Lisa M. Brown - Artist

Sketch Time

2011-10-29T12:47:00.000-04:00

Sketching is a habit I've had since I was little. Whenever I had nothing to do, I'd try to draw something from nature, just to see if I could do it, but more importantly, to learn more about whatever object I was drawing. We know what a maple helicopter seed (Samara) looks like, although vaguely, when it's still green and hanging from the tree limbs, and we know the flurry of motion it moves in as it falls to the ground, spinning and whirling like a helicopter. But we don't know what it really looks like until we give it our full attention, look at it for a long time, and SEE it. See all of it's little veins, how thin the blade wings are, see where the little fruit/seed is hidden in the thicker side of it.

I've been doing little sketches of the maple seeds and the squirrels that are fattening up for Winter by eating them. These couple of sketches I did on a beautiful autumn afternoon in my backyard. The squirrels would walk a few steps, pick up some seeds, sit back on their haunches for a nibble, followed by a big couple of hops to the next choice looking pile. I used a moleskine watercolor pad and an ink pen, then went back inside the house when the sun went down (so early now!), and followed up with a couple of quick splashes of diluted watercolor from the Koi pocket field sketch box that I bought this year. I do have a waterpen that came with it, but I haven't learned quite how to control the amount of water that can come out of it, so I tend to add the color wash with a regular brush. It was quite a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Wading

2011-09-25T13:14:00.000-04:00

I've been working on this one for a while. Yes, I'm a slow painter. A very slow painter, which is why I retired the notion of being a mural painter. I painted a few murals in people's homes, with my busy full time job schedule, it had to be after work and on weekends, and I would try to push myself to move faster, cover more area, get the idea out with broad strokes like most murals are made up of, but I would just have to go back over what I did before because it never looked good enough. So I've accepted that I'm a slow painter and that's that. I do sketch and work with colored pencils at a much quicker pace, so I try to move back and forth between the two, to get a better sense of accomplishment. So guess what's next? A few sketches and colored pencil drawings will be coming soon.So this painting is also a much larger size, "18 x 24", than I have been working in, which has usually been 8" x 10". So double the size and change to acrylics means the seasons will change before I finish. I was able to snap some photos of seagulls wading through the incoming surf at a nearby beach. There was no wind, so the water was slowly rippling, with long flat, mirror like panels. It was also at sunset, so the water was full of colors that you don't usually associate with the cold Atlantic, purples and greens, rosy reds. I think this painting is a perfect goodbye to the summer season.

Stretch

2011-07-20T19:30:00.003-04:00

Hi there! Hope everyone is doing well. Busy little chipmunk that I am, it's taken me quite a while to finish this drawing. I saw some gulls exibiting this behavior one day, one was young, the other mature. I'm not sure if it was imitation on the young gulls side or not, I read that spreading wings might be a way to cool off as well, but I thought it would make an interesting composition. I have a big tin of Derwent Graphic pencils and I like to see if I can use as many different degrees of lightness and darkness.

Welcome Spring!

2011-03-30T20:53:00.004-04:00

Spring is here, just in time for a potential April Fools Day blizzard here in the New England. Hopefully not. Everyone has a big case of spring fever, and a last snowstorm is not what we need.

Well, a lot of time has passed since I last posted. January and February were stellar snow shoveling months, and I spent them tending to my aching wrists from marathon snow shoveling during our weekly blizzards, and so didn't have much to show. During March, I have been working in the studio, but it has been on a couple of paintings for private collection only, so were not to be shown. Now that there's longer light during the day, Spring Fever has hit and I've spent some time organizing and cleaning, and finishing up some projects. So here's the Canadian Goose that I started working on in December, background finished finally. Sometimes it's hard to know what to do to finish something. You know when it's unfinished, but not quite sure what it takes to bring it to completion without overworking it. The grass part was challenging for me. The drawing has so much detail in the feathers, and so little in the water, that I had to find a middle ground with the grass. I think I found a good balance. Let me know what you think- does it need more work?

Holly Branches

2010-12-22T19:16:00.004-05:00

Winter is finally with us, but at least there was 1 more minute of daylight today, and a little bit more tomorrow. Over the hump, we are!...Yeah, I'm trying to psych myself up to push through to Spring. The thought that there's a little more daylight each day helps me stay optimistic after I've been stuck shoveling snow, slush, and ice for hours after each winter snow storm.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd focus on the beauty of winter. The dark glossy green of the Holly tree with it's vibrant red berries is one of the highlights in this time of predominately gray, brown, and white colored landscape. The berries are a very important source of food for may birds and some small animals, and the tree, with it's sharp leaves, are a protected home for birds during the winter.

