The Four Seasons

Ah, I am back to painting faces again.

I love working on a series of paintings at the same time…and it was no exception with this newest series, inspired by the four seasons of the year.

I’ll start with my favorite season…

Winter

Spring

Summer

Autumn

All four of these paintings are painted with acrylic on 5 x 7 inch gessoed art panel. They each have a lot of texture, from many layers of paint. There is a light wax finish on each, and they are ready to be popped into a frame of your choice!

They are now available in the ArtcyLucy shop on Etsy.

****

The face is the soul of the body. ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein 

 

Traveling around The Azores

…virtually speaking, that is. Thanks to The Virtual Paintout Blog, I am able to join with many other artists around the globe, to paint from Google Maps street views.

This month, we were in The Azores, tiny islands off the coast of Portugal.

“Where the Purple Flowers Grow” – 12 x 16 inch acrylic painting on artist canvas board. 

If you click on this link, you will see the actual Google Maps view of what I painted above. The difference you will notice of the two, is that I painted with Vincent van Gogh in mind, with lots of dabs and dots of paint, and lots of color. The fun thing about painting with The Virtual Paintout blog, besides the fact that it is a great way to see the globe from your own computer, without having to buy a plane ticket…is that the owner of the blog, Bill Guffey, allows us to change the Google view scene into whatever we want to create with it…leaving things out, altering, changing up colors, using our art medium of choice. I love seeing what the other artists come up with!

“The Lonely Boat” – 9 x 12 inch acrylic on heavyweight watercolor paper.

I loved this quiet scene so much, that I had recreate it with paint. When I showed this painting to one of my art groups, one of the artists said, she could hear the waves, and smell the salt of the sea. A compliment, indeed! Every artist wants to know that someone can look at their art, and picture themselves IN the painting. Her comment made my day! I still feel like such a novice when it comes to painting, especially seascapes! So, that was encouragement I needed to continue on. Each painting I do, gives me more experience, and a little more confidence to try the next one!  

Both of these paintings are now available in my little art shop online, http://www.ArtcyLucy.Etsy.com

 

It’s been a busy month already! And it feels like summer is here, though officially the calendar says otherwise. The days when the temperature rises, I hide away in my cool little art room, and paint!

I recently reworked two paintings that were just NOT working for me. With gouache and acrylic, it’s easy to layer right on top of the existing painting.

Emerald – 9 x 12 inch acrylic painting on heavyweight Bristol paper.

She started off as a charcoal drawing, and evolved from there…to a colorful and fun portrait! I’ve noticed that I have been using a lot of green and red lately. I really do LOVE that color combination!

Princess Butterfly – 9 x 12 inch mixed media on heavyweight Bristol paper.

She started off an experimental gouache painting, that fell a bit flat. I changed everything but her face…I added the bits of color on the background, with acrylics, and then collaged a lovely butterfly to add a bit of fun.

Amanda – 4 x 6 inch gouache on watercolor paper

Scarlett – 4 x 6 inch gouache on watercolor paper

I am constantly going back to my little gouache paintings…because they are so much fun to do, and they dry almost instantly!  The Holbein gouache paints I am using, are pretty impressive. They are smooth and easy to use, and the colors are so bright!

All four of these lovely ladies, are now available in my online art shop…ArtcyLucy on Etsy.

But portraits are not the only things going on around here… stayed tuned…some landscapes are sure to show up soon!

 

The Old Homestead

With all the portraits I have painted lately, I started wondering if I COULD actually go back to painting a landscape.

I CAN…and I did!

The Old Homestead – is a 9 x 12 inch acrylic painting on canvas board.

My inspiration for this painting came from a Google Maps street view, of the island of Lido di Jesolo, Italy. I love to wander around the world, with the help of Google Maps. This idea wasn’t original…it came from an artist named Bill Guffey, over at The Virtual Paintout.  Every month, there is a different place on the globe to paint, and there are many artists that love to paint and upload their work to Bill’s blog. Take a look for yourself…it’s a fun way to see, and paint, the world!

The Old Homestead painting, is now available in my little online art shop, ArtcyLucy on Etsy.

 

more ladies in gouache

I am trying out some new gouache paints that arrived this week. I am loving the feel and the look of Holbein gouache…the colors are intense, and they blend and layer so nicely!

Alexandra – 4 x 6 inch painting on watercolor paper

I have been a fan of J.D. Fergusson’s painted portraits and his use of “broken color”…so decided to try that with my new gouache colors. What can I say? I LOVE this style of painting SO much…I will have to explore it further. I love the interesting pattern and texture it creates.

Viola – 4 x 6 inch on watercolor paper

For this painting, I went back to the style of Kees van Dongen. I really love the simplicity of his paintings, and that works so well for these little gouache portraits.

This one had a mind of its own…I just kept playing with color and lines and this fun portrait showed up.

Lady Beatrice (and her very fashionable hat!) is also a 4 x 6 inch gouache painting on watercolor paper. 

All three of these petite painted portraits are now available in my little online art shop, Artcy Lucy.  If you haven’t tried gouache paints yet, I highly recommend them…and this Holbein brand is really nice!

 

portraits a plenty

I’ve been fascinated by portraits…still. I can’t seem to get enough of them. I used to draw sketches of women from Vogue magazines when I was very young, and now, decades later, I still enjoy the art of the portrait. The only difference is now I have graduated to painting them… but it is still such a learning process. In my attempts to get looser in my painting, I played around with some gouache paint and colored pencils.

The result were little paintings that remind me of the ladies of Italian frescos…

Vittoria

Valentina

Elena

Arianna

I LOVE how the background reminds me of layers of peeling paint. Notice the Italian names I gave them all? These are all 4 x 6 inch mixed media paintings on heavyweight textured paper.

I played around with gouache again…but this time, painting on flat canvas sheets. This is Emmeline, she is a petite 4 x 6 inch painting.

I snuck in a more modern looking lady here…a raven-haired beauty, named…Raven, of course! 

And lastly, I tried something new…painting acrylic on a new surface. It’s called Multimedia ArtBoard and I love this surface to paint on! It is thicker than paper, but thinner than canvas board. It has a light texture on it, and acrylic paint seems to love it. I am very impressed so far. This is “A Portrait of Alice” on 11 x 14 inch multimedia art board. 

These are all currently available in my little online art shop…ArtcyLucy on Etsy!

 

Je T’aime

It all started with an idea…a present for a milestone anniversary…

I put my ideas to paper, using my own memories of this beautiful place, as well as vintage posters and postcards of Paris as my inspiration.

I decided on this view…a romantic scene, for a young couple in love.

I wanted to make it a little grander…so I pulled out a 12 x 24 inch stretched canvas, just waiting for a story to be told on it. I painted the whole thing, front and sides, with black gesso. Twice. And then I painted in the area around the tower with acrylic paint. I left the black areas, for the most part, untouched. And for the background, I wanted a bit of the black to show through.

I added a few more romantic details, a light wax finish on top, and called it FINI!

“Je T’aime” – a special painting for a special couple, my niece and her husband. Their 10th anniversary will be spent at the Eiffel Tower, much like our 20th was. They will stand at the base of it, in awe…yes, much like we did.

I wish them a beautiful and romantic time, in one of the most beautiful cities on earth.  Happy Anniversary, to you both!