"Bear"

Here is Bear, a pet portrait commission.

First on a small rock. Black animals are more difficult than other colors, especially like here where the face is against the black body.

acrylic on stone, 3 x2.5 inches x 1.5 inches high.

Then I painted Bear on paper in a different position. I like both pieces, but I think this one is my favorite.

Bear, acrylic on paper, 5x7 inches.




If you are interested in a pet portrait done from your photograph, just shoot me an email to discuss the details.

The Best Advice I Ever Got

The best advice I have ever received was from Larry Brown, now head of the Art Dept. at Gila Pueblo College, Globe, AZ. In a class I took with him a few years ago he told us: "If your lights aren't bright enough, make  your darks darker". When ever I am painting and something is not coming along quite right, I hear this in the back of my mind and usually that fixes the difficulty. So Thanks! Larry!

Datrua Dreams

For those of you not on FaceBook, here are a few shots of Datura Dreams as a work in progress:

After transferring the design to the canvas I laid everything in a gray scale, showing the lights and darks.

I then put in the background and began working on the leaves and flowers

I continued to gradually work my way around the picture, working from the upper part of the canvas and the background forward and down the canvas to the foreground.

I continued to go back and forth, around and around, adjusting colors and tones, darks and lights. Here you can see a closeup of the silver pitcher.

And here is the final piece.
Datura Dreams 18x24 inches, Acrylic on Linen. Datura plants are a large beautiful wild flower which bloom from July through the fall here in the desert. It is also known as Jimson weed and contains narcotic compounds, making it quite poisonous. The silver pitcher was a wedding gift to my parents and the crystal wine glass is one of a few survivors of a set that was a wedding gift to my grand parents.


Datura Dreams is not currently available. It has been entered into a competition. It will be available after the results of the competition are announced. Contact me if you are interested in this piece and I will put you on my mailing list to receive the information when it is available.

Count Down to Italy

In just 8 more days I will leave for Italy! I am soooo excited. I will be at The Retreat for 2 weeks. The first week will be a painting workshop and the second week will be unstructured. I may rent a car for the second week for sight seeing.  The Retreat is not too far from the ocean and the country is hilly, much like home. [though of course I live in the desert and not near the ocean]

I have most of my things packed, just a few loose ends to tidy up, Oh hurry, I can't wait!

Leopard Table

Here is a small end table I painted with a leopard on each end. It has a shelf underneath and a magazine rack on each end. It would make a nice accent in a jungle theme room. It is small enough to fit anywhere to give you a little storage by your favorite chair or couch.

You can see it in person at Hill Street Mall Fan them on Facebook to keep up to date on sales & specials!

Rock Art

Burgandy Boot, had great fun painting this one!

I have been painting on rocks for a few years now. I really enjoy the whole process, finding rocks that just 'scream' at me what they want to be...birds, cats, dogs, fish, rubber duckies, feet, hands, fingers, faces, chickens, dragon eggs hatching, houses, wizards, 'burger and fries... you name it. When the supply is running low I go to the river early in the morning and walk around, picking up rocks. I enjoy the quiet time, just listening to the birds sing and the roar of the river.

I usually know what the rock should be as soon as I pick it up, sometimes even before I bend over to get it. I paint them with a special acrylic paint that has a UV inhibitor to help prevent fading and give them 3 coats of a clear seal for extra protection.

Here are some of my favorites,most of these have been sold, but you may contact me to discuss a commission.

A large fawn

A cute rubber duckie. I have actually found two rocks that were perfect little duckies.

 

 

A very large turtle. I could barely lift this guy.

Leopard, another very large rock. This one is

 available.

 

 

 

 

 

A yellow ribbon, can be personalized with name, dates, etc.

Pink dragon hatching

awesome, it works!

Well, it seems to be working. Greatly relieved. And I think this way will be a little easier than the work around I was trying before, which didn't work anyway. so now, onward and upward.

In just 11 more days I will leave for Italy. I am soooo looking forward to this trip. I just know it is all going to be perfect, like a fairy tale. I will be staying at http://www.lemarcheretreat.com/ It is in the country and not too far from the ocean.  On my new lap top I have a little widget that gives me the time and another that gives me the temperature. It seems to be almost the same as here or maybe just a little cooler. I'll see if I can figure out a way to add them to my blog here.

more testing

Well I am still trying out new things and testing ways of doing things, so here is some more test. Can I put pictures on this blog?
Well this is working in the edit window, hopefully it will still work when I publish it.





 The next test will be a link on my website to this blog since I can't seem to make the blog software on my site work like I want it too.....




About this picture: I paint on almost any surface, wood, metal, walls, canvas, paper and yes, rocks! This kitten is painted on a smooth river rock and is about 5 x 4 1/4 inches, 1 3/4 inches high. You can see more of my stone cats and my other art on my website, www.hysongdesigns.com 

testing

just testing this thing out...

Testing....

Testing, testing Just testing out some new ways of doing things here.....