Thursday, January 30, 2020

Mixed media experiment, 6x8" handmade art, Alcohol inks, daily painting

This is what an oil painter does, when she is in a slump!

6x8"

For reasons that are too boring to talk about, I have found myself in an oil painting slump.

When I came to Florida, for three months this winter, I purposely left my oil painting supplies at home.  I brought pastels, watercolors, alcohol inks, etc.  My plan was to force myself to paint with media that was unfamiliar and  awaken my creative juices.  When I was back in the swing of things, I would once again turn to my oils.

Soooo, I created this little piece, for a challenge.  The challenge was to use metallic colored pencils in a composition.  The pencils are not saturated colors and the metallic aspect of them is not strong, so I decided to do a mixed media piece.  

This is a combination of the pencils, alcohol inks, and a black sharpie pen.  The hash marks are from the metallic pencils.  The sharpie, should have been a wider tip, but I used what I had.  

I found it to be a frustrating and fascinating project.  Successful?  Maybe not.  But it got me back in the art mode, and I plan to work from here.  I already caught myself thinking "I wish I had my oils here", so perhaps my little plot it working.  In any case, I am happy I spent a few hours experimenting.

Carol Schiff


Saturday, January 25, 2020

A Painting Workshop to Remember!

Today, I am repeating a post, from a few years ago.  I think it is worthy of your attention, again.  Enjoy!

A few weeks ago, my friends Carmen and Donna and I drove to Fernandina Beach, FL to attend a 4 day workshop with Elio Camacho.   Elio is one of my favorite painters and my very favorite instructor and I have been lucky enough to attend with workshops twice a year for the past three years.



 I started each day with this beautiful sunrise over the ocean, while eating breakfast at the hotel.


 This is one of Elio's 36x48" demos that he paints in just three hours!




Here Elio met a challenge to paint without darks.  He often states a painting should bring it's own light.  I think this one meets that requirement


 Another of his larger than life paintings.


This was a 25 minute demo he did for us on foam core.  He pushed the color even more than usual and got wild and crazy.


His brushwork is very exciting...something I am hoping to bring to my work.


Elio spent a year painting blue studies, then moved on and studied yellows and reds.  He likes to set up still life, to challenge his students, all in a single color.  He believes red is the most difficult color to paint.  If you can do a red painting, you can really see color.  This was a 20 minute demo he did for us.


We hated to leave the workshop after 3.5 intense and fun days.  To console ourselves, we had a final lunch of fried shrimp at our favorite eatery.


A final photo of Carmen and Donna, de-stressing with  ice cream in front of Island Art Association.  We thank the members for hosting us once again.  Then we hop into our car for the drive home.



One last classic Elio demo that he painted in about 15 minutes, out of his head.  I almost cried when he scrapped it off the next morning.

Needless to say, we are excited to return for his next Florida workshop in the spring.  You can find his workshop schedule here.




Carol Schiff
www.CarolSchiffStudio.etsy.com
www.CarolASchiff.com

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Flower Painting, Sunflower Painting, Small Oil Painting, 12x16" Original Floral

Remember summer?  Now that I have moved, after living in Florida for 40 years, winter has slapped me in the face!  Even though it has been a very mild February, I long for the warmth of the sun.


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I think this is an interesting viewpoint, looking up at a sunflower that was towering over me.

If you ever visit Waynesville, NC, look for Love Lane Flower Farm, where you can pick your flowers fresh.  They supply everything you need and you pay on the honor system.  How cool is that?  

Hope you have a sunny day.

Cheers,

Carol

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Flower Painting, Iris Painting, Daily Painting, Small Oil Painting, 6x8" on Canvas Panel

I spent most of the spring in the mountains of North Carolina, surrounded by flowers everywhere.  They must have the perfect environment for flowers, and I loved every minute of it.  This is one of the beautiful iris' I photographed during my stay.

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I had a difficult time getting this painting to the finishing point, but turns out, my real struggle was in trying to get a decent photograph of it.  I find that blues and greens tend me merge when photographed, especially blues.  I took many photos of this painting, under different conditions, but I believe many of the subtle color changes were lost.  Note to self:  Don't do blue and green paintings, and don't do very dark paintings.....also impossible (for me) to photograph well.

In any event, thanks for viewing my art today.


Carol Schiff

Friday, January 17, 2020

White Rose Painting, 8x10x1.5" Flower Still Life, Flower Painting, Floral Painting, SOLD

Birthday Flowers!!

SOLD
Way back in December, my son and his wife sent me some beautiful flowers for my birthday.  The first thing I did was photograph them.  Then I forgot about the photos!

I finally found them last week, and decided to try my hand at one.  I am very intimidated  by flowers.  They seem so complex and I rarely meet that sweet spot between too little or too much detail.  I am not so sure about this one, but I do like the colors.

Try, try and try again!






Carol Schiff
www.CarolSchiffStudio.etsy.com
www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogger.com

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Sunflower painting, Daily Painting, Small Oil Painting, 14x18x.75" Oil SOLD

Last summer I visited Colorado and fell in love with the state.  The beauty is breath taking and I was trying to record it all on my camera.

Today's painting is a light hearted, laid back attempt to capture the wild sunflowers swaying in the breeze of the Colorado landscape.


 On a whim, I decided to paint over an old abstract painting, that carried lots of texture in specific areas.


That set the tone of the painting for me.  I stayed loose and free.



Much of the background is from the original painting.

I have a friend who burns her unsuccesful paintings at the end of the year.  I think that is a dangerous activity.  The fumes of the paint and mediums burning cannot be a good thing.  I much prefer to paint over a less successful painting and save a few dollars by reusing the canvas.  I am all about recycling.

Happy Painting!!


www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com

Friday, January 3, 2020

Coral Rose Painting, Daily Painting, Small Oil Painting, 6x8" Impressionist art

I recently took a 3 day workshop from my favorite instructor, Elio Comacho, where we painted fresh flowers every day.

purchase here

Since I usually paint from the computer monitor, it is always a challenge to paint from life.  I do enjoy it, but, I know myself well enough to know that I need the advantage of having an image available whenever I want it.

purchase here

 When I paint flowers on my monitor, I tend to get tighter.  That does bother me.

Both of these were painted using my monitor.  I am not unhappy, but I hope to see improvement down the road.


Hope you have a rosy day!

Carol Schiff