"National Cathedral" (oil on stretched canvas; 40" x 40") sold

 

"National Cathedral"

 

The painting is a commission for Catherine and her husband Andrew. Andrew went to St. Albans School, right next to the cathedral and practically grew up in and around the magnificent Gothic cathedral. He got married there and had planted a tree in front of the north side (entry area) with his father. It was an important sentimental project for Andrew and he chose this image personally so that his tree would be a part of the finished painting.

It was the largest oil painting project ever for me. It took about two months to draw, block in, paint and add finishing touches. I needed a little stool to reach the highest areas of the big canvas! Thank you for the opportunity, Andrew and Catherine, who were the most gracious clients. 

I must say that my patience and drawing skills have improved much because of this project. The only drawback is that I couldn't take a proper photography of the huge canvas, so I had to make do with a quick shoot with my phone. What a shame!

Work in Progress I

Work in Progress II

Work in Progress III

"Coral Roses" (oil on stretched linen; 20" x 16") sold

sold

"Rose Posy" (oil, 8" x 10")

Recently I've received a rather odd commission request to repaint "Rose Posy" much larger in a vertical format with a glass vase against soft yellow/green background. The client also wanted the roses to be coral instead of pink. I said it would be very difficult, but she insisted that it should be done. The result several weeks later is "Coral Roses".

Many things have happened since I accepted the commission: the tragic death in the family, the trip to California to attend the memorial service, the recovery from my cataracts surgeries, and the Hurricane Florence with daily rains. I struggled with the commission in the middle of all the above.

I found the image of the "Fairy" rose, which I believe is what I had originally painted during Danni Dawson's workshop at her house a few years ago. They are tiny roses and I had to blow them up, shift colors to coral, and somehow rearrange individual flowers to make a pleasing composition. It was probably the hardest commission ever!

What did I learn from this project? Don't accept an unreasonable commission? Not sure. Because I am about to accept another totally-out-of-the-comfort-zone commission. I decided to turn it into a learning experience. I usually paint what's in front of me, or from a reference photo. But what if I don't have a good reference? I will have to make up, be creative. I am constantly evolving as an artist, embracing challenges, instead of doing same stuff all over again. So, bring it on!

"Fairy"

"Clue" (oil on linen; 8" x 16") sold

sold

"Clue" is for Richard.  Richard told me why he wanted me to paint the cover of the classic board game, Clue.  Several years ago, he and his friends dressed up as the characters of the game to create the perfect mood for his proposal to his then girl friend.  Richard and she had grew up on and were both fond of the game.  Their wedding anniversary is coming up in January, so this painting is to be a surprise gift to his wife.  Have you ever heard of a more romantic and sweeter story? 

If you look at the painting carefully, you will find a diamond engagement ring and the lettering "Magnolia", whose meaning Richard didn't let me on.  He also asked me to keep the mood mysterious and spooky.  I hope I succeeded!

"Red Zinnea II" (watercolor on Yupo; 8" x 10 1/2") sold

sold

I just started laying down paints on the line drawing for "Red Zinnea"; how do you like my mini, full-palette palette?

"Red Zinnea" in progress; it's almost time to paint the "air" and that is when all hell breaks loose!

Recently I sold "Red Zinnea" (see below) on Etsy.  On the day she received the painting in the mail, the buyer contacted me requesting if I could paint a little larger version for her mother who also loves zinneas.  How could I resist such a sweet request!  So the deal was made and she duly placed a commission order on Etsy.  Do you know what she did while she had a credit card out?  She bought another Yupo painting!  She told me that she couldn't help herself!

"Red Zinnea" (watercolor on Yupo, 6" x 8"; sold)

"Poppy Dreams" (watercolor on Yupo, 6" x 8"; sold)

"Sail into the Sunset" (oil on stretched canvas; 24" x 24" x 2 1/4") sold

Collage of "Sail into the Sunset" (12" x 12" on the left; 24" x 24" on the right, sold)

I may be onto something big with my new pointillist style.  A collector saw the painting on the left on my Etsy shop and contacted me to ask if I could paint a larger version.  Of course, I could.  She asked for more reds and dark blues.  No problem.  The deal was made within a few hours and I sold the largest and highest-priced painting ever on my Etsy shop that day!

I showed the pictures of the almost finished painting to Janet yesterday.  She loved it!  The painting is going to be a surprise present for her husband who loves Hawaii.  Everybody is happy.  Ah, I love my job.

"Sail into the Sunset" viewed from the left

"Sail into the Sunset" viewed from the right

"Glorious Irises" (oil on canvas; 24" x 18") sold

"Glorious Irises"
sold

"Purple Irises" (oil, 12" x 9")
sold

"Purple Glory" (watercolor, 20" x 14")
sold

Yup, you are right.  All three paintings above are based on the same photo reference.  I am guilty of copying myself.  "Purple Glory" came first, painted many years ago when I was a watercolorist.  It got an award, then got sold in another show.  Last year, I did a smaller version in oil--"Purple Irises"--and sold it on eBay.  A client of mine who saw it on my website wanted it blown up.  So I painted "Glorious Irises" for him.  What can I say?  Some compositions are so darn great that they deserve to be revisited several times.

