"Hideaway"

A couple of weeks ago I finished a new painting, "Hideaway".  I've been going through a bit of a birdhouse phase with paintings, whether actually created or still brewing in my imagination so I decided to once again construct a little birdhouse that , this time has been tucked away in a patch of pink climatis and is home to small goldfinch.  I created this painting on a 10" x 10" gallery wrapped canvas.

Thanks to the wonders of photoshop and being lucky enough to live with someone who is skilled in using it, I was able to get the background taken away to offer this piece with a little more variety for art licensing.  Two designs for the price of one so to speak.

First, before I work on the canvas, I start with a sketch that I create on tracing paper.  Once I had my sky background painted in I was then able to trace the design onto the canvas with a minimum of erasing needed.

Here I've just started to get the bare bones of the design painted in.  Before I can work on shading and highlighting, there must be a base to work from.

Slowly and surely layers of color are built ..........

Until finally, an almost complete birdhouse has emerged on the canvas.

The same painstaking process starts with the flowers now, little by little I'm building the color until finally.....the finishing touches can be added.

At this point (and it always happens soooner or later) I either get lazy about taking more photos or I just plain forget and because of that, you will have to jump ahead and view the finished piece.   

This week I got a proof in the mail for my first ever note card and envelope set.  This is a picture of the card unfolded.  The image was cropped to fit a 4" x 6" format and on the back of the card I have all my contact information, website and title of the painting etc....  Really cool to finally see it in person this week and I'm looking forward to getting the box of these finished cards in the mail next week..  I'm starting to work on another batch as well as I know that if I start now, little by little, I will end up with a good supply of different designs in stock.  When we move I want to do craft shows and display paintings, tile trivets, note cards and tile murals created from my artwork.  Our big move is only 8 months away at this point and while we have a while to go yet, time flies by pretty fast and it will be here before we know it.  Next month is house shopping.  (that is what makes it feel like a reality).