Staying Inspired With Your Painting

Sheep On Red

Available Through Gallery

10" by 10"

Shown larger to see possibilities if you would like to commission a larger piece that is similar.

I spent a few days last week painting with my good friend and fellow artist. I am always inspired and filled with renewed desire to paint bigger! So I will be painting larger pieces in the coming weeks and will be painting some still life as well. 

Do you ever feel stuck in a rut with your art? Painting with a friend is one of my favorite ways to shake things up. Sharing favorite colors, mediums, artists, upcoming workshops, and just watching another artist can be so helpful. It's also helpful to have a fresh pair of eyes to critique your work. 

So go set up a paint date!

The Advantages Of A Limited Palette

                                                                       "Siblings"

                                                                              SOLD

This piece sold this weekend at my show in Onancock, at the Red Queen Gallery. If I receive requests I may add it to my print shop. I can always be reached at normasfineart@gmail.com.

When I began my art journey, I focused on creating paintings using soft pastels. I fell in love with the immediacy of the process, the pure pigment and the way the light danced across the beautiful colors.
My palette consisted of two huge boxes of colors, both two feet by three feet! I had collected these over a couple of years ranging from hard brands to super soft which were great for adding final details. When I decided to venture into oils, the frustration level was pretty high! I had to MIX colors and learn to control a liquid medium that often turned to mud instead of the gorgeous pure color I was used to using. I wish someone had gotten a hold of me then and suggested I try a limited palette until I got the hang of things but....I may not have listened. I was already grieving the ability to grab any color or texture my heard desired and immediately put down the color I needed.  I painted for years with a pretty large palette of color but in the last year, I decided to adopt the palette of a local master painter named Charles Kello and it has been a great experience. Here are the five colors I put out on my palette every day.

Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue
Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine Blue
Viridian

Soft Mixing White  Or Titanium

These are the colors he had his students use to create any color they needed.  Now, I have to admit that I have a few additional colors that I find I enjoy for pops of color. Those are:

Naples Reddish Yellow
Charvin St. Remy Blue
Lukas Beige
Cadmium Orange  (This is a much more pure orange than the one you can make using Alizarin and
Cadmium Yellow Pale).

If you like Cerulean blue, you can create it using Viridian, Ultramarine and white.

Give the limited palette a try minus my additional colors and see if you don't get better at mixing
in pretty quick order. Being able to mix your colors is such a huge part of painting and getting
down to the business of painting more quickly and with less frustration!

Advantages Of Toning Your Canvas

Contact Artist About This Piece

I have been REALLY busy preparing for two big events coming up this weekend. Today I completed painting, varishing, wiring, naming, pricing, and cataloging twenty two pieces of art for my show in Onancock, Virginia at The Red Queen Gallery. I haven't posted any of these pieces. The opening will be on Saturday from 3-6. The show will be up until August 25th. I hope you will be able to stop by if you are in the area. 

The second event is Paint Night at the Richard Stravitz Gallery on 30th Street and Atlantic Ave. in Virginia Beach. We will be having a great time with drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and creativity oozing from our brushes. Our subject matter is...surprise, surprise! A Cow!  Today I was toning our canvases red so we will be

off to an exciting start and ready for my students to begin their paintings. I often tone my canvases before beginning a painting. Sometimes I choose red and other times, I might just do a very abstract looking undercoat with all kinds of crazy color. It helps get me in the painting mode and some times makes for a more interesting painting with little bits of unexpected color showing through. 

So, I am a big fan of toning and I also think it takes away that feeling for beginners of all that white canvas yet to cover. Come join the fun and if you can't join us, grab a brush and some paint and decorate a canvas!

Filling The Creative Well

Happy Hour

© Norma Wilson, original oil on canvas 18" by 24"

Available Through Gallery

So how do artists fill their creative well and stay engaged with their desire to create art day in and day out?  Last week, I wrote about the importance of showing up at your easel on a regular basis, but there are also things outside of the studio that help contribute to keeping things going.  I have been painting now and showing my work for going on sixteen years.  It was easy to stay excited in the beginning as there were so many new subjects to paint and so much to learn. Well, the truth is that there are still many things to paint and much to learn but there are times just like in so many areas of life, that you hit a slump or moods take over and you feel anxious about painting. It can become routine. Exercise is really huge for me. Taking a walk, a bike ride, or a yoga class really helps me have a better frame of mind but there are other things I do as well.  Visiting favorite artists sites to enjoy their works, going to a museum and soaking up the master's works, spending time doing something fun with a friend not art related, painting with friends and soaking up their enthusiasm, giving art lessons and sharing in a new painter's delight as they complete their first painting. I used to go to Barnes and Noble which was close to my house for coffee and flip through all the art magazines I could find. Becoming immersed in all the colors and styles of painting helps to reignite the desire to face a blank canvas and get busy! Sometimes it is just a color combination, great texture, light or a feeling of gratitude for life that can make the shift.  Here are a few examples from my neighborhood walk, my living room that has awesome light, my tastey lunch plate, 

What kinds of things work for you? If you are stuck, you might try some of these things. If all else fails....there's always.....

Norma Wilson Original Oil Irish Landscape Country Road Impressionism Painting Art

Kerry Road

  © Norma Wilson, original oil on canvas 10" by 10" 

325.

Available Through Gallery

Some of my fondest memories in my life are of time spent in Ireland, my mother's birthplace.  I enjoyed painting this road and imagine myself on a day's venture off to photograph some cows or sheep!  More paintings to paint at every turn. :-)

Norma Wilson Original Acrylic Goat Farm Animals Portrait Painting Art

You Get My Goat!

  © Norma Wilson, original acrylic on deep canvas 8" by 8" 

195.

Purchase Information

Hope your weekend is off to a great start!  I am off to teach an acrylic class at Michael's Hilltop in Virginia Beach.  Stop in and see me if you are nearby! It starts at 12:30.  I have become enamored with watching videos of animals on Facebook and love the one about a friendship between a baby rhino and baby goat.  Here is it...

Thirty Paintings In Thirty Days- Day Three!

Seaside Memories

SOLD

6" by 6" original oil on panel

150.

One of my favorite memories of my children growing up is watching them play at the beach!  I still love to walk along the beach in summer and see families relaxing and spending time together soaking all the sights and sounds and the wonderful sea breeze!  This little girls seemed to be expressing her glee with her hands outstretched while her brother is busy at work. :-)  It was great fun to capture this in paint!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days! #15

Morning Catch

5" by 7" original oil on canvas

150.

Buy It Now

Have a wonderful day!