New on Pinterest

Have you caught the Pinterest Bug yet. I love the boards and how I can organize things to look at later or that moment when the kids are asleep.

Here Are Some of the Boards I have started. Please comment below on links to your favorite Boards.

• Inspirational Quote- These are just little bits of positive words to encourage anyone each day.
• Other People's Artwork - I love to see other artist that have amazing artwork and would like to share with you some of my favorites
• Cool Crafts - Here are craft projects I have either done with my child or by my self that really work. Yes I tried them before showing them to you. 
• Art Magazines and Books - I am always searching to see what other artist are using for good references. Here are a few of mine.
• Art Festival Ideas - Here is the things I think are neat if you are going to try for your own art show booth. 
• Watercolor Techniques - A few links I thought were great for watercolor tips.

           Don't Forget to check out two other boards I have posted.

• Paintings from the Farm- these are my personal paintings most are for sale.
• Jewelry and Decor -   This is my personal artwork on Jewelry and other items 

Painting a puppy

 

I would  like to introduce you to Sam.  Sam was my husband's dog, a stray he showed up one day. When Tractorman, my husband, he crawled out from under a work truck. Tractorman went into the house and got a shot gun.  He shot at the ground to scare the stray off. Sam crawled back under a work truck.  Tractorman threaten to get rid of Sam if he was still there when classes was over.

That evening Sam was still there. He stood over knee high. Tall skinny and lanky with a calm disposition. He quickly learned to put cows up.

With marking like a coyote, you had to do a double take  when he trotted across the pastures. One night we were feeding cattle and he was running around, down to the pond and looking for rabbits. A truck stopped on the road to watch him. It was a group of coyote hunters checking Sam out. Tractorman yells "Sam get on the truck" and here he came. He gracefully jumped on the truck in one flying leap and sat there like this is my kingdom.

I painted him laying under the tractor tire. His favorite spot to sit while we worked on equipment.
You can win an original painting of Sam by bidding on it on eBay. Click Here.

Studying a Small John Deere

Before every artwork I create an 5 x 7 inch study in one color in my sketchbook. This allows me to check for a poor composition before I start the drawing on a good board. I also can see what size I want to make the final artwork. Some just lend themselves to smaller artworks while others beg to be created in a larger size. This artwork will be an 8 X 10 art piece when I make in in full color and with great clarity.      Some of my other tractors I have painted are listed below if you would like to see more. Painting a Retired Massey A Model A A FarmAll A Another John Deere      Since this is my first time videoing myself painting it is not great. If you have a helpful hint please comment. I only get better with your help.  God Bless

Finishing the Massey.

In Oklahoma the snow fall I have seen all my life can be wrapped up into about 5 storms. That is it. Yes it has snowed more but a typical snow storm here is on the ground at morning. If you don't play in it before lunch it is gone before Dad got home. So my little girl has seen more true snow storms in the last four years than I have in my whole life. She is enjoying her dad's homemade sled here. Back to the Massey, I am left handed so I work from the right side to the left. Just my way of working without getting paint everywhere. I have added the layer of madden brown to make it look rusted without getting muddy in the color. The under area of blue helps to push the tire out for me. The process was repeated like a sewing machine. Work the yellow and purple into the shadows. Add the yellow for highlights When dry add the madden brown. But man is the process working well. Here are some other tractors if you like to look at them. Don't over think the details. Here I added some Payne's gray for the shadows and purple in layers to cast the shadow. Adding some yellow and ultramarine wiggles marks for the grass. Then glazing the whole underside with a green. That will be all folks.   This painting is for sell and at a nice 8 by 10 it is a perfect size for any small office.

Painting the Retired Massey

Doesn't Woody look like he has his hands full.  While I let the cows out of the catch pin where the guys sorted calves off, Old Hereford sneaked up on my girl playing with Woody. The old cow is gentle and my daughter seeing her coming decided to get in the middle of the truck bed where the cows could not reach her. After working cattle all day I waited til the next morning to get started. I drew out my drawing in pencil and then used a permanent pen to ink it in.  Next I added yellow ocher and some green into the engine area. Since the Massey is rusted the green will help to make nice gray areas. A little blue for the sky allow me to define the background while I was waiting for everything to dry. I started adding purple into my painting for the deep shadows this helps to give that great deep area that does not look flat.  I will show you the rest of the work later this week.  Click Here if you would like to see some of my other painting step by step.

The Guts of my Sketchbook.

 When the tempature dips down into the single digits, we consider it very cold. I know that the north thinks we are thin skinned but we also spend our summers in 110+ weather. The real extreme was the change Monday in the 70's and Friday in the singles. Cattle still must be fed and ice chopped for water.

