Sunday, December 31, 2017

Happy New Year

WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST FOR A SUCCESSFUL AND HAPPY 2018


Carol Schiff
www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com

Monday, December 25, 2017

WINTER CHEER!




I hope you all enjoy your holidays and find peace and love in the upcoming year!  I want to thank all my online friends who visit this blog and follow my art.



Our painting group, Pieces of 8, at our fun Christmas luncheon at The Dove. The Dove always makes  it a specal day, they do it right!

Clockwise, Fay on the left, Carmen, Denette Jean, Donna, Me, Mary and Kathy.
Carol Schiff
www.CarolschiffStudio.blogspot.com

Saturday, December 23, 2017

Beach Oil Painting, Florida Painting, Small Oil Painting, Daily Painting, 6x8" Tropical Painting

I recently returned home from four wonderful days on Amelia Island, Florida.  The ocean is often very calm there....not a good surfing place.  One evening we stood on the beach and watched dusk descend over the water.

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It was the first time I have been inspired to do a landscape in quite awhile.  I felt very relaxed, just painting this peaceful scene.  Hope you like it!

Have a great day!

Carol  Schiff
www.CarolSchiffStudio.etsy.com
www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Small Seascape, Daily Painting, Small Oil Painting, 6x8" Oil "Crashing Wave" by Carol Schiff Studio SOLD

In the past, I painted lots of seascapes, but in recent years, my focus has been on landscapes and flowers.  Today, I went back to my roots....kind of.


 I wanted to do a seascape, but something different than the past.  I found one of my images of the surf and cropped it very closely.

I tried to paint with a variety of strokes and get plenty of action into the scene.  I finished with scattering some "foam" .  I enjoyed trying to bring something new to an old subject.


Thank you for reading my blog today!

www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com

Friday, December 15, 2017

Feminine Mystique Exhibit and Benefit, A Happy Memory from 2008

Our painting group formed in 2007. In March of 2008 we had an exhibit to benefit the Women's Center of Brevard. This is a montage of a project we had been working on, paintings of past masters in art.

Our artists were, clockwise from top left, Suzanne Peiffer, Denette Schweikert, Jini James, Carol Schiff, Carmen Beecher, Mary Warnick, Cindy Michaud, Donna Vines.

Copying the masters is a wonderful exercise. For our big auction item we collaborated on "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt. Each person painted a section or two.

 The event was held at Alla Prima Salon on Highland Avenue. We have had several changes of members since then, but we look back fondly on this lovely benefit for the Women's Center.



Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Seascape Oil Painting, Daily Painting, Wave Painting, "Wall of Water" 16x20x.75" Oil SOLD

Lately, I have been painting seascapes.  I always love painting and viewing seascapes.  It's almost as soothing to me as a trip to the beach.

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 Of course, the first step for me IS a trip to the beach.  I  pick a day with my trusty camera and head for the sand.  I count myself lucky if I get a few interesting shots.

detail
For this painting, I used images from a trip to Barbados.




For the time being, I have hung this on my studio wall.  It transports me to the sea each time I see it.
Isn't art wonderful?!

Thanks for viewing my art today.

www.CarolSchiffStudo.blogspot.com




Thursday, December 7, 2017

Garden Painting, Small Oil Painting, Daily Painting, 8x8x1.5" Original Oil On Sale

I have always had a vision of the perfect garden, and it has always included a rose trellis.  Alas, it is not to be, for me.   But, I can paint one!


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 Actually, now that I think about it, this is much more my style.  No maintenance required!


MY ART ON HOUSEHOLD ITEMS

MOVING MY STUDIO SALE

25 - 50% OFF ALL ORIGINAL PAINTINGS

www.CarolSchiffStudio.etsy.com

Have a rosy day!

Carol Schiff
www.CarolSchiffStudio.etsy.com
www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com

Sunday, December 3, 2017

A Photo's Journey to Watercolor

by Kathy Garvey

Photoshop is so much fun that I call my time with it playtime. One of the things I like to do with an already beautiful photo is make it look like a watercolor or sketch. Below is a recent example. The photo on the left was taken in a research garden in Washington state in July of this year. The place was magnificent and I'm just starting to use my photos from it. The image on the right is just one "painted" version of it. (Click to enlarge.)
There are many ways to go from the view on the left to the one on the right, but for this, I used the Pattern Stamp Tool (which is hidden under the Clone Stamp Tool).

I first cleaned up the spider webs and then applied a few filters to make it look more like a watercolor. (My favorite filters for a watercolor look are Paint Daubs, Dry Brush, and Poster Edges.) I fiddle with them until I have something I like. Then I work at making it into a piece I would be happy to print. That meant adding a frame and border with colors from the image for this photo. 

But to take it further, I selected the succulent area (just within the frame) and made it a pattern  (Edit>Define Pattern). I opened a new file of the same size and dimensions as the pattern and on a new layer "painted" it back in using the Pattern Stamp Tool and some custom watercolor brushes. (Select the Pattern Stamp Tool and then in the top bar, choose a brush and your pattern. Leave Aligned checked and Impressionist unchecked for this look.)

I keep adding layers with different brushes and different opacities until I have a look I like. The process is so fast that you can just keep adding new layers and painting again and again. Two other versions are below. The left one was just adding more brushes and also painting soft colors from the image on layers underneath it. The one on the right was using a custom sketch brush.

And, since the process is so fun and fast, you can experiment. Below, I started with a larger 12x12 inch file size and unchecked the Aligned feature for the Pattern Stamp Tool. When you do that, the position you are painting changes every time you lift the brush. (It's such a hoot! I love it!) The two different versions below each took less than five minutes from start to finish.


PS  If you are curious about the Impressionistic option, here's what you would get if you check it for this image.
Crazy as that is, it makes a nice background if you then uncheck Impressionistic and paint over it.