This is a 5 x 7 watercolor and colored pencil. This branch had a yellowish cast to the leaves, and a light yellow color on the back of the leaf. And very spiky leaves, which I kept forgetting about when I'd move it around looking for a good composition, my fingers got poked quite a few times. A good defense indeed!

Before I sign off, I wanted to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas! Be well.

Best Wishes,
Lisa B.

Winter Squash

2010-11-28T19:01:00.007-05:00

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. And that a lot of these beautiful squashes above were enjoyed for part of the Big TDay meal. Winter squashes, along with root vegetables, cabbages, potatoes, and apples, are what New Englanders put in their cold root cellars to keep over the long winters. And it seems that lately there has been a resurgence of "putting food up" and relearning how to can and preserve foods, which I think is wonderful, I do a lot of batch freezing myself. Blue Hubbard squash, the big gray-blue on in the middle of the painting, is my favorite. It has a nicer, lighter flavor than a butternut. It's hard to grow them every year, some years they don't flower, some years there isn't enough rain and they don't attain the impressive sizes that they could eventually get to. Sometimes you can find small ones in the grocery store and sometimes you can find a huge chunk wrapped in plastic wrap, looking like a giant chopped it with an axe. Lucky for me, my mother grows squash in her garden and preserves it in canning jars, and I get to enjoy it over winter.

This is a 5 x 7 watercolor with colored pencil. I loved the different variety of squashes, sizes and colors available at the farm stand, so I took a bunch of reference pics. I'm happy how the green squashes developed out of just the watercolor paint, with just a little colored pencil for the shadows. Watercolor can be so difficult, but there are times when it feels like your hand just knows what to do by itself, no need of help from the mind. Then the rest of it is real work, trying to recapture that spontaneity enough to finish a good painting. Now that the picture is up, I can see that it looks like it's leaning to the right. Funny how our minds think there's nothing wrong with a painting until we put it away for a while, then come back to it and see something right away. I have a mirror in the studio that I use to check the composition. If you hold the image up to the mirror, you can usually see immediately that something is not right with the composition, or maybe if it's a portrait you'll see that one eye is a lot different than the other one, or that the cheekbone needs to move back in space a bit. Now I'm going to add "look at image on computer" to the checklist.

Welcome Fall! Red and Green Maple Leaves.

2010-11-07T16:33:00.007-05:00

I love the colors of fall. It's so exhilarating to go for a walk in the cool crisp air with warm sunshine, shoes scuffing loudly, ever on the lookout for an amazing leaf. I picked a bunch of different leaves up during a walk a couple of weeks ago in Lynn Woods Reservation, this drawing above came from a branch that fell, four sister leaves still clung to the branch. The red and green contrasting colors were so eye catching, and that there were four related ones, so much the better. I wanted to include the rips and tears that each leaf had, a visual of it's life journey, so much more interesting than trying to always show perfection.

The drawing was done on 140 lb watercolor paper, 9 x 12. I'm seriously going to have to start cutting the paper down to fit my flatbed scanner, I apologize for the darkened area on the bottom where I had to squish the cover down to get the whole image in. I haven't gotten the hang of taking good digital photos of my work yet, so I prefer to use the scanner.

I started drawing with Derwent watercolor pencils, used a wet brush to give the leaves a nice watercolor wash. I like using the watercolor pencils, they allow me to build up areas of more pigment, or leave areas with just a hint of wash color. After the watercolors dried, I went on to use colored pencils to add more detail and build up layers of color. This is where I can play around with all kinds of different colors, adding small spots and lines of colors that add visual excitement without losing the image, there is a lot of Imperial purple, Orange Chrome, Chartreuse Green, and Scarlet Lake in here.

Work in progress

2010-09-13T21:55:00.006-04:00

I'm currently working on a couple of different things, nothing is close to being finished, but I thought I'd post some works in progress anyway.

I'm alternating back and forth between a graphite drawing and two watercolor and colored pencil pieces. The watercolor and colored pencil pieces are both in celebration of fall, the days are finally cooler, I'm able to breath (always a plus), and I absolutely love the fall colors and the warm days and cool nights. I started off with a color wash, then went in and put layers of detail with the colored pencils. These chinese lanterns are amazing. They are dried out, but the color is still vivid red/orange. I'm in love with being able to see the ribs and the veins that show in white outlines. They are so magical looking, like little fairy houses.

