Tag: art talk

Let’s talk about art.

Happy New Year

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Goodbye 2019

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.

Just get your canvas here 8 x 10 Inch Stretched Canvas Value Pack of 10 and get going experimenting, it is lots of fun. Be creative and find your tribe.

Hello 2020 Happy New Year!

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.

XL Drawing Set – Sketching, Graphite and Charcoal Pencils. Includes 100 Page Drawing Pad, Kneaded Eraser, Blending Stump. Art Kit and Supplies for Kids, Teens and Adults.

This set would be great for on the go. I think I have an addiction to art supplies, but they do help to get the creative juices flowing.


Darice 80-Piece Deluxe Art Set – Art Supplies for Drawing, Painting and More in a Compact, Portable Case – Makes a Great Gift for Beginner and Serious Artists

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.

Amscan Black Tie Affair New Year’s Party Kit for 50, Includes Top Hats, Cone Hats and Tiaras

To purchase my art on a variety of cool things visit my other art stores.

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What am I currently working on?

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Beginning sketch on acrylic toned board.
Sketch on toned board.
Progress in the base drawing of the hourglass.
Shapes more clearly defined.
Adding lint, texture and more color.
Beginning to build up texture.
More details and other media added for interest in the golden time painting.
Golden Time
Close up of glittered sand for the hourglass.
Close up of acrylic glitter paint with lint.

Projects in the new future

I am currently working on a lot of stuff at the same time and looking forward to doing some acrylic atmospheric abstract scenes with a palette knife and cannot wait to start this series. I would love to have this set because it looks so inspiring. Ationgle Palette Knife 9 Pieces Paint Knives Set Palette Scraper Basic Painting Tools Kit with Stainless Steel Blade and Wooden Handles for Oil Acrylic Painting. I have lots of reference photos and ideas for these.  In the back of my mind I’m thinking about trying to turn some acrylic pours into something more. There has to be more to it than just a pour. So many ideas come and go or are simmering.

Plein Air Painting

Summertime is my time for plein air and travel because I love the warm weather. I don’t like lugging too many supplies around so maybe this year I will look into lightening my load. My palette of color I believe is small enough but it is all the other things. Sunscreen, water, turps, brushes, hat, bug spray, oil, garbage bag, easel, sketch pad, palette, camera/phone, snack, paper towel, wet wipes… this list seems to go on forever. I have started to try acrylic on site because of the quick drying time but am so used to oil. I can’t seem to make up my mind which Medium to use. Hopefully I think I have a plan to do several trips in the same location and use different mediums. Practice makes perfect so I think I will go do that! I kinda wish I had a whole separate set-up just for plein air painting, something lightweight maybe like this Sienna Plein Air Pochade Box, Artists Adjustable Easel and Palette Box (CT-PB-0910) – Medium.

Currently Working on On these projects

I will be working on all my sale sites and website such as https://www.zazzle.com/s/jacyncas cleaning them up, updating and adding great new art. Using all these will hopefully bring me to a point that I will have more time for creating if I set things up right.

I also have a few paintings that I consider unfinished, so I am hoping to pull them out and see what I can do. It would be nice to finish them or start all over or just decide to totally abandon them. I develop a personal relationship with each work and I need to be able to let them come to fruition and let go.

Cyn

To purchase my art on a variety of cool things visit my other art stores.

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Why do you work in the medium you do?

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My medium is Oil Paint

Why do you work in the medium you do? I was originally taught how to do oil paintings when I was young and I continue to learn. I found oils great for my lifestyle, I can come back to them after a day or more and they will be still workable. Studying a piece over days helps me to form an idea of what I want to do next changing the colors, lines and composition. Change is more easily accomplished. The medium allows for slower or faster drying times depending on the mix or additives put into it. Oils generally have deep rich colors and you can usually tell an oil from an acrylic. I really enjoy the creamy consistency and they way I can blend colors either on the palette or the canvas. Layering colors after they dry has a wonderful effect.

