Word Weaver Art: November 2018

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

The Grass Is Always Greener...

Patience the Cow

The grass is always greener... when you water it!

She looks patient, doesn't she.
I always think of cows as patient. I supposed that's because of one of my favorite descriptive paragraphs in the world... When E.B. White describes the barn in Charlotte's Web.

"The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell - as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world. It smelled of grain and of harness dressing and of axle grease... But mostly it smelled of hay."

...Sigh...
He just makes you want to be there.

Cows have a way of staring right into your eyes.
Do not have a staring contest with a cow... She'll win.
She's patient.
Look at that expression.
She's saying, "You are standing at my fence. Please just take your picture and moooove along. Go on now. I'll wait. I'm patient."

Original Oil Painting on 18"x 24" Wrapped Canvas.
I've been talking to her since I painted her eyes. I'll probably keep talking to her on my wall until someone decides she belongs on their wall.
Click "The Grass Is Always Greener..." if you 'd like to purchase this big patient cow.

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Little Robin Redbreast

I hope mamas are still teaching nursery rhymes to their babies.
I'm so glad my mama taught them to me.

I just never know what will trigger a memory that's been buried for decades and bring it to the surface.

Little Robin Redbreast
Sat upon a rail.
Niddle nobel went his head.
Wiggle waggle went his tail.

Little Robin Redbreast
Came to visit me.

This is what he whistled,

"Thank you for my tea."

Little Robin Redbreast

Sat upon a tree

Up went Kitty Cat,

And down went he.

Down came Kitty Cat

Away Robin ran

Said Little Robin Redbreast,

"Catch me if you can."

Little Robin Redbreast jumped upon a wall.

Kitty Cat jumped after him, and almost got a fall.

Little Robin chirped and sung, and what did Kitty say?

Kitty Cat said, "Mew, mew, mew," and Robin flew away.

I did this Little Robin Redbreast as a part of a painting challenge for Paint and Draw Together. I love looking at all the images that are exactly the same and completely different at the same time.

Original Oil Painting on 6"x 6"x 2" Wrapped Canvas.

[SOLD]

Friday, November 9, 2018

Pink Tulips on Gray (Palette Knife)

Here's my third try, my third YouTube lesson on this series of painting tulips with a palette knife.

It seems like I ought be feeling more confident.
Nope... Each stroke gives me a tiny anxiety attack.

One of the things that I love about oil painting is that it's so forgiving; if you mess up with a misplaced brushstroke or color choice, you can just blend it, scrape it off, or paint over it. That doesn't seem to be the case with palette knife painting. If you lay a slice of paint down in the wrong place, you just figure out how to make it look like a leaf that you wanted there.

The process was different.
It was fun.
I liked the final products.
I'm going to enjoy seeing them hang on my own wall for a while.

Original oil painting on 10"x 10" wrapped canvas.
Click "Pink Tulips on Gray (Palette Knife)" if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

Purple Tulips on Yellow (Palette Knife)

As I started my second YouTube lesson on using the palette knife to paint tulips, I thought I'd be more comfortable and a little better at it... Nope... Still hard. Every stroke is its own little scary event. It seems to help if I make sound effects. For a leaf, "Psshhhhhtttt!" works pretty well. On the other side maybe, "Whhhhsshhh!" When going back in to fix a wrong spot on a leaf, just a little "Ffffffttt!" seems to do. The flower strokes require more vowels. A quick, "Uuuuhh!" or an, "Eeeek!" or an, "OoooKay!"

Painting with a palette knife turns out to be a noisy process. And, no, that part wasn't in the lesson.

I cannot wait until this one is dry so I can run my fingers across it and feel the textures of the paint.

Oil painting on 10"x 10" wrapped canvas

Click "Purple Tulips on Yellow (Palette Knife)" if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Red Tulips on Purple (Palette Knife)

There's a lesson on YouTube for just about anything you might want to learn. This palette knife lesson was so easy to follow. And there are three, so we'll see if I get better on the next two.

I love the textures of a palette knife painting. It just begs to be touched... only I can't... yet... It has so much paint in places, and gobs of oil paint take soooooo long to be completely dry.

The thing that mesmerizes me about a palette knife painting is that if you look at any small square inch, it's just a mess, but when you take in the whole image, it has its own beauty.

I remember something that my art teacher said. "The eye sees what's there, but the mind takes over and fills in the gaps."

Oil painting on 10"x 10" wrapped canvas

[SOLD]