Thursday, February 28, 2013

"OSCAR - AN OSTRICH" ORIGINAL MINI OIL ON PANEL © SAUNDRA LANE GALLOWAY

"Oscar - an Ostrich"
$25 + $2.95 shipping in the US
Available in my ETSY shop- oops SOLD 3-1-2013...
 
This guy is hilarious...he reminds me of Oscar the Grouch, thus the name! I find painting the ostrich quite fun...I laugh as I go! He's perfect for that someone who has a sense of humor! Painted on a 4"x4" panel with black sides he is perfect for sitting on an easel or framing...BE CAREFUL however as a frame is going to take up 1/4", so you don't want to get to close to his head...I have a solution if you wish! I offer; at no extra charge; mounting him on a 5"x5" black backer board so you could frame him in a 5"x5" frame with all his sides showing. The example for framing is shown; not included in the price however. I get these wonderful little black frames at Michael's. Oscar will be ready to ship about March 8 when he is good and dry!
 

you can see how the black backer board compliments a frame! It's acid free and as lightfast as black can be!! PS...the background color looks a bit blue in this pic...it is actually more on the purple side...Remember the colors on everyone's monitor is always a little different!!
 
HAPPY CREATING!


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

"OSTRICH" ORIGINAL MINI OIL ON PANEL © SAUNDRA LANE GALLOWAY

"Ostrich"
4"x4" oil on panel
$25 + $2.95 shipping in the US
AVAILABLE IN MY ETSY SHOP! Oops folks...it sold 2-27-2013...:)
 
I woke up this morning with a strong feeling I wanted to paint something with a sense of humor, and I think this guy is it! Gotta love that face! I enjoyed painting him so much I just may do more...FUN DOINS!
 

You can see that I've painted the sides black as I do for my small ones for ETSY...and the suggestion for framing is as below...The frame is not included, but I get these at Michaels...
 
 
It is almost MARCH folks! I can't believe how fast time is rolling along!  It was time to do a calendar page...this one has a few activities and holidays...as promised..I'm reminding you and showing you...
 
This was more painting and stamping...a few easter eggs and bunnies thrown in the mix...Gotta love doin my own!!
 
It is ANOTHER snow day here in the mountains...I'm telling you....I'm ready for SUMMER!!  But, I spent a few minutes with my little squirrel buddy and taking a few photos...
 
 
 
Here's to tomorrow...sun and no more snow...
 
HAPPY CREATING!!



Thursday, February 21, 2013

SNOW DAY...

Today is a big ole snow day...we haven't gotten ALL THAT MUCH snow this winter, so 8" is a LOT for me! SO, taking those moments for inspiration and reflection...My hubby got me a huge bunch of lilies for V day, so they were the subject matter along with our bits o' snow on everything outside my window!



Remember, it's good to play with photo editing...you never know when you might find something interesting...Pine in the snow with the sun shining above!
 
HAPPY CREATING!!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

"BLUEBIRD" ORIGINAL OIL ON GALLERY WRAP CANVAS © SAUNDRA LANE GALLOWAY

"Bluebird"
$45 + $8 shipping in US
4" x 4" oil on 1.5" gallery wrap canvas
with a little stamping to boot...:)
 
Just a little play with a bluebird and some friends; this little bluebird just sittin and waitin for his little crow buddies to notice him...will they or won't they...?  This will be making it's way to my gallery in Conifer; Luna's Mandala when he is dry, unless he goes home with someone before that...!
 
HAPPY CREATING!
 


Friday, February 15, 2013

"PARROT PORTRAIT"

"Parrot Portrait"
$25 + $2.95 shipping 4"x4" oil panel
AVAILABLE IN MY ETSY STORE...oops SOLD 3-1-2013
 
 
Getting back into the swing of things after my latest commission with this bright little oil painting of a parrot I photographed when in San Diego.
 
 
Here is a suggestion for framing...I LOVE these 5" x5" frames I get from Michaels....FUN DOINS!
 
PS...I forget to remind folks that, as always, each monitor is going to be a little different...they all show color a tiny bit differently...YES, there is pink in the background, however, it isn't as heavy as it looks on some monitors...this is just the world of technology...we do the best we can!!
 
 
 
HAPPY CREATING!



Wednesday, February 13, 2013

"MOUNTAIN POPPIES" ORIGINAL MIXED MEDIA ON CRADLED PANEL © SAUNDRA LANE GALLOWAY

"Mountain Poppies"
30" x 20" mixed media on cradled panel
Commission
 
WOW, what a journey this painting has taken me on. This is the final version that made me happy.  I think you are going to have to click on the painting to see the larger version...So, now the story of the different faces of this painting, the failures, and WHY they didn't work...though I feel you can see for your self!
 
VERSION 1
 
 
Here you can see that I had MANY more aspen in this version...the poppy field was being developed, the rocks you can see below were in...it was TOO BUSY...and NOT ENOUGH CONTRAST behind the leaves...they were LOST in translation...
 
 
the aspen in the background didn't work as the leaves didn't read as groups of leaves as I had intended, but giant single leaves...the contrast was ok, but it was too prominent...
 
