The Final Commission Piece

Adding in more background color...

Working on minor details... little branches and twig shapes...

The final...

Lost

14x30 oil on panel

SOLD

Private Collection

Finished my commission piece. I really love the effect I got on this one, nice and moody. Now I will meet with the client and see if it works for her interior design concept. It's a nail biter not knowing if it is going to be the right fit! 

Today I move my art studio. So I will be packing up my computer and easel and all my paints and heading over to the new place. Lots of organizing to do! And have to rescue Bert from what ever box he ended up in! Hang in there folks, until I get internet hooked up, it may be a few days... thanks everyone!

Day 2

These pictures reveal my initial stages of blocking in back ground color on day two. There is something mesmerizing about painting in and around the branches... I get lost in them...

I haven't even begun to unpack my studio yet. Too wrapped up in finishing this painting. I hope that next week I will be all set to get organized. 

I think I may have lost Bert in the move. I keep hearing faint cries for help coming from one of my boxes... he must be scared of the dark. 

New Commission Piece

 

Back in July/August I met a nice lady that ended up commissioning me to do a new piece for her interior design client. I was honored! Immediately I built the wood panel from scratch. I have been tackling with paint little by little every week. I am taking this one a bit slower so that I can focus. I chose not to use drying medium this time so the paint is taking forever to dry! So long, in fact, that I am way over due! I feel awful! I really under estimated the timeline on this one... 

So even though I am farther along than these photos represent above, I thought it would be fun to post the in progress work from the beginning. Meanwhile, my painting is drying. Tomorrow I will continue to work on it and in the end I will probably throw together a slide show about it.

Kind of an extra bonus for the client to be able to see the birth of their new artwork! 

These beginning stages are very important to me. I wash in my darker undertone. This time I used my famous "Saparindian" concoction with raw umber and quinacridone gold. Then I literally wipe out all my white areas to reveal the shapes of the long twisted tree branches. So I rely heavily on my ability to see negative and positive shapes, adding and subtracting paint as I go. 

This wipe out method is a great way to "sketch" in oil... once it is dry, color is the next step.