Why I love being an artist now more than ever

The above art is available on acrylic, metal, canvas and paper by clicking here 

This week I've had the awesome opportunity of working with a client on a piece of art for their home. The process I've gone through is a perfect example of why I love being an artist now more than ever.

I did the above mixed media piece a while back and have had it available in fine art reproductions for quite some time. The piece is a digital composition made up of an original watercolor painting, scanned objects (pearl jewelry) and an authentic vintage photo taken in San Francisco that I found in a family photo album.

How did I do it? Here's the cool part (well, it's cool to me) because there's no way I could have done this back when I was in art school before Photoshop existed (yes, there was a time when that was the case).

First, I painted the woman in watercolors (above). I actually painted her in two separate paintings. Her head was painted on a large scale (12 inches tall) so I could paint all the detail I wanted in the eyes, face and hair. Then I painted her body beside the head on the same piece of paper at the same height of 12 inches. Why 12 inches? Because that's width of the watercolor paper that fits on my large scale 12x17 art scanner.

You may have noticed that the woman's head is slightly more elongated in the original than in the final piece. That's because I decided to scale her head down a bit, so she had a more heart shaped face. I did that when I was marrying everything together in Photoshop to create the final piece.

Then a couple of years later (last week), I get a great email from a potential client asking if I could possibly recreate the piece with different colors to match the client's powder room in their late 1940's San Francisco home. The colors of the powder room? Sky blue with black and white octagonal floor tile. So retro wonderful!

Because the original art piece was done in pieces, I responded that I'd give it a go and see what I could come up with.

Voila!

The above art is available on acrylic, metal, canvas and paper by clicking here

There is no way I could have pulled this off without Photoshop. I was able to digitally divide the original painting even more than it had been before. After dividing out the various pieces of clothing so it looked a lot like a paper doll, I used Photoshop's powerful color manipulation tools to change the colors completely. Instead of an olive coat, I created a beautiful blue one. I manipulated the hot pink gloves, shoes, belt and skirt to be various shades of blue (I personally love the pale blue gloves). I changed the tone of the pearls so they weren't pink. I made the woman's lips more red. And I even changed her eye color.

Finally, I was able to give the client two different options to choose from--an all blue composition with a dash of coral (above) and then a multi-colored composition that has blue, coral and wheat (below). I think I prefer the all blue one best, because the woman really pops against that background.

The above art is available on acrylic, metal, canvas and paper by clicking here

I'm always surprised at how much I'm able to do now artistically thanks to the technological advances of the past 25 years. Being an artist now is better than being an artist at any other time in the world's history. And I'm sure I'll be saying that in another 25 years from now.

P.S. If you ever see something I've done that you love but want me to recreate it in different colors, email me. I'm always game for a challenge. I don't charge for the recoloring work. I can make it available for you to see what it would look like in a fine art reproduction and then you can decide if you wish to purchase it or not. 

Blog Giveaway: School-style Valentines featuring "Kitty cat love"

I had so much fun painting my "Kitty cat love" Valentine illustration. I love kitty cats, and I love Valentine's Day so the pairing of the two seemed perfect. My illustration shows Mr. Kitty giving a chocolate mouse (not mousse) truffle to his Valentine Miss Kitty who has a red-bowed fish to give to her beau in return.

To celebrate the completion of this illustration, I had some sweet "school style" Valentines printed so I could host a giveaway here on the blog!

What's fun is that there will be more than one winner! There will be five winners! Each winner will receive a pack of 20 "school style" Valentines (2.5"w x 3.5"h) like the kind I loved exchanging with classmates when I was in elementary school.

Valentine Giveaway Guidelines:

• Everyone who leaves a comment here on this post will be entered. Each person will only be counted once so duplicate comments won't help your odds (sorry)
• Entries will be accepted up to midnight February 1, 2011
• I will pay shipping to the winners of the drawing
• If you don't have an email link connected to the i.d. you use to leave the comment, then you'll have to check back on February 2, 2011 to find out if you won and then contact me via email so I can get your postal address privately.
• If you do have an email link connected to the i.d. you use, then I will contact you off the blog as well as announce you as the winner.
• Basically, it's the standard blog giveaway rules that are out there in the "blog-o-sphere" already.

