Painted Halloween Pillow Covers

Happy Halloween!

Last year I was in the market for some Halloween pillows for the rocking chairs on my porch.  I knew just what I wanted - one that says "trick" and one that says "treat", made out of burlap.  I couldn't find them anywhere so I decided to sew covers for my summer outdoor pillows and paint my design.  I think they turned out cute!  A couple of bonuses:  They take up much less space in the off-season, because I just have to store the cover.  Once Halloween is over, I flip them over and use the bare burlap side for the rest of the fall season.

They're really simple to make - basically just a tight pillow case.  If you want to make one of your own, here's all you have to do:

What you need for one 18" pillow -

19" x 45" piece of burlap
19" x 45" piece of off-white cotton (This is used because you can see through the wide weave of the burlap.  I used a curtain-liner fabric that I had laying around.  You can really use anything, but just remember that bits of it will show through so you might want to avoid bright pink, etc.)
Acrylic craft paint and brushes (Gasp! Though I paint in oil paints, I use acrylic craft paint for projects like this because it dries quickly.)
A piece of cardboard or shirt box

1)  Cut your fabric - My pillows are 18", so I planned for a 1/2" seam allowance and left extra length (9") to tuck the bottom of the case up the back of the pillow.  If your pillow isn't 18", add 1" to the width and 9" to the length and cut away.

2)  Pin the cotton to the burlap and fold it in half so that they cotton is on the outside.

3)  Sew the long sides using a 1/2" seam allowance.  Leave the bottom open.

4)  Turn the cover burlap side out and insert the cardboard (to keep you paint from going through to the other side).

5)  Plan and paint your design.  If desired, paint a different design on the back.

6)  Once the paint is dry, stuff your pillow it and tuck the excess fabric up the back, as shown in the bottom right picture below.  Enjoy!

A Favorite Painting and Why I Love My Tripod!

The past week has flown by with family visiting from out of town and the 3 day houseclean beforehand.  The visit itself was a short one -  just about 48 hours - but we managed to tack on a 3 hour "long goodbye".  You know, the end of the visit when the hosts are pushing food and other items onto the guests who are running around in vain trying to find all of their belongings.  We unloaded a pair of dress shoes, some outgrown toys, 3 dozen cookies, a bag of coffee beans, snack size Doritos, a coffee cake and a package of sausage - we take the role of host very seriously!  Our guests managed to leave behind a water bottle, cell phone charger, and pajama top, all of which were discovered within minutes of their car pulling away, so they did their job well, too!

So today I'll just share another favorite painting and tell you about my newly discovered love - my tripod!

This is a painting of The Oldest and Middle Child when they were little.  I love this painting, but I never liked photographing it.  Because this painting is hanging in the darkest room of our house and it's too big to move, I just haven't been able to get enough light to take a clear photo.  And turning on overhead lighting or using a flash aren't good options because they both result in photos with lots of glare.  Now, with my nifty tripod, I can take a photo like this even on a rainy day!

The other day, I became frustrated trying to photograph a painting indoors.  I needed to use a slow shutter speed to let in enough light, but then my image was blurry - I don't have the steady hands of a surgeon that would be required to get this photo right.  Grrr!  Dear Husband happened upon the scene and, rather than bailing (often the best option when I'm cranky), suggested that I use my tripod. Hmmm...  Why didn't I think of that?  I'll tell you why - in my opinion was yet another thing to drag out that I'd have to put away later.  I decided to give it a try...  wow!  It worked like a million bucks! I set the camera to the self-timer mode so I wasn't even touching the camera when the picture was taken.  Finally - light and clarity!  Who knew?  Well, I guess lots of people did, but I didn't realize just what a difference it would make.  I'll show you...

The photo below was taken without the tripod - just using my best attempts at being steady.  It doesn't look too bad until you zoom into the details.  What a blurry mess!

Here is a similar photo taken using the tripod.  Much better!  My tripod has just solved all my problems!  Yay!

How to Choose a Frame - Part 2

Ordering a frame online is often the cheapest option.  I've used pictureframes.com since 2002, when I was introduced to this company at a painting class.  In the past, I chose them because they provided free frame samples and now they're my online pick because of their Personal Frame Shop.

My painting of the California coastline in a pictureframes.com frame.

Frame Samples - Yeah!

I ordered their free samples to see the true color and texture of the frame.  The samples were usually triangular scraps cut off when making other frames (Although sometimes I received a rectangular piece which also made a great headboard for a Barbie bed!), but it was enough to get a feel for what looked best with the painting.  Upon request, they even sent me samples of ALL their frames suitable for paintings on canvas...  3 book boxes full!  That was 10 years ago, so I don't know if they would still send that many, but their site says they have free samples available.