Back in the warmth of the day I will go back to talking about my sketchbook. If you did not catch the first round here it is. We have all heard if looking a planner is like looking a brain. This is my planner, organizer, sketch area and so on. 

I have a Google calendar where I put appointments and such. I print out that weeks and write my to do list on it. This is my brain for the week for me to track the whole family.

Inside is also some of my doodles. This is the one I worked on for weeks during church. I can not sit and listen. When I draw I remember what was told. These drawings help me remember what I was learning.

These are also my stamps. When teaching kids I stay on my toes about changing it up. We made rubber stamps and these were a few of them.

A pocket is a must. From handouts to bills. I keep everything here. If you are interested I would show a few different pockets for sketchbook later. 

Of course some paintings. I worked with family on a church project and made a slide show backgrounds.

I am a big writer. Paper is my life. I have to feel the pen across the paper. All my list and notes just do not work on a tablet. So I journal, list and plan in this book as well. This is where all my dreams and hopes are wrote into actions.

I also cut up some watercolor paper. The good arches and put it in here. Then I create value sketches of my next artwork. Please feel free to ask questions. I love to share.

Here is some of my artist brain at work.

Another work I would like to share is the Christmas Bulbs on eBay. 

Looking at the Sketchbook

 

Many artist have trouble looking to find a sketchbook that works for them. I am no different. Being a farmers wife makes my needs more of a plein air artist than a studio artist. I work from the truck many times a month. So I will show you my life, brain and everything else.

My sketchbook is home made. Not something new to me. I have made sketchbooks for years. I love controlling the look and use of the book. I like to choose the paper I put in them.  Maybe I am a control freak but I need something that works.

My latest creation is more of a three ring binder approach. I like this because I can lighten the load of paper I carry and save the work and notes that I made somewhere else. I add paper as needed and take out old stuff to put in a storage binder as needed. The covers are Masonite or hardboard. I recycle an old college project to use them. They hold up to the elements, and my daughter Calamity Jane. It also makes drawing in the truck nice to have a hard surface to work with. I have used this while walking across the hay bales and making notes.

Over the next blog I will show you the guts of my sketchbook.
Check out my eBay Christmas Ornaments.

Playing in the wheat

 

She begged her daddy to let her play in the seed wheat that we were cleaning out of the grain drills. Finally after about 5 minutes he agreed. She was playing having a blast. I opened the back hatch to be able to watch her while I worked. We had been working for about ten minutes when we heard a blood curling scream. She was scampering out of the truck. About the time we head to see the fuss a small mouse runs across the open hatch. She was so scared she would not even go and get her shoes. Daddy had to.

Finishing the painting of a Model A

 We worked from dawn til dusk and beyond on this last day of class. I added the green wash in before lunch.

While it was still damp, I added my rust colors into it to add the old feel. It then started getting dark and time was flying faster than a witch on All Saints day morning. So I skipped my picture taking to get'er done attitude. I do love this work, even if it is on paper. 

Check out my new website.

Changing Palletes

The wheat is beginning to become fuzz on the plowed field. It is reaching upward and casting a slight green tent to the red clay. Though it is not all planted the growth of the first half is a welcome sight and the rain that came is the blessing we needed to get the second half of the wheat in.

While we wait patiently I have been working on paintings and preparing boards. Since my life involves painting at school, home, the farm and where ever I can carve out a few minutes. My supplies must travel. The old pallette I had was a great start up but it did not last. The hinge broke and it became like traveling with a fragile vase. Scared it was going to shatter and leave me stranded with nothing to work on.

So I splerged on a new one. This one is metal and is hopefully up for the task of going places. It is more compact and has square cups instead of slanting areas for the paint. The slanting areas just helped to mix the paint for me as I traveled around the dirt roads.

Time will tell if my treasure is worth it but a girls gotta paint, any chance she gets.

Hope to see ya'll at the Chili Cook off in McLoud Oklahoma.

God Bless.

Finish Painting a Patriotic Tractor

Last weekend I was able to visit the big town of Chickasha home of the fighting chickens. I met some amazing people. The day was pretty and the people that came through my booth were very pleasant. It was fun.

I added some more layers onto the Patriotic painting and got the background and under-layers painted.

Then I glazed it.

Last but not least I pulled all the mask off and then soften the stark white left behind.

When I put it on Facebook, someone asked to buy it within the hour. That just tells me that America is going strong and Tractors still hold a spot in many peoples heart.

Painting myself Patriotic

Well if you have read my last blog than you know we have 72 piles of ashes to feed. (Smile) The good news is the insurance check is already here and we are about to scatter the ashes and re-stack the remaining hay. The Silver lining is that not one other bale combusted which means we did not loose anymore hay. The picture is from last week as I plowed. 