While I wait for the washes to dry, or am not sure what new color layer is needed next, I switch gears and work on the graphite drawing.

I'm not sure how much detail I'm going to show on the goose drawing, I like that the background remains abstract, and most of the feathers are just scribbles and gradations of value instead of trying to draw every one. I also am trying to keep nice balance of darks and lights. It's not "there" yet, and I may need to put it away for a couple of days so I can really see what's going on and take my time choosing what the next correct changes will be, instead of overworking it. I can't always work like this, switching between color and black and white, between painting and drawing. Sometimes I just need to focus on one thing, but other times, when I'm feeling the flow of creativity, I am able to shuffle back and forth between different subjects and mediums. It feels great when that can happen, but for me, it doesn't happen often, so I take advantage of it when it does.

Boomer. 9 x 12, colored pencil

2010-08-18T20:21:00.004-04:00

Please meet Boomer. He's a sweet little Yorkie that a friend of mine commissioned a pet portrait of. Her son and his fiance live with her right now, but they'll be moving out soon, taking Boomer with them, and she wanted a drawing of him to remember him by. I used colored pencil on a light tan pastel paper. Boomer has a lot of blonde coloring on his face, so the tan pastel paper made a great midtone base that I could use to find the lights and darks more easily with. This was really fun, I'm going to play around with colored pencils some more.

Young Herring Gull profile. Graphite and Watercolor

2010-07-21T20:10:00.003-04:00

What a hot and sultry stretch of weather we're having in the NorthEast. All the better to have a AC die on one of the hottest days of the summer, and no new ones in stock to be found. Yes, that happened last Thursday to us, we spent Saturday looking for a new one. We went to 3 Home Depots, a BJs, a Lowes, and a Walmart. None to be found. Luckily, a friend let us borrow one that he had in the attic - it looks to be over twenty years old with faux woodgrain paneling and twist dials instead of digital- but it works well and that's all that matters, happy to have it. It shows how much better some products used to be made, versus the planned obsolescence that is sold nowadays. And it actually fits in with the retro contemporary style of our home.

This started out as a simple graphite drawing and then I decided that I wanted to use watercolor to show how the young gull was not quite past losing his baby brown speckled feathers in exchange for the adult gray and white coloring. I looked up the molting cycle of the Herring Gull and it looks like this one is in his mid 2nd year where the brown spotted feathers eventually molt off and are replaced by the white and gray feathers. I'm not sure how to tell the male Herring Gull from the female, if anyone knows, please tell.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! It's my 1 Year Blog Anniversity!

2010-06-29T20:17:00.005-04:00

It's official! This blog is now a year old! It's nice to have a place to be able to look back on past work and see progress and changes. I'm also glad to be able to see the blogs of so many artists and creatives out there in the world, and to be able to talk with so many different people. Here's to another year!

This is a finished seagull drawing that I just completed. This guy was making it clear that he wanted attention with his loud, repetitive cry, so I thought I'd let him show off. My apologies for the darkened scan. I need to get a larger scanner bed, or smaller paper. This was the first time I used a blending stump, and I really liked it, much better than using your finger, although that does work well for charcoal, not so well for graphite. Thanks to Sigrid Frensen, for her beautiful blog where she shows her gorgeous botanical artwork and gives great tips!

I believe he's a Herring gull, with his yellow eyes and red spot on the lower part of his beak (or is it bill? Probably beak since they are more into ripping up their food -or swallowing whole--than a nice little duck with their wide, non-sharp bills).

Seagulls are just so graphic, and so expressive, I love trying to capture their spirit. My backyard is filled with smaller birds, sparrows, blue jays, grackles and starlings (both of whom have been aggressively killing the sparrows lately, boo!), pigeons and mourning doves, crows, woodpeckers (both small and big, my neighbors putting out suet brought them to the yard), and one very large redtailed hawk (much to the dismay of two recently deceased pigeons, such powerful attacks that all was left was a ring of feathers, like a bomb blast crater). But it is very hard to capture the smaller birds in action, or perhaps it's because I need a better zoom camera, while the seagulls are so unafraid of humans and you can spend quite a bit of time studying them, or being studied by them, especially if you're holding some food. I've been doing some quick movement studies in pencil of the seagulls, but for some reason, I just love to spend longer on a drawing with them.

