Slice

I have finally painted the slice!  Well...so far.  Once you watch the video you can see I get a little confused and I tried to cut out the bits where I got frustrated.  I started off painting it without really knowing how I wanted it to come out and you can tell.  I had to do some major problem solving throughout the video.  I do plan on going back into it this week.  But no worries I will just give an update in the next video about what I did instead of prolonging the completion of the painting.  What happened was I layered on too much paint and it just got muddy.  I kept changing my mind and instead of scraping off paint, I kept layering on more.  That is the downfall to painting thickly.  You make a muddy mess.  I plan on getting all problems solved before the next video installment.

In the video I give some vocabulary for you to learn.  Hue, Shade and Tint.  Here are the definitions according to Merriam-Webster online dictionary:

Hue: a color or a shade of a color

Shade: a darkened area in a drawing, painting

Tint: variation of a color produced by adding white to it

So, if you ever hear me talking about a "hue" know I am just meaning a color.  If you ever hear me talking about a "shade" or a color, it is that color+black mixed in.  And finally, if you hear me say "tint" I am talking about that color+white mixed in.

I hope that helped clarify it for you.  Sorry that the video was cut a lot because of my frustration.  But you will find that happens when you paint...you get frustrated that the painting is not working out.  Those are the moments you just need to walk away and come back later.  At least, that is what works for me.  I hope you enjoy the video and look forward to next week when we FINALLY finish the painting! YAY!  I will now leave you with a picture of an orange....all this talk about oranges makes me want one.  Take care!

WATCH VIDEO HERE!

Seeing Things Differently

As I wait for my video to upload I usually try to write my blog.  I am so impatient when it comes to the computer.  I grew up in the time when I am used to getting information right away.  This week I re-worked the orange that I started and I like how it came out.  I do not plan on touching it again and will finally be able to move on.  I know you as a viewer are thinking "finally!"

During the video I talked about what I wrote about in last week's blog.  About taking a picture with your camera to see the contrast in your painting better.  I think a lot of the reason it works is it makes you see your painting in a different way.  You begin to see all the flaws or the good parts of your work.  Do you ever feel that way when you see yourself on camera or in a photograph and think...."what am I wearing" or "is that how my hair really looks".  I find myself doing that when I re-watch the videos.  I think "my goodness Brenna....why did you wear that shirt" or whatever critiques I have for myself.  Even my painting I think looks different in the video then it does in real life.  At the end of the video I include the pictures I take in the video at the end of the video so you can see.  You might think too, that painting looks different!  Here are the pictures:

I like the painting so much more in real life then in the video.  But, the video is there to teach you something new, not for the best quality cinematography.  See how the black and white filter shows you the contrast in the painting?  It helps me see if I need to add anything.  I am happy with how it came out and plan to keep it as is.  I am excited to start on the slice next week.  I might even work on it this week during my son's nap time.  If I am not tired from the night before with him waking up.  So keep coming back and seeing what is going on and I hope you are getting something out of this blog and video series.  If you would like me to help with anything or answer any questions you are having, please comment below so I can address them for you!

Watch Video Here!

The Value of Color

I finished my second video and as I filmed it I realized I need to talk to you about the value of color.

The definition of Value according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary is:
 the relative lightness or darkness of a color, the relation of one part in a picture to another with respect to lightness and darkness.

When people think of value they usually think of the range between black and white.  Well, color has a value too.  I will show you how you can do this by showing you a little trick I figured out.  In my video I explain this too, but, color a piece of paper with the colors of the rainbow, for time sake, I found a picture online:

I took a picture of it instead of just copy and pasting it to show you my trick.  Now change the mode on your camera to "black and white" now take a picture again:

Are you surprised by what colors are dark and which are lighter?  I know I am always surprised that red is dark.  But, it makes sense if you heard in my video that when adding red to a lighter pigment like yellow, it dominates the yellow.  So, if you are painting an image and you do not think you got the value right and know you need to add some lightness to the image, take a picture in "black and white" mode with your camera.  That will show you if you need to add more value and where and how.  

Like last time, I kept walking by the painting I am showing you in the video and I realized I need to add more.  So next week, I will keep working on the orange to get it just right before I work on the slice.  

I also wanted to add the link to the article I talk about in the end of the video about the history of paint.  It is very interesting and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  

History of Colors

Also do not forget to watch the video here:

Watch Video Here!

