Painting Tulips in A Jar

 Painting Tulips in a Jar

That was the goal last week at Eagle Creek Vineyard Tasting Room in Warsaw, KY as our monthly group got together and painted spring flowers in a Ball blue jar.  

This group is always so much fun on the 2nd Tuesday of the month as we come together for a painting class and a wine tasting.  

They are all so intent.  

Fun is the name of the game.

We're just about to get it.

These ladies truly know how to have fun.  

Eagle Creek Vineyard is locally owned and operated

and the tasting room is located on

 Main Street in Warsaw, KY. 

Click HERE to go to their Facebook page.

Click HERE to go to their website.  

Watch their website for the monthly class.  

February 9 we will be painting 2 wine glasses.

Actually glasses, not a canvas painting.  

This should be loads of fun.

Thanks for stopping by today.

If you're interested in learning how to paint, you really should check out my website at https://www.paintingwithacrylics101.com

for single subject classes, a full blown beginning art course, a free daisy painting class and a free blog.  

So much goodness in one spot.

Also, coming in the future will be the Beginners Painting Club.

A monthly membership where you will always have access to a minimum of 6 art concept classes, an elements of a painting section where you can learn the parts of landscape, seascape, floral and still life art and then you can put them together however you want.  There will also always be a minimum of 2 complete painting classes.  

Subscribe to the blog to get the scoop when it's going live.  

Have a great day and

Let's Paint Together Real Soon!

New Color - New Works

 Changing The Color Up.

I've never painted gladiolus before and I got so involved with painting the flowers, I totally forgot other elements that make a painting look real and pop.

I'm fairly certain you can see it, but I was so frustrated with that big purple blossom that I totally forgot about adding the reflections to the jar and the shadow under and next to the jar.  I did also fix that purple blossom. 

 

Glad Party

 24" x 12" acrylic on stretched canvas, unframed 

$150 + shipping.  

Here's another piece in that same color palette.

End of Summer

 12" x 12" gallery wrap canvas, unframed

$150 - Includes Shipping

These 2 pieces were painted from life of flowers my husband Jim and one of our grandsons, Ren, planted this year at our new home.  They have been absolutely gorgeous and we have picked many armfuls of gladiolus, zinnias, roses and daisies.  

Fresh flowers are so beautiful and they add so much to a home.

Both pieces have a paper backing and are wired to hang.

You can see more of my work at

Sharon Durbin Graves Art.

Click HERE to go to my website to see many more of my available artworks.  

Learning and Evolving

 Using What You Learn

Recently I did a 30 day rose challenge where I painted 30 rose paintings in 30 days as I tried to improve my skills. 

I learned a lot in that challenge and if you haven't. seen that blog post click HERE.

I love painting blue glass jars and I wanted

 to be able to add roses to them.

And here is what I love love love painting,

12" x 12" acrylic on gallery wrap canvas.

$125 with free shipping.

Click HERE to purchase.

This truly was so much fun to paint 

and I hope you enjoy it as well.  

To see all my other artworks that are currently available,

please go to Sharon Graves Fine Art

then click on the Works tab,

and then you'll have your choice of different 

subject matters to choose from.  

Thank you so much for hoping in here today.

Have a wonderful day.

31 Rose Paintings in 31 Days

WHEW!!!

I did it!

I challenged myself to painting 31 rose paintings during July, you know, the month with 31 days, and I finished on time and under budget, (so to speak).

I learned so much during this challenge

and I really appreciate all those who followed along on Instagram and Facebook and encouraged me.

I created a tab on this blog about the journey and all the paintings are listed individually.

Thank you so much for clicking the link and scrolling through.  

Appreciate any comments on the work as well.

Click HERE to read the story and see the paintings.

Here's 22 of them after signing them all

 and waiting to varnish them.  

This little video gives you a glimpse of them.  

Click HERE to see them all.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

I truly appreciate all your support!

Have a great day and let's paint together real soon.

I don't do this often.

I almost never do this

 And yet here I am

entering an online art show.

I'll give you the link and if you can,

I sure would appreciate it if you could go

vote for me.

Click HERE to view the link.

This is the painting I entered.  

Several years ago I had been trying to paint Roses.

Sort of like I'm doing right now. 

I went to bed very frustrated and thinking about all the colors I had used the previous day.

I actually dreamed this painting.

Luckily, I remembered it the next day

so I went right out to the studio and painted it.

All the swirling colors in the background are actually the colors of the paints I used to create the rose.  

It's the only time this ever happened to me.  

It was pretty cool!

Thanks for stopping by today.

A Rosy Challenge

Difficult But Rosy

I spent several weeks in late May and June

immersing myself in daisies.  