Hope everyone has a wonderful, long 4th of July weekend! Or a nice long weekend for those not celebrating. Enjoy!

The new studio!

2010-06-18T21:21:00.003-04:00

A quick peak at my new studio! I created a bench out of two metro wire racks and a formica counter top from a discount building supply store. It's very sturdy and exactly the right height, as my still wonderful old work chair is made for benches and won't get any lower to go under a standard table. I love working from there on all my multi-various projects. The table is a family antique that has weathered all kinds of craft and household projects for at least 2 generations or more. The space is shared with 6 other artists, and it's a big open space, so there's lots of room to stretch out visually. One of the artists works on large canvases and needs the room to physically move around. My work is small and so I just need a small space, but I enjoy the big, bright room. Even though there are 6 of us, we all seem to be on different schedules, so when I go in from 6 to 9 during the week, I usually have the place to myself, which is nice.

The 9 x 12 painting that can be seen on the easle is the first painting I've attempted in a while, and my painting skills have seemed to have rusted up. I'll work on it a couple of more hours, but if it doesn't turn the corner soon, I'll end up painting over it with gesso. I have had success on another seagull pencil drawing, and I'll be posting that soon, just have to bring it home to scan it.

Northern Mocking Bird

2010-06-03T21:06:00.004-04:00

Here's a quick and loose watercolor and colored pencil sketch of one of the Northern Mockingbirds that live in the old fashioned rose bush in the parking lot at work. They do have such an assortment of bird calls, hence the name "mocking" because they copy other species songs, as well as some car alarm sounds (!), that at first I couldn't figure out what type of bird this was. And they certainly are very protective of their territory, I saw many a cardinal chased out of the rose bush this past winter, the Mockingbird guarding it's winter supply of the tiny red rose hips that the old fashioned rose produces.

And I have exciting news! This week I moved into my new artist studio! I've rented a shared artist studio space at the Lydia Pinkham building in Lynn, MA. (Mark your calendars for the December 2010 Open Studios!) I've got everything set up, and started working on a couple of new little sketches and washes to loosen up. I think it will be nice to be in a space with other artists to get some immediate feedback, and to breathe in the creative air. I'll take some pictures soon and post them once I get some new work going.

In Memory of my kitty Zen

2010-05-16T19:21:00.004-04:00

April was a very sad month for me. My kitty Zen, my companion for over 13 years, passed away. He developed a lymphoma tumor in his abdomen, and only lasted for two weeks after the diagnosis. I have him buried in my family's pet cemetery in Maine. The day after his burial, I tried looking for some type of memorial stone for him, but I couldn't find anything I liked. Some statuary looked too comical, others looked too generic. I decided that I would make a mosaic headstone for him. I bought a slab of quartz for a base, and selected porcelain tiles, which are weatherproof, for the mosaic. I used thin set mortar for adhesion and grout, making this headstone one that will last for decades.

It's amazing how interconnected our lives become with our pets, and our human loved ones, for that matter. I still miss him all the time, and the routines that no longer happen. I'm glad I was able to make a memorial for him that will last for a long time, it felt like something that I had to do, and I was glad that I was able to do it.

In For A Landing, 9 x 12 Pencil

2010-03-22T17:53:00.004-04:00

Time passes too quickly. Finally a new post! I've been working on this for(...ahem...)quite a while, off and on. This is another study from the seagull photos I took last fall. What an amazing thing bird feathers are! Some feathers are for insulation, attraction, and as this study shows, for controlling flight. Here's an amazing video on YouTube of an owl landing, shot with a Photron SA2 Camera. I'm pretty sure that is what the owls' victims see for their last sight, probably in slow motion as well.

Standing Ground, Pencil 9 x12 in

2010-01-08T19:34:00.002-05:00

I guess I have a new thing for seagulls. I don't think that I thought about them much. Growing up in the Maine woods, crows, chickadees, and blue jays would probably be my first thought when asked to name a bird, but I guess living on the MA coast for over twenty years has expanded my bird world to include gulls and pigeons. The reference photos I took this fall are what I keep going back to. Something about how animated the seagulls are intrigues me, they seem to have a lot more expressions than a lot of the smaller birds do, maybe because they can be so much larger. When I was working on this drawing, I felt I was bringing out a feeling of intimidation from the 3 gulls in the background and the main subject gull was fluffing up, but still standing ground, in response to the others enchroaching in upon it. Not drawing the heads of the 3 in the background seems to lend itself to a slow feeling of impending danger. Those seagulls are mastering in drama, I tell you!

