Post 190: What's On Your Easel Right Now?

What's On Your Easel Right Now?

PWAS Members show off what's on their easel (in the studio) right now.

PWAS Member's Artwork on the Easel in July 2022

The Prince William Art Society members are periodically asked this question for this blog and they graciously answer with a sneak peek into their studios (or wherever they are right now) to have a look at what they are currently working on. Some pieces look nearly finished, some are in the beginning processes. Psst, come on, let's take a look...

1. Donna Liguria

"A Day at Blue Ridge Shores" Acrylic, 24x24 https://donnaliguriaart.com

Still tweaking a few areas of this painting that I began while on vacation earlier in July. 

2. Otis Stanley

"This Far By Faith" Charcoal drawing, will paint in acrylic16x20

3. Jortt aka John Hartt

Oil on canvas 20” x 20” www.jortt.com

4. Bilee Sciuto

This is Tango... He passed away and the granddaughter has asked for a picture to be done. Acrylic 11x17

5. Scott McDonald

My easel is currently set up at the Bob Ross Studio and Workshop in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. I’ve been here for two weeks getting certified to teach floral painting in the “alla-prima” or Wet-on-wet technique. I have one more week to complete for the certification.

6. Bruce Fasick

Rube Foster (for Rev Sims NLLHOF) “Can we play?” part of the upcoming Duets show (painting and sculpture)

7. Maureen Guillot

This is what's on my easel.  I'm attempting to paint these sunflowers before they die.  Each day they are different and they kind of move because they are slowly dying.  A real challenge.  I'm a slow painter. Oil painting on an 11x14 linen panel.

8. Staci Blanchard

Here is what is on my table/easel.  It’s a diptych and each piece is 12x24. It is an untitled acrylic pour.  I was inspired by the red color I used in this piece.  I hadn’t used it yet and I was really drawn to it and to see how it would play with the other colors.

9. Michelle Baker

My goal in this painting is simply to capture the beauty of one of my favorite places-an historic one-room school located in Fauquier County, Virginia. Built in 1887, Number 18 School sits in a tiny community garden which is lovingly tended to by volunteers in Marshall, Virginia.

10. Mark Murphy

I'm working on a small watercolor with a "Día de Muertos" theme for Hispanic Heritage Month.  Although death is a typically serious subject, I'm shooting for a whimsical skeleton couple that may end up under the "fun" portion of my website - http://www.markmurphystudios.com

11. Urmila Kumari

I used warm colors in this painting. I love to play with these bold colors. Theses colors keep me happy, warm and energetic. Medium: Acrylic, Size: 38x50x1.5 inches, Title: Happiness

 Thank you to all of the PWAS Members that responded. Please share the blog post to all your social media and websites too.

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Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5
The Prince William Art Society is a 50-year old non-profit art group in PWC for the the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.

Want to know how to get involved at OSA? If you are an artist (18 or older) living in Prince William County, or a are a member of a PWC art group, you are welcome to get on our next art show's emailing list. Send it to us, OR come by the gallery to find out more.

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.

Post 189: The Fear of Putting a Price on Your Art

The Fear of Putting a Price on Your Art

This art topic can be quite the stumbling block for artists.

Finding Art Formulas for Pricing Your Art

I have written on the topic before and the link to that post is https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/2022/02/post-115-pricing-your-artwork.html. Some artists do not even get off the ground to sell their artwork because they just don't know where to start.

I recently came across this article at Artwork Archive that is well worth sharing. The writer shows 3 formulas to configure your price:

https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/how-to-price-consistently-for-art-sales-success

 

Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash 

It's not a slippery slope, just do the research and start somewhere! Remember to ALWAYS COVER YOUR COSTS - at all costs!

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Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5
The Prince William Art Society is a 50-year old non-profit art group in PWC for the the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.

Want to know how to get involved at OSA? If you are an artist (18 or older) living in Prince William County, or a are a member of a PWC art group, you are welcome to get on our next art show's emailing list. Send it to us, OR come by the gallery to find out more.

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

---

Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/

Post 188: The Bad Boy of Photoshop Smarty-Pantsery

The Bad Boy of Photoshop Smarty-Pantsery

Many artists use Photoshop right? Some use it to tweak their designs before transferring the composition to the canvas for painting or for manipulating their photography. Then there is James Fridman, who took Photoshop to the stratosphere.

Humor, the Best Medicine

I discovered James on Twitter a couple of years ago and quickly became a fan. Have you heard of him? It seems that people would request James to alter something in a photo, even wedding photos, and he would "fix" it for them. Just not the way they had anticipated it to be fixed and he did it hilariously.

 

https://bettermanly.com/psflops/8/

 

Which one do you like best?  

 

Photo by Call Me Fred on Unsplash 

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Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5
The Prince William Art Society is a 50-year old non-profit art group in PWC for the the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.

Want to know how to get involved at OSA? If you are an artist (18 or older) living in Prince William County, or a are a member of a PWC art group, you are welcome to get on our next art show's emailing list. Send it to us, OR come by the gallery to find out more.

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

---

Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.

Post 187: Summer Spotlight on Art Winners at Open Space Arts at Stonebridge

Summer Spotlight on Art Winners at Open Space Arts at Stonebridge

The current art show at the Open Space Arts gallery at 15000 #140 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA is running between June 26 and August 14, 2022. Each art show we have the visitors vote on their favorite art piece and drop the little cards in the box. Well, the public voted and we LOVE announcing the winners! Hmmm, a lot of purple and blues...something to think about??!!