Click HERE to see those details and paintings.

Here's one of the finished pieces.

I learned so much and realized that by doing so many pieces of the same subject matter I really began to improve.

I am a certified florist and I love flowers, so I decided I really needed to learn how to improve my rose painting.

Can I just say, roses are hard,

I cut some roses from my yard and 

brought them into my studio. 

I studied pictures of roses I've taken in the past.

I looked at how other people painted roses.  

I decided I would do my own 30 day rose challenge.

So here are the first 7 days of the challenge.

I've struggled.

I've learned.

I've improved.

This was one day of practice 

after one extremely excruciating painting session.

I set a timer and gave myself 10 minutes for each row of roses,

You can see the top right one did not make the cut.  

There was lots to be learned in this session.

Knowing I only had so much time forced me to look and react quickly, quit over-thinking.

So here are the first 7 days of the challenge.

It's funny but it was on day 7 (bottom right)

when I felt like I learned the most.  

I started to begin to understand what I was doing,

what the rose was telling me to do.

To me it's not the prettiest one of the bunch,

so to speak,

but I learned a lot abut petal placement,

shadows, and going from light to dark.

I was using only three colors on the roses,

so I was working in a semi monochromatic palette.

Doing that forced me to look at how to achieve the depth of the rose and how to see different sides of the petals.

There is a learning curve in everything we try that's new.

I've tried roses before, but was never happy with them

and decided that now is the time to dive deep

and learn everything I can in 30 days.

That's why working in a series is so beneficial

because you have a chance to really dive deeply into a subject and learn and improve, maybe faster than any other way.  

When I finish this project, I'll put them all up for sale

at extremely affordable prices.  

One is actually already spoken for.  

If you're a beginning artist

and would love to have the support of other beginning artists,

my Facebook group,

Bucket List Artists was created with you in mind.  

Click HERE to ask to join,

be sure to answer the 3 questions and you'll be ushered in to a group of other beginning artists,

all scared, all learning and encouraging each other.

I do a live every Thursday at 1 p.m. EST and there 

are over a year of classes, lessons, hints, tips, and other ideas for you to work on.

I'd love to have you join us.

If you're interested in real start to finish painting classes, please visit my website at

www.paintingwithacrylics101.com.

There you'll find classes created with the beginner in mind, a full blown art course, a free blog and a free daisy painting class.  

So much goodness in one place just for you.

Thanks for stopping by today and let's paint together real soon.

Immersed in Daisies

I Might Have Been Drowning in Daisies.

I like working in a series because it forces me to study one subject deeply.  Do it over and over and create

 muscle memory with the brush.

That's exactly what I did recently with daisies. 

First there's the prep work.  

I got a lot of canvases ready to paint by creating a grey using ultramarine blue and orange and white.  

 You can see the streaks in the canvases.

I don't like having a background with a solid color.

This always adds movement and depth to a painting.

Even if my painting covers every inch of the canvas,

I like to start this way.

Next came some warm up practice

 painting daisies in every direction.

Then it was time to get down to business.

I love painting daisies in Mason jars.

I love the blue and the white.  

I started out with 5" x 7" canvas panels.

It seems like it's easier to go from small to large than from large to small.

Sold

These are in the Community Art Center in

Vevay, Indiana.

Then things began to get a little crazy.

This is 12" x 12" 

Is currently at The Community Art Center

in Vevay, Indiana.

This was an 8" x 10" on a stretched canvas

Sold

This was a 16" x 20" on a stretched canvas.

Sold

The next 3 paintings are all going to 

The Community Art Center in Vevay, Indiana today.

 16" x 20" On a stretched canvas

 This is an 11" x 14  on a stretched canvas.

 This is a 16" x 20" on a stretched canvas

and I needed to add some zinnias and echinacea into the mix.

This was 20" x 20" gallery wrap canvas.

Sold.

Here's a short video giving you a closer look at the group.

This is a group shot of most of the paintings I did in this crazy experiment, but not all.  

They were evidently popular with others as well as myself,

because many of them found forever homes.  

The main thing about painting this way is you learn so much

and your hand no longer has to think so hard about what to do next.  

I have a free daisy painting class on my website.

Follow the link below and sign up 

to take this totally free class.

Then you can begin your own crazy love affair with daisies. 

Click HERE to sign up for the FREE

Daisy Painting Class. 

Taking a Flat Painting to a Finished Painting

My Painting Looks Flat!!!

You've been working on a painting and you think you're done,

(how do you ever know we're done?)

but it looks flat.

What's the problem?

Here's my example.

My husband gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers for our 48th anniversary and of course, you know I had to paint them.
I did and I was relatively happy with the painting.

