“Fish in My Pond” is a 48×24″ painting that I created several years ago but I wanted to update it. Every year, I feel that I am a better artist having exploring different techniques and working on many paintings. I really think it is more true to the original idea and more vibrant. What do you think?
Here is the original which is much more abstract. I brushed clear gesso on the entire painting and actually re-painted every inch.
Detail of new painting.
“Coral Bliss” is 30x15x1.5″ gallery wrap with some of the hot new colors for 2019. (coral and teals) Following the series called First Plunge Babies where the hatchlings scurry to the shore to have their first salty swim…now they explore the bottom and the reefs.
” Exploring the Reef” is similar to the above painting with the same fun expressionistic brush strokes and metallic touches. The gallery wrap is 40×16″ and perfect for a narrow space on a wall. It started with a base of peach colored gesso on the white canvas so the colors peak of from the layers of pastels.
I had this idea in my head of painting a mermaid interacting with a sea turtle. After numerous sketches, I came up with this idea. This siren is in the shallow waters near a reef so there are fish and seaweeds. when I was younger, I did quite a bit of diving with a snorkel and also dive tank and gear. I had to pull my memories of how the highlights hit the water and make patterns on the sea floor and everything else. Since this scene was totally made up, I also had to figure out how the light would hit certain parts of the mermaids body and how the shadows played with the highlights. I wanted to keep it my expressionistic/impressionistic stylings so didn’t try for realism. For instance the little fish are made from three quick brushstrokes.
The objective is to distill more emotion with luminous colorings and the sweep of the brushstrokes showing movement of the water. The seaweed fanning with the currents and bubbles floating up along with her hair give the feeling of being underwater.
“Silent Conversation” is 48′ tall and 36″ wide.
Impressionistic Details
Her face took the most time, She took on many faces until she finally appeared.
“Teal Octopus” is a large fanciful impressionistic painting. 48×36″ gallery wrap. I embedded gold leaf details and some 3D elements for interest. Using large brushes and bold strokes along with twisted medium brush details teaches me to be deliberate with my strokes and to not overwork.
This impressionistic painting was started in 2013 but I decided to revisit it and add more water movement. I also added some metallic and interference paints so the jewel tones really shimmer…subtly but in a stunning way.
“Koi Waltz” is 40×30″ gallery wrap.
This mermaid painting was started nearly 2 months ago and I have been working on it off and on. Finally last week, I made some progress and reached a place where she spoke ” Here I am”. When first I started sketching in her face, it was too large for her body so several days of alterations and adding fish and elements was necessary. I liked the areas of very little detail mixed with smaller areas of detail. Its still soft and semi impressionistic.
“Siren Lounge” is 40x30x1.5″ and is available at this time.
Decor idea
Face detail
