Lil Miracles

My new painting website - Ann-J.com

2011-02-21T13:55:00.003+07:00

So....
I finally have a website of my paintings
kinda like my lil online gallery :D

www.Ann-J.com
http://annj-art.blogspot.com

Plish do visit :)

Portrait Artists

2010-08-24T22:23:00.003+07:00

I was looking at portrait painting at found Kyle Lambert's digital photorealistic painting on an ipad, even iphone....
I'm like, wow !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__rPHTWxS4g

and then I was looking at his blog
http://kyle-lambert.blogspot.com/
and finding more cool stuff,

I found out about Chuck Close
and I'm like double wow !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgsFYXsdcp0

Did he go back and forth to paint those tiny colorful shapes to make up a giant face ?
I found this other video on youtube, it kinda breaks down the painting into values, contour and adding grid, so it's like individual squares and then it's ready to be painted.
So..... it's more like, do the preparation, then paint tiny individual squares to make up a whole giant face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFZLwNDyCU0

or see here
Art Lesson Plan : Chuck Close Grid Drawing projects for students
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/larry-valuegrid.htm

Portrait painting - Little girl w Balinese Hat

2010-08-24T17:19:00.009+07:00

Acrylic on canvas
(left) size : 30 x 40 cm
(right) size : 30 x 35 cm

The one on the left I did 3 years ago (2007)
and the one I just finished is the smaller one on the right.
Yes, there's definitely improvement there.
sorry, reference photo is not shown :)

First of all :), I don't really do portrait, I prefer painting animals, more freedom there :D
So I struggled with this painting
because I don't know how to do portraits ;p
and because I want to focus on the painting technique instead of the drawing technique, I cheated, yupppp :) I photocopied-enlarged the original photo (it's an old out of focus photo, btw) and I traced it onto the canvas.
but even then, I can't make it to look like the real person, I mean, it doesn't have to be photo-realistic, I like it better if a portrait painting is smudgy, coarse brushstrokes, loose, alla prima, etc but you know how even such "messy" paintings look like the reference photo/person ?
I couldn't achieve that, even after tracing it !!
Both paintings were done by me, both were traced using the same size enlarged photocopy but both end up looking like 2 different girl.
can you imagine the frustration ?
okay, after a comparison, the little girl's face on the right is slightly wider, that's why she looks a bit chubbier ;) but only by 0.7 cm, more or less.

I used Acrylics only, without any medium (retarder, glazing, flow enhancer, etc)
I wanted to achieve an oil-like-alla prima painting, but I couldn't, instead it's kinda rough and the color is not exactly perfect either. (no color theory here, I just any colors that I feel appropriate)
and I was searching for youtube videos on how to paint portrait with acrylic, but I end up getting a lot of oils instead, some are good though. (links below)
and I ended up always smoothing the painting out with the brush.
I dunno why I keep on doing that, I did a study to paint Bing Crosby CD Christmas CD Cover and I think I did great, but I can't re-do that technique on this portrait though.
Here's the original CD cover art.

Here's the WIP

done

and If my painting looks unfinished, I kinda like a painting that looks that way. and I deliberately leave the hat as it is, pink and yellow unfinished :)

close up of the face

Bottom line, I think portrait artists rocks, their skill is something I wish to "absorb" lol :)

================
Here are the youtube links that may be useful for you (and me)

Color Palette for portrait - wetcanvas
http://www.wetcanvas.com/ArtSchool/Portraiture/Palette/

Portrait Painting
ACRYLIC
nice n fast : acrylic with gel medium (retarder ?)
but color palette not shown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQsazAmERlo

OIL
alla prima by Robert Liberace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMv_nOHO_9g

Jeffrey Watts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaTtPA_HvXA

Tamara Geddes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMPanPKw6bs

Craig Nelson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi4Zcy6TyF8

Irv Rudley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsJlUm6bYYQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCjQl0BrlQY&NR=1

Sharon Sprung
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xnFc8qyX8s

painting realistic eyes by Tamara Geddes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_N_Mqu4G6Q

Natalia paints oprah (irudley's student)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsrJVe4d54Q

and I think this is Acrylic :
Farsad Labbauf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD6Woiczcq0&NR=1
This could be achieved with a computer, but a human doing this ?
If there's no initial sketch or whatever to help the artist, wow !

