How Unoriginal!!

I have been doing some reproduction and 'inspired by' pieces to add to the Artform Nouveau collection. Some of these have been what I'd term artwork, whilst others like this one are more graphic design. It's based on a fabric design by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and whilst it seems very retro nowadays, it must have been very modern and ahead of it's time when he first created it. Personally, I think it's rather 1960's Flower Power and not so 19th Century Art Nouveau! Because of that I kept it in the ArtformTheHeart collection instead of adding it to the new one.

I worked in Photoshop for this one and did four simple, stylised flower outlines in separate layers then copied and pasted each layer until I had filled the design area. I then went back and did a layer below the outlines to add the colours and then finally added the 'dotted' lines and text. Being that it was done in photoshop, and on numerous different layers, once I'd completed it I went back and changed the hue/saturation on some of the layers so that I ended up with two versions.

Tobacco Flower Print Tote Bag by ArtformTheHeart
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Faces

This piece was originally titled 'Race Relations' but I thought I should change that when I put it on zazzle, just in case anyone took offense to it. I painted it several years ago and my mother loved it so much that I immediately gave it to her. I sold a print of it the other day and am really pleased with that, but rather worried about how it'll print up and whether or not the customer will be happy with it. I think that the canvas texture shows through a little too much for a poster, but I'll wait and see what happens; nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The concept for the piece is fairly obvious: one face, many races. A personal comment on the similarities and differences between us all. I think it's an idea I'd like to revisit as it has so many possibilities, and next time I'll bear in mind that it may be used for prints.

Faces by ArtformTheHeart
More Potrait Posters

'Fan' Art for JWS

I've been so busy with zazzle recently, trying to create products, organise and promote, that I haven't had much time for doing the type of artwork I love to do. Nor have I had time to photograph any of my back-catalogue that isn't already on my laptop. So, I decided that for now I would post this piece of  'fan art' that I did a while back. It was a gift for one of my fiance's children, I had done some pokemon drawings for two of the boys already and spent time helping them to draw their own. But the third boy had been in hospital out of state during my visit and I didn't get to spend any time with him. When I was coming home, I bought a pack of naruto trading cards as that's another of their favourite shows/passtimes. I went through the pack of cards and decided on this one; The Magician of Black Chaos. Because it was for one of the boys, and one getting over a major operation at that, I wanted to make the piece special, a replica of the trading card but on a much larger scale. I used acrylics and bought some metallic shades specifically to use on this project. It's not the best photo, but I don't have access to the painting anymore so it will have to do. And it goes without saying that is is PURELY 'fan art' and not anything I'm using commercially.

Male Cardinal

Digital watercolour of a male cardinal resting on a Cherry blossom tree.

Cardinal on Cherry Blossom

My First Award: Black-Winged Damselfly

I got my first ever TBA (Today's Best Award) on zazzle for this damsefly mouse pad. I had all but given up hope of ever getting a TBA so it took me by surprise.

Black Winged Damselfly Print by ArtformTheHeart

Fighting Fish

I've had this post saved as a draft for weeks but hadn't gotten around to writing my blurb. That's the thing, I love creating artwork and looking at other people's artwork, but when it comes to talking about it I'm at a loss. But, I'll do my best, so here goes. I first came across the siammese fighting fish (betta splendens) because my fiance had one. I'm really not a fish person but I thought that the black/irridescent fish he had was really pretty. After that, every time we went to walmart on that visit, I would go look at the 'pretty fishies', lol. When I came back to the UK I sat down and painted a brightly coloured fighting fish in acrylics, on a set of 4 canvas boards. I didn't really think about the practicality of the piece before painting it, because the 4 pieces have to fit together to form the picture, framing them would detract from the effect. So, the boards sat around my house and eventually two of them warped because (were placed too close to my central heating radiator). Oh well. But after I purchased a graphics tablet for my laptop and began working with Artweaver software, I decided to give this little fishy another try. I don't like the digital version as much as I did the original, it was one of the first project I attempted in Artweaver and for the life of me I couldn't get the intensity of color without making the image look amateurish.

The original painting.

The Artweaver version
Fighting Fish - Betta Splendens

Pastel Study, Nude

This is another of my figure studies, partially nude, yet again it is very modest. It took me a long time to get around to doing any work in soft pastels, whilst they are a wonderful medium to create with I often find that somewhere along the line I manage to smudge the piece before it is completed. I've tried several different fixatives, including some high-end ones and have never managed to get it quite right. Either the fixative diminishes the colour intensity of the pastels, or on the odd (and very frustrating occassion) has propelled a blob of 'goo' onto the paper spoiling the whole project. I'm usually very careful with the fixative and make sure the nozzle is clean before starting, shake the can until it feels as though my arm is going to fall off, but sometimes, even then, these things happen.

With this piece, in contrast to some of the other nude studies I have done, I wanted a soft, almost romantic feel and so pastels seemed the obvious choice. Although I didn't realise it at the time of drawing this picture, I find that I really like how the shoulder blades give the impression of being light and dark wings - if you use your imagination, lol.

Pastel Study Nude by ArtformTheHeart

Some fellow artists whom I admire.

I wanted to take a break from posting only my own work, it gets very difficult to keep on saying positive things about myself and my art (the perfectionist in me always wants to criticise!), so I decided that today I would feature some work from other wonderful artists that I have come across.

Remus Brailoiu is a young artist based in Romania. His gallery on zazzle features surreal and abstract work which I find very appealing. I love this piece "Drunk Street Lamps" as I find it very evocative. It is reminiscent of Salvador Dali's work yet to me, far more whimsical as it seems to leave more up to the viewer's own imagination. I feel that I could write a short story based solely on inspiration from this painting.

Drunk Street Lamps by RemusCB
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Ruth Housley is an American artist living in Texas. She works in oils and has a number of amazingly beautiful wildlife and still life paintings on her blog. This Piece, Geese Flying North, is soft and tranquil. I find myself drawn into this painting, imagine myself walking through the snow, enjoying all that nature has to offer on a bright and crisp winter's day. You can view Ruth's blog or contact her by email: rjrhousley@verizon.net to purchase her artwork.

Geese Flying North by Ruth Housely

Nude in Blue

This is an acrylic on canvas study. I love doing tonal pieces, usually in pencil sketches/charcoal/pastels but on this occassion I chose acrlyics as the medium as I wanted something bold. I'm fascinated by the way the human body can contort itself, the shapes it forms and the shadows is casts. For that reason I do a fair number of "nude" studies. I use the quotes around the word nude because most of my pieces are very modest even when the subject is completely unclothed.
 

Black Canvas Blue by ArtformTheHeart

Another Gerbera Daisy.....and something a little different.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've really come to love the cheerful gerbera daisy (how wonderful would it be to have a garden full of these pretty blooms?). I had taken some photographs of some last year and went back to those as a reference for this bright cerise pink painting. I reverted to adding lots of detail to this piece, ah well, lol.

Bright Pink Gerbera by ArtformTheHeart

After that I went on to do something quick and goofy, just for a change of pace, and came up with a goofy little caveman. I thought he'd make a funny t-shirt design, so here he is:

Gone Clubbing by ArtformTheHeart