My First Video

As promised I have made my first of many videos demonstrating my painting process.  I added some advice and information to the video so you can learn as you watch.  Please know that these videos are to benefit you as you create your own work and become the best artist you can be.

I am no cinematographer and you can probably tell with the video.  As I make more videos, I hope to get better.  You get to see that process and how long it will take me to get there....it might be a LONG time.  In the video, I talk about basic color knowledge that I have found a lot of people forget after grade school mostly because their is not much use for it in the real world.  Well, if you are an artist or trying to get started with your art, you do need to know the basics.  Your primary colors are the three colors you use to make other colors.  Yellow, Red, and Blue.  From them you get your Secondary colors, which you mix two of the Primary colors to create.  Green, Orange, and Violet.  Below are the color combinations to make those colors:

Yellow + Blue = Green

Red + Yellow = Orange

Blue + Red = Violet

I quickly mentioned in the video about complementary colors.  They are the colors that are opposite of another color on the color wheel.  This is best shown in the Color Wheel Image below:

I made sure to find a Color Wheel image that did the best in showing the color opposite of another.  So, you can see that the opposite of Violet is Yellow and Blue is Orange and Red is Green.  What has always helped me in the past is I always remember that one set of Complementary colors are Christmas colors!  Red and Green.  General knowledge of this can help the Color Theory of you paintings.  Since I am painting an orange I will use Blue to help bring out the colors of the fruit.  In my next video I will talk more about this.  

After I filmed the video I kept walking past the painting and thinking...that orange is just not big enough so, I went back and made it larger.  I did not film this and my husband thought I should but I figured I would just tell you here so you don't freak out when you see the Orange is larger (I doubt you will freak out but bare with me).  

This begins the series of videos and blogs about my paintings and any advice I can give.  Please leave me comments below or in the video's comments if you have any questions.  Also do not forget to follow me on Twitter to see what I am talking about @BrennaDaileyArt.

Today is National Chocolate Cake Day so I don't know about you but I am going to celebrate! 

YUM!!!

Click here to view my video

Watch and Enjoy!

Preparing Your Space

I received my supplies!  They came in last Thursday right when I was getting ready to go out of town for the weekend so, I didn't get to start on my paintings.  Which is a good thing since I still need to prepare my work space.  This week is a great time to prepare your space since next week I will start posting short videos to show you my painting process.

Find a space in your house that you can set up your stuff without it being in the way.  This is hard for me because we live in a small house with a mobile baby and a hyper dog.  Our laundry/mud room/sun room/ whatever room is my best location.  I have a closet loaded with my art supplies and my easel already in there.  As you set up make sure you have a surface to set your canvas/board down, in my case I have an easel.  Then, make sure you have a table next to that surface that you can collect all the supplies you need on that table.  Also, make sure you have a stool if you like to sit while you work.  I'm odd and get up multiple times during painting because I like to move while I think through my process.  Finally, collect your supplies you plan on using.  I will have paint brushes, palette knives, a cup of water (since I am using acrylic paints), paper towels, the modeling paste, pumice gel, PAINT, a plate or surface of some kind to mix the paint, and a glass of water to drink (don't mix that up with your rinsing water...that might not taste too good).  Have it all ready?  Great!  Now, you can get started!

Next week, I'll get started!  I will upload a short video on my first part of my painting.  I will start slowly and each week I will add to the painting.  This video is for advice not to copy my work.  Please create your own masterpiece!  It will be a lot more fun to tell people that you created it all on your own.  At the end of the video series for my first painting I will sell the painting to whom ever would like to purchase it.  I will load it to my Etsy shop for purchase.  This week get those spaces ready and your mind buzzing with ideas of paintings you would like to try.  See you next week friends!

My supplies!  Modeling paste and Pumice gel

Etsy Shop

A Break from Business Cards

As I wait for my supplies to arrive (I got an email this morning they shipped!!) I thought I would work on making new business cards.  If you want people to remember you and have you paint art for them, then you must have something to leave with them.  I like to design my own, so I know what information is placed on them and where.  The problem about making your own is the headache of it.  I buy a box of 100 business cards and never seem to get that many after I print them because of printer, word processor, and user (meaning me) issues.  Hopefully, I can get some done so I can start handing them out!  Just remember to have some for people to get your name out there or to even attach to your artwork when you sell it.

