Sleeping Buddies Original Oil Painting

After doing Praying Polar Bear I got an idea to do a baby polar bear with a little mouse cuddled up to him.  So I turned the adult polar bear into a cub with my magic paint brush...ok, it's not magic, just thought it sounded good.  added a mouse and there we have Sleeping Buddies aceo.  Oil on card stock. 
Soon to be listed in my etsy shop.

Praying Polar Bear Original Oil Painting

This is an 12x16 inch oil painting of a Polar Bear with his front paws together as if he were praying.  Reference photo by my daughter, Jessica Thour.  Copyright 2004.

Barbara Haviland - Featured Artist

Big Horned Sheep

From Barbara's Profile:

"I create art and have been an artist for 34 years. I paint daily and usually have about 6 paintings going at a time. I am mostly a self-taught, raw artist who draws inspiration from the world around me. My favorite artist is Dalhart Windberg. I love taking workshops to further my learning. You can never cease to learn something new. I usually paint from my photos. I love bright, bold, rich colors."

One Yellow Iris

"I feel satisfied when someone can see the love I have put into the piece that I have created, whether it is a landscape, a floral, a portrait, or a seascape. At this stage in my career, I enjoy painting in Plein Air. It is both exciting and frustrating. Light changes, and shadows move, but I love it! A paint brush is my favorite tool. You can just about do anything with a brush and some paint. Painting brings out my passion. It is like reading a book, you can go anywhere. It is my escape. The problems of the world fade away. For a few moments, it is just me and the canvas. I feel as though I am meant to create art. God has blessed me in this way."

Along the River

Little Yellow Bird

I create in oils and usually paint on a canvas. I stretch my own canvas. Winsor Newton paints are my personal preference. Everything about painting just makes my day. I never get bored. Now that I am retired, I paint every day. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea and must get it sketched on canvas. I start with a vision and go from there. It just flows. Painting fills me with joy."

View From Under the Bridge

"I am married to Sam, my husband of 46 years. We have 3 grown children and 5 grandchildren. We have been fortunate enough to travel the country. I paint wherever we are. I do not think I could survive without my painting. It is my drug of choice. I need it. I do have to do it every single day. I am a sight painter. I simply paint what I see. Lately, my art has been taking on a fresh look of looseness, and I like it. Plein Air is my new thing. It feels great to create! Painting is very relaxing and gratifying. It is freeing. The world around us is so beautiful. I try to capture it's raw beauty on my canvas. I love to paint landscapes of the bayou. They are my favorite! I also love painting flowers as well as animals. I paint everything. If you have a photo, I can paint it. I am so thankful to be able to paint and create art."

My Wild Purple Iris

Visit Barbara Haviland's Website http://barbarahavilandfineart.net
Barbara's blog http://barbsgarden.blogspot.com

Fine Art Prints http://barbara-haviland.artistwebsites.com

http://barbsgarden.ebsqart.com

http://barbsgarden.etsy.com

http://barbara-haviland.fineartamerica.com

http://bonanzle.com/booths/BarbaraHaviland

Home Portrait for Realtor

I got a call the other day to do a home portrait for a realtor that I have worked with in the past. It's been a long time since I have done one of these. Yah!
This is the finished painting, I think he'll like it.

For Jessica

My daughter Loves leopards and cheetahs! She did her room in this theme. Now and then she asks me if I will paint her a picture of a leopard that she pulls off the internet. Well, I do it for her...it may take me awhile to get to it, but I eventually do it. Now of course, because of copywright infringements I can paint it for her, but can NOT make any money off of it . So no zazzle products or cafepress. I don't even know if I will put it up on my website. So this is really the only place where you'll see this painting. It's 16x20, and I love how it turned out.

