A quick iPhone shot of "Wallace", the Highland Cow after I finished the painting this afternoon. It was a busy day, painting, taking photos for my acupuncturist and planting some flowers in the dry cemetery for relatives in honor of Memorial Day on Monday.
Louis, my acupuncturist, has a mama cardinal sitting on eggs in a nest tucked in a trellis among blooming roses. I saw her after my appointment yesterday. The best view is from an inside window, but it has wavy glass and a storm window too, so photos are not clear. I went back today with my cameras, but she was in a position that was impossible to really get a good shot without bothering her. She is gorgeous.
For the Record,
This day came in with clouds and cooler temperatures, it's going to be a rainy holiday weekend. It's poor timing, but we really need rain!
I retired from public school teaching after happily spending twenty eight years playing in Kindergarten. Now I fill my days watching cat antics, taking endless...
this is a great rendition. it is so life-like. i envy your skills, betsey. do you only paint in oil and have you been painting for most of your life? i have only learned how to paint last october in the middle of our second lockdown. i've never painted at all in my life (i think the apartment wall is a different kind of painting) and i couldn't even draw stick people even if my life depended on it. but i'm learning still. there's quite a few of us here on 365 who are also learning to paint, we sometimes challenge ourselves (depending on how hard the challenge is) and we deal with different mediums. you might want to join us, we need mentors who can offer us tips and tricks and constructive critiques. @artsygang
@summerfield I have been making some sort of art for my whole life, drawing, linoleum block printing, woodcuts, scrimshaw, calligraphy and collage work.I'm a retired kindergarten teacher, and was an art minor 50 years ago in college.
In the late 80s I took up watercolors and did delicate portraits and found the medium challenging, but rewarding. I had always wanted to try oils and took them up about three years after I retired at 50. I signed up for an oil painting class at a local museum and absolutely fell in love with the medium. It's on par with photography for me.
The museum dropped the fine arts classed offered and became focused on crafts. A small group of us had become friends and one of the women had just built a studio over her garage. Our teacher was among the group of friends and we began meeting at that studio every week. The group has lost several members through moves and one has passed away. The studio is gone, our friend moved to Florida, but she still paints with us when she is back in Massachusetts. Four of us continue to meet at different locations and this year via zoom in our 19th year together. We are very close and have learned so much from each other.
This is only the third animal I have painted, I did a sheep that I saw in Ireland for my great niece and a dog portrait for a dear friend who lost her dog. Mainly, I do landscapes from my photographs. Favorite places, travel spots, requests from family members.
Thanks so much for your kind comments, all I can say is that you learn by doing. I like the fluid and forgiving nature and mobility of oils. The smell, the texture, I find it very relaxing. You can fix your mistakes unlike watercolors, but sometimes I miss the delicacy and transparency. Just keep painting and painting and painting. Betsey
May 29th, 2021
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
In the late 80s I took up watercolors and did delicate portraits and found the medium challenging, but rewarding. I had always wanted to try oils and took them up about three years after I retired at 50. I signed up for an oil painting class at a local museum and absolutely fell in love with the medium. It's on par with photography for me.
The museum dropped the fine arts classed offered and became focused on crafts. A small group of us had become friends and one of the women had just built a studio over her garage. Our teacher was among the group of friends and we began meeting at that studio every week. The group has lost several members through moves and one has passed away. The studio is gone, our friend moved to Florida, but she still paints with us when she is back in Massachusetts. Four of us continue to meet at different locations and this year via zoom in our 19th year together. We are very close and have learned so much from each other.
This is only the third animal I have painted, I did a sheep that I saw in Ireland for my great niece and a dog portrait for a dear friend who lost her dog. Mainly, I do landscapes from my photographs. Favorite places, travel spots, requests from family members.
Thanks so much for your kind comments, all I can say is that you learn by doing. I like the fluid and forgiving nature and mobility of oils. The smell, the texture, I find it very relaxing. You can fix your mistakes unlike watercolors, but sometimes I miss the delicacy and transparency. Just keep painting and painting and painting. Betsey