The Hidden Gallery

I've been watching really good tv. I finished all 5 seasons of HBO's The Wire and the miniseries John Adams.

The Wire is epic television. It is a commentary on what is happening in our world and has left me with so many questions and some despair.  What an education I got from watching that show.  Season 4 and 1 are tied for my favorite, then season 3.

John Adams is a really great miniseries 7 episodes long with embellishments on one of the Founding Fathers of the US.  who was also their 2nd President. The show is so steam punk.  Very Cool.  And really interesting. I found the world history during that period fascinating. I wish historical television shows would mention that these dramas are very loosely based on historical events. I am watching The Tudors now which is an embellishment of King Henry the 8th's rein. Also  loosely based on historical events.  I will say that it does make me read more about history to see how accurate shows are and how much they go off track from real history.

I finished reading Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game.  I  enjoyed the book and the fictional account of the Glass Bead Game was something I wondered on. I read somewhere that Hesse imagined his story was set around the 25th century. Whoa. Because I used to play piano, I really appreciated and admired the way Music is described and respected in this book. Anyway, I'm still have to read the last part of the book which consists of poetry and short stories.

Okay, now art pimp:

Click to see whole painting.



Monarch Butterfly Fairy

16 in x 12 in

acrylics on cotton canvas sheet

Hello out there?

It's finished!!!  And the colours are so much more brilliant than this terrible and low quality scan.
My favourite thing about this painting is how the mermaid's expression came out so serene...

Thank you to the wonderful and talented Judy Boardman, who is otherwise known as artsygoddess, for her wonderful mermaid drawing!  It's been a pleasure and an honour to have worked with you on a beautiful piece of artwork.  Thank you Judy!!!

I hope you enjoyed looking at her as much as I enjoyed painting her!

Phew!  I can now go read journals without feeling guilty about not posting art!

Okay, I guess I got carried away and forgot to make a scan before it got to this point...These are the very first layers of watercolour paint.  Things look flat at this point.  The colours, the shapes, everything.  I've started shading with cobalt blue and highlighting with some rose dore for the mermaid's skin then washed over everything with yellow ocher.  I've also started indicating some of the background elements with more defined shapes.  Whatever bleed I was losing my mind over has now been resolved.  I've incorporated the bleeding ink into the watery paint.  Thank goodness!  Judy's art looks even more amazing with colours added!

Working through the email i've neglected over the past couple weeks.   I'm down to 56 emails.  wo'hoo... back on track soon I think hope.

Part VI and the finished painting next!

... watercolours or acrylics?  oil or acrylics?  drawings or paintings? big or miniature? paper or canvas?  digital or old skool? I just don't know...some stuff...





Well, I guess I finally finished this abandoned painting.  You may remember this from this post. This painting was based on these reference pictures provided by </a></b></a>magical_krystal in fantasy_models  .  That was a long time ago... I found the unfinished painting lying around in a big pile of other unfinished paintings.

Acrylic on Canvas 12 x 16.


This:

is junk.  Done with very little time and consideration (I know, it's obvious) in Photoshop.

I still don't know how to organize my layers best.  And am still unfamiliar with the different brushes... If you got any advice, or links or anything that can help me... bring it on...  Mucho Gracias!

Sorry if I depressed you with my last post.  We are now returning to our regular programming.


Recently, I participated in a teamwork challenge!  It was very cool.  A group of mermaid artists joined up for artistic collaborations.  One person would do a drawing and another person would colour and paint it.  The results have been wonderful!  It is really cool to see how each artist's style emerges from the art!

Well, I did a drawing and inked some of it.  Then I mailed it over to geckoartist who then painted (and what an improvement!) it.


This was my original drawing.  bah!



This is my drawing enhanced and beautifully painted by the talented Aubry Chapman!



I think she really improved the face.  I like her expression so much more after Aubry painted it.  I love it!  It's gorgeous!  I secretly procrastinated on mailing her my sketch because I was so dissatisfied with it.  WOW!  I think it's beautiful now!

Go visit Aubry's website!

Then you can go check out the art of the Sea Gods group here!

I thought I would try the theme and composition of this aceo again.  But bigger.



5 x 7 watercolours and ink

Been busy because of some good news!  I just can't say until I am 100% sure. :)

"Reunion"  5 x 7
SFA is an acronym for Small Format Art.  It is art that measures no longer than 14" in any direction.  SFAs include ACEOs and OSWOA.
Enjoy.

The original is much more vibrant with color in real life.  Enjoy this scan anyway!


Enjoy!

"Hello" Original 4 x 6 Watercolor Painting