I'm still working on another gull pencil drawing, hope to work more on that this weekend. Hope everyone is keeping up with their New Years Resolutions. Mine are easy, Do more of what I love, Spend more time with the people I love, Enjoy each day. Simple resolutions, but easy to get off track with. Here's to staying on track!

Lisa B.

Pomegranate and Nuts.

2009-12-22T19:22:00.004-05:00

Here's a recent piece that I used to try out my new Pitt India Ink pen. I had fun with it and it didn't bleed when I used watercolors over it, which is something that I was looking for, not having any luck with a regular Pilot pen. I used watercolor, ink, and colored pencil on this. I wanted a still life that reminded me of the Holidays, healthy food that I should enjoy more of, instead of all of the goodies that have been being passed around at work the last few days!

I hope everyone enjoys their Holidays, and has a Wonderful and Peaceful New Year to come.

Lisa B.

Seagull

2009-12-01T20:12:00.003-05:00

This is a watercolor and colored pencil on paper. The seagull was in a holding pattern about 6 feet up in the air, she was waiting for me to throw her some french fries as I was eating my lunch one nice Saturday. I was on the Salem, MA side of the Beverly/Salem Harbor. The rest of the gull's companions, or perhaps, competitors, for my fries were all on the ground, I was quite impressed with this one's willingness to work hard for the potential non-nutritious treat to come, and I took a few pictures of her floating above before I threw the fries on top of the roof of my car so she could reach them first. I also took some pics of the rest of the bunch charging, flapping and squawking their way towards the end of the fries.
Don't worry, they didn't get too many fries, and it was low tide, so right after the food frenzy cooled, they returned down to the harbor beach below and continued to forage for clams.
Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.

Lisa B.

Pine Cones

2009-11-12T18:08:00.002-05:00

This is 4th in the watercolor leaf series. It's evolved from just watercolors to also include colored pencil and guache, mixed media, really.

On my walk in the woods to pick up leaves, I couldn't pass these beauties by. While the slight needles of the pine tree only make an impact when they are in masses on the forest floor, the tree's cone is amazingly beautiful and sculptural, it's hard to choose which one to keep. When I first picked these up and started to draw from them on the first night, the cones were much tighter and compact. As I finished the painting on the second night, the seed scales had expanded and flexed outwards, so the shadows in the drawing had moved. I was able to fit some of the expansion into the painting, it feels more expressive that way.

I think this is the end of the current leaf series. I'm going to be working on my new endeavor, becoming an illustrator, by working on more illustrative drawings and paintings, putting an illustration portfolio together. I may be posting more sketches along the way, instead of waiting to finish a painting. I've been looking on the web for other illustrators and am amazed at the variety out there, so many different styles and areas of concentration, all very intriguing. I'm excited!

Lisa B.

Oak Leaf and Acorn, Watercolor

2009-11-08T13:09:00.002-05:00

This is 3rd in a series of autumn leaves in watercolor and colored pencil. I also added a couple of acorns into the painting to accompany the leaf. The acorns were at the base of the tree where I found the leaf, not many acorns were left after the animals had been around to gather their harvest for winter.

I love walking around in the woods, sketchbook and camera in hand, and finding something that I'd like to study a bit more. By drawing the subject, I get to know more about it, the different varieties of species, learning how it relates to other natural things in the area. I could get more and more detailed in my drawings, but using the watercolor helps me hone in on the color, shape, texture and overall feeling of the subject without getting the .025 pen out for super detail.

I just changed the color scheme of the blog today, I think there were too many colors before, a more neutral background shows off the artwork better. I'm going to also be making some other changes soon, more about that later.

Let me know if you all are liking the new neutral look, or if I should work on it more.

Thanks,
Lisa B.

Maple Leaf

2009-11-03T20:51:00.003-05:00

This is a watercolor with colored pencil. I'm working on a series of autumn leaf paintings on paper. I'm loving how the two mediums compliment each other. The watercolor allows me to play with the intensity of the pigments, the flow of each color morphing into the other. Then the colored pencils let me dive in and pull details out that I think heighten and strengthen the piece. I'm trying to keep the details at just the right level of realism and not to go too overboard, a little mystery keeps the eye happy.