Whenever I look at the image of "Purple Glory," I feel a pang and regret that I don't paint watercolors any more.  But the regret doesn't last long.  These days I find watercolors tedious.  One has to draw the composition very carefully with a pencil in fear of marring the paper. When glazing, one has to wait each time for the previous layer to dry completely.  Most importantly, one has to preserve the lights with absolute determination. 

When a watercolor painting works, it glows.  When it goes awry, there is not much one can do.  The medium tends to collect fanatical devotees who look at other mediums with a thinly-disguised contempt, because only the most disciplined artists can stick to it.  I have such friends.  (I hope they are not reading this blog entry; I still like them despite their stubbornness.)  I also have friends who had hit the wall and wandered to find other, I dare say, more fun, mediums. 

Despite what many people believe, oil paints can be transparent as well as opaque.  (Watercolors can be opaque too, but only up to a point.)  To me, the fun of painting in oil lies in playing with this dual characteristics of the oil medium, plus its tactile quality.  In "Glorious Irises," I didn't leave the dark background transparent, because I thought it might not stand up to the strong, sculptural presence of the back-lit irises.  Ordinarily, I play transparent areas against opaque ones, lathering thick globs of paints on highlights, highly-textured petals, and so on.  Oh, the glory of oil painting!

"Brilliant Lotus" (oil on canvas; 24" x 18") sold

"Brilliant Lotus"
sold

"Lotus and Dragonfly" (oil, 12" x 9")
sold

Reference photo

The lotus is one of my favorite flowers and I never get tired of painting them.  Over the years I've painted them in watercolor, acrylic, and oil.  The sculptural flower with the Buddhist association looks great in all mediums.

Last year in early June, the plein-air-painting class with Sara Linda Poly went to the waterlily pond at Green Spring Gardens Park.  My first attempt at painting the lotus from life was a disaster.  The lighting condition, however, was ideal and I came home with several terrific pictures.  The following day, still smarting from the failure, I made another stab at the lotus.  "Lotus and Dragonfly" was the result of my persistence.  Since then, I've painted several more lotus paintings, small and large, and sold them all.

When a favorite client of mine asked me to do a larger version of "Lotus and Dragonfly," I wasn't sure whether it would work.  I tried as he "begged" for it.  And, boy, am I glad I listened!  My initial fear was that the lone lotus flower and yellow green undersides of several lily pads will dominate the painting.  As it turned out, there were enough details in the shadow areas to add depth and nuance to the bold composition. 

In the small version, there was no room for playing; most subtleties had to be sacrificed for the clarity.  Not so for "Brilliant Lotus."  You can look at it for a long time and still find hidden "secrets."  My client didn't want the dragonfly (there are actually three of them in the picture).  So they went, as his wish was my command.  I don't think they would have added much to the abstract beauty of the painting anyway.  It is fun to paint big, using large brushes.  It is also great to have a client with the sophisticated eye who appreciates and is willing to pay for original artwork.  Thank you!

"Scandinavian House" (oil on stretched linen; 14" x 18") sold

sold

Composition drawing for "Scandinavian House"

I was busy during the Thanksgiving holiday, not visiting with family, but working.  It was my sweet husband who cooked on Thanksgiving!  Why?  I had to finish two commission paintings that need to be shipped by early December.  One of them--"Waterlily Dreams"--I already shared with my readers.  "Scandinavian House" was the second painting I worked on during the holiday.

This  portrait of a house was commissioned by my dear sister-in-law for her husband.  She is probably the only client who didn't negotiate the price; she told me she didn't want a discount.  Bless her heart!  She and husband had raised their four sons in this house.  After their children left, they decided to stay instead of moving somewhere else.  They recently made some additions, and that is why my sister-in-law decided it would be a fun "addition" to their new additions.

I worked with a couple of pictures she took in the afternoon.  She worried about the "artistic" quality of the pictures, but I told her that I liked them just fine.  The late afternoon sun casts long tree shadows on the driveway, lawn, and house itself.  You can tell that the property is surrounded by the tall, slender pine trees.  They are very important in the composition as much as the house itself.  I felt that the two tall trees in front of the house were like the father and mother of the family.  I made sure that they didn't bisect the painting perfectly.

I first did a value drawing on a piece of paper in the same size as the painting itself to work out the composition.  This is something I rarely do as I usually compose in my head and jump right into the painting process.  But, for this important project, I didn't want to waste time and spoil the fresh brushwork by messing around with the elaborate architectural drawing on the canvas itself. 

After my client approved the composition, the rest was a breeze, as I had already decided on the palette: blues for the sky, warm yellow oranges for the house, greeens for the pine trees, and blue violets for the shadows in the driveway.  She wanted the driveway a little less prominent while I was working on the painting, so I obliged by making the lawn a little bigger.  I felt such affection for the family that I think it shows in the final painting.  Doesn't "Scandinavian House" look like a happy house?

"Waterlily Dreams" (oil on stretched canvas; 24" x 18") sold

"Waterlily Dreams"
sold

"Where Dragonflies Play" (oil, 12" x 9")
sold

At the request of a client, I did a much larger version of the same painting.  When a painting is blown up, I often feel that something gets lost in the translation.  The charm and suggestiveness of a small painting become sacrificed in favor of details.  I was determined that it should not happen with this commission work.  I came up with the title first and stuck to it, keeping it "dreamy" and "soft-edged."  What do you think of the new painting?