==========================

My Paintings

2010-08-10T20:48:00.007+07:00

Gentle Rhinoceros

2010-08-10T16:40:00.005+07:00

"Gentle Rhino"
Acrylic Painting on Canvas
50x60cm

the horn took forever and I still can't achieve the super shiny metallic result
For this I used Titanium white and Payne's grey
and a very light touch of Cadmium yellow light (super thin) on where the light hits on the horns.

just having fun with photoshop ;p

added color on rhino's face, titanium white, mars black, burnt sienna

next is adding more color in the rhino's face
It's a combination of adding color with dry brush, scumbling, anything really :)
it was all "try this and try that" to see what works.

adding wrinkle lines

after this, I used a soft round brush to soften the top part of the wrinkle lines and maybe add some more highlights underneath the wrinkle lines, when necessary
oh and I did the eyes.

and done :

closeup :

Painting Total time :
1 day + 15.5 hours
done in 9 different days in the span of 27 days

what I still want to learn : how to achieve that realistic metallic-stainless steel horn

Learning to paint shiny objects

2010-07-29T01:07:00.007+07:00

I've never really done still life
so I'm trying to learn how to do shiny objects,
in particular metal/stainless steel right now

I was just browsing youtube and found this video
it's a painting of jugs, not metal, but kinda shiny
it's interesting how the artist blends color by dabbing with a sponge
it's a whole lot of dabbing....but it works :)
watch here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6FxEJfvOEI

I also found this artist who does impressive still life
M Collier (works in oil)

and here's my attempt / practice to paint a shiny metallic-stainless steel horn for my next rhino painting.

see what I mean ? I can't get it to shine *pulling hair*
I only used Titanium white, mars black or payne's gray, so.....
I so wanna learn painting shiny object.... what's the secret ?

and another artist
whose technique and color I like
Vivienne St Clair

(images belong to the respective owners)

in the mean time, I'm still struggling how to paint a very shiny metal :)

Ostrich & Dragonfly painting

2010-07-19T11:07:00.004+07:00

Baby Ostrich & Dragonfly
Acrylic on canvas
40x60cm
"I come in peace" could be the possible title :)
Reference photo from lady_carol and paintcrazy022 from wetcanvas (thx :D)

Initial sketch and Pink background (Liquitex' light portrait pink)
Time : 3 hours

Baby ostrich's face (beak included)
Payne's grey, Titanium white
a touch of light portrait pink & raw sienna
Time : 10.5 hours in 4 days

I was gonna go for the dramatic effect, just the baby ostrich looking up and that's it, but.....

something was kinda missing, so I added a dragonfly :)
Time : 3-3.5 hours

close up of the dragonfly
wings : Payne's grey and Titanium white

Total time :
16-17 hours in 6 days in the span of 13 days
:)

Peacock Painting

2010-07-17T23:11:00.005+07:00

Peacock Painting
Acrylic on 450g/m2 canvas
50x60cm

I really dunno the affects of the different weights/thickness of canvas.....
I saw this canvas and they're sold in different canvas weight, so I chose the "heaviest" one available just to see.
quality, durability, anyone ?

Used a pallette knife and that leftover pint of white winsor newton paint that was too dry and chunky to use with a brush.
I just pressed the paint with the pallette knife onto the canvas, kinda like using a gesso
now at least I know that my almost-dry-chunky white paints won't get wasted :)

Sadistic looking peacock, for fun ;)
Time : 1 hour sketch
then I added messy yellow+white background

Filled in the blue and did the head
Time : 2.5 hours
Blue : Ultramarine blue + a lil bit of Cerulean blue + black here and there

added more blue on the body
Time : 2 hours
did the crown (is it called the crown ?)
Time : 4 hours

started on the lower part of the body
Time : 11 hours n 40 mins
yuppp... lots of staring and wondering what to do
for the greenish feather on the upper of the lower body,
I was tempted to buy cobalt turquoise because I didn't know what color to use
but I finally used
titanium white + ultramarine blue as base
then glaze it with thin layer of phtalo green
and the yellowish highlights, not yellow, but light green from cad lemon light + emerald green

and

Voilaaaa.........

