Oh boy, I’m so very excited about these! You can’t beat a new pastel set. I’ve loved pastels since I was a little girl. The feel of them are so different than anything else. Each one with brilliant color and they can be manipulate in a variety of ways.
A Lovely Unveiling
I am so grateful to actually be able to get these. Quality tools always matter, they can make things easier or better. These pastel sticks are loaded with pigment, are easy to blend and just feel wonderful. So simple and yet so complicated. An unforgettable experience for me. I’ve always wanted such an extensive set.
New Works with a New Pastel Set
This is one of my first works with these new Sennelier Pastels. I started this particular piece a long time ago with some pastels that were not quite the best. The difference when I applied these pastels to the old drawing was unbelievable., they flowed like butter onto the paper. I had no problem getting the colors and brilliance I was shooting for. Now I understand the meaning of pastel “painting”.
Parrot
Do yourself a favor if you are in the market and give them a try. Sennelier 40 Half Pastel Boxed Set They have many different size sets with sets geared towards landscape or portrait painters, therefore I may be in the market soon for a plein air set. Like this one Sennelier Oil Pastel 36 Plein Air Wood Box.
A Soft and Dreamy Landscape
This piece was done with alcohol and a paint brush. I laid down where I wanted my colors and then pushed around the pigment. It was great fun and I can see myself doing more of these because I really like the look of this. I found it free and inspiring, without a doubt, these are the best I’ve ever used
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Aristotle
To purchase my art on a variety of cool things visit my other art stores.
Happy New Year to my artistic friends! I am excited and sad to see this year go because I feel like I haven’t accomplished all I set out to do. It is a bittersweet thing. There never seems to be enough time. I struggle with making time for my art, I have so many responsibilities. Being a Mom has its rewards and I love my children and family. Maybe I need to start to try noticing what exactly it is I allow to steal my time.
I did have this piece in a show recently for a local library, this show was all about text in art and I was proud to have this piece in there. While I did other shows too I want to do more and interacting with more artists would be something I want to continue. It is fun hanging out with them for the most part, I will not let negativity intimidate me.
There is so much art I want to explore and I may struggle to find the time but onwards I will go. There is abstracts, landscapes and creative things to delve into. I want to do more oils, acrylic, sketching, watercolors and pencil. My first love was pastels and I wish to return to them because I miss the qualities they have, nothing really compares to them although oils come close. I am so excited to build upon what I’ve learned and to keep learning. I want to be more prolific, so I am going to try to plan my days out better.
Hope for the New Year
My hope is for my art to really mean something in the end. I hope to touch people’s hearts and minds, but who am I? If someone gets something out of my art I am happy. Looking forward, watch for new additional art for sale here https://den-of-art.com/shop If you didn’t get what you wanted for the holidays, maybe now is a great time to invest in yourself. This set would be great for any artist.
So, for now we celebrate this old year and the new with everything that it means to each and everyone of us filled with hope, peace and love. There will be work that has to be done and things to experience. Never give up.
One of my favorite art quotes is about having no fear, or creating with no fear. Stephen King has written so much as to become part of our collective consciousness. He has helped me to become better at creating, I repeat some of what he says like a personal mantra. While I used this for writing, it naturally went over to all my art. Picking up a book like this can help.
”You can approach the act… with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness or even despair – the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because… you want to change the world. Come to it anyway but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page.” – Stephen King I am such a fan of his writing, that I have several quotes I like from him. Can’t tell you how many times I hear his voice in my head.
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”
“You can, you should, and if your brave enough to start, you will.”
“The most important things are the hardest things to say.”
“Life isn’t a support system for art. It’s the other way around.”
There are more things to consider besides my favorite art quotes, there is poetry and music.
Poetry
Maya Angelou is another person I love to remember with special quotes.
“I’ve learned that people forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love.”
Leonardo Da Vinci is also a favorite of mine, not just for his art, but that his creativity ran so deep. He was an engineer, a doer, blazing his own trail.
“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
“The smallest feline is a masterpiece.”
“Learning never exhausts the mind.”
“You have unlimited power on this canvas – can literally move mountains.”
Whenever I get down I look for quotes to help lift me up, it thoughtfully and cheerfully changes my attitude. This gives me energy and a new beginning.
“Mournful and yet grand is the destiny of the artist.” – Frank Liszt
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
“For the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” – Wallace
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van gogh
“ …the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – FDR
“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” Gospel according to Mathew
What are some of your favorite motivational quotes?
What wonderful inspiration these words are. I find myself meditating on these and others and it helps bring me peace, excitement and wonder at our world.
What do you listen to?
To purchase my art on a variety of cool things visit my other art stores.
An acrylic pour can be used as a background for some very interesting effects. Check out my post about editing artwork for some ideas. With other software you can experiment with all kinds of things. You could also just leave your pours as they are depending on how they came out. I find this technique helps to release some creativity, which can lead to more production of art. It is also very meditative. You can do pouring art on objects with all kinds of outcomes, even jewelry with the skins you create. With so many techniques such as chameleon, swirls, Dutch, balloon kisses and cloud pours there is no end to what we can create.
I hope to improve this movie and make more clips. We will see what the future brings. I have some short clips on my instagram account at https://den-of-art.com/my-instagram-feed/ if you want to see more.
To purchase my art on a variety of cool things visit my other art stores.
It has been a very interesting practice to change my artwork with software programs of all sorts. There are many programs out there and I would challenge you to check out as many as you can. Editing artwork with software apps is a great skill to learn.
Some Editing Advice
Do not just use an automatic program to change another persons work, or to push a simple button for one change. Go beyond the filtering capabilities that today’s programs can offer. Create your own awesome artwork as much as possible. Be original. Bring the idea farther, explore what can be achieved. Sometimes all you may need to get a great result on something you have created is that one special effect that you could not get so quickly in real life. Your one painting can have many results, each as spectacular as the original.
Edited Study of Male Form
Procreate is a great program and is very versatile. There are illustating programs that make things even easier. Most programs will cater to a particular purpose. Knowing what you are going to do will help you decide what programs to choose. You may start a work in one program and find it won’t do something you want to do and have to open it in a different program to further edit it.
The Creative Process
Seeing a piece in another way can highlight another form inside your work, changing it so much that it will inspire you to start a new painting based on what you have seen. It is all part of the creative process. The learning curve can be rough for some, but don’t give up and go slow learning how to navigate within these programs. It has paid off for me.
Original Sketch
I can try things easily, like changing colors or adding a visual element. It is so easy to plan out a composition now more than ever before. Editing art with software apps opens many possibilities. Checking values and color temperatures in a painting is now available with just a push of a button.
Edited Sketch
Using these various programs for completing a work from beginning to end is a freeing exercise. No needing to use “real” paint, mineral spirits and not having to clean brushes is great. Changing colors easily and undoing it is a very valuable tool. Traveling, hiking and work on the go has been made very convenient. Using these programs for editing artwork can be a revelation.
Continuation of Computer Editing
List of programs to get you started with editing artwork with software apps.
and get going experimenting, it is lots of fun. Be creative and find your tribe.
I also used a tool like this 