Find a favorite photo and give it a try!

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Floral Still Life Giclee Print, Palette Knife Painting,

I have just added this to my Etsy site as a giclee print.  I have had several requests for the piece as a print on canvas, and now, it is available!

Purchase here

It is available in three sizes....13x13, 18x18, and 30x30", on canvas and ready to hang on the wall. Shipping in the US is FREE!

In other news, I am still running my MOVING MY STUDIO SALE, in anticipation of our upcoming move to the mountains.

35% OFF Original Art

www.CarolSchiffStudio.etsy.com

THINK CHRISTMAS!!

Friday, December 1, 2017

Everglades Spoonbills, Prints, Giclee on Stretched Canvas, Roseate Spoonbills


When winter comes to Florida, I get that urge to go to the Everglades. Sometimes I get really lucky and get a picture like this. I love Spoonbills, with their luscious pink plumage and their comical faces.

This is a high-quality giclee print on archival canvas, from an original oil painting.

Carmen


Thursday, November 30, 2017

Pieces of Eight Challenge #8 - Value

VALUE...
       So many ways to interpret this word! The Pieces weigh in!

Cindy...


Cindy Michaud
www.cindymichaud.com
So I did a "value study" on top of a painting that I decided had no other "value."  The blue tape lines are protecting the frame which I realized was glued to the board!  This will be the underpainting for  an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I lifted some of the black/gray/white paint to reveal the reddish color underneath.  This value study should make an easy recipe for adding color....keeping the tones consistent to this underpainting.  Sometimes folks say they like the painting just as it is.  And you?
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Carmen...

Ghost Ship
 20x20
 I did this value study for my painting of a foundered sailboat. The colors in the finished painting are very muted, as were the colors of that post-hurricane day. It's always interesting to visit the beach after a hurricane, but you never expect to see a sight like this.

Carmen Beecher
www.carmenbeecher.com
www.carmensart.etsy.com
www.carmenbeecher.blogspot.com

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Kathy...
I thought about "Value" a lot for this challenge. (And I worked on the idea so much, it's enough for another blog entry.) But in reality, I rarely think about value when I'm creating. My focus is almost always on a strong graphic and interesting patterns. Because I sketch in just black and white, I automatically have my "darkest darks balanced with my lightest lights." And the patterns I enjoy so much tend to create in between values. A recent page from my sketchbook gives an example. (Click to enlarge.)
Silver Spring, Florida -  Leaves around Cabin,  from sketchbook Nov. 14, 2017
See more at www.snailflower.etsy.com


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Donna...
Value is one of the things I struggle with the most.  I have a terrible habit of "drifting" while I am painting.  I get caught up in the subject and not what I really see and before you know it I have changed something.  Many times it is the value.  This teapot was blue but like all paintings it was really darks, lights and shadows.

Teapot


Donnavinesart.Etsy.com
Donnavinesart.blogspot.com
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Carol...
Value can mean many things.  Today I am thinking about how much I value my blog readers and the people who have supported my art over my past 10 years, that I have been selling art on the internet.

25% - 60% Off original paintings


Many of you have asked about my moving sale.  After 40+ years of living on the Florida coast, we are pulling up roots and moving to the mountains of western North Carolina.  From the Atlantic to the Blue Ridge!

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It is both exciting and frightening.  Leaving family and friends behind is heartbreaking, but the mountains are calling us.  It's now or never and we decided on now!  


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As a result, I am trying to drastically reduce my inventory.  Thank you dear readers, for your support of my art in the past, and your response to my sale.  The results are heartwarming!  

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Today I am posting a few of my favorites that are still available.  With the upcoming holidays, .
it's the perfect time to get a head start on your gift list or your wish list, and I promise you, it will be a great VALUE!

CAROL SCHIFF
www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com





Fay...

   


     As a basis for the poem Quilting from the Outside In in my collaboration with George Snyder for the Transformations project, I used this photo by Bob St. Claire. After almost 20 years, beat up and faded, it is still one of my favorites. Whenever I look at it, I am taken back home to the mountains where my ancestors settled in the 1700s.





     For this project, I have revisited this photo to enjoy working with it again. Value has never been my forte. In fact, even when concentrating on it, I still have trouble making those subtle distinctions in shading. I’ve been thinking more practice might help. So I started by making a black and white copy of the photo.





     Now onto the value study. I chose an old piece of cardboard, which was not a wise choice. However, I proceeded and here it is. I’m somewhat satisfied that I have captured the depth. In any case, I have enjoyed the journey and hope in the future to try fabric collages with an abstract version of these comforting old friends. 








Monday, November 27, 2017

ABSTRACTIONS!!, Abstract Paintings, Daily Paintings. daily painter

SOLD
 Although I have been painting, I find myself at the awkward place where I have let myself run out of photographed pieces.  The weather has been rather gray which makes it hard to photograph the colors accurately.  So today, I am posting some abtract paintings.  Most of these are sold, but they may be available as prints on canvas, if desired.
SOLD
 I have had the urge to try some more abstracts, but have really been trying to focus on impressionism, in the hopes of sharpening my skills.  My abstract desires, are like a "guilty pleasure" that I have been resisting.

SOLD

SOLD
 If I had doubts about my leanings toward cool colors....it is pretty obvious to me now.

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD
 A favorite local landmark that has since been replaced with a high rise medical building.

SOLD

SOLD
 This one was all about texture.  I mixed sand into the paint which gave it a stucco type finish.


SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

Another local landmark.

SOLD
This painting had more views by far, than any other I ever posted.......but didn't sell for years!



SOLD

My ode to the Keys.





Thanks for viewing my blog today.

Carol Schiff   
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. ...