Personal Frame Shop - Even better!

This is the newfangled method to ordering samples and lining them up on your painting.

[Just an aside:  I used the word "newfangled" in front of Middle Child the other day.  It's a perfectly good word, but my kids think it's funny when I use words they consider old-fashioned.  Sure, it's been around since at least the 15th century - I checked the dictionary - but does that mean we shouldn't still use it?  I agree it might be time to retire "Who put a bee in your bonnet?", since I don't actually know anyone who wears a bonnet.  I'll bring it back if bonnets are again in fashion - could you imagine!]

So, back to framing...  Using their Personal Frame Shop, you can upload a photo of your artwork to see what it looks like in each frame.  Not only do you get to pick the frame by size, color, material, and style, but you also get to pick your wall color - genius!  That way you can see just what it will look like in your home.

WARNING - Using the Personal Frame Shop can suck up quite a bit of time with all the options available.  Last time I uploaded a painting, there were 186 frames available!  Still, I guess it takes less time than getting presentable and going to the store.

Blood Moon

Recently, friends invited us over to toast the blood moon.  Unfortunately, they were one day early (I'm so glad I'm not the only one who does things like that!),  but we had a toast anyway - okay, maybe two.

The good news is that the next night we were prepared, with camera and binoculars ready when the eclipse started.  We lined up in our lawn chairs to watch the moon... which was fun for about 10 minutes.  (Seriously, have you tried just staring at the moon for 3 hours and 20 minutes.  Who's got time for that?)  Instead, we decided to pop out every 10-15 minutes to check it out and take a few photos.  It really was amazing!

Here's my representation of the 9/27/15 supermoon lunar eclipse, based on my photos -

How to Choose a Frame - Part 1

To me, a framed painting looks like a finished piece of art, so I generally choose to frame them. When picking a frame, I consider the cost, size and overall look of the frame.  I also think about the wall color where I plan to hang or prop the painting.

Unframed, the painting above looks like what it is - a quick study.  (I know - pears again!  I wanted to use another painting as an example, but it didn't fit into the frame I had handy.)  Once framed, it looks complete!

Just like ready-made canvases, ready-made frames are less expensive, but they only come in certain sizes.  I try to use standard size canvases for my paintings when possible to help keep the cost of framing down.  You can find standard size frames to fit oil paintings in stores like Michael's or Hobby Lobby.  Local frame shops often give an artist's discount (from my experience, usually 25%), so they can be an economical option, especially for custom sizes.  While I prefer to support local businesses, sometimes the cheapest option is to order a frame online (coming in part 2!).

So size does matter in choosing a frame, but mainly it's the depth of your rabbet.  No, I'm not misspelling the other word for "bunny".  The rabbet is the notch on the back of the frame in which your artwork sits.  The diagram below shows a cross-section of a frame.  In this example, the rabbet depth is 3/8".  If you had a canvas with 1" depth, then 5/8" of your canvas would stick out the back of your frame and it wouldn't sit flush on the wall.  That's just tacky!

The other size to consider is the width of your frame (how big it is around your painting).  This is really personal preference.  I like a small painting with a wide, ornate frame, but my husband thinks that a small painting gets overshadowed by a large frame.  If I had my choice, I would use the widest frame possible.  It's good he's here to reign me in!

The overall look of the frame includes the style, material, finish, and color.  While this is personal preference, I consider the painting itself, the style of the room in which it will be hung, and the wall color of that room.  I like formal portraits in ornate frames and landscapes in simpler frames, because I feel like the ornate frame fights with the busy nature of a landscape.  Likewise, I would use a more ornate frame in my formal living room than in my more casual kitchen.  

So... I thought the painting looked good in the frame I had available, but check it out against the light blue wall on the left.  The frame gets so washed out!  It looks much better on the red wall on the right.  I would definitely not choose this frame against a light colored wall...  that's probably why this frame has been laying around.

Happy framing!

Oil Painting Portrait Update - Peanut is finished!

I finished my portrait of "Peanut" by doing a little bit of detail work and finishing her hand.  I kept the hand and shirt rather sketchy and put the most detail into her beautiful eyes.  It looks just like her - before she had most of her hair cut off, that is!

Background check...

How much does the background matter?  I decided to find out by painting 3 similar paintings (yes, I love painting pears!) with different background colors.  The background colors I chose were green, red and gray. 

The guys in my family chose the green background as their favorite, while the girls chose the gray.  I think the gray (why do some people spell it grey?) background really makes the pear pop.  Poor red got no votes! What's your favorite?

Paint a portrait in a day?