Lisa B.

Autumn Leaf. Watercolor, 9 x 12 in

2009-10-21T20:41:00.002-04:00

This is a watercolor with wax resist and colored pencil. All of the gorgeous fall colors out here in Massachusetts, I had to be influenced. Sorry for the long absence, I've been working a lot of overtime at my full time job. The economy seems to be sputtering back. I've been doing a lot of quick sketches to keep the flow, but I've only been able to spend small amounts of time being creative, and I'm too slow a painter, the acrylic I'm working on is still work in progress. So I decided to stay with watercolors while my time is limited for the near future. I've missed blogging! I'm going to spend a few nights catching up on everyone else's blogs.

Lisa B.

Evening Tea, 5 x 7 in watercolor

2009-09-22T19:55:00.004-04:00

Well, it's nice to be back! I've been working way too hard at my full time job and haven't had the time to spend any amount of quality time painting. So this one is a watercolor I did a couple of weeks ago. I bought a different type of watercolor paper (new to me anyway), Fabriano 140 lb Hot Press. I'd only used the cheaper brand cold press with the rough texture before and I'd wondered what the difference would be. I like the hot press much better. It has a more velvety feel and can take more layers of color. The cold press starts to shed with multiple layers. It might just be me and my technique, but I liked the hot press watercolor paper right away. Sometimes you just know when something works for you, even if it doesn't for someone else.

I have been doing some very small sketches, taking breaks during my busy days. Just trying to keep the flow going, even if I'm not able to really concentrate on a larger painting. I hope the picture translates well, the painting looks a lot richer in real life, maybe I need to scan at a higher resolution.

Happy first day of Fall to all! See some color!
Lisa B.

Taking Turns. Watercolor, 5 x 7 in

2009-09-11T07:01:00.002-04:00

I'm still working with watercolors. Liking the way things flow and mix together, as well as the spaces that are left to shine through untouched by paint. I took several pictures of the daily feeding frenzy at the birdfeeder. Some of the birds chose to wait in line patiently, some were more brazen and pushed their way through to get at an opening. I think using the watercolor medium helped capture the fluidity of the birds constant movement in a way that I couldn't capture with the painting style I use with acrylics.

A Different Medium

2009-09-03T18:55:00.002-04:00

I'm trying a different medium, watercolor, out for a while. I think it's good to use a different approach occasionally to get a fresh perspective from both the tools that you use and the way you use them. Plus, it's been so nice out, I've wanted to be outside as much as I can watercolors can be quick and immediate. This painting is from a photo that I took at the apple orchard, the lone pear tree amongst the macintosh. I took the liberty of not filling in detail in the background, just a nice complimentary color to set off the brilliant yellowish green of the pears.

Growing Higher- acrylic, 8 x 10 in

2009-08-26T19:56:00.004-04:00

Wow, finally posting again. I've somehow become busy enough the last two weeks to only spend an hour here and there painting. I'm currently working on another painting at the same time, but time was lapsing, so I thought I'd better finish one. This one is from a bunch of pictures I took a couple of weeks ago at Brooksby Farm in Peabody, MA. The macintosh apples were very close to ready to pick, I can't wait! I thought I'd start off a painting series of trees with the young trees stretching for the sky, a good metaphor for anyone who is working towards new goals, stretching their wings. The colors in the leaves were varied, yellow as the sunlight illuminated through, dark green in the shadows, and grayish white in the high sun. It was nice to try to capture all of the variations in hue and tone.

Dancing Leaves, 9 x 12 in acrylic

2009-08-09T18:40:00.003-04:00

This weekend was wonderful, great sunlight, perfect summer temperature. I went up to Rockport, MA yesterday and walked around Bearskin Neck. You know, where the famous red building "Motif #1" is. There were a lot of wonderful artists and galleries there. A few less than there were last year, unfortunately, due to the recession. One of my favorites that is still there is Susanne White's "The White Seagull Gallery". She has a great sense of color, shape, and natural coastal beauty.

I actually painted this painting in a day and a half. Pretty quick for me. This was the first time I started with a black background, I think it helped me achieve a faster sense of tonal quality that usually takes me quite a while to achieve. I think I'll try working that way for a while. I painted this because I love walking through the woods. The light filtering through the dense foliage and falling on the soft forest floor is something I've always wanted to paint, but never got around to it. I think I'll start a series on this theme.