To see other ways to send a Valentine featuring Mr. and Miss Kitty, click on any of the pics below:

FREE e-valentine at pingg.com

Left to right:

• "I think you're the cat's meow" custom-printed Valentine
• "Kitty cat love" gallery wrapped giclee canvas in a variety of sizes
• Pack of 100 "school style" "Kitty cat love" Valentines

Behind the Scenes: Little Halloween Witch (and her kitten) from sketches to painting

It's time for another "behind the scenes" post about my latest painting "Little Halloween Witch" so you can see the progression I went through to create it.

Every painting always starts out as a rough pencil sketch in one of my sketchbooks (I have several). Usually the sketches aren't in scale with one another. Rarely are they the size of what the finished painting will be. And often elements of the same finished composition aren't even on the same page in the sketchbook! Sometimes I don't know if I'm going to combine elements into one composition until much later in the process.

The sketching phase is the time to just get shapes and elements worked out. LOTS of erasing happens during this phase (you can even see my eraser lines if you look closely).

Once I like a sketch enough to take it on to the next phase, I scan it into the computer using my Epson Expression 10000 XL flatbed scanner that has a large glass especially for art. The digital version of the scan is cleaned up in Photoshop so all the eraser lines and boo boo's. It's at this point that I correct any proportion issues within the sketch by cutting and pasting pieces.

I'm left with a clean sketch that I reduce the opacity on so it looks like a light pencil sketch. I print the sketch onto regular watercolor paper that I send through my Canon Pro 9000. Even though my Canon can print up to 13x19 prints, I cut the watercolor paper down to 12x17 so it's the maximum size that my scanner will take once the painting is done.

Next, I tape the watercolor paper to a drawing board using white drafting tape. Then it's time to get out the brushes and paints! This is my favorite part. I love turning on iTunes and painting.

This painting process can take hours or days. Sometimes I can sit down and do a painting from start to finish all in one sitting (the black kitten for this painting was like that). But usually I work on different pieces of the painting, set it down, walk away, and then come back with fresh eyes and a clear head after a long break (sometimes overnight). I often do that several times. Even though I paint with a portable fan nearby to dry the paints quickly if need be, sometimes it's good for me to let the painting sit and let all the moisture in the paper really dry so I don't have to worry about cross-bleed between colors that are touching one another. That's the real secret to watercolors. Dry paper works like a "dam" with the paint that will usually only spread on moist or wet paper. When I'm painting something like the little witch's hair against the black hat, I definitely can get bleeding from one to the other. I have to let the paper completely dry or it would ruin it. That's when overnight drying is essential.

Even though the paintings look like they're done at this point, they usually aren't.

I scan them into the computer again using my flatbed art scanner. Then with Photoshop, I clean up any "oopsies" that happen (like when my hand spazzes and the paintbrush flies across the painting leaving a trail of purple paint in its wake).

After clean-up, I go in and digitally paint highlights like the little white sparkle in the eyes. I could do this last step with watercolors, but I have more flexibility if I do it digitally. I can try various placements and opacities on the highlights without altering the original painting.

The final step is to take the finalized art and place it in a composition so it can be used as stationery or reproduced as a print. Sometimes the two compositions will look very similar to one another and only differ in size to accommodate the end product. But other times (like this time) I can get creative and do a crisp "tight" version for use in e-cards/e-invites and then an "artsy" version for prints.

I still can't decide which one I like better. I think I like them both for different reasons.

Click here to send this e-card/e-invite for free

Click here to see this painting in fine art reproduction prints, canvases and cards

Dreaming in purple watercolors

Click image to see it larger
Used my free texture Birdbath pedestal 1

Our neighbor up the street has this wonderful climbing vine that is covered in tiny purple flowers. It grows on a pergola right on the sidewalk and I can see the profusion of purple from down the street. I decided to walk up and take some shots. Then I decided to get creative with the shots I took. Now I'm thinking I need to get one (or two) of these vines for myself. I have the perfect spot for them too.