Fracturing the Flowers

Flowers - Spider Mums and Alstroemeria.

6x8in  oil on canvas panel   SOLD

Artist Note

This is one of the paintings I did when I was exploring
and developing my fracturing technique.
I decided to post an older one because although
I painted today I could not do anything I liked.
I did spend some time painting though.

I would like to link you to a post sent to me by
Sharon Rose Smith
She came out for two days to learn Fracturing and
did a great job...I mean a really great job
We hit it off and became fast friends.

A Couple of Mums

A Couple of Mums

6x6  oil on gallery wrap canvas  $115. SOLD

Play on words here. In England, Mum is used
like Mom is here

Artists note.
I am doing a demo this afternoon for our local
art association and am
soooo nervous. I can go somewhere where people
do not know me and relax and enjoy myself, but
locally...failing locally...Oh boy!
I was doing a demo last year where I was fine until I
turned round and saw a huge crowd had gathered.
I proceeded with the demo... and I think 5 wipers
happened. Honest, no exaggeration at least 5.
Afterward people reassured me, when my dismay was
obvious, that they learned  so much from watching that
demo.
Oh sure...RIGHT!
But, here I am doing another one again,
 and another in March.
I question why I cannot say NO!

Birthday Flowers - Spider Mums

Birthday Flowers - Spider Mums

8x6in oil on canvas panel  $125.

These flowers were part of several bunches my
oldest, and as he says, the most handsome son, R.J.
and his significant other - sweet and beautiful, Wendy,
gave to me. I have never known the name of this
bell shaped blue/mauve flower

Does anyone know what they are called?
The bouquet is now 10 days old and look how
 fresh they still are. I love them.
I painted this after a full day of teaching, but was on
a high from seeing such good work being done
in the workshop. Hungry now so heading home!

Artist Note.
I am conducting a workshop on the
Fracturing technique and today was a lot of fun...
for me, but hard work for the artists attending.
They all left seemingly enthusiastic and will be back
for the easier part tomorrow.
I start them off with learning how to fracture with
the handy tool using  complementary colors across
from each other and move into another color,
creating neutral areas. Then we move into objects
one from imagination and one from life observation.
I ask them to immediately write down how they achieved
what they accomplished. Handy to refer back on.
Here are two typical worksheets. I will show more
tomorrow.

Mums, Cherries and great App.

Mums and Cherries

6x8in oil on canvas  $125. SOLD

This is the second painting I have done of these spider mums.
The first one was a demo for last weeks workshop.
I did not get a good image of it before it went.
I loved the color combination and decided to paint it again
while the flowers were still perky.

Artist Note.

The App - Paper Camera - a steal at .99cents
I have known about this app for a while now but am only just
finding out how it can help artists like me who do not use photoshop.

All the programs can be used to help explore your own painting imagery.
Here are some before and after pics to give you an idea.
the one below is a regular shot with my phone

Below are some of the different programs from the app
using the same image. Click to enlarge.

The program above is very handy for seeing warm and cools
in the same color family. It is called Andy Pop

this one breaks the
shapes
down into
black and white.
(Not values)

This one above is perfect for checking the negative shapes
It is in Comic Boom and I use it the most.

Comic Boom outlines
and so emphasizes the
negative shapes - which is
invaluable for me.
Warm and cool areas
stand out. Look at the top
of the window  and the wall
behind and see how
blue the shadow is.
A great reminder of
warms light -
cool shadows!

This one is taken in one called Neon.
(this is the first demo of the mums) You can take pics of your
paintings and try them in different programs to see if you like
your art better in any of them.
It all helps to seeing your art a different way.
The artists who use Photoshop have this ability at their fingertips but
I do not have it. Very expensive and the learning curve is huge.
This one is perfect for the computer challenged, like myself.

It also includes ones called Pastel Perfect, Acquarello, and Granny Paper.
I cannot show them all but for the price I have no hesitation
passing on the recommendation to try it. After taking the shot
it downloads right into your camera roll.
If you are into exploring your
own direction in art this can be a lot of fun as well as
maybe useful. I found it very useful for helping me see
the negative areas more clearly. If you paint portraits it will turn so
you can take a shot of yourself and when in Comic Boom
makes it so easy to see the planes with color changes.

Spiders and Stripes

Spiders and Stripes

8x6in  oil on canvas  $125. SOLD

This one was inspired by the new Daily Paintworks Challenge.
The Stripe Challenge. Once again the fabulous Carol Marine
came up with a fun challenge.
I was tempted to use the one in yesterday's blog because it had a
small striped vase, but in the spirit of the challenge I painted this.


Artist Note.

I am loving painting these spider mums. They are so
full of movement.

I was asked what colors I use in my white shadows.
I always am influenced by the color of the light.
If it is warm then I add a little bit of yellow in my white mixture.
*Remember to always add white to each color to get them
to the correct value BEFORE mixing them together
Warm light produces cool shadows - see below.

I use compliments for shadows.
Veridian/aliz+white
Cerulean/orange+white
Ultra Bl/orange+white
Mauve/yellow=white
Cool colors dominate in mixture


Cool light produces warm shadows- see below.

Same mixtures as above but with
the warm color dominating
I often use a yellow green and rust
or yellow green and cool pink.


The main thing to look out for is the surrounding colors. White absorbs
the color of its neighbor. In the Spider and Stripes painting above
I used some of the mixture from the glass in the shadows.
My light source was warm.
Hope this helps, Carol.

Spider Mums

Spider Mums

8x6in  Oil on canvas panel  SOLD

I watched with great pleasure the Queen's Jubilee celebration on the
river Thames this morning.
My roots came out and I got teary eyed when I listen to the marvelous
singing of Land of Hope and Glory.
I  laughed when one of the announcers said they didn't know why the
Thames always looked so gray. Give the guy a sign...Rain gray,
sky grey, water gray. Sky blue, water blue!

My sister was on one of the boats - lucky lady!

I had so much fun painting this and I think it shows.