SOC Week 4, plus an Abstract PBJ on toast

This week the colors are Pink, Apple Green and Dark Greek for

the Summer of Color Challenge.  Here is mine. 4x6 acrylic on heavy paper, mounted into a pink mat, making it 5x7, fits a standard size frame.

Auction on Ebay

AND


Another different Challenge this week:

Abstract Open Faced Peanut Butter and Jelly on Toast. 

Painted for the DPW challenge this week. Impasto Acrylic on Canvas Board.
We were supposed to paint from life, but I don't eat bread, jelly or Peanut Butter, so I had to use my imagination.  I smeared the paint around like it was really peanut butter.  What fun!

For auction at DPW: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/236477

Funny thing about Abstracts, they can be displayed in different directions.

I cannot decide which way I like it, so I will not sign it on the front.

See more of my art at www.pennyleestewart.com

Painted People, The Process and the results, Artomat Blocks

50 Painted People, The Process

First I basecoat the wooden pieces with gesso. People have white and posies have black backgrounds, for the most part. Depends. Then I sketch out the figures, put clothes on them and add liner work with permanent pen and sometimes some white ink. They evolve as I am painting them. They all have a story to tell, and hopefully the person who gets each one out of the Artomat.org machines will be able to relate to the figures and their narrative.  I don't write the stories.  I just paint the pictures.  The purchaser has to be the storyteller.

Nibblefest Auctions and 10 More Rainbow Kitties PPF

This week in Watercolor class we worked on Negative Painting.

My Autumn Trees All In a Row works well for NFAC this month because the theme is, "All In a Row!"  So I am entering it in Ebay Auctions starting for 99 cents.  I do this contest every month.  Search on Ebay for NFAC and find lots more bargains from talented artists.

5x7 Watercolor on 140# paper

 with mat it is 8x10, ready to frame.

and I entered this one Watercolor on Yupo Paper, also 5x7 matted to 8x10.

And . . . 

Kitties in the Cupboard, ACEO size. 2.5 x 3.5 inches

Here are the last of the 30 ACEOs in 30 Days in June 2014

Rainbow Kitties Days 21-30. For Sale on Ebay

SOC4 Week 3

 Summer of Color, Week 3  - a challenge using a limited palette

This week: Lavender & Grey with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of Plum

Here are the colors we were supposed to use. My lavender is too pink and my plum is too red, not to mention that there is too much of it. Watercolors did not seem to work for me to achieve this color palette. So I switched to Acrylic.  

Here is my Door Hanger, without words. I am not good with hand lettering. Who would think "Welcome" would be so hard to paint? I must have painted over it 3 or 4 times. That's one of the advantages of acrylics, very forgiving. I used to do a lot of tole painting on wood and I had some of these wooden pieces left over from years ago, so I thought it might work for SOC. But I kept wanting to add green leaves, colorful flowers and vines. These colors are too dull for me, I guess. Oh, well. The acrylic colors are closer, yes?

Here is a Black Cat, and the colors are better, but I don't like the background.  LOL.  I give up.  Maybe the next palette will suit me better.

P.S.  In case you are wondering about the cats, I have been painting 30 ACEOs in 30 days for June 2014.  I chose Rainbow Kitties as a subject.  If you want to see all the colorful felines I have done so far, go to my Ebay Store.  

Landscapes and 10 more Rainbow Kitties for PPF

Since last week's PPF I have painted bunches of stuff.  Too many paintings for one blog post, so go here if you want to see the rabbit, the truck (SOLD) and the lion, and my Summer of Color 4 post for this past week.  

I got a ton of mats on Etsy all different sizes, so I can paint on paper and mat the results to sell and hang.  This is a 5x7 acrylic on 140# paper, painted for a challenge on Daily Paintworks.  I matted it with the orange and now it is 8x10 so it fits in a standard frame.  I don't do landscapes usually, but it's a nice change of pace.

This is the photo they provided to inspire us.

I painted it twice.

Both are for sale, auction style, at www.pennyleestewart.com

Here is my first one.

And another version I did for the same challenge

There is no prize.  It's just a way to stretch yourself by trying something new.