Rascal aceo

Here's my latest painting, entitled Rascal aceo. My brother-in-law was live trapping squirrels to release else where, when he accidently caught a racoon. My mother-in-law called to tell us about it and to ask my husband if he could go to Tim's and release him since Tim wasn't home. I had been wanting to see a live racoon in person for quite a few years, so I was very excited when this opportunity presented itself. We quickly grabbed the cameras and jumped in the car. When we got there, here this cute racoon sat, stuck in a cage, so we quickly took a few pictures of him, trying not to freak him out more than he already was. Boy did he keep his eyes on my husband the whole time, following his every move.

While standing as far back as possible, Paul used a crowbar to open the cage. I was sitting safely in the car at this time. Once the cage was open, Paul quickly ran to the other side of the car to get more distance between him and the racoon. The racoon slowly came to the door of the cage, looked around, and then took off to a wood pile. It was very exciting to see him be released. Thank you Tim.

I have this painting for sale at my etsy shop, http://luvs2paint.etsy.com/

Pretty In Pink oil

I decided to do a version of Pretty In Pink in oil, and I like it much better. His head has a better shape and I love the teal background behind the pink of the bird, it makes the bird really pop. I had gotten some opinions from my WWAO friends (World Wide Women Artists Online), and one of the ladies mentioned that I should make the background more dramatic, and she was right on. Thank you : )

My new Lens

I created a new lens on Squidoo.com today. Here's the link to it.

http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/workshop/beginning2paint#

I also copy and pasted it here if you don't want to click on the link. But....if you click on the link you can help my rankings, you can rate my lens, add a comment, etc.

WHERE DO I START?

I remember when I first started painting, I always wondered what was the secret? What am I suppose to paint first??? Do I start with the sky, you know, the background, and then work forward from there? This is for acrylic and oil. (I'm not tackling watercolor, because even though I have done some watercolor, it's like thinking backwards for me, and I am not as proficient in this medium as the other two.) So, when I paint using acrylic or oil, what do I paint first??? Well, I have learned that there is really no magic answer, no mystery to solve. Generally you can start where ever you want in the painting. And different people have different preferences. The main thing to remember, is that when painting, for the most part, you place paint next to paint, not over an already painted finished area. That was the key. This is where negative painting comes into play.

OK, SO WHAT IS NEGATIVE PAINTING???

I would read the Artist Magazine and anything else I could get my hands on, and would find the mysterious phrase, 'negative painting', but they never explained what that meant. Well, in a nut shell, negative painting is painting the area around an object. So lets say I am painting a tree. Ok, got the tree in, but what about the area around the tree and the sky holes within the tree? That's negative painting. So I can either paint the skyholes and sky first, or paint the tree first then later paint the sky and pop in some skyholes. I do it both ways. For me, it helps to have the skyholes drawn out on the canvas, so I have a plan or blueprint. Or, I am painting the bird in this painting, that's the posative painting, and everything else around it is negative painting. So it kinda switches up, depending on what you are painting. I have outlined the skyholes in this painting in fuscia. (I tried making the picture bigger in photoshop, but when I uploaded it here, it remained the same. Hmm, something else to learn.) Now there are times you do have to paint over paint, like when you put in a winter tree, small branches, blades of grass, etc.

MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE

Well, I like to get into the painting and start with the center of interest. Now, that's just what I usually prefer to do. One major reason is because I have a muscle weekness, and I need to rest my hand somewhere, so it works best for me to paint from the center of the painting out. This way I am not as likely to rest my hand on the wet painted area. I hate it when I do that. Ya, I do that...too often sometimes. I should probably mention that when painting, I turn my canvas sideways and upside down. whatever I need to do to get to that area I am working on.I know I can use a mahl stick or artists bridge, but since I don't have one, and it is way down on my priority list, this is what I do. :)

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Brown Swiss Calf aceo

Baby cows are adorable, and Brown Swiss Calfs are VERY adorable. I saw this little guy, at the Minnesota Zoological Zoo, and knew I'd end up painting him for sure. So last night I cleaned off my palette, got out fresh paint and here he is.

