"Rachels Muse I"

Many of you that follow this blog are aware that I have a dear friend that is an accomplished photographer.
And, you then, are aware that I often use a lot of her photographs as inspiration for a painting.
Thanking someone that inspires you is a very hard thing to do.

A while back Rachel posted a photograph that she took of her son holding his Oboe.
I fell totally in love with this Photograph and decided to paint it.
(What on Earth was I thinking?)
So this painting is for Rachel, Just because.

I am known for my inability to paint the human form.
Yep, even hands.
But I got to it, and after weeks of working on this painting (Some of which I was quite ill and did nothing), I am finally at the stage where I can begin to refine Jacobs hands.
Scary to say the least.
I have to finish the area where the reed is, and will do that a wee bit later....Kind of like a gift to myself when I finish those talented wonderful hands that belong to Jacob.

Hope you like it so far.
The background is not finished yet, but will remain painted in a matte black.
Please let me know how you think I am doing here, and anything as well that needs work.
Your eyes are important, as often while working on a painting such as this one cannot see the obvious flaws.
~~Kathleen

Getting it right

"The Edge"
Acrylics on Canvas
12" X 12"

Every once in a while, as an artist, I wonder how did another artist get that effect.
Not havng had any formal training in art (and the application there-off), I read a lot of art books, go and see other artists works at gallery's and shops, and try when I get back home to achieve the shading/shadows/light effects in a realistic manner.
Most often this exercise results in a lost painting underneath the blobs/and strokes that were to mean something.
So, I paint over it and away I go again.
Yesterday I painted this little Jewel.
Yep the lighting and shadows and depth happened as I painted, and it all made sense.
I finally did it without agonizing about the method.
Maybe one has to learn things, and just wait for the right time to implement them!
Enjoy this painting, I like the mysteriousness of it.
~~Kathleen