I stumbled upon this article today and thought it was worth a mention:

Remodeling of Houston MFA

I am from Texas.  As most Texans say, "I am Texan first and American second".  I love Texas, and it offers so much and I miss it all the time now that I am living in Kansas.  A lot of that has to do with my family and friends are still there.  I grew up in Cypress which when I was little, was small, and downtown Cypress had a catfish farm where you could fish if you wanted.  Then they built a highway and a Walmart and the little town of Cypress was history.  They filled in that little catfish farm and stuck a Lowe's on top of it.  Every time I visit my home I do not recognize it.  Cypress used to be on the outskirts of Houston, well now it basically is Houston.  Okay now that my rant is over....lets get to the article I posted.

I grew up venturing into the grand city of Houston to shows, museums, and ball games (Go Astros!).  I still love going to the Museum of Fine Arts.  In an earlier post I shared with you what art is to me and about a painting I love so dearly in the MFA's permint collection.  You can re-read that post here:

What Art is to me

This museum has been the same since I can remember it so hearing that they are going to expand it is great news!  I love that people with a lot of money are giving it to the museum so the visitors can experience even more art!  I get my inspiration by looking at other art so the more that the city of Houston can display, the better.  So, as the article reads, plan a trip to Houston in 2019 and visit the newly renovated MFA.  

Now, back to those pesky business cards that I am determined to finish! Happy creating viewers!

Houston MFA

Supplies

Now that the new year has begun and I plan to hold to my promise, I will walk you through my process of starting a painting.  First, you need to think of what you want to do.  What is the painting you want to begin and what supplies does it require?  This weekend I plan on ordering my supplies and gathering what I need to begin.  In college my professor liked to order our class's supplies from Utrecht.  They have great prices and you can order large amounts of product.  You usually only can buy certain sizes from your local arts and craft stores so, this is a better and cheaper option.

My series that I want to start will involve a lot of texture.  If you have read previous posts, you know this is something I love to accomplish in my paintings and have admired past artists who have done this as well.  I plan on ordering Extra Course Pumice Gel and Modeling Paste.  The Pumice Gel is a pumice stone that was ground up and mixed with an acrylic medium.  A pumice stone for any of my lady readers is often used for pedicures.  It is a course stone that is also very brittle.  That is what I plan to use for a lot of my texture.  My painting professor suggested using sand which is much cheaper.  The downside to using sand is that I would have to clean it and let it completely dry before use.  Well, if you are like most of the country now...it is hard to dry anything in this cold weather.  I would have to clean and dry it inside and with a baby crawling around in my small home...that just won't do.  So, I plan on spending that extra money to have a prepared textured medium.  Now Modeling Paste is a thick gesso like product.  It drys thick and hard so that helps create texture.  Think about wall puddy or stucco for walls.  It drys thick and you can build off it for texture.  That is another way I will add texture to my paintings.

I also need to get some kind of material to put my painting on.  Since I plan on using heavy material I will use wood.  I want to get a large piece of plywood that has a smooth surface that will not interfere with my intended texture.  The plywood needs to be a decent thickness so it will not warp because I do not plan to add a backing (reinforcement).  I will see what the lumber store has for my options while keeping cost in mind.  Most lumber stores will also cut the plywood for you.  Since I do not have a table saw this is great and useful.  So when going into the store, make sure you know your measurements.

When doing all of this preparing for your artwork always think about money.  How much are you willing to put into this artwork and how much are you wanting to get out of it in the end.  If you plan on painting to paint go for it!  I do plan on painting to paint but I also know I will put this up for sale.  So I need to be aware of how much money I put into the paintings and how much I would like to sell it for that is still reasonable for the buyer.

I hope this all is helpful as you start any new artwork for the year.  I will continue to take you through my process to help you achieve what you set out to accomplish.  Once I sit down and begin painting, I will try and post YouTube videos to show you how I paint!  Thanks for stopping by!

Also remember my current paintings are for sale at my Etsy shop.  I am keeping them at the discounted holiday price for any buyers.  I sold my first painting on Etsy this week so lets keep those orders coming so I can make room for more paintings in my shop!  Do not forget to also follow me on Twitter! @BrennaDaileyArt

Brenna Dailey Art Etsy Shop

Art Supplies at Utrecht