Monday, March 28, 2016

Daily Painting Seascape in Oil, 4x12" "Tropical Waters" SOLD


I love to do seascapes, especially with a palette knife, as it allows me to use plenty of texture.  I  like working with the ocean, it seems like a different place minute by minute.


How cool to have all this texture and all these shades of blue, aqua and green.


Being an artist is a good thing....I am very grateful.

Have a wonderful day!

Purchase here
SOLD




Saturday, March 26, 2016

Exuberance, 36x48 Oil on Canvas by Denette Schweikert


The exuberant shapes of the twisted crotons took on a life of their own as they reached for the sky. The colors were brilliant, with sunlight bouncing off the leaves, contrasting with the purple shadows.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Daily Paintings, Small Oil Paintings, Animal and Bird Paintings

I was looking at some of my images and was really surprised to see how many bird and animal paintings I have done.  I thought today would be a good day to post a few of my old time favorites.

Great Blue Heron
250 + shipping


Just Ducky
99 + shipping
  
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It is always interesting and educational to review the painting journey that you have been on.  I like to line up older paintings, chronologically, which helps me to see the improvements I have made and the ones I would like to make in the future.  Always an interesting exercise.

Have a painterly day and thanks for visiting!




www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Small Abstract Painting, Daily Painting, Original Oil Abstract ,by Carol Schiff, 8x8x1.5"

It has been some time since I posted an abstract......this week I was in the mood to do some non-representative work.

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I enjoy abstract, at times, as it gives me the opportunity to concentrate on composition and color relationships.  No drawing distractions!

I started this piece by creating lots of texture on the canvas, followed by a coat of acrylic cad. red.  Then the fun began as I brought out my oils and just pushed paint around until I was happy with the results.  It was that same feeling I used to get when I would stomp around in rain puddles as a kid.

I know I will soon go back to representative work, but today, I am happy with this,

Thanks for reading my blog today.



www.CarolSchiffStudio.etsy.com

Friday, March 18, 2016

Walking with my camera: Melbourne Beach Pier and Turkey Creek Sanctuary

By Kathy Garvey

I love walking with my camera and usually play with one or two photos (in Photoshop) after each walk. This is an amazingly beautiful area and I love the random things you can capture out and about.

Here are a few recent local shots taken at Melbourne Beach Pier.

The Melbourne Beach Pier at Sunset


Love Birds (They were on the rocks to the right of the pier.)

Another great walk is through Turkey Creek Sanctuary. (Caution, be careful if it's been raining, the old wooden walkway has become very slippery when wet!)  Occasional birds, squirrels, gators, turtles and armadillos can be found. But even when they aren't out and about, the plants and trees are good subjects for the camera.

There are interesting seed pods along the trail...

And beautiful wild flowers...

I swear this tree was just begging for help...


Say "hi" if you see him there - and also if you see me along the way!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Seascape Painting, Daily Painting, Small Oil Painting, Caribbean Blue, 6x12x.75"

Are you ready for another seascape?  This is one of my favorites because of the blues, greens, lavender colors.
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190 + shipping


detail
 It has a little impasto....not too much.


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This painting reminds me of trips to the islands.  

Thank you for viewing my blog today.





www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Workshop Time

As you can see from my last post one of my main objectives at Elio's last workshop was to learn as much about color.  Interestingly enough the next painting I did was in black and white.  This was much harder than using colors.  I realized after watching his demo and listening to his comments as he painted that I really need to learn about value then color would follow.
Donna Vines

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Workshop Time

I am off to an Elio Comacho workshop and am so looking forward to it. I have not had much time to paint lately so this is just what I need. Here is one of the paintings from his last workshop. I can't wait to see what I bring home this time.
Donna Vines

Guests for Dinner, 24x18 Oil on Canvas by Carmen Beecher


SOLD

This Wood Stork is calmly looking over the Spoonbills feeding in Mrazek Pond in the Everglades. The Wood Stork puts his bill underwater and waits for his prey, then his beak snaps shut at lightning speed, 25 milliseconds. This is known as grope-feeding. The Wood Stork has one of the fastest reflexes of any vertebrate.

