|
Thrilled to have moved into my new studio at the Arts Warehouse in Delray. I am involved in the Artist in Residence Program which provides studios for emerging and mid-career Artists in a variety of media such as painters, photographers, and sculptors. The Arts Warehouse is partnered with the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency ('CRA") which hosts many events and workshops.
The Arts Warehouse is located at 313 NE 3rd Street, Delray Beach FL 33444, which is also known as Artist Alley. The City of Delray puts on the First Friday Art Walk every month from 6 - 9 p.m. This self-guided tour and year-long event invites you to explore the heart & soul of Delray's art scene, enjoying art galleries and working studios while you meet with many of Delray's talented, local artists. First Friday Art Walk is a FREE event ~ just show up and start wherever you'd like, (LOL! Preferably with my studio.) Don't forget to use #DelrayArtWalk #colleenthompsonart or #artswarehouse when you share your Art Walk photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter! Looking forward to seeing you soon! 
0 Comments
 My Last Painting of 2017 As the holiday season is winding down I now have time to blog. This is Tebow, he is a yellow lab and his painting was a surprise Christmas present for a 14 year old girl. Her mother sent me photos of her room so I could coordinate my color palette to her daughter interior design. I loved the composition of the photo and the expression on his face and placement of his paws. I had so much fun painting him! The finished painting is a 16x20 Acrylic on stretched canvas.
 To begin the painting, I start by blocking in the general shapes of Tebow's head, eyes, nose, paws and rug with a dark Hookers Green. Then with white paint I add the highlights showing where my light sorce is coming from. I selected a blend of pinks for the background because that was the accent color of the daughter's room. I used Naples Yellow, Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber with hints of Light Violet and Teal in the braided natural rug to tie all the colors of the daughters room into the painting.
 I was beyond THRILLED to meet Tebow in person when he came to get his painting!
A BIG thanks to all of you who are following my creative journey, I truly appreciate you supporting my passion! Happy New Year to ALL those Fur babies out there! Wishing you and your humans a Fabulous 2018! Gratefully ~ Colleen Thompson Art  The Brussels Griffon is a breed of toy dogs, named after the city of their origin: Brussels, Belgium. I loved working from this gorgeous professional photograph which was taken by Tully's owner.
Tully's face in this photo has so much expression, it just makes me smile! The painting was created on a large 30x24 wrap around stretched canvas. As with all my acrylic work, I start with a Cadmium red under coat. Next, I used a Hooker's dark green to place the general shapes of my composition in place while keeping it loose and simple.
Then I add white paint on top of the dark green to indicate the highlighted areas. The beauty of acrylic is that it dries so quickly, allowing you to adjust and correct mistakes easily. I continue to add layers of Naples yellow and Portrait pink to indicate light shining through on Tully's adorable face. Working with light and dark shades of green pushing and pulling the foreground and background together leaving specks of the orange/red undercoating peeks through.  This painting was so fun to paint, playing with the paradoxical idea of a tiny image with a large personality! As with all my pet portraits, my hope is that their owners look at my paintings and smile because they see the personally of their pets.
 FurEver Friends 30x24 Acrylic on stretch canvas My apologies for not posting for a while, gratefully my commissions have kept me busy. Now that the lazy days of summer are here, I have a little more time to catch up on my blogging. 2017 has been an exciting year of learning new application and approaches to my creative journey. I took an acrylic workshop in January with the very talented artist Jane Slivka. Working with Acrylic paint is very different from watercolor mainly because you can use white paint, repaint over an area without making it muddy and create huge pieces.  The basic painting steps that Jane Slivka taught were simple. First, you paint your canvas a Cadmium Red also known as a "undercoating," allowing a warmth to your finished painting, as well as tiny slivers of bright orange peeking through as you cut-in your background.  Next, take a dark Hooker green (which looks like black) and loosely paint the general shapes of your composition. Adding white to build your details. In the reference photo, I didn't like that the dog's eyes were closed, so I used a different photo of a Yorkie to show more expression on the pup's face.
Adding layers of color on top of each other the painting starts to take form. My style of painting is loose impressionistic with a playful touch. Notice how the orange undercoat pop through on these close ups of the finished painting.
 June 18th is father's dayA pencil drawing portrait of Dad's favorite furry face is the perfect gift!
This $100. Drawing Give Away contest is on my FaceBook page at Custom Pet Portraits By Colleen Thompson. Please LIKE and SHARE my page and post a photo of your pet in the comment section of this post. Be sure to have friends and family LIKE my page to vote for you pet. The photo with the most LIKES will be announced on Father's Day June 18th. You may also enter your pet via email at colleenthompsonart@gmail.com and I will post your pet's photo for you. Good Luck!  Photoshop helped with this layoutThese good ole' southern pups "Gus & Lucky" are a combination of two photos. It was difficult for their owner to get a good picture of both of them together, so I created this layout to show their love for each other.
In photoshop I removed the background and combined the two dogs, positioning them in a somewhat realistic pose. I now have my reference photo for the painting. Before I start painting I do a quick value sketch and think about my color choices.
 photoshop helping composition
Meet Teddy and Parker, adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. I did a little photoshop flopping the right dog's head, so they are looking at each other rather than looking off the page. I elongated the back of the lounge chair changing the format from square to portrait. The Beauty of watercolor is being able to layer and lift transparent paint giving the lounge chair a shear feeling
 2017 is off to a great start! My apologies for not posting for a while, the holiday season consumed all my time. Milo is a very handsome Australian Cattle Dog who lives in Savannah. I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing this beautiful pup for his pet portrait.
After the drawing was finished and I was ready to paint, I decided to create a video of the painting process. The finished painting is 16x22. The video of Milo is several hours condensed into just under 1 minute. Please check it out and leave me a comment!  My impression of a magical photo taken by a dear friend. "Contemplating Existence" is a male Silverback Virunga Mountain gorilla, the patriarch of one of 11 families in the Rwandan mountains. I wanted to portray a whimsical storybook image of vulnerability no matter of your size. My hopes are to bring attention to the real threat of humans poaching, diseases like Ebola, and climate change which is challenging their existence. Click here or more information http://art4apes.com/about/
 A gift certificate was the perfect solution for my client who wanted to give a pet portrait as a gift. Teddy's owner provided me with their favorite photograph and I was able to work directly with her from the sketch to the final watercolor. Please contact me if you are interested in a Watercolor Gift Certificate ColleenThompsonArt@gmail.com or call if you have any questions 561-870-3347. 
|
Colleen ThompsonI enjoy painting unique and lively paintings, inspired from photos sent by the people who treasure them. Archives
March 2018
Categories |
RSS Feed