 
SO, in my attempt to correct the contrast problem and the GIANT leaf problem I decided to paint the leaves in oil...
 


 
The problem with this SECOND version was it was STILL not enough contrast behind the 5 aspen in front; although it was better...but mainly it was WAY TOO BUSY...your eye jumps all over the place trying to find somewhere to rest...and the back aspen just blended in too much...WHEW...look at the extra rocks I even added in the field TOO MUCH...
 
At this point I'm really frustrated! I've now worked on this WAY too long and was loosing my perspective...LESSON...DO NOT OBSESS on a painting...do other things in between...put it away for a few days until you can get your perspective back!  I KNOW this...but yet I did not heed my own lesson...and it brought me to TOO BUSY!!
 
SO, I woke up at 5 a.m. one morning AFTER sending pics to a couple artist friends to discuss it and was reminded of a question an artist friend used to ask me when I was stuck "What is the painting about?" There is always an answer...it may start out as one thing, but you usually KNOW...For me the answer was the poppies up front!  My friend who commissioned me to do this painting had always commented on my poppies...and they were fun and vibrant and up front...yep, it was about the poppies first...and the other things next...SO, I wiped out everything that was oil I had just labored over the days and weeks before...and THEN I couldn't wait for the sun to rise so I could take my sander to the offending parts...my goal was to get rid of most of the trees...so I SANDED it down in areas...and began the long process of wiping out the other trees...Here is my de-constructed piece before I began to paint over areas in preparation for putting this painting back together...
 
 
Notice the two outside trees in front are disappearing and the five aspen in back are beginning to go away...NOTE: I left the painted areas up top of the three remaining trees as I discovered that painting them worked best in this painting...I was BEGINNING!...
 
Next I began to simplify other areas...I decided to make the water just a stream...too much going on in the middle...so I took out the falling water on the rocks...it works better...
 

 


I was all finished, or so I thought, but it was unbalanced...a great artist friend noticed it right away where I might have taken DAYS...as I was beginning to obsess AGAIN...so I put in the one aspen on the left to bring balance back...
 
 
And there you have the story of the Mountain Poppies progression through trial and error...OTHER LESSONS learned...
 
When you have a painting that is in your head...DO MORE STUDIES than you think you need...my problem is, even though I did thumbnails, I didn't think through some issues well enough to work out the problems I had...not enough CONTRAST...TOO BUSY...VALUE STUDIES are key, and I didn't do enough!!  Also, I forgot the golden rule..."What was my painting about mostly?" IMPORTANT...it can't be about all of it!!  and, a great artist friend of mine who also paints alot of trees...in a more abstract way, but still...said...always paint dark over light and light over dark when doing trees...there's that ugly CONTRAST...VALUE thing again...SO TRUE!!  Thanks Carol!!
 
I'm now happy with it, my friend is happy with it, and I can move on...WHEW...I just wasn't going to let this one get the best of me!!!
 
And now, on a sweet and personal note...
 
HAPPY 18 MONTH BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET GRANDSON PAXTON!! Nana loves you!!
 


 
now isn't that inspirational!! Such a sweet face!!
 
HAPPY CREATING!
 
 



Friday, February 8, 2013

"TWO LEFT FEET - A CHICKADEE" ORIGINAL OIL ON WRAPPED CANVAS © SAUNDRA LANE GALLOWAY


"Two Left Feet-a Chickadee"
12" x 4" oil on gallery wrap canvas
$75 + $10 shipping and handling in the US
 
WOW has this been a crazy time in m studio! I FINALLY took a moment to stop and paint something little and FUN as I am working on my commission (more on that further down the page.  I took the photo of this little Chickadee one snowy morning and the photo ended up on my Daily Paintworks page...I had over 75 people contact me wanting to know how much the painting was! HA...so, as promised I actually painted it! FUN!
 
He's painted on gallery wrap canvas...painted around as you can see...Anyhoo, he is a cutie pie for sure!
 
detail...you can see the highlights a little better...
 
SOOOO, on the way to finishing my commission painting I took a few wrong turns and so woke up at 5 A.M...and wiped a lot of it away! HA...too busy...I forgot some of the rules I've learned a long the way to having painted for over, what is it now...30 years! Such is life...Be watching for a post when I finish with photos of my process...my highs and lows...it will be a learning experence I think.  It surely has been for me! Til then...
 
HAPPY CREATING!!




Friday, February 1, 2013

CALENDAR PAGE AND COMING CLOSE

A little bright and garish photography today, but you get the picture...it's February 1st and was time to make another page...Stickers and brads with a little stamping and collage...aaaahhhh heaven for me!

I am SO VERY CLOSE to finishing my commission piece; another layer painting of Breckenridge and mountain scenes tailored just for my friend who asked for specific colors and subject matter!  Here are two more detail photos...you can see the trees are IN and the flowers are almost finished!! I hope she likes it!!


Here's hoping NO MORE DISTRACTIONS!! HA...

HAPPY CREATING!

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