Fork Picture Holder

 So here is it, the first piece I've made to display my art.  I've got stacks of painting in the studio and yes, I could pin them to the wall, but that would put holes in the paper.  I don't really want that.  What I wanted was a quick and easy way to display my paintings.  Something I could move around at a whim, was cheap, and something I could make all on my own.

Enter Mr. Fork.  The perfect utensil for the job.

The fork is nearly perfect.  Its got a long handle that will help support the paintings as they  as standing upright.  The tines can be bent so that the ones in front hold the picture in place, and the ones in back provide stability.  If the handle isn't quite at the right angle, its just a quick bend away to make everything perfect.

So with that in mind I set about trying to make one of these.  Yes, before you ask, I do have a video of my making one, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.  This one is actually the only one I've made to date.  I've got a stack of other forks, but have yet to set about bending them.   You can see that it really doesn't take very many bends to make a highly effective holder.  The only thing to watch out for is that you get the two upward bends of the outside tines as close to the same as possible.

Once you've gotten the outside tines bent, the rest really is just adjustment.  You can make the fork sit up higher, or lower, you can adjust up or down the handle.  Whatever you want.

But you know what?  I don't want to give away too many of my tips here.   If you want them all, you are gonna have to watch the video below.  Don't worry, its short and painless.  LOL.

At any rate, enjoy the picture, enjoy the video, and thank you for the quick read.

Poppies

This is a fun painting I did for the coming of spring.  It's Poppies!!   The state flower of California.  I've got these growing wild everywhere around my house.  They add a beautiful splash of color.  

Many poppies have a dark center.  This variety instead has a bright vibrant yellow center.  I thought they would make the perfect subject to paint.

Oh and as for the background.... Well, I wanted to play a little and let these have some fun.  So a half wash and some splatter were just what the doctor ordered.

I painted this picture with a very limited color palette, and was delighted to see that even with that you can paint a beautiful paintings.  I really hope you enjoy it.

Oh, and if you are curios about a video of this painting, I've got just the thing for you.  I did make one and posted not long ago.  (yes, I've been delinquent about posting to this blog).  Anyway, you can find the video below.

Grumpy Cat

So, I've been trying to get better at painting animals.  I love cats, so it made sense that I would paint a few of them.  I've tried to paint animals in the past and have always been disappointed in how I painted fur.  At that time I was trying hard to make photorealistic paintings.   It was all ok, but thats not really how I want to paint.  I want to give the impression of a thing.  When you look at one of my paintings I want you to get the emotion and feeling that I put into it out of it.  If the painting looks exactly like the object it was taken, great, if it doesn't so be it.

So, here I am painting this cat, and wanting to convey to you a bit of grumpiness from this cat without explicitly painting a perfect cat.  I think you get a bit of that from this cat.

Want to see how I painted it?  Check out the video below.  Want me to paint something for you?  Curios how someone would paint something.  I'd love to take a crack at whatever you can dream up.  Leave me a comment or shoot me an email. Thanks for the quick read, and enjoy the video.

Valentine's Day Stuff

With Valentine's Day approaching, I thought it appropriate that I put up a Valentines posting.  The first was the idea I had to make a heart into two lovers heads This one has the man on the right and the woman on the left.  I added the extra splashes of paint and water to give the picture a little bit of life.  I'd do it just a bit differently if I had to do it again, but I think that it tuned out quite nice regardless.

My second picture is two chili's that come together to form a heart.  One pepper is just in front of the other.  I guess if you have a spicy hot lover, you could give this to him or her.


As with other paintings, I do have videos of these two, you can find them below.

Kittens and Cats

Today  I give you two felines for your viewing pleasure.  I'm trying to figure out fur, but it's proving a bit difficult  I know it has a certain texture, but getting it just right is tough.  I want to paint a million little lines, but in addition to taking forever to do, that really isn't the style I want to paint in.  I want to be a bit looser than a literal interpretation of a cat.  An getting too loose just makes the cat look like a blob.  Im working on it and will get there soon, but it might take me a little bit.


For those of you who want to see how I painted these two, I'm attaching two videos below.