The portrait of the dancer and violinist below took a few months and caused a minor crisis in our home.  My family endured numerous dinners of frozen pizza, a house in shambles, and clean clothing shortage.  I'm proud to say they managed to persevere through these first world problems and even rose to the occasion!  As I got closer to my deadline, summer break began and I was painting 10 or 12 hours a day.  "The Oldest" was so helpful, making lunches for her siblings and for me.  That way, I could just stop painting for 5 minutes to shovel the food in.  (Asking her to feed the lunch to me while I painted seemed a bit extreme.)  After months of "hardship", the painting was finally finished and everyone lived happily ever after.  That is, until I take on my next portrait!

For our nutritional health and mental well-being,  I decided to try a new technique to portrait painting.

I usually start by painting a full underpainting, complete with all the details.  As you can see below, it just looks like a sepia version of my finished product, even including the violinist's bracelet and the sequins on the dancer's dress.  Color is then added, transparent in some places and opaque in others. Finally, I touch on the little details again and I'm finished!

This time, I decided to entirely forgo the underpainting and use the same techniques that I showed in a prior post when painting a pear .  The reference photo of "Peanut" is from a recent family vacation to Colorado, which I cropped to just show her head and shoulders.  I thought this would make a good portrait, because the viewer is left to interpret her expression.  Is she thoughtful? sad? concerned? suspicious? In reality, I think she was just tired because we were hiking on the Boulder Flatirons.  

(Just a quick word of advice for those thinking of hiking the Flatirons - don't send all the snacks and water with the slow group that only plan to go halfway up!  Those hiking all the way to the top get very thirsty and hungry.  And I know from personal experience, because that's what the rest of the family texted me after "Peanut" and I sent them photos of us eating ice cream while waiting for them to finish their hike.)

Okay, back to painting...  Below is the reference photo with the first 3 steps:  1. The Basic Shape (top right), 2. Draw the Shadow Areas (bottom left) and 3. Paint the Shadow Areas (bottom right).  The canvas is rectangular, but it's cropped here to a square, so that's why she looks so high on the canvas.

Next, I moved on with 4. The Background (top left) and 5. The Light Areas (top right).  On a still life, I would now add the reflective light; however, I didn't really see any obvious reflected light so I decided to skip this step and moved on to 6. The Midrange (bottom left).  Next, I would add the cast shadow (like the shadow under her nose and lip), but I had already painted those in step 3 so I moved on.  The "highlights" would be next, but many highlights, such as in her eyes, couldn't be painted until after the details, so I combined the highlights step and the details step into 7. Details (bottom right).

Did I finish in a day?  Not quite.  I still need to do some work on her hand and a little bit of fine-tuning. Did we eat take-out?  Sorry to say that we did.  Did the house look like it had been ransacked? Most definitely!  But it was only for one day, so that's not too bad, right?

Garden Harvest painting - from ho-hum to fabulous!

Check out what Garden Harvest looks like now!

How did it get from this....

To this! 

Oil paint is great, because if you don't like what you see, you can change it.  This applies to your subject or what you have already painted.  For example, if  you're painting a portrait of a pimply teenager (or even an adult - why do we still get them?), you can choose to leave the acne out.  My first version of Garden Harvest was looking a little pimply to me.  There were two HUGE, pre-prom zits - the composition and the lighting.

The Composition

In my original version, the subject was much too high on the canvas.  The dispenser felt squashed and there was too much empty space at the bottom of the canvas.

Remember Step One of my pear demonstration - painting a simple shape and look at it?  Well, I painted it, but I obviously didn't look at it.  If I had, I could have changed my composition and avoided the problem before I got the painting started.

To fix the composition, I removed the dispenser's cap to give it a bit of breathing room.  I also added those adorable garlic cloves to the foreground.  I'm kind of glad that I made this mistake, because the garlic cloves are now my favorite part of the painting.

The Lighting

The lighting in my original version was boring.  Everything and nothing looked lit up.  In other words, it looked like all parts of the still life were lit the same.  The dispenser and tomatoes just didn't glow!

To show that the light was moving from the upper left, over the handle towards the basil, I darkened the background on the left side of the painting.  I also darkened the tomato and leaves on the left and created some beautiful lost edges (where you can't really tell where the tomato and basil leaf end).   The bottom half of the dispenser was distracting to me, so I put that in shadow and added more shading to the right two tomatoes and the basil leaf on the right.  I highlighted the clump of basil leaves to show that the light was directly hitting them.

I did add a little bit more color to the dispenser's design, but the white areas (like the handle) were untouched.  See how it sings now with better lighting!

Now if you could only change what you don't want to see in real life that easily!