Florida Bird Watching

Testing the Waters

I recently returned from a traveling marathon to Utah and Florida.

The two climates are nothing a like and yet similar.

They are similar in that they are very different than what I'm used to.

They both have some very interesting birds.

But one is very dry and the other tropical.

I haven't been in the studio in almost a month,

so I decided to work on something I've seen most recently and that is this Ibis

as he was walking carefully in this bird sanctuary.

Their beaks are so interesting, long and crooked at the end.   

Cool Running

7" x5" acrylic on a panel

$50 +$6 shipping  
 

This shows up brighter on my monitor than it actually is.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Scouting for an Original Gift

Scouting

is an original 6" x 6" acrylic on a panel

and it was part of my 30 paintings in 30 days in September.

The sun shines bright on this pelican as he swoops over the ocean

Scouting for a meal.

Wouldn't you just love to be at the beach right now,

well, at least in one small corner of your home or office

you can be.

$50 with free shipping only here on my blog.

Manly Art

Need A Gift For the Man In Your Life?

Well yea!

Like who doesn't!

Here are a few original paintings for that hard to buy for man.

This is a classic, vintage, antique, otherwise known as old truck
grazing abandoned in a field.

Is he a car guy?

Grazing

unframed original 10" x 8" acrylic on a panel

$95 with free shipping in December from my blog only.

Wabasso

is a great little tackle shop near Sebastian, Florida.

unframed original 10" x 8" acrylic on a panel

$95 w/free shipping only from my blog.

 

Wanna Play

I'll bet he has and would like to again.

unframed original 6" x 6" acrylic on a panel

$50 w/free shipping only from my blog.

On in Two

A Florida golf course scene.

Who doesn't want to be there.

unframed original 6" x 6" acrylic on a panel

$50 w/free shipping only on my blog

Finding His Way

Ever been fishing and had to figure your way into or out of a marsh.
I don't know how they do it.
Maybe they drop bread crumbs.

unframed original 6" x 6" acrylic on a panel
$50 w/free shipping only on my blog

Technology Tuesday - Evernote

Ever Lost Something?

Try using Evernote.

This is a free program I learned about from Leslie Saeta and Dreama Tolle Perry

when they were on Artists Helping Artists together every Thursday.

Did I mention it is free and it is a way to keep track of lots of notes and information

that could otherwise be easily lost.

It is very easy to use and the learning curve is relatively low.

You sign up

And you can create notebooks right away

and put notes, regardless of how short they are in the corresponding notebook.

Some of my notes are just one sentence, but they are important to me and I want to be able to get to them when I want them again.

Here's a screen shot of what it looks like with a list of notebooks on the left,

when you click on a notebook, all the notes you have in it are listed in the middle box,

and the open note being the largest open box on the right.

This is a super easy program to use and you will find lots of ways it can help you.

You can share the screen with others if you are working on a project together,

but I mainly use it for notes on different topics and of course art.

I am able to keep track of goals,

art techniques I learn in my art journey,

art shows I want to enter and their dates

and the list goes on an on.

One of the great things I really like about this program,
it saves automatically every few seconds,
so you don't have to worry about saving or losing if you don't save.
That's huge.

The list of my 2013 goals are open on the right,

and OMGOSH!

I have completed almost every single one.

The last goal is about entering a state fair piece in large and miniature.

Just thought you'd like to see the large one,

again.

Cause we needed a little art on the art blog.  hehe!

Keeping Watch

16" x 20" framed acrylic

$200 + $20 shipping

Day 21 On In Two

Day 21 On In Two

No trip to the beach would be right without golf.

Evidently this egret thought so too.

  He's pretty proud of himself 

for getting on in two.

Can you do it?

I took the photo reference used here at Wilderness Country Club in
Naples, FL. while I was visiting my uncle.
This egret and lots of other willdlife
(like gators) watch as golfers play through.

On In Two

unframed 6" x 6" acrylic on a panel

$50 + $6 shipping

Day 17 Scouting

Day 17 Scouting

If you've been to the beach,

you've seen them

swooping,

soaring,

hunting,

diving,

scaring me!

Yes, I'm afraid of pelicans,

and many other birds.

I don't really know why I'm afraid of birds,

but we can just add that to dogs.

Yes I'm also terrified of man's best friend.

Not afraid of cows, horses, sheep, goats, snakes, bugs or other similar animals,

But dogs and birds give me the willies.

But having said that,

I love to paint birds.

