Tattooed Heart – Katie Jeanne Wood

Thursday, Nov 21st, 2019

Tattooed Heart
Acrylic mixed media collage portrait painting
2013

I’m taking a little break from commissions, and instead, I’m revising this portrait painting I painted back in 2013. The above shot is the original.

Tattooed Heart
Acrylic mixed media collage portrait painting
2016

I revised it a few years back, but meh. Not crazy about the result. I want to bring my old stuff up to speed NOW because some of it is cringe worthy. lol

The word “now” is powerful to me because while I’m painting, I’m listening to The Power of Now for the second time. I ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 Eckhart Tolle.

This is where I left off last night. I liked it, but didn’t feel it was finished. When I saw it on my work table this morning my first thought was the proportions were off..everything had to change.

Her eyes looked too far apart, and her nose was too short. The glasses had to go. I didn’t see any other way of bringing her eyes closer together.

So, I quickly blocked out of the glasses, lengthened her nose, and reset the eyes.

It’s definitely not finished yet, but I think it looks better. Her nose is a little too wide, and crooked, which I’ll be changing, but not bad for 2 minutes of my time. I’m not sure about her shirt or background yet. I’ll probably change both eventually, along with the title.

Friday, Nov 22nd, 2019

6:30 pm – I was able to go back in, and fix some things that were bugging me. Still not finished yet, but it’s getting there. I’m feeling pretty excited, and hopeful about this one. Can’t wait to work on it more later.

There’s quite a big difference between the original and what it looks like now. The original is flat, misshapen, and doesn’t have a lot of layering, shadows or highlights. I don’t think my second revisal did much to help it out. I’m getting much more daring when I go in to rework paintings now, especially the ones I don’t like..I figure I certainly can’t mess them up, so I have at it. lol

I didn’t have a reference photo to work with for this painting. So, what I’m doing instead is using a painting of an artist/mentor, whom I greatly admire, and support on Patreon.

I’m not copying his painting, by any means. If I showed you a photo of his painting, you wouldn’t think it looks anything like mine. I’m only using his painting as a reference to paint the lights, and darks on my own painting. I think having the guidance is making a big difference because light can show up in unexpected places.

More updates to come. I’ve got to get back to painting commissions now. I hope you have a great weekend. xo

Art is never finished, only abandoned.
Leonardo da Vinci

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Sweet Pea eating my flowers

Greg picked me some flowers last week, and Sweet Pea tried to eat them. Little stinker. I snagged it away from her just in time, so she only got two petals. She might be blind, but nothing gets past her. Anything new in the house, and she instantly knows. Last night she walked into my office, and right up to a trunk I had moved in from the hallway. She smelled it, and then jump right up on it, as if it had been there the whole time. It never ceases to amaze me how this blind little girl sees the world.

mixed media portrait painting girl wearing black glasses

Tattooed Heart

Revised and available here

This week is quickly slipping away. I’m going to take a brief blogging break to rest up, and I’ll be back on ~~Sunday~~ Monday (got a little ahead of myself there) with the start of Leslie Saeta‘s 30 paintings in 30 days for September. I’ll be blogging every day for the month of September, which is the hardest part of the challenge for me. Painting every day is easy, but the photographing and blogging? I find it difficult, especially the writing part, so don’t be surprised if my posts are photos only sometimes. Words come hard for me most days. I often dream of changing my blog into a photo blog, so I don’t have to write anymore. Because sometimes it takes me hours or days (ahem! yes, this is day 2 on this post) to write a simple post such as this one. No lie. Word constipation isn’t fun. I write, delete, write, delete. arrrrrgh. Photos are much easier.

My theme this time around for 30 in 30 is going to be birds, and I’m adding flowers to the mix, so it doesn’t get too boring. Heck, I might even add in still life, too. That will give me a wider range, and not feel so restrictive. Yeah, so my theme is birds, flowers and still life painted with palette knives. I’m kinda into flowers more at the moment, but that could change as the month progresses.

Are you doing the challenge, too? What’s your theme? Let me know in the comments.