10 More ACEO Rainbow Kitties.  Days 11-20.  

My challenge is to paint 30 ACEO Rainbow Kitties in June 2014.  I am on track so far, but getting a little bit tired of the colorful cats.  Only 10 more to go.  You can see them all in my Ebay Store here. I think my favorite so far is the Calico Quilted Cat Patches.  The Picasso-esque cubism Kitty is my 2nd fave.  I may do another one of that style.

SOC4, Week 2, plus Silly Rabbit, Rusty Old Truck and a Lion's Head

(Still time to sign up to win a FREE abstract on my blog.  

Go HERE and leave a comment.)

SOC 4, Week 2: Coral, Teal and White

Acrylic on 140# paper, on Ebay, with Mat, ready to frame

Plus my Watercolor Rabbit, which is almost the right colors, 

Silly Rabbit!

5x7 Watercolor Rabbit Pet Portrait Painting, on 300 lb. paper, embellished with white ink and pen liner, loose style, colorful, fun silly rabbit. FREE white mate included, ready to frame in 8 x 10 standard size. Painted from a reference photo by Steve Meisler on Artist Reference Photos. DPW Auction

. . . and in WC class this week, I painted the Old Truck

8.5 x 11 Watercolor of an old abandoned rusty truck with Bullet holes, obviously used for target practice out in the country. Painted from a photo by Gail Klett on Artist Reference Photos.  DPW Auction

and an 8x10 Mixed Media Lion Head with Colorful rainbow mane

 Inspired by Debra Spence's photo on Artist Reference Photos

Done for the June Art contest.
Watercolor, Gouache, pen and ink.

Auction on DPW

Win a FREE ACEO Abstract Painting PPF

Some Very Colorful Abstracts, Happy Paint Party Friday!

The Evolution of 8 New ACEO cards.

Original 10x7 Watercolor Abstract. This painting no longer exists, 

except as 8 new ACEOs. Chop Chop!

Leave a comment on this blog post to enter the drawing to win a painting.

In watercolor class this week, we did abstracts. First we made line drawings of several objects, like a hammer, scissors, paint brush, etc. Then we drew lines across the page with a ruler, horizontally, diagonally, wherever. Next, I drew squiggly lines and circles and swirls where it felt right. Then we painted in the resulting spaces made by the crossing lines, very zentangle like, keeping in mind color combinations, lights and darks, compliments, and of course, leaving white spaces, which I did not. My teacher says my yellows are my whites. Oh, and I spattered a bit with Chinese White.

The original painting above was done on Hot Press 140# paper, 10x7 inches. I knew that I would be cutting it into ACEO size cards, so I did not think about a center of interest. After dividing it into 8 pieces, I worked on each one adding darker reds and blues. For the final touch, I dropped in some White Higgins Ink to make a contrasting design on the surface. 

I will be mounting these with white mats and they will be for sale in my Ebay Store under "Abstracts" after July 1st. I think these would look great as a grouping of several pieces together. The frames could be plain black, or red, or whatever matches your decor. Since abstract art gives you an opportunity to see what you wish to see, I have given them tentative titles that express what I imagined, but they really can be turned in any direction, and given any interpretation that you find meaningful to you.

No. 1 Dots 

(My daughter said this reminded her of Butterfly Wings)

No. 2 Fairies

No. 3 Feather

No. 4 Picasso

I used a straw to blow air into a blob of paint creating the splatters.

 

No. 5 Eyeball

No. 6 Spider Webs 

(I used fine point pen to make webs)

No. 7 Jellyfish or Under the Sea

No. 8 Morning Glory

PLEASE, leave a comment and tell me what you would title these paintings. Which one (indicate No. 1-8) appeals to you most? Do you hate abstracts or love them? I used to hate them, now I like making them, so I guess my opinion has changed. Did you know that the number sign is now called a hashtag and Twitter followers use it all the time?  So I have used No. to indicate NUMBER because that's the new # sign I guess. 

FREE ART: I will be giving away one of these tiny paintings (your choice) MATTED and ready to frame, to a person (randomly selected) who leaves a comment on this blog post regarding Abstract Art by June 30. The winner will be announced on July 1, 2014. Then I will be listing the remaining 7 pieces for sale.