The photo I took of this bird was so fun

and he didn't dive bomb on me,

but he was out there for a good while

soaring closely above the water 

doing just what a human might do if we could fly.

Playing.    

Scouting
unframed 6" x 6" acrylic on a canvas panel
  

   

You're The Next Contestant

And The Winner Is. . .

During the most recent blog carnival about a day in the life of an artist,

I asked people to post on my blog and share on your facebook page

and I would be giving away my 7" x 5" study to one of you fabulous guys.

Here's the painting,

I haven't signed it yet,

but it will be when I send it out to 

Kimberly Jones Easterling of Charleston, SC.

Come on down,

you're the next winner of an original painting.

Email me with your address and I'll git'r in the mail to ya.

slgraves6@gmail.com

Thanks for playing Kimberly.

In case you missed it,
click HERE to watch the video of it being created.

    

A Day in the Life

What is a Day in the Life of an Artist Like?

This is another in our blog carnival and at the end of the post is a list of other artists participating in the carnival.  You can visit them at your leisure.  There are giveaways along the way.

I will be giving away my 7" x 5" study in the post.
Be sure to click to see the progression of the painting.
Leave a comment on my blog and share my link on your fb page and you're entered.

I don't know that I have a normal day,

but this will give you a pretty good idea of what a "normal" day might look like.

I was getting entries ready for the Kentucky State Fair

so let's get started.

First off

you have to have the proper attire,

and these complete my ensemble of a UK t-shirt and blue jean capris.

Clothes make the woman.

I couldn't figure out how to show the wheels of my brain turning as I flipped through many possible photos I could use for my State Fair entries.

I decided on a swampy scene I took a photo of in Florida this past winter.

I've entered in two classes, a mini painting which I will do in a 4" x 4" format

 and another in a 16" x 20" on a stretched canvas.

 I've decided that I am going to spend more time in preparation for my paintings.

Here I'm drawing the scene, trying to get the composition I want.

 A little of the progress of the drawing.

The finished drawing.

I don't consider myself very good at drawing, but it is something I've worked on lately.

I'm happy with this.

Let's see if I can translate this composition into a good painting.

I've taken out several trees and a foot bridge from the actual photo.

 I'm going to do a 7" x 5" study of the drawing, again refining the process and

 getting the colors and values right.

This is how I attach my small panels to a dabble board.

Yep, that's just rolled masking tape.  I put the panel on a larger piece of masonite

so I can paint all the way to the edges, not touch it until I'm ready to remove it,

and I have something to do a quick practice stroke on if I need one.

I've used this method for years and have never had problems with the panel falling off 

unless I leave it on for several days.

Click here to view the video of the progression of the painting.

Before I start the small painting, I start priming larger canvases.  

I usually do several at once.

If I'm doing small ones I do a dozen or so at a time.

These will receive up to 6 coats of gesso before I begin the painting.

Starting with a fresh palette.

Those are paper towels around the edges with the paint on them.

Since I paint in acrylics, I can spray my palette with water and the paper towels absorb the excess ad keep the paints moist.
I spray it several time during a paint session.

When I'm done for the day, I spray everything, put the lid on and

live to paint another day.

 The beginning of the study

The completion of the study.

I'm happy with the colors.

Might make more separation in the distance foliage.

 I'm beginning my 4" x 4" painting.

It's on a panel.

I felt it would be easier for me to start small and then go large.

I'm using the same reference for both of these paintings.

They aren't competing against each other

and I really like the composition.

Here it is finished.
You can see I added more distance by painting another lighter bank of trees back there.
I also added more warmth by adding brighter yellow and light green in the foreground.

I took a break for lunch here.
I've really worked up an appetite!

 Now for the 3rd painting today,

I'm starting the 20" x 16" stretched canvas.

Here's the block in and . . .

 Here's the finished painting.
There's more reflections in this version and more oranges and yellows close to the water.

 Here's all 4 pieces I've completed today.

I know,

I'm an over-achiever.

I popped the 4" X " into this cute wooden shadow box frame.

Now to frame the big boy.

I made a little video of how I frame a painting,

so click to view the video here.

Now one last thing.

I'm entering one of my slate shingle yard art pieces,

and I needed to do a few finishing touches to it.

Can you see those holes about 2" from the top.

This slate hangs on a shepherds/mini flag hook in the yard,

for some pretty cool yard art.

 

I'm pretty beat.

But a day wouldn't be a day without this,

 During my little lunch break,

of course I had to go throw a load of clothes in to wash.

