Beautiful New Home

Beautiful New Home
16" x 20"
Oil on Canvas

This was commissioned as a house-warming gift for a couple moving into this beautiful new home. I painted it a while back, but since it was a gift, I had to wait for it to be presented. Thought you would like to see it. There is a larger photo available at my site: http://www.DailyPaintingByLiz.com

I've been working very hard on my current commission, I have to really accomplish a lot tomorrow, because I have two more waiting in the wings. One is for a soldier that is currently in Iraq. If you've been to my main site A Portrait For You (http://www.APortraitForYou.com) you may have seen a notice about the military, police, or search & rescue. I am very grateful to those of you who put yourself in harm's way to make the United States the best place in the world. If you are in the U.S. Armed Forces, or a member of Law Enforcement, Fire & Rescue, etc, I give very big discounts on any portraits you may wish to commission. I really would like to do something to give back to those who give so much. If you have a member of your family or know someone who has died on duty, law enforcement, fire, or military I will do a graphite portrait at no charge, or an oil for little more than the cost of supplies.

Thanks for your interest! Hopefully tomorrow, I'll have a new daily painting to see!

Liz

Teapot #2 - Dr. Seuss Revisited

Dr. Seuss Revisited
Kitchen Series
9" x 9"
Oil on Reclaimed Panel with Painted Sides
$225

Or click here to email me about Dr Seuss Teapot.

This is one of a set of 6 kitchen paintings - contact me to see all 6
They are available as a group for $950 with free shipping.

I call it "Dr. Seuss Revisited" because it's kind of wonky and very colorful. It is painted on a 3/4" board, which is a very traditional medium, and besides I had some laying around :) The white lines on the upper portion of the painting are reflections from the grain in the wood.

It was done very quickly because I spent the vast majority of my day working on a commission - it's very large 30" x 40" and quite different from my usual work. Hopefully I will show you when it is finished and after it has been presented to the recipient.

If you want to use wood as a support for oil paintings, first put a couple good coats of gesso on it before the oil paints. Oil will deteriorate wood, so make sure you protect it. If you don't want to use gesso, and you're not creating 'archival' artwork, you can just paint it with a good latex paint or primer. If you want to paint in acrylics, you don't have to prime it first, but it does make the paint go on easier.

When I am at my easel painting, I carry on imaginary conversations with you - "See how I fixed that mistake?" or "This is a good way to . . . . " but when I am finally done with the day, and get a chance to sit down and write, I go completely blank - "Here is my painting, it is in oil, it is a teapot" LOL

Maybe it's because I know many of you personally, and I don't want to sound pretentious.

But, here is one thing I thought about while I was painting today - If you'd like to do something a little different with a still life or object, try what I did with this teapot. Set your object or still life up on some brightly colored backgrounds. They can be harmonious, or complementary. I like the purple and orange combination, but then I like purple with just about any other color.

The backgrounds can be fabric, construction paper, or as I used, some art foam stuff that they use for making stamps. The colors reflect onto the subject and add interest and more of a challenge to paint.

Til next time . . . .

Liz

Young Boy by Fence

Hi!

As promised, here is a photo of one of my recent commissions!


This oil on canvas portrait of an adorable young man was composed mostly from one photo that had a nice shot of his face, and another with a shot of the door that they wanted for background. The problem was that the original photo was of him in a bathrobe and I didn't find out until partially through the painting that they didn't want the portrait of him in the bathrobe, but in a shirt that was seen in a third photo. Well, generally, there is a charge for having to make a major change in the portrait after it has been started, but the adjusted portrait looked so much better than the original idea, that I couldn't charge a thing!

I'm working on another large commission (actually I'm working on 3 good-sized commissions, but one is 30"x40") which I can't wait to show you when they are finished!

Thanks for your interest, and please ask any questions you have! I'm glad to answer them and I will answer all emails!

More posts soon!! ???

Liz