Painting Techniques and Styles

There are almost as many techniques as there are styles. Wet on wet or alla prima, palette knife, imprimatura, plein air, sfregazzi, sfumato, impasto or scumbling. Alla prima is a lot of fun and lends itself to plein air painting because it is usually completed in one session. Sgraffito is a technique where you can scratch through layers of paint exposing different colors underneath and adding texture at the same time. Sfumato is a technique of using very soft gradual transitions from light to dark. Leonardo Da Vinci has good examples of this. Impasto is thick paint applied that helps to catch light and shadows, sometimes built up for effect and usually done on stronger supports. Scumbling is speckled, broken color applied so color underneath shows through. This gives a painting a sense of depth and color variation.

This is an example of impasto.

This is an example of the scumbling technique.

Other Mediums

I have also always loved pastel chalks because of the light airy effects I can achieve. The colors can be bright and cheerful. Blending this powdery medium is a lot of fun as is layering. Softness is easily achieved and hard edges or lines are too. They are a bit messy though.

I have recently been exploring acrylics because of their fast drying times. I am hoping it will be a great new way for me to travel without wet oil painting when I do plein air. Oils have a habit of getting onto everything if you aren’t careful. It seems to travel where you don’t want it sometimes. Acrylic is more easily cleaned and water is safer and readily available. Other additives can be put into acrylics to affect the drying times and blending too.

Experimenting with oil pastels sounds like a lot of fun. I am excited that there is so much to learn and experience with my art questing.

Cyn

To purchase my art on a variety of cool things visit my other art stores.

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Valuable lesson learned in art school?

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This is a tough one to answer because there are so many things to consider when creating. My most valuable lesson learned in art school could be about color, line, composition, value hence they are all important. I will say that perspective is probably one of the best things to know, because being able to understand this will make it easier to bend it appropriately. The same as understanding the measurements or proportions in portraiture. These are important to understand how to use and apply it to whatever your piece is. Turning a piece upside down, walking away to look at it from a distance gives you a view that may show how it needs to be corrected or tweaked. These are all different perspectives. Learning 2 point perspective and more is very helpful.

Gosh, this is a hard decision to say what THE most valuable lesson learned would be. Maybe it is something I learned from Stephen King. To be fearless! I think the ability to be fearless in your creativity is probably the most important lesson. Learn and be fearless!

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Experimenting and seeing are also important as well as the love of learning that has helped me to continue to learn. A valuable lesson learned was to read, read everything I could get my hands on about a topic I was interested in. It is said that if we all learn to speed read we would indeed be very healthy, wealthy and wise. Just imagine that you read all of the Bible, everything about investing, everything about cooking, cleaning productivity, building anything… I am of the mind that knowledge is power. What to do with that power is another question altogether.

How did I teach myself?

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How did I Teach Myself?

Happy Halloween Everyone! This is one of my favorites holidays. It is full of wonder and creativity. Being in the moment is so important.

Observation of our Environment

I pay attention to what is around me and listen. Although even if I don’t, I still absorb information. For many years I watched my Mom and she taught me a lot. How did I teach myself? Art is a visual and emotional thing. For example, winter is almost upon us and now is the time to study the trees. The leaves fall off, giving us a better view of their structure. Time to observe and soak in the emotional aspects of a time or place is very helpful. I am always looking and stopping, I am not a fast walker or driver because of this.

I read books, I take lessons, I experiment and do a lot of reconnaissance. Preoccupation with art means I am almost constantly thinking about art, it is the place I go to that helps me become calm and relaxed, yet at the same time a little uncomfortable. There are challenges there. It is a preoccupation for me.

Practice makes Progress

Practice is very important because it helps to train your hand and eye coordination. You practice how to “see” things as an artist and become better. I have a love for learning and I never stop learning. I hope this is contagious. It is a wonderful thing.

How did I teach myself? Teaching myself never ends. Seeking knowledge and receiving it is powerful. I find that being around like minded people also heightens my interest and gives me ideas that I want to try as well. Sharing information is invaluable.

Learning is all about making that first mark and continuing with the next, practice and professional help also make a huge difference. When an artist shares a trick or technique, it can make you a better painter. Many artists have lots to share, whether self taught or schooled in a traditional way or not.

Art is everywhere, everything we see, touch and feel. Recognition of it is key. There is very little that isn’t touched by an artist.

CYN