I didn't sign it though which usually means changes are on the horizon.  

The next day I was looking at it deciding if I was really done or not, and I saw it.

There was no distance between that big beautiful stargazer lily and the vase.

What to do - What to do?

I took some of the color I used for the vase and added its complement, the color opposite it on the color wheel.  I added some white and could have added more if I felt it was still too dark.
Then I made the shadow between the lily and the vase. 

 BOOM!

Much Better.

However, looking at the petals of the lily, I realized there was room for improvement, especially with the one in front.

It also looked flat, so I took the color of the lily and aded a tiny, I really mean tiny, bit of dioxazine purple to it to darken the center and give it a deeper feel.

On the petal to the right of that, I added a shadow where the petal is turning on the top, and I darkened the other petals a little to make the center pop.  

I also darkened up the leaves under the lily as they would be in shadow also.

Such small changes made a 

huge difference in this painting.

If you're not certain if you're done,

it's always a good idea to leave it sit for a day or 2 and come back to it.  

Look it over and see if anything speaks to you.

It was just a few strokes that gave this painting the zing I was looking for.

It took less than 5 minutes once I stopped looking at the parts and began looking at the whole painting.

Just in case you were wondering...

Yes.

I signed it. 

And it's available.

Anniversary Flowers

10" x 8" canvas panel, unframed

$50 + shipping

Grab my free eBook on 3 That Will Improve Your Art.  

If you've always wanted to learn to paint,

 but life got in the way,

join my free Facebook group,

Bucket List Artists.

Click HERE to join.  

Ask to join and the key that unlocks the door to over a years worth of posts, live videos, hints, tips, etc., is to answer the 3 questions that pop up. 

Can't wait to see you in there.

Stay well and 

let's paint together real soon. 

Day 3 in Starting Again

Day Three!

I had so many things to do yesterday,

I didn't get a chance to post on my blog.

But I can honestly say,

I got everything done that was on my 

"Must Do" list.

I even got the exercising in

which is usually the hardest thing to do,

even though I feel much better when I do it.

I did a Facebook live on my group

Painter Nation Homeschool Art Club.

We painted these water color notecards.

If you would like to add art to your homeschool curriculum,
join my FREE Facebook group where I teach beginning art lessons for students of various ages. 
 Beginners are beginners regardless of their age.
Click HERE to go to the group,
ask to join,
answer 3 questions,
and I'll let you in ASAP.

I re-worked these two paintings that have been sitting on 

my work bench begging to be improved.

Added a little more color to the rock wall,

re-did the path and brightened up the flowers between the 2 trees.

I also warmed up all the trees.

This is one of my favorite places in my yard.

The Garden Path

8" x 10" acrylic on a wood panel

$80 + $10 shipping

This is a scene that can be seen
all over Kentucky, even along interstates.
Rocks piled high with trees and plants growing 
seemingly right out of them.
In this I brightened up the rocks and the flowers on the left
and brightened up the moss.
It's humid here and moss can grow on almost anything.
In the spring it's much brighter 
than at other times of the year.

Rocky Road
8" x 10" acrylics on a wood panel
$80 + $10 shipping

Today in my Bucket List Artists FREE Facebook group
we'll be painting the notecards as well.  
That group is for anyone, but especially adults who have it on their Bucket List to learn how to paint and draw.

Click HERE if this group is screaming your name.
I usually check in with this group everyday and on Thursdays at 1 p.m. I do a live video
 teaching some painting or drawing concept.  
I'd love to have you join us.

If you're not familiar with my website,
Click HERE 
to go there and check out classes and courses I offer.

Thanks so much for stopping to today
and let's paint together soon.

Day TWO in My New Life!

I told you I'd check in!

Told you yesterday I'm turning over a new leaf.

I began again.

You're who I'm accountable to.

Had a rough night sleeping but I:

Read the scriptures

Exercised 

Ate a good breakfast

Ready for the day.

Just want to share with you a new project I'm working on.

(It's an art blog so here's my most recent art)

I'm fairly terrified of water colors,

but I recently tried water color pencils

and I'm pretty much having a ball.

These are note cards I created.

I gave some away at my daughters baby shower

 over the weekend.

We'll talk more about these later.

Leave me a comment on what project you're working on or if you've done as I have and started again, again.

If you're a homeschool family who would like to add art to your curriculum, but you're not an artist and the cost seems prohibitive, please join my FREE Facebook group

and let's get started.  Answer the 3 questions after you ask to join and I'll open that door right up.  We'd love to have you join us.

Click HERE to join the 

FREE Painter Nation Homeschool Art Club.