2009-08-06T21:37:00.002-04:00

This one is from my backyard. I have a lovely Hibiscus tree that I move outside in the summer and it blossoms with the most impressive blooms. I liked the foreshortened view that makes it look like the flower is giant. I worked on this one for two weeks off and on. At times I wanted to paint over it, but I'd put it away and work on the foxgloves. Which was also giving me grief. Bounced back and forth between two paintings that I wasn't feelin' the love from either, but I was determined and kept at it. I think this one came out well after all. Sometimes all you need to do is give it time.

Foxglove, finished

2009-08-06T05:55:00.002-04:00

Well, here's the finished Foxglove. I tried to do something different with the background, but in the end, I just made it a little darker or lighter in areas. I took some advice and added little areas of yellow on the petals to contrast with the purple,and in person, this does add a lot more visual interest. I tried too hard to think of something different for the background, and just couldn't step away from it. Sometimes I have a one track mind and it won't let me stray and open up to different possiblities. Ah well, on to the next.

Foxglove. Work In Progress

2009-07-29T20:56:00.003-04:00

I'm still working on this one. The background has been intimidating me. I'm not quite sure how much color I want to put into it, but it needs something. I saw Jeanne's newest painting, "Two Daisies", over at Studio Jeanne, and I loved how she let loose and showed such vibrancy and movement. I'll work on the Foxgloves more tomorrow night. Any suggestions on color? Go darker or lighter?

Now I'm off to wander the web and peek in on what other people are working on!

Lisa B.

Poolside, 6 x 8 in, acrylic

2009-07-19T11:25:00.002-04:00

I photographed this little guy at Glenn Magna Farms in Danvers, MA. He was in the small water fountain/pool in the flower garden area. Quite a catch. It was something I knew I would be able to let myself spend some time on the details, which is what I love to do, but have recently tried stretching myself further by loosening up the brushstrokes. I think a bit of both is going on. I had a hard time with the water, and will challenge myself to experiment more with water and reflections, but I think it came out pretty well.

Morning Sun 8x 10 in, acrylic

2009-07-11T10:19:00.002-04:00

What a beautiful week! Hope everyone is enjoying it. Here I'm still working on loosening up, still looking at the sun playing on the grass.

Strawberries, 8 x 10 in, acrylic

2009-07-03T14:19:00.003-04:00

Ah, strawberries! I had to paint something that reminded me of early summer, since here in the North East we haven't been seeing any signs of summer. I bought these at Clark Farm in Danvers, MA.

Lisa B.

Heading to the North for the weekend

2009-06-25T21:11:00.003-04:00

I'm heading to Maine for the weekend, finally some nice weather in New England! I won't be able to post anything, my mom's computer is so old it doesn't have USB ports to download any pics and takes forever to open a page.

Today I went to Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA. It's a small zoo in a nice woodland setting next to Spot Pond. I took some pictures of animals, just to have as reference for who knows why, but I like taking pics. I saw a wood carving of an owl that is near the front entrance. I don't know who the artist is, or how long it had been there, but the erosion from weather and time makes it that much expressive.

Isn't it cool? Well, off to the North!

Lisa B.

Lake Quannapowitt, Early Morning

2009-06-25T16:09:00.006-04:00

Painting #2! Yay! This is Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, MA. I often drive by the lake on my way into work in the morning. The morning I took the picture for this painting, I fell in love with the way the sun was stretching out over the grass in the early morning. As opposed to my first painting I posted about, I held myself back from being too detail oriented and worked on getting a sense of light. I think I'm starting to see some success in that area. For paints, I used: Jenkins Green, Ultramarine Blue, Titanium white, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Med. Yellow, and Payne's Gray.

Lisa B.

First Steps

2009-06-24T20:07:00.004-04:00

Here goes! I'm starting this blog as a daily exercise in reminding myself to be more creative. I've been missing the creative element in my life, spending most of my time working in a field other than the creative one. I have a lot of other interests, and those might show up from time to time, but I'll focus more on art and any crafts that I might be working on.

This is the first painting I've done in quite a while. I've usually only had time to draw, but I'm determined to make time to paint. This was from a picture that I took last summer, it's not finished yet. I still have to play up the sense of light. I spend so much time on the little details that I'm sometimes oblivious to the light play until I step back an really look. I'll work on this more after I've been away from it for a while. A good start, I believe.

Lisa B.