Follow my blog to see more art and enter more contests, plus get art instructions and new ideas for expanding your artsy mind. 

Please visit and LIKE my Pet Portraits Page on Facebook.  Thanks!

Under the Sea, Rainbow Kitties and Moo Cows

Reminder:  Go HERE to enter to win a FREE abstract ACEO on my blog.

This week I finished lots more art, besides the abstracts!  Scroll Down . . . 

I painted a 4x4 watercolor Moo Cow quick sketch thanks to Cyndi Russell for the photo courtesy of Artist Reference Photos on Facebook.

and another larger one inspired by a photo submitted by Shawn Parker, also on Artist Reference Photos. Great place for copyright free photo references.

8x10 watercolor on hot press paper DPW Auction

This one was done for a Challenge to Paint Underwater Scenes.

5x7 Colorful Watercolor on 300 lb. cold press paper. Saltwater aquarium featuring various bright corals, rocks, plants, shells and the sandy bottom. Painted from a free reference photo by Rita Morgan on Paintmyphoto.ning.com. For sale on Daily Paint Works Comes with a FREE mat. Ready to frame in a standard size 8x10.

And here are this week's ACEO Rainbow Kitties on EBAY.

I am doing 30 ATCs in 30 days for a June Challenge on Facebook. 

Rainbow Kitties 1-10

Friends, Family and Acquaintances, strangers, please go to my Pet Portraits page and LIKE it if you have not done so already. I would like to combine my two art pages into one but the one with the most likes will obliterate the other one, and I need about 100 more likes on Penny Paints Pets to make that happen.  THANKS for your help. 

Summer of Color 4, Week 1

NOTE:  You can enter the drawing to win a FREE Abstract ACEO HERE

Summer of Color 4, Week 1

Challenge:  Use Aqua Blue, Yellow and a bit of Hot Pink to Create something new this week.  Next week there will be a NEW color challenge.

I am making Rainbow Kitties for a 30 in 30 ACEO challenge on Facebook this month, so I used that theme to create "Rainbow Tiger Kitty" for the first week of SOC4.  I love twofers!  The surrounding pieces of abstract art are my random smudges to test out the colors.  I put blobs of acrylic paint on the little scraps of paper, then smush them together. They might end up as bookmarks or inchies or twinchies or gift tags.  I hardly ever throw anything artsy away.

This is my ACEO/ATC #705, which is how many of these little gems I have made over the years. Some have been traded, lots of them have been sold in my Ebay and Etsy stores.

Friends, Family and Acquaintances, strangers, please go to my Pet Portraits page and LIKE it if you have not done so yet. I would like to combine my two pages into one but the one with the most likes will obliterate the other one, and I need about 100 more likes on Penny Paints Pets to make that happen.  THANKS for your help. 

Rainbow Kitties and Hairy Dogs, Plus Self Portrait

Rainbow Kitties and Hairy Dogs

This month I joined a challenge on a friend's facebook page to do 30 ACEO cards in 30 days in June 2014.  I usually pick a theme or subject for a challenge like this, and my theme here is Rainbow Kitties. These are all 2.5 x 3.5 inches. They will all be for sale in my Ebay Store listed under Rainbow ACEO Kitties/Animals.  I am using various mediums including watercolor, pen and ink, Acrylics and Gouache. Here is the first week's work:  #1-7

Rainbow Kitty #1

Rainbow Kitty #2

Rainbow Kitty #3

Rainbow Kitty #4

Rainbow Kitty #5

Rainbow Kitty #6

Rainbow Kitty #7

And here are this week's puppy dogs . . . 

7x7 inch Schnauzer Watercolor, Pen and Ink

5x7 Yorkshire Terrier, Yorkie, WC, Pen and Acrylic Inks.

I mistakenly called this a long haired Chihuahua at first, and people corrected me immediately. I guess it's a Yorkie. Who knew? I have only had Chihuahuas with short hair, so my knowledge of dog breeds is limited. But I love to paint them all, and this one is taken from a photo by Bill Muck on Artist Reference Photos.

And I did a challenge on  Paint My Photo's website using inspiration from Matisse and his Lady with Green Eyes to paint an expressionistic Self Portrait from a photo. Here's me . . .

5x7 Watercolor and Pen