You Came, You Saw, You Voted

And this is how you voted your favorite art pieces currently hanging at the gallery:

1st Place Blue Ribbon - Tom Payne for ”Last Hope”

2nd Place Red Ribbon - Fatima Farzana for “Dreaming in Purple”

3rd Place White Ribbon - Scott McDonald for “Midnight Dunes”

 The gallery is FREE to visit, so while you are shopping at Wegmans - well before you buy that ice cream, come by Open Space Arts - across from DSW, next to Ulta on one side and Barnes and Noble and the Loft on the other. Have you visited yet?

Leave your comments below and try NOT to post anonymously!

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Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5
The Prince William Art Society is a 50-year old non-profit art group in PWC for the the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.

Want to know how to get involved at OSA? If you are an artist (18 or older) living in Prince William County, or a are a member of a PWC art group, you are welcome to get on our next art show's emailing list. Send it to us, OR come by the gallery to find out more.

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

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 Author: Donna Liguria

An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA and Artistry Spin Blog Admin, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, Donna's Etsy site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

 

Photography/Video Credits: 

Donna Liguria

Post 186: Composition 20. Avoid Mergers

Composition: Avoid Mergers

This is Part 20 of my series on Composition

Color, Tone and Border Mergers

Mergers are when key areas of the main subject are overlapped, making it appear weird and should be avoided. Sometimes you can avoid a merger just by moving to the left or right before snapping the photo so that it doesn't look like that branch is growing out of the side of someone's head. Or that rock doesn't appear to be the person's overly large foot. 

In photography, we should avoid cutting off people, whether in half, their head or feet, or have someone cut off by the border of the image. These are border mergers and they just aren't the best way to take the image. It is better to leave space around the people or the main subject.

Alternatively, the angle of the viewer - their perspective could be higher or lower angle to avoid weird mergers with whatever is in the background. 

Something in the image that is very bright or very dark will draw the eye as discussed in previous Composition posts. Although the use of both is important in a composition, you don't want it to distract from your subject either. In photography, you may be able to crop the image to get a better focus on your subject.

 

 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash 

 This photo cut off the man's arm and you are not sure who or what the main focus is - the baby, the man or the greenhouse. This is all besides the lighting is very bright and shadows are on the man's face. The poor child needs sunglasses.

 

Photo by Tobias Mrzyk on Unsplash 

 Spot the oddity here? One person has 2 heads and 3 legs. The photograph may have worked better if the shot was with each person separately defined against the background.

 

Typically, we could take a photograph of our subject and then crop it down later to display the best part. Its definitely easier to remove what you don't need than to add.

 

A funny merger in real life that I have seen is sitting at the dining room table with people and there is a painting or photograph framed and hanging on the wall, often exactly behind the person at the head of the table. So it looks like the person is IN the picture which can be pretty funny. Have you seen a funny merger too?

For further reading:

Merge Into the Background 

Photography Rules of Composition: Eliminate Distractions

 

7 PHOTOGRAPHY MISTAKES I see all the time by Nigel Danson

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This is part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of composition. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word "composition". I hope you enjoy the posts!

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Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.

Post 185: Composition 19. To Capture Subject Essence, Simplify

Composition: To Capture Subject Essence, Simplify

This is Part 19 of my series on Composition

To simplify is to get rid of all the foo-foo and fluff and break the photo or the design down to its purest form. Hence, the essence of the subject tells its own story. Your design doesn't need random stuff unless it is about random stuff. 

This could include simple backdrops, zooming in on your subject, changing the camera location sideways or up and down, changing the lighting, or editing the design to let the subject do the talking.

 

Photo by Ruth H Curtis on Unsplash  

Photo by Ruth H Curtis on Unsplash
 

Additionally, I came across this video by the Paint Coach - Chris Fornataro - its very good on how and why he composed the painting the way he did.

The Truth About Painting Landscapes From Photos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oJUjiNtlK0

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This is part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of composition. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word "composition". I hope you enjoy the posts!

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Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

---

Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.

 

Post 184: Composition 18. For Depth and Dimension Use Layering

Composition: For Depth and Dimension Use Layering

This is Part 18 of my series on Composition

Try adding layering to your artwork and photography. Composition with layering is stacking 3 or more elemental layers to your design that adds depth, dimension, a sense of space. These layers include whatever is closest to you in the foreground, a distinct middle ground and finally a background.

Foreground

The details, textures, and colors used in the foreground can include objects and/or people. It could be including the beach sand and footprints in the design of an ocean scene. The foreground could be seeing details of rocks and/or flowers before going into the middle ground.

Middle Ground

Whatever is between the foreground and background can be just as interesting as the foreground and can include the actual object or person that is the subject.

Background

The background may or may not be out of focus and is obviously whatever is the furthest away from you. The background may be the sky and the farthest mountain line in the distance. A layer of fog behind the foreground detail and mid-ground subject may emphasize the design and give that depth needed.

 

Photo by Robin Melliger on Unsplash  

I spot about 4 layers in this photo above, how many do you see?
 

 

Photo by Patrick Bald on Unsplash 

 

A dark wooded foreground leads into several layers of blues in the mountains then to the orangey sky in this photo. The sense of space is fully felt in both of these photographs. Although simplicity in design is typically a very great way to capture and show you subject, looking for a way to layer the design can make for an impressive photo or art piece as well.

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This is part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of composition. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word "composition". I hope you enjoy the posts!

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Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

---

Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.

Post 183: Composition 17. Framing Draws the Eye

Composition: Framing Draws the Eye

This is Part 9 of my series on Composition

Have you tried a "frame within a frame" in your artwork? Composing your photo or artwork may include an element appearing to be sitting inside another element. Framing draws attention and leads to your main subject, adding depth. It draws the eye in, makes the viewer study the picture/painting longer, adds a lot of interest. Give it a try!

 

 

Photo by Matteo Di Iorio on Unsplash 

 

 

Photo by Omar Ram on Unsplash 

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This is part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of composition. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word "composition". I hope you enjoy the posts!

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Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

---

Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.