Total time :
21 hours 10 mins
done in 6 days
in the span of 10 days
*phew*
(photos are a bit darker than the actual painting though)
reference photo by stalksthedawn from wetcanvas (thx :D)

Will try to improve on the technique when doing another peacock in the future.
I want to learn how to achieve that glistening glimmer shiny peacock feather.
and I really should learn the names of body parts/feathers of the peacock instead of saying the green part, the blue part, etc ;p

James Hance - cool artist

2010-06-11T12:42:00.004+07:00

I found this guy, James Hance, when I was just looking at twitter's random update tweets
and I totally love his paintings.... (not the scary goonie one, though ;p)

Loose but real-life looking
and he paints faces with great resemblance despite his loose technique
I want to learn that.... loose paintings seems easy and fun
but I know it's not easy, well, at least for me it's not :)
learn learn learn !!! :)

I don't know much about copyright and all that stuff....
but since his art contains characters from the muppets, starwars, etc
I just had to ask whether he obtained permission from the copyright holder first
and he kindly replied :
"hi! pretty much everything I paint is parody art, falling under the umbrella of 'fair use'. helps to have a good attorney :)"

www.jameshance.com

Don't his paintings just make you happy ?
Love love love em :)

I think paintings should be just that
Fun to paint and the end result must make others happy
:)

follow him on twitter to get updates on his latest works
http://twitter.com/JimJeroo

Lion Painting

2010-06-08T01:48:00.010+07:00

I have this canvas that I've prepped a while ago...
I've always wanted to paint a big Lion face, but never got around to it, until now

Acrylic on stretched canvas
(80cmx80cm - 31.5"x31.5")
- gessoed twice (sanded each time)
- I then add another layer of paint (titanium white and black) --> I dunno why, I seriously dunno why I wanted a greyish background
I used pallette knife (or was it a plastic card ?) to smooth the surface, but I didn't get a smooth surface anyways because there'd be uneven lines from the pallette knife... d'oh, but it just adds an un- noticeable texture ;p

I didn't sketch the lion face beforehand and I thought I'd just used diluted paint to draw straight onto the canvas.
See the white heart shaped drawing above the nose.... the first drawing was too small, the second drawing, the nose was to far down, the third drawing was ok.
I then add crazy looking hair, just for fun.
Total time : 2 hours

I started adding in color, struggling with what colors to use, trying this and that, mixing this and that. The lion's looking pretty sad at this stage, and honestly, I was kinda frustrated looking at it, hah :)
Total time : 30 mins

I finally used yellow ochre + cadmium orange and some burnt umber for the darkish brown color.
Just went loosely on the hair using a big fray cheap brush, hey... it works !!! :)
I'm so happy about it, no painting details using small fine brush, just going loosely and fastly.
Total time : 2 hours

Defining the eyes and nose
Total time : 3 hours

Greyish background is painted black
Finishing the hair, using different colors to add depth
I love how the hair sort of flame-y on the bottom of the painting
Total time : 4 hours

Eyes close up

I did this in a total of 11.5 hours on 5 different days, stretched over a time period of 1 month and 6 days.
Why ?
because I'm a lazy bum, that's why ;p
and a lot of staring and whining "oh how do I do this, oh I can't do this, bla bla bla" because I didn't know how to do this and that and I was afraid how it was gonna turn out.
but I think this is the best painting I've done :) and I'm so loving it !!!!
I didn't even know I could do this, but I did anyway and it turned out great :)

I know I said that I'm going to start painting on smaller canvas to explore more techniques, but I think I shouldn't be afraid to do pieces on big canvases, I need to stay confident & just try any techniques I think is possible, no pressure, no burden, just having fun.

and I don't mean to brag, and I know I've still got a loooootttt to learn, but Sometimes I "WOW" myself !! I'm really really proud of this one and I find that a lot of the times we (by we, I mean me) limit ourselves and not dare to try, but I find that if we just push ourselves a little bit more, we might be surprised of the outcome :)
I mean, it's like "I had it in me the whole time and I didn't know it ?"
"Where did the talent come from ?" I just keep getting better even without proper practice/training. I mean.... I'm ashamed to say that I've been lazy and I haven't been using my talents and pushing myself to see how far I can go, I haven't up my skill in painting, I've just been neglecting it, yes because of time limit, but also because I'm lazy and I'm not confident, but it's mostly laziness.
I know it's not just me, there are a lot of talented people out there who don't use their talents well and waste it away, and there are some who are less talented but they keep pursuing their dream and they succeed, they become really really good from a lot of hard work and years of non stop learning.

So.... I think I've got some talents in painting, and even if I'm just totally biased and subjective on this, and If I actually have no talents whatsoever, it doesn't matter, coz I'm gonna start painting more, just paint and get better at it and see where this will take me :)

I think we should all do that,
No whining, No saying "I can't do this",
We need to work hard and keep pushing ourselves and have confidence in what we do.
Just try and see what happens.
You may not always have a "pretty" result, but you'll definitely learn a lot,
and in time, I'm pretty sure that you'll get your "pretty" result, eventually.