We were working at getting wheat in the field which means that I spent my time in the other tractor preparing the soil. Saturday it rained and we had one field planted. My hubby was happy.

 Sunday we worked cows. We gave them a shot to prevent disease, like the flu shot. They also got new earrings or numbered tags that tell us which cow is which. 80 black cows are hard to tell apart especially in the dark.

I have stole a little time away to paint this week. I am working on a patriotic painting that I took at 4th of July parade. It just said what I needed right now. The people will pull together and get something accomplished.

May God bless you in all your celebrations and trials.

Looking for my next painting

I was flipping through old pictures to find some good artwork. I always say to take tons of pictures. Thought I would share a few from many years ago.

                    Here is my hubby when he was younger with his favorite dog. Sam was smart and helped put cows in, could get through a hot wire and road on the back of a truck at crazy speeds. The old dog looked like a coyote though and once or twice coyote hunters almost let their hunting dogs out on him.  We miss him but in his old age he ran out in front of a car. It killed him instantly.

          The picture of the truck window when brother and I went mudding. I needed pictures to start art that college semester and he took me though the fields so I could get some. I asked "You think dad will notice?" talking about his truck as we put up the fence. "Naw, work is distracting him now." Brother told me. We look up and across the road our cattle herd sticks its head up over the fence and jumps the fence into the neighbors wheat field. We had to call dad to help up get them back in the pasture. We didn't get in trouble but he did notice what we had done that afternoon.

This is a cool picture of my hubby's equipment. I am going to have to ask what you call it again. I think it is so neat looking. My hubby calls me crazy but says it works well when pulled behind the tractor to break up the ground.  This is it the next painting.

Have a good week and God Bless.

Hay stacking and Painting a Model T

Well hay is bailed and plowing begins but that means time is not slowing down. The hay must be stacked and counted and the fence built around the new hay stacks. My daughter loves to run the bails when we can. She is about two rows away from my husband stacking them. With all this going on I did sneak a painting into the middle of life.

Of course you know me I start with my aquafix and my mask and lay my painting out. 

This has a few steps in here. I added the rust red and used a dark umber for the shadows in the car. I used a non transparent color for the glaze this time. Since I did that I thinned it down a WHOLE lot. I also painted ultramarine for the dark areas. It gives a richer color than just Payne's Gray.

I added my glaze of Payne's Gray and a light color in the background. Also a little in the shine of the chrome.

I know this is a big jump but I painted without having a camera around. Rule to learn. 

Value rule. 1. Air is lightest. 2. flat areas are 2nd lightest. 3. Slanted areas are third value. While your vertical areas have the darker values in them.

Praise God in his sanctuary;

    praise him in his mighty heavens.
 Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.

Psalms 150:1-2

Drawing out a Model T

 I just thought you would like a glimpse into the good times of farming. Well maybe not good times but precious for sure. This little boy is having trouble getting milk so we have him and his cow up to help them along. This is a cousin and my little girl feeding him a bottle. Hopefully the cow will be able to nurse him soon.

Well back to the drawing board. I like to work up two sketches at a time. It keeps me motivated and I feel comfortable with the idea of having the what next question answered. Also when I mix up aquafix I can paint both at once. I also mask them on the same time to. Less clean up.

 The model T is my first to be completed. I like the layout and the aquafix done. I will show you as it develops.


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God Bless.

Working on Landscapes

Hay has keep us going til all times of the day. My husband has broke almost all the belts on the baler and lots of other parts. This has been a rough hay season. Since it has he has asked me to cut hay with a pull behind swather. No problem; until I ran the swather into the back of his flat bed truck. Oops! Well am I fired? NO I just get to practice more.

Since I have been in the field this week I have not got anything on eBay and time is short..er than normal. So I have started worked on a few small landscapes. These are 5 X 7 and in progress.

On this first one, I am not done, but I worked wet into wet. I started by using clean water and just washing the whole sky in it. Then I started adding my dark colors all while the paint was wet. Last I added my warm colors in the same way. I need to add the land and may be a few highlights but it is mostly done.

On the next painting I did it much different. I started with the lighter colors. The yellow and oranges were added first.

Using the same color I outlined the lower cloud.

While that dried I wet the farthest area in my picture and laid a LIGHT wash of purple at top and orange at bottom.

 Then I worked on the clouds with ultramarine blue and purple. Trying to stay away from my wet warm colors I worked around everything.

With that to wet I went to my 3rd painting and add the sky. Wetting the paper I added a cerulean blue, purple and Payne's gray. My goal was to leave a little white to imply clouds.

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