San Francisco

I have been busy this summer.  Between training walks, painting, and participating in 3 Susan G. Komen 3-Day 60 mile walks, I have not had time to blog.  So, I thought today I'd take a moment to talk a bit about this painting.  I based this from a photograph I took in San Francisco.  It has been modified quite a bit.  There were buildings, cars and people on the beaches and hills.  I wanted a more serene, isolated place and this is what resulted.  I really love this painting.  It makes me happy and peaceful when I look at it.  Currently its hanging over my mantle.  Almost all my paintings hang there at some point.  Its my "Hmmm, I'm not sure if its done yet, lets hang it and think about it for a few days" spot.  This did not get hung there for that reason.  I  knew when I had finished it.  I just like seeing it everyday so it will hang there until it is sold, or moves to a gallery.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a beautiful, peaceful day.

XO Brandy

Giveaway!!! And a Butterfly walk through

I'll get to the giveaway details at the end of the post, I think you'll want to take part in it and hope you'll read through the whole post and leave me some comments.

I started this butterfly on Saturday and tried to remember to take pictures at different stages.  I only remembered a few times but you can see a bit of how my paintings take shape.

I forgot to take a picture of my starting sketch, but that's how I usually begin.  At this point in the painting I just have things color blocked in.  The shading that you see on the flowers is just because I didn't clean my brush and kept adding paint rotating between the purple and white.

At this point, I have most of the final design in place (I later went back and added some more leaves and a few more flowers to get a better balance.)  I still haven't done much shading, I was just playing with placement and balance.

Here is the final painting.  You can see I increased the depth of shading in all parts of the painting.  The lighting on the photo is bad and I'm sorry for that.  It's raining here today so I can't get a well-lit shot.  I'm pretty happy with this painting.  It is done on an 8" x 8" x 1-1/2" gallery wrap canvas.  The flowers, leaves and stems continue onto all the sides of the painting.  I love that look of continuing the subject onto the sides of the canvas.  

I'd love to hear what you think about this piece so please leave me a comment.  I'd love it if you would also follow this blog.

So, onto the giveaway.  I'll be giving away an original painting-subject matter to be decided on later.  This painting will be on the smallish side so that I can ship it at a minimal cost (I'm thinking it'll be an 8" x 10" or smaller!)  What do you need to do to enter the giveaway?  Follow this blog, and/or follow Brandy's Fine Art on Facebook and leave me a comment either here or there.  I'll pick a winner (random drawing of all entries) on May 20th.  This contest is not restricted to just the US, so all my out of country artist friends may enter! 

Good luck and thanks for stopping by! 

A New Blog!

Welcome to my new blog.  I am excited to have my own domain and space to share my fine art.  I am still learning all the new technological details to make the new software work the way I want, so I'm sure the look of the blog will be changing often, but it's fun to have a new space to play with. 

I thought you might be interested to know that most of my painting knowledge was not learned in a classroom.  My Gramma taught me most of the skills that I have.  We used to oil paint together in the upstairs of her home.  She would advise me on how to create different effects and share her expertise and we would talk on and on.  I loved those afternoons spent with her.  On top of developing my painting skills, I really got to know my Gramma.  She is strong, funny, loving, and determined.  She is my hero and I strive to be like her.  My happiest moment in my blossoming art career was not signing the contract for my gallery show.  It was when my Gramma heard the news and said "I sure am proud of you".  Gramma can no longer paint, but I am blessed that I can still share my artwork with her and get her feedback.  I will never forget the hours we were able to spend together.  They will always be some of my most treasured memories.

I thought some of you might be interested to see a photograph that I used when working on a painting and then the final work.  This particular photograph was taken at Meijer Botanical Garden's butterfly houselast year.

We had a wonderful long weekend in that area and the butterfly house was amazing.  I'd never been to one before and I spent hours capturing the creatures with my camera.  The painting is done in acrylics (currently that is my default medium).  It is on a Gallery wrapped 8" x 8" x 1-1/2" canvas.  It was painted specifically for a gallery that wanted 3 of my butterfly pieces in the same size.  I'll be delivering them early next week and signing a contract at that time!  I have to say my art is really starting to take off and I feel incredibly blessed right now.  

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by.  I hope you'll leave me a comment and also subscribe to the blog.