This was just sold by the Brevard Cultural Alliance (BCA) at the Melbourne Airport. We artists are so lucky to have the BCA and Lynne Brezina.

Carmen

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Small Seascape, Wave Painting, Daily Painting, Small oil painting, "Cresting", 8x8x1.5"

For lovers of the sea!

I did a few small paintings where I focused in on a wave, instead of my usual long distance view.  I was not sure they would be successful, but they both sold quickly.  Both clients have similar reactions to them.....they felt the paintings revived wonderful memories of their times in or on the ocean.  I decided to try a few more.

purchase here
145 + shipping



detail

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I have a few more seascapes to show you soon.  I hope you enjoy this one!



www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Story of a commission

When I work on a painting commission, it is always with a mix of excitement and fear.  Will I produce the painting my client is expecting?

Recently  I recieved a request for a 30x40" commission.  The client had already purchased a small 8x10" and wanted a similar scene.  She especially liked the sky.

SOLD


I painted a small study of what I thought the client was asking for....focus on the sky and a more interesting marsh area.


Nix!  The sky is much to gaudy for the client, and could I please add some birds.



This had a better reception, but perhaps a few more herons?



Here we are getting closer, but the client felt the flying heron was too distracting to the sunset.



SOLD!
I photo shopped the offending bird out of the composition and got the go ahead!  This is the completed 30x40" canvas which the client is totally happy with.

Most clients have sent me a photo image of exactly the scene they are looking for.  I found this trial and error system has worked well for me when there is no photo image to work from.

I would love to hear how others handle this situation.

Thanks for reading my blog today.



www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com

Monday, March 7, 2016

As I was getting my materials together for a workshop I had to move my plastic bin of hand painting materials and photos.  I had not done any hand colored photos for quite awhile and I of course had to open the container, anything to put off real work.  I found a photo I had started and decided to put out a few paints and see if it was still paintable.  Well I did and it was.
 For some reason the time flies by and you can really get into the zone when hand painting. Here is a blow up of an area of the photo I was working on.  It was a picture I had taken in Maine at a friend's house.  All of my photos are old snapshots I took when I was doing a lot of hand painting.
 I use special Marshall oils, cotton and Q-tips for applying.  This photo was a sepia tone.
I just love the colors and tone you can create with this process.  It was so relaxing I moved the container to the top so I could easily get out my kit again.

unfinished hand painted photo

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Everglades Sunrise, 6x6 Oil on Canvas by Carmen Beecher


Sold

This is a nostalgic piece, because it reminds me of camping in the Everglades with two Pieces of 8, Kathy and the recently departed Cindy (no, she didn't die, she just departed for North Carolina). This is a tiny little painting of the beautiful sunrise in the Everglades. I was disappointed to not see Spoonbills, but there was other wildlife: more alligators than I could count, and a huge, thick, black spider that got on my paper towels when I was painting. Thank goodness I noticed him before I grabbed a towel! 

We saw no pythons, but a recent python hunt brought forth over a hundred! They are ruining the ecology and hard to eradicate. When small game gets wiped out, large game leaves, and all sorts of things happen in the food chain. Just watch this video, "How Wolves Change Rivers"  and you'll see what I mean.

Carmen

Friday, March 4, 2016

Daily Painting, Small Oil Painting, Rose Still Life, Small Floral Still Life, "Mother's Rose" by Carol Schiff, 6x8" Oil

On this small oil painting, I tried to capture the beauty and feel of this lovely flower, without being too worried about duplicating the actual image. I painted with a knife and worked hard to keep my colors clean and my strokes pure.The knife has left a lot of texture to the piece that makes you want to reach out a touch it. I think it has a wild feel, which is just what I was working towards. The colors of pinks, purples and greens work well together with a touch of orange.


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110 + shipping


I thoroughly  enjoyed this painting, so much so, that I painted a second in the same manner.  I will post the second painting next week.  I plan to try more of the same in the future.



Thanks for reading my blog today.



www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com

Ballard Park, Original Oil on Canvas

  I had not painted outside in two years, so this was quite a challenge. It was one of those paintings I had to improve upon in the studio. ...