You will be able to find him at my website, http://brendathour.com,

Rooster aceo

I love the colors of this guy. This is oil on watercolor paper, aceo size. ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. They are 3.5x2.5 inches, and they make affordable, addorable mini works of art. Can be framed, displayed on a mini easle or added to your collection.

You can find Rooster aceo at http://www.brendathour.com/

Swimming ACEO

I saw this little guy at the Minnesota Zoological Gardens, and I just love his coloring. I haven't been able to identify what kind of duck he is yet.

You can find him at my etsy shop at http://luvs2paint.etsy.com

Bunny Dreams

This little guy is from another photo we took at the zoo, in the farm area. He is such a cute little bunny that I couldn't resist. He was in a hutch, so I of course changed the background.

This one is 5x7 inches, oil on gallery wrapped canvas, with the sides painted as a continuation of the painting.

He can be found at http://brendathour.com

and I'll be putting him in my etsy shop here in a few minutes at http://luvs2paint.etsy.com

WWAO July Showcase

WWAO July Showcase
Every month, a member of WWAO (World Wide Women Artists Online) hosts a themed showcase. This months theme is 'My Favorite Works', hosted by Noelle Hunt. She did a fantastic job, I hope you will take the time to view all the beautiful works of art. Clink on the link to view this months showcase.
http://wickeddollz.angelfire.com/WWAO.html

Jersey Cow aceo

We went to the Minnesota Zoological Gardens the other day, and of course I brought the cameras. I noticed that there were two very cute, even pretty cows. This one, which is a Jersey, and another called Brown Swiss (which I am sure I will end up painting. )

My favorite cow was a 3 month old Brown Swiss calf named Tolbie. You guessed it, I'll be painting him soon too.

This one is an original aceo oil painting on watercolor paper. It can be purchased through my etsy store, http://luvs2paint.etsy.com or through my website at http://www.brendathour.com.

Elephant Portrait

I have really been enjoying doing these wild animal portraits. This one is 12x16, oil on stretched canvas, stapled on the back. The sides are painted as a continuation of the painting.

This painting can be purchased through my website at http://www.brendathour.com look under Wildlife.

Pony aceo

This one is another aceo of a cute little pony. I really like how he turned out. He is oil on watercolor paper. This one and the two chipmunks aceos, from the previous post are all sold. My first aceo sales. Yah!!!

I want to have prints made of these and some others that are in private collections and post at my etsy shop at http://luvs2paint.etsy.com. They will also soon to be found in my http://cafepress.com/brendathour shop.

Here are the other two I did that same day. The first one is called Chipmunk aceo, and the second, (my favorite) Peek-a-Boo aceo. They are, of course, 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Reference photos by Pat Otten.

African Rainbow Lizard aceo

Here is a little aceo oil painting of an African Lizard.
This one is from a reference photo by Dr. Thomas Trainer, he is so sweet to allow me to use his awesome photos. As soon as I saw this shot I knew I would paint it.
The other evening I sat down and did 3 aceos, and I had a great time. I will be posting the other 2 in the next couple of days. In the meantime I will be uploading it to my etsy shot, http://luvstopaint.etsy.com, and my website, www.brendathour.com. I'm sure it will also end up on my cafepress shot, http://cafepress.com/brendathour, and my zazzle shop at http://www.zazzle.com/bmthour*.

Dikdik - Dwarf Antelope

I did this painting last weekend. It is 5x7 on gallery wrapped canvas.

When I saw this little guy, I knew I was going to paint him, he is just so adorable with those big beautiful black eyes. I had to look up on the internet to find out what kind of animal he is. He is a Dwarf Antelope from Africa called a dikdik. (kind of a strange name)

The reference photo came from Dr. Thomas Trainer, with permission of course. He is so very generous and sweet to allow me the privledge of using his photos.

Mothers Bouquet aceo

Here's an aceo I did this morning. It's another painting from my mothers day bouquet.