What to do when I don't know how to paint this & that

2010-05-26T15:53:00.006+07:00

When I got stuck on something
How to paint furs, detailed / loose, how to paint this and that, etc etc
and that got me frustrated.

- I'll simply take Time off,
- Go out and not think about my painting
- maybe watch youtube for free painting tutorials
- Look at other people's art that I love (from books),
Look at them and imagined what kinds of techniques they use.
- go to online forums to ask questions or just read others' techniques. (www.wetcanvas.com)
- If you have resources , painting DVD, artists friends, use em, ask em :)
- and Reflect on what technique I can do on my painting.
and usually in the end of day 1, motivation is back.

What I do to make me love painting

2010-05-26T15:53:00.001+07:00

I like painting
but sometimes it feels like a burden and I feel like I'm walking alone in the dark.
Yea yea... complaints aside....
I want to love painting, make it relaxing, perhaps like a therapy too
It's not going to be work..... It's gonna be something I've been wanting to do & can't wait to do it, again and again.
Like escaping daily routine, having time for myself,
I want the thought of "painting" makes me feel that excitement like I'm going abroad to travel or like eating desserts
Since this is becoming something that I can't wait to do.
I won't feel lonely while painting, I won't feel like I'm missing out on that few family-friends time, I won't care what others think of my art
well... I do have to care, because sometimes their critics push you to learn more and be better :)
but I won't let it make me feel like I can't paint at all.

I have to be brave in making mistakes
It's okay to make mistakes
It's okay to wreck a halfdone painting
Have confidence in what I do.
Always learning
Always having Fun
I want to like like like painting, loveeeeeee painting.

Leave the guilt part behind
Learning process always involves spending money
So If I want to experiment or paint whatever
I'm not going to feel guilty that I may be wasting canvases / paints.
I'm learning. It's a process.
and having said that, Right now, I'm going back to smaller canvas so I can explore different techniques and not waste as much paints.
Maybe use cheaper paints, we'll see.
(I'm still using professional-artist grade paints now - I know - it's my ego)
I'm going to learn guilt-less
I'm starting small, learn, have fun, be explosive impulsive if I feel it
or maybe therapeutic like
whatever.....
then when the time is right, I'll move back to bigger canvases.

If you're wondering about the guilt part
I'm the kind of girl who buys high quality sketch book and since I care for it so much I ended up not using it.
I can't work freely on it because I'm afraid I'll fill it with ugly drawings.
So I use scrap books instead, plain papers, and I work better there, no guilt.
Psychotic I know ;p ahahha but I know I'm not the only one.

So..... imma start painting again for me :)

Why I've been avoiding painting ?

2010-05-26T15:39:00.004+07:00

So aside from :
- I'm lazy.... yepp.... working on it....really hard... won't be lazy anymore now !!
- my always wanting to paint a good painting all the time, self-expectation too high
- my fears of ruining a painting that's half done
- my lack of knowledge in painting
- and not to mention I lack patience and oh,
remember the I'm kinda lazy part (esp the clean up part)
- the long hours of trials and errors and not knowing what to do
making mistakes and getting frustrated where I should just take it lightly and have fun in the learning process
- the alone time
Alone for hours n no one 2 talk to sucks,
and when I'm done, everyone's asleep
or I take too long to clean up and I got left behind alone at home ;p
combined that with laziness.

- I also got scared from the expectations of others.
how they become kinda disappointed when I paint something that they don't like, but I like it (technique wise - colorwise, etc)
not necessarily a bad one, but simply I like it and they don't
they don't have to say it, and they'll deny it if I ask, and I'm not being over sensitive about it, but I can see it in their eyes.
okay sometimes they say that they don't like it.
I know this shouldn't be a problem, but it makes me feel bad because I've failed to impress them
o wait, the problem's probably mine
but no, it's more like I feel I've wasted time and money to paint something that actually turn out not 'right' to them.
sometimes they don't want to see the I'm-still-learning-how-to-paint results, the not-so-perfect painting.

Expectations from others suck
"You need to fix this, you need to fix that" like it's like flipping hands
But I should use that constructive critique to encourage me to be better, to be more skillful

sometimes the expectation's too high
another critique in the family, would come and point out all the details that I need to fix,
not that it's a bad thing, but every painting I do becomes subject to her wanting me to make it right.
and if I don't fix it, she'd go on and on and on and on about it.
So it becomes a job rather than just painting for fun and for me.

sometimes the expectation's too low
I did this one painting on a large canvas, colorwise is pleasing on the eyes :)
the propotion of the object of the painting is good
but technique wise, it's sloppy
sometimes others like it, so when the color and the proportion is good, technique might not matter to them.