Well there you have it, friends.

That's pretty much what my days in the studio look like.

Here's the list of other artists blog posts.

Cindy Michaud	Jo MacKenzie	Christine Parker	Marla Laubisch
Joanne Grant	Kevin Larson	Cindy Williams	Sharon Graves
Sally Binard	Karen Johnston

"http://charleenmartinstudios.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-day-in-life-of-artist.html">Charleen Martin

Thanks for stopping by today.

Let The Challenge Begin

Let The Games (Challenge) Begin

I accepted the challenge from Leslie Saeta in January

a grueling 30 paintings in 30 days,

and it was an up hill both ways kind of challenge!

These are the paintings I did during that challenge.

I learned a lot about painting, and a lot about myself during that challenge.

Now Leslie has issued another challenge, 30 marketing ideas in 30 days.

I have no idea how this will work or what it will look like,

but I know I'm going to learn a lot and I and you can see the marketing ideas of lots of artists

on Leslie's blog for 30 days.

In an entrepreneur sort of way, that sounds like fun.

I'm sure there will be lots of ideas for everyone so . . .

Click here to sign up for the challenge

Click here to visit my website.

Beach Blanket Bingo

I was working on one collage and then thought of another thing to play around with

and this is what I created with some similarly themed paintings.

 

I love quilts also and I was trying to make a collage that reflected a quilt pattern.

This was pretty fun to create.

I didn't know if it would allow me to keep using the same photo over and over again,

and as you can see, it did.

I know all the pics aren't exactly beach paintings,

but they are all water.

I use ipiccy.com to create these collages.

They are a lot of fun and I can see how they would have many uses,

making your own cards and notes, stationery and in

scrapbooking.

Check it out.

 

You can find all the above paintings in their cute wood shadow box frames

on my website at

finenatureartbyslgraves.com

Click here to see my website.

French Art Vendors

 

We've all seen photos of French art vendors on streets

with their paintings up against stone or iron fences or in painting racks on a sidewalk.

We don't have anything like that here in rural Kentucky,

but you can get a deal on original art just the same.

I just listed the five paintings above on eBay and they have an incredible starting price.

Hopefully you'll check them out, but if you wouldn't mind,

please share this with anyone you think might be interested.

Click here to view on eBay the painting in the bottom right corner.

You can get to the others from there by clicking on "see other items".

Thanks for reading about, checking out and spreading my art.

Have a great day.

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Beach Collage

I love the beach,

and I had a great time

painting these beach paintings.

One of the great things I've learned lately

is how to make these collages, banners and badges.

Thanks Leslie.

These paintings can all be purchased on my website at

finenatureartbyslgraves.com.

I used picmonkey, or ipiccy.com to make this collage.

I can't remember which.  

Sorry.

It's not hard and I can figure it out,

so I'm pretty sure you can too.

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30 Day Collage

So after we finished with our 30 days of paintings, Leslie Saeta our fearless paintress,

next invited us all to post a collage of our work on her blog.  

It is so cool to see everyone's paintings in collage form on there.

It's amazing to see how most artists have a very definite palette that they paint from.

Looking at my collage I don't really see those same colors repeating themselves,

but in some of the collages, it is striking.

Anyway, here are my 30 paintings I painted in 30 days.

Hope you enjoy and come back to see how the work progresses.

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Wilderness Bluebird, Day 6

Wilderness Bluebird

My Uncle Bud lives at Wilderness Country Club in Naples, FL and he took the photo I painted this from on his balcony.

He has placed over 20 bluebird boxes on his golf course, cleans them and keeps meticulous records

on how many eggs are laid in each box and how many fledge.

He loves all birds, but he especially loves Eastern Bluebirds.

He probably has done more to bring the Bluebird back to his corner of the world than any other individual.

Trying to loosen up my painting style and had a lot of fun painting this.

6" x 6"

acrylic on panel.

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Twice as Nice

I painted these two paintings from a photo I took several years ago while visiting

my uncle in Naples, FL.  

I took a lot of great pics of birds that trip because my uncle loves birds and knows

where to go to see them and what they are.

The one above is an unframed 5" x 7" acrylic on a panel.

$50 + $6 shipping

This is a larger version.

It's an unframed 8" x 10" acrylic on a panel.

The color in this photo is a little brighter than the painting, but I couldn't fix it.

$100 w/free shipping

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Sizes

5" x 7" $50.00 USD 8" x 10" $100.00 USD