Mixed Media Artist - daily painter of portraits, flowers, abstracts and birds
Singing the Blues No 2
Girl and bird painting
Available here
Prints are available here
I painted Singing the Blues No 1 many years ago. Sometimes, I like to go back and revisit my old paintings because I miss them after they sell. So, now there’s Singing the Blues No 2.
acrylic mixed media figure painting
12×9 inch panel
Sliding Toward Twilight..(and towards the end of daylight savings woohoo!)
Acrylic abstract painting on 6×6 panel
Available for purchase here
PRINTS
daily painting: 365 day art project
Day 90
*****
One of the things I haven’t liked about the 365 day art project is that it’s taken over my entire blog. Remember when my posts were full of photos, and I wrote about things besides the daily painting? Well, I’m bringing back my old blog style today..Oh, yeah.
blind kitty, Sweet Pea
Sweet Pea’s newest trick is to stand up on the back of my desk chair, (which I ended up giving her because she kept stealing it anyway), and she stretches up as high as she can on the wall, and then scratches fast and furiously. If you like the sound of nails on a chalkboard, well then, you would be thrilled with this new habit she has picked up. I don’t like that sound, and she’s well aware of it by now (lol), which of course, makes the game more fun. Mom hates it? Sweet Pea do it MORE! MORE!! MORE!!! LOL
paint covered hand
blurry, crappy phone pic, but it’s the only one I have
sorry about that
Remember this painting that I said I was going to paint over if it didn’t sell?
figure painting WIP
Well, I didn’t let any grass grow under my feet. As soon as the Etsy listing expired, I pounced. My original plan was to get rid of one of the girls, block the faces in on the two others, and start fresh from there.
figure painting in progress
I never stick to any “plan” when it comes to painting. Here’s a sneak preview of what it looks like now. It’s still a work in progress.
Simone de Beauvoir
Oil portrait painting
Available here
PRINTS
And, finally..Simone is dry! With all the black, and dark gray I used, I was beginning to doubt it ever would. You might remember me painting her over the spring and summer. I finished her on day 19 of my 365 day art project..a mere lifetime ago, it seems.
Doubly Perplexing
oil portrait painting
Daily painting: 365 day art project
Day 53
I have a new love in my life, and it’s called Williamsburg oil paint. O.M.G. It truly is the BEST oil paint I’ve ever used, and I’ve tried quite an assortment of brands:
Rating oil paint from 1 to 10..from best to worst
1. Williamsburg – artist grade
2. Gamblin and Winsor & Newton- artist grade
3. Da Vinci – artist grade
4. Rembrandt- artist grade
5. Van Gogh – student grade
6. SoHo Urban – artist grade (supposedly)
7. Grumbacher – student grade
8. Cobra Water Mixable Oils- student grade
9. Weber wOil Water Mixable- student grade
10. Reeves – student grade
I’m listing these in order of my preference. Gamblin and Winsor & Newton are equal in value, imo, both coming in second place. Da Vinci and Rembrandt aren’t too bad, either. The rest are pretty horrible. I’m speaking only from the usability aspect, and how easy or difficult it was to paint with them. I haven’t done a ton of research on pigment levels.
When I first started oil painting about 5 years ago, I tried the student grade oils. My thought was I’d try it out with cheaper brands to see if I liked painting with oils. I highly suggest you don’t waste your money or time, and buy only artist quality paint. You’ll end up getting frustrated trying to use student grade paint, and you’ll probably throw the paint and your painting in the trash. It’s not worth the hassle.
All these paints behave differently. While I love the acrylic Soho Urban Artist paints, the Soho oils are thick, clumpy, and sticky. It might be okay for impasto painting with a palette knife, if you’re a patient person. I do not recommend if you’re using a brush. It felt like melted marshmallow on mine. It stuck to my brush, and was somewhat stringy. I gave it a huge thumbs down.
Cobra water mixable oils are mostly oil with a bit of paint mixed in. Every time you squeeze paint out on your palette, you get a huge puddle of oil. Neither one of these paints are easy to use.
Williamsburg is absolutely exquisite, and beats all the others, hands down. I didn’t need to use any medium or wax. Just straight out of the tube, onto the glass, mix, and paint. It has a light feathery feel on the brush, and the coverage couldn’t be more perfect. Not too thin or thick. The painting above was done in only one layer. The photo isn’t that great because I took it with my phone, but you get the idea.
I’m going to have a difficult time using any other paint now. I don’t know about you, but to not have to fuss and fight with mineral spirits and mediums to get the paint just right is priceless to me. I’m so grateful to my sister-in-law for giving me this paint. Thank you again so much, Donna!! I’ve been wanting to try this brand for a long while, but the high prices made me hesitate. Now I know it’s definitely worth the peace of mind to spend extra on Williamsburg oils. The way I look at it, I’ll be saving money by not needing Gamsol, Galkyd or Dorland’s wax medium because none of these items are cheap.
Listen to Your Gut
Oil portrait painting
daily painting: 365 day project
day 47
Don’t ask me why, but I think the blue hair works on this portrait, unlike the last blue haired portrait I painted. Oh, how I dislike that painting, still. I’m so glad I listened to my gut, and revised it, even though not everyone agreed I should.
The way I look at it is this..life is waay too short to keep paintings around that I don’t like. I recently made a new rule to go by..if I won’t hang a painting on my own wall, then it has to go. Immediately, if not sooner.
I used to wait to see if paintings would sell before I revised them, and I have sold many paintings I didn’t like. I have since realized that waiting to revise ugly paintings only costs me time, energy, and money.
