Yellow Iris from Garden Photos

So far the problem I'm having is making the petals the right shape and shading them in such a way that they have a sense of movement.

The other thing that's interesting this time around is that I am mixing several types of water based media so that i will have a wider range of yellows to work with. at this point they had 5 different shades of yellow on them.

 This project is being done with a mix of gouache, watercolor paints and watercolor pencils. (At least they were at this stage)

I spent the day working and reworking the flowers but just couldn't find a balance that showed the edges and shape of the flower petals without outlining so I gave up on that but instead of tossing the whole picture I did save the leaves and stems into the computer.

Now that I have them to work with I can use them with any of the flower blossoms that I have saved over the last 16 years.

Variations on a Theme, Christmas Sweater Design Project

The idea of this first one is creating a Christmas Tree made out of Sunflowers for all of the people I know that have Christmases without snow.

This time I was just trying to come up with as many different designs as I could at once.

 This one was designed for the computer so that I can use all the drawings and paintings I've already got on the green one.

 I'm showing this design at 2 different stages because there are times that I just don't know when to quit and looking at it a few different ways can help me decide what I like and improve my judgement in the future.

  A lot of my work goes right out in the mail so I play with borders, backgrounds and edgings as well.

This project just keeps on coming.

The holly design is done in marker and the snowflakes are done in gouache and outlined in marker.

I've decided that gouache is really the best medium to use when designing a project like this. It avoids all of the uneveness that you get when using marker on large areas.

I'm posting this design with and without the outlining. I can't decide which I like best do I though I'd ask you Dear Reader, which do you like?

Well, it's on to the other sweater and I thought I'd use a design I haven't done before. I used to do the light blue with snow flakes all of the time on my knitting machines.

 I hadn't done a red and green striped sweater with contrasting cuffs before so I thought that was a good place to start.

The snow globe was added to make it tie in with the other sweater and as long as I was trying new things I added the gold too and thought that really set things off beautifully. What do you think?

Still Inspired By My Garden's Lilies

In my 53 years as an artist this is the very first time I've tried painting lilies in gouache. All I can say I that I can't imagine why I waited so long. The paint just glides on and mixes so easily that It's by far one of my favorite types of paints so far.

 Instead of starting with a canvas and just painting the flower like the photo I thought I'd design a dala horse with them instead which gives me a project for my dala horse blog and a new design for merchandise in my dala horse store on  zazzle.

The main benefit of working in this way is that it gives my subscribers a new project to try or read about and it gives my customers on zazzle another fun design to use on things.

Even better than that is not cluttering up my house with a bunch of unsold, unwanted paintings that will end up in a dumpster when I'm gone.

At least for myself I feel that I've found the perfect balance in life.

Here's what the project page looked like when I finished it but instead of just letting it sit in my sketchbook I decided to put it to work and see what else I could do with it.

I started by cutting the images apart.

Next I cut each of the images out.

And then the fun began as I mounted them on cards and added more drawing to them.

I used markers to draw leaves where I was going to attach the photo and a few more where I attached the horse to pull the whole design together.

Here's the envelope I made for it.

...and the 2 of them together.

You may remember this small gouache painting that I did recently on a watercolor card. well, as a bit of a joke to a friend I wrote this on the inside of the card:
"Poor horsey, lost between art and craft"

It struck me funny because I'd been showing my paintings in various art shows and public buildings for for many years but after I designed a painted chair for a national magazine about 20 years ago I found "I'd fallen through the cracks" as the old saying goes. The galleries didn't want me because I was a "crafter" and the craft people didn't want me because they said "she's too artistic".

This mean't several years in poverty and obscurity until I decided that I don't care what people call me or my work, I just need to keep creating things.

Other envelope designs for the project.

I couldn't resist adding a lily to this old painting too.

Here's a card I made with a photo of the painting. Drawings were added to it and the envelope with markers.

I've been happier, been able to make almost anything I've needed to use, wear or barter with for other things I wanted.

Now, my childhood dream of seeing my designs in peoples homes around the world has come true as I've been working with zazzle for the last few years putting my paintings an drawings on any sort of product you imagine. I'm still not making much money but I really love what I do and hope that someday it will actually begin to put food on the table and pay my bills. In the meantime it's fun to check and see what part of the world bought something and loves my designs.

A Few Thoughts on Current and Past Projects

This is one of the favorite Dala Horses that I made years ago. It used to have holly and berries in the saddle area and I decided to change the saddle so I can have it out on display year around and also use it for a  model when I teach Dala Horse Painting. 

Don't forget to follow my Blog on Dala Horses
dalahorsesbyjulia.blogspot.com

This little painting was fun and easy to do over a highly textured canvas panel that I had been using as a palate for other paintings. 

 
 This lamp was a collaborative effort. My husband had built it in junior high school and I painted it to go with my Dala Horses to give it a makeover.

I keep experimenting with growing food indoors.

I also continue to improve my technique for drawing and filling in with markers and in an effort to avoid cluttering up the studio they usually go out in the afternoon mail.

I like to put a design om the deck edge of these cards so that it peeks out and frames the cover art. 

 Not a lot going on today but re-arranging things in the studio and deciding what to work on next.

8 by 10 inch Iris Painting One Session at a Time

I'd been using this old canvas panel to lay my paints out on for a long time while working on other paintings so it had built up a very heavily textured surface I felt would be great for a wild countryside painting. At this point the colors on it really don't matter.

After selecting one of the photos of the Iris I've been growing here since my brother shared these from his garden, I began to paint the background in.

Very little had been sketched in using sidewalk chalk.

Next I began adding in the flowers.

The leaves followed, first in leftover paints from the flowers and then in the correct leaf shades.

I continued adding different shades of green to the leaves and plants looking for just the right balance of darks and lights.

At this point I felt I was getting carried away with the leaves so I painted some of them out using a dark mixture of crimson, hookers green and burnt umber.

Here's a selection of the colors that I was using. The important thing to note here is that I have six different greens and 2 different yellows to start with and can blend many more by combining them in different ways.

Next time you find yourself outdoors on a summer day, take some time to notice how many different shades of green there are in nature. You may be surprised.

I continued to change the plants and flowers trying to make them spark to life so you can actually get a sense of movement from looking at them.

 I was very happy with the results and knew it was one of my better ones as I tumbled into bed and had the first hard and restful sleep I'd had since I started. painting takes a lot out of me but I just can't do without it.