this kind of weather laugh at us but 1) we rarely get snow and just don't have the kind of equipment necessary for dealing with it.  2)  most people aren't experienced with driving in it nor even knowing how to help keep their homes warm, prepare for power outages and that sort of thing.  Then too, now that we're getting ice, our multitude of trees can add to the possibility of power failure let alone just the build-up of ice on the power lines!

So, hope you all just stay home if you're in the midst of this mess - just stay home and feed the birds!

One good thing is that my very last eye appointment was changed.  It had been scheduled for today but with the imminent snow storm, they worked me in yesterday and I finally got a contact lens that enables me to really see well!  It's been a little too chaotic around here to paint today but I hope to paint something while being so house bound!  I just hope we keep the electricity on!

Fine Art America

I finally took the plunge and joined Fine Art America.  My gallery there is still a work in progress but I thought I'd give you the link so you can bookmark it.

FAA offers high quality prints on a variety of supports - canvas, art papers, metal, and acrylic and they also offer cards and phone covers.  These are all offered at very reasonable prices and are perfect for decorating both home and business.

I hope you find something you love at my page but, if not, look around the site as there are many wonderful artists with thousands of pieces of art - you're sure to find the perfect piece of art for your home or business.

Here's a link to my page:  http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jan-gibson.html.  Stop by for a visit any time then come by again as I plan to add lots of art in the future.

Still Trying To Paint

I'm still trying to paint and am using watercolor as I can do so without much fuss or muss.  Mainly, I use it because I can paint for a few minutes, just give my brush a swish in water and walk away until next time.  However, watercolor is a bit tricky for me in the best of times and I'm sure this could use even more work (& skill!). 

I'm quitting with it though as I don't want to overwork it and I'm tired of it.  It's a relatively simple painting but has taken me forever not to mention the fact that yellows and oranges are not my favorite colors to work with. 

They're favorite colors for my husband though and he really likes this. He says it brightens up our dreary, rainy, winter skies.  Well, he's right about that so I'll just put it aside for now.  In the future if I happen to see that it needs more done to it, I'll maybe work on it again.