Don’t look, but isn’t he cute
16×20 inch acrylic mixed media collage figure painting on canvas
This painting is an example of what I’m talking about. It’s not one I consider “ugly”, per se, but it was made with a much younger person in mind. It’s been forever since I was in high school, so it’s not one I connect with personally. I wouldn’t hang it on my wall for that reason. According to my new rule, it has to go, and I’m perfectly fine with that.
I’ve been holding onto this painting now for four years. FOUR years of my life spent paying Etsy listing fees, listing it in various places, using precious space to store it (space I could use for paintings I love instead), moving it around my office and studio, marketing it over and over again, blogging, replying to social media comments and emails about it.
I always say the real work begins after the painting is completed, not before. Painting doesn’t feel like a chore to me, but it never stops there. There are additional, often time consuming details that can’t be overlooked. The advice I give new artists is to make sure they price their work accordingly, not just for the amount of time it takes them to paint. What I wrote above is just a snippet of what goes into selling. I’m leaving out all the time spent researching and buying shipping materials for each size painting, packaging the paintings, printing the labels, post office runs, tracking the packages, emailing the tracking number to client, and customer follow up emails. There is so much hidden work involved when selling art. It makes me cringe when someone asks me how long it took me to paint a painting. I get that they’re trying to justify the price, but if they only knew the whole story about what goes on behind the scenes, they would never have the nerve to ask that question.
So, why have I waited 4 years to revise or paint over this one? Well, for one thing, the rule I’ve set in place is new. It’s going to take some time for me to weed through the paintings I don’t like. Also, I’ve been told that many people like this painting. It actually almost sold several times, so I’ve held onto hope that the right person would come along.
Time is running out, tho. The listing is about to expire on Etsy on September 25th. I won’t be relisting it. If you want this painting, this is your final chance to own it!! If you want to set up a payment plan, contact me. We can discuss the possibilities.
Miss Independent
Oil figure painting on 11×14 canvas
Find yourself a cup of tea; the teapot is behind you. Now tell me about hundreds of things.
Saki
Happy 4th of July, y’all! I’ve never done a painting with a 4th theme before (that I remember), so I thought this is the year to change that. I kept the holiday in mind right through to the title. It’s a mixed media piece, painted in oils. If you’d like to add it to your Katie Jeanne collection or perhaps you’d like to start collecting my work, the painting is available here.
If you’re in the US, I hope you have a happy, safe 4th of July.
What I’ve been reading lately:
Make two lists – I’ve done this exercise in my head, but I’m going to sit down and make the lists on paper very soon.
How to keep going – “We didn’t choose this because it’s easy. We chose it because it’s who we are.” (ain’t that the truth!)
Top 10 Documentaries Every Art Lover Should Watch – I’ve seen most of these, and especially loved Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child. It used to be on Netflix, years ago, but now you can find it on Youtube.
This is a large 24×30 inch painting I’ve been working on for a while now. It’s actually one I started about 4 years ago, and thought I had finished. I recently took it down off the wall in my living room, and decided it was time to revise it, and offer it for sale.
This is one of the first of many larger paintings to come this summer.
Telling Stories We Already Told
Acrylic mixed media figure painting on canvas
Available here
Prints are available at Saatchi Art
Anyone who has been in a long term relationship or marriage will relate to the title. You’ve already heard it all from your partner before, but you politely sit through hearing the same old story one more time.
My poor husband knows this all too well. I am notorious for retelling stories. I don’t know why, but my husband generously gives his time to listen to me. Sometimes more words get added, and the tale gets longer, but it’s still the same story in the end.
Listening to: Harry Styles playlist..gosh, I didn’t expect to like his music. Not at all, but after seeing him do carpool karaoke with James Corden, I had to look him up. I love this album so much. He’s so pretty. I think I might have a wee bit of a crush.
I painted this figure painting in oils a couple years ago, but I’ve never liked it. I offered it for sale, and it didn’t get much traction or interest. I decided last week to paint over it. No sense wasting canvas or sitting around letting the grass grow under my feet.
My vision for this one this time around was very different than when I originally started. All I could see was a floral in my mind’s eye when I looked at this figure painting, so floral was what I decided to paint. It’s really quite easy to paint over painting you don’t like. Because this one was originally painted in oils, I continued to paint in oils over the top of it. I’m still using the fat over lean rule by painting impasto style.
haha..I like this one with her legs showing through. 😀
These photos were taken with my iPhone in the wee hours of morning before it was light outside. The lighting was quite harsh from my lamp above my easel and overhead.
wip
I think it’s coming along. I almost have the figure covered up. I decided to stop here, and let it dry a few days before continuing. I hope to finish it up this week or next.
This one has taken me about a month to paint. I’ve had to allow the oil paint to dry in between sessions because her skin tone was getting too muddy. Plus, I had to do a lot of detail work with a tiny brush. Hands and skin tone don’t usually give me any trouble, but for some reason I struggled on this one. I think I finally finished it a couple nights ago, but I’m going to let it sit for a few days before I decide for sure. More photos to come later.
*****
I’m still having a studio sale in both of my Etsy shops. You can find portraits here. Florals and birds here. Some prices have been reduced greatly. I need to free up some space for more paintings.
Don’t Look, But Isn’t He Cute
Was $400, now $300
I’m thinking of painting over this one soon, if it doesn’t sell. Get it while you can.
Apologies to everyone for not visiting your blogs lately. I’ve been working around the clock, and haven’t had time. I’ve also been having trouble staying consistent with my blogging schedule, plus I have a slew of comments that I haven’t got around to reading and publishing yet either. Ugh. I hope to get it all back on track this week. I hope you understand.
Love,
your exhausted friend, Katie xo