Back in the Studio

Wow it has been a long time since I have posted to my blog!  I don't usually make excuses but I must admit I have not been doing a lot of art lately.  Since the death of my brother in May I really have been in an artistic slump and with summer and vacations etc.etc, I have been not keeping up with things in the studio as I should.  I have come home with a lot of photos while on holidays this year on the Island and I have a lot of ideas swirling around in my head so hopefully things will pick up! Here are a few that I have done since the spring. three of which have since been sold.

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24 x 30 inch oil availavle

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Dog portrait

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I just finished this piece from a photo by Helene Rush.  I love how the light bounced off his back and highlighted his face.  The painting is available at www.dailypaintworks.com/lindayurgensen.  I am now accepting pet commissions again. See my page above on Pet Portraits for prices and details on how to commission your painting.

Acceptance!

I was very happy to learn that I was juried into a Federation of Canadian artists show in Vancouver coming up in May - Crossing Boundries - The Beauty of Canada.  This is the painting that was accepted.

Cold Wax and oil

I feel like a kid in a candy store!  An order of art supplies just arrived and I got to play with a new medium - cold wax.  I absolutely love using this!  The wax turns the oil paint into this creamy, lumeniscent delicious stuff that glides on the panel so wonderfully.  This is my first painting using cold wax but it certainly won't be my last.  I can't wait to get started on some more!

Mosaic Series

It's been awhile since posting anything new but I have been working steadily for the past while trying new techniques and trying to establish my own style.  I have had an obsession with impressionism for some time absolutely loving the work of the group of seven especially Tom Thomson.  These new paintings are my take on the work of these impressionists only with a more modern twist.  I use a lot of pure pigment laid one brushstroke at a time over a substrate primed with a transparent magenta or orange. The under painting is allowed to show through in places and it creates an almost stained glass effect. I am loving this effect! The paintings have a fresh look because they have not been overworked.  Once I lay in the brush stroke it stays put.  No blending on the canvas. What do you think??

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Arbutus Tree, Wallace Island

I took some wonderful shots of arbutus trees while cruising the Gulf Islands, B.C. this year on holiday.  This one was a lot of fun to paint.  I love all this brilliant color!  This piece is 24 x 30 inches in oil.  Please contact me for price if interested in purchasing.

New work

I haven't posted in awhile but I have been busy painting.  Here are a few of my most recent pieces all in oil and all featuring trees.

20 x 24 inch oil

20 x 24 inch oil

16 x 20 inch oil

20 x 30 inch oil

New Studies

These two paintings are the result of using a large brush and some walnut oil to thin the paint and painting rather loosely and fast.  I think they turned out ok.  The 12 x 12 took around 1hr and the larger 16 x 20 inch took around 2 hrs.  This was a great exercise in painting only the values and no details and this should help me when I go outdoors in the spring to paint.

12 x 12 inch oil

16 x 20 inch oil

I have been enjoying doing some work with the palette knife lately.  There is a freshness that I cannot seem to get with the brush and I really enjoy painting this way.  Here is some new work all done with the palette knife and in oil. All of these paintings are available for sale directly from  me or on Dailypaintworks.com - link to the right.

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New Work!

I thought I would post some new work that I have done in oils.  You can also see all my recent work on Dailypaintworks.com as seen to the right.

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New work in oil

Both of these pieces are available in my Dailypaintworks gallery to the right.

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New work in oil

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I haven't been posting lately but I have been painting.  The sunsets I saw while on vacation this summer really inspired me to paint more.  They really were spectacular.

Abstraction

I have been having some fun with abstraction lately.  I love layering different colors and values of colors on TerraSkin.  This paper takes the acrylic wonderfully due to the very smooth surface.  TerraSkin is a paper like product made of crushed stone and is practically indestructible.  For these abstracts I started off by laying down a color in spots and then a layer of gel medium with a palette knife.  After this has all dried, I continue to layer color on with a very large palette knife using varying pressure.  Because there is a layer of the gel there will be spots that are raised and these spots take the paint differently then the smooth areas leaving a lot of texture and variation on the surface.  I love how this looks and feels!

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20 x 30 inch acrylic Glow over the Marsh

Some more fun with acrylics.                 SOLD

New paintings in acrylic

These two paintings were done mostly with a palette knife in acrylic.  I like using a palette knife with small paintings as it allows me to paint quickly without worrying about all the small details and I like how the canvas is showing a lot of texture. These two are both 12 x 12 inches and are for sale in my Dailypaintworks gallery.

Cowichan Sunset - New Work 20 x 24 inch acrylic

I thought I would give acrylic a try again after some not so great starts recently.  After I got used to the faster drying time I was really excited about what I could achieve with this medium.  I don't have to wait days to paint over something I don't like so I found it great for this as I made lots of changes to this painting.  I am fairly happy with the results and will be using acrylic again for landscapes.

Progress of an oil painting in 3 steps

I thought I might post the steps to arrive at a finished oil painting for those of you who may be interested.

#1. The underpainting is usually done in acrylic and is basically just a map to show where the darks and lights will go. This could change as the painting progresses.
#2. The first layer of oil paint. This layers brings in the color palette that will be used. The paint is very thin at this point, mostly with paint thinner and a bit of liquin. This will help the painting dry quickly so that I can continue on the next day usually.
#3. The finished painting. I usually let it sit for a few days to dry and then will go back in and do a few details and some touch-ups. I really have to be careful not to overwork the painting (really easy to do) or it will loose the freshness that I am going for.

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So that's it in a nutshell! This painting is 24 x 30 inches and is painted mainly from my imagination and some photo of marshes and estuaries.

24 x 30 inch oil The Estuary

This painting is based loosely on some photos of the Cowichan Estuary that I have plus a bit of imagination and the color study that I did previously.  I really like the warm colors and wanted to do a large painting using reds and oranges.

Color Study 8 x 10 inch oil

This is a color study in preparation for a larger painting I plan on doing soon.  It is always good to work out the colors and composition before committing the time and effort into a larger piece.  The only thing I may change is this painting is the two trees.  I am not sure they are really working.