- feeling turned down
a lot of the time when I paint, and I'm all excited to show em my new painting, they're not 'excited' about it.
They're like "oh I'll see it after I'm done watching this soap opera on TV"
I think they make me feel like I'm inadequate and I'm only creating crap.'
I'm not writing this to get "aawww....you poor thing" and getting approval that they're annoying and I'm right
I just want to get this out of my chest.
I know I'm supposed to paint for me anyway, not for them.

all of dat
I think that's about all.....
Now I know why
I'm not finding justification not to paint
I'm just asking myself and finding out why I'm not feeling excited to paint anymore

I know these things shouldn't get to me and I should use it to prove to them that I'm actually good and that I can become better in time.
but sometimes it brings me down a bit and I don't like it.
so a combination of all of that is probably why I avoid painting.
but I've gotta fight it and just paint and have fun with it.

No pressure, no fear, realize it takes practice, be patient, it's a process
be humble, u're learning, paint 4 urself, courage and confident and experiment, make it ur own style.
Don't focus too much on 1 spot, don't overthink, have fun
Enjoy the process n learn from it.

Oh and prayers too....
I don't do this too often, which I should.
but in everything I do, I want to say a simple prayer, so that I can make use the talents that He's given me and be better and that the result may be beneficial for others.
I also wish that someday my paintings would be worthy enough to be involved in charity
and I wish for world peace *miss universe wave*
no seriously, I really want to master the wave....;p
no seriously.... I do want world peace and say a brief prayer before painting and give up my future paintings for charity.
and I want 'em to be sold, maybe auctioned, in a really really prestigious auction house.
kinda like Van Gogh's painting sold for millions, imagine what millions of dollars can do for charity.
Of course I wish to still be alive when my paintings are auctioned for millions of dollars for charity.
and of course, everything is possible :)
Peace.

Acrylic painting Instructional DVD - Tutorial

2010-05-24T13:16:00.003+07:00

I found this clip on youtube when I was looking for 'How to paint fur with acrylic'
and this is quite useful........ even tho I wasn't looking for a detailed technique....it's always good to learn :)
I love love love detailed paintings, but I personally don't have the patience to do them ;p

The basic :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r88_8nzTEc

More detail on the fur painting :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu8YVsNVlIQ

The artist is Derek Wicks
www.derekwicks.com
and he sells the instructional DVDs on his website
He has more stuff there.... color theory, compositions, birds, flowers, etc
I haven't bought his DVD, I just found this clip on youtube to be quite useful and I think it's very generous of him to post that clip :)

So.... I hope it can be helpful to you too :)

What I'm painting right now

2010-04-12T02:48:00.004+07:00

right now -
I'm doing a study of Xu Beihong's "Slave and Lion"
The original painting was done in 1924
and it was auctioned by Christie's in Hong Kong at 53.9 million HK dollars (6.9 million U.S. dollars)
a record high price compared with other Chinese artists' paintings worldwide.

Here's the pic of the original painting
I saw this on a magazine and I just fell in love with it.
but what I do is I cut out the slave and only paint the lion and the cave w the colorful background.

honestly... I started this painting in 2007 and left it untouched for 2.5 years....
and now after fiddling with it for 20 hours ;p.... it's finally done :)
not perfect.... still a lot to learn....but it was a learning experience n I'm quite happy with the result

sometimes I love the colors on my rag paper towel

The pallette after washed and scraped ;p

anddd.........
I have my canvases all lined up for next projects
next is lion head
next is loose portrait of a lil girl
next is fun painting, becoz the canvas frame is dented and I just wanna have fun dabbing paints and playing with colors
can't wait for that one :)

Tips when you're frustrated in painting

2010-04-12T02:42:00.002+07:00

Since I'm still learning,
I find myself in a situation where I don't know how to paint this and that
"how do I do this ? do that ?"
"Ooopss !! "
"Nooo... what have I done ??!!!"
and sometimes it just got so frustrated when you have no one to turn to

So
this is what I do :
- I take time off
Go out, do whatever, have fun and not think about the painting
- I go to youtube looking for painting technique video
- I look other people's paintings that I love
(gallery, books, etc)
- I go to art forum , in this case www.wetcanvas.com

After a while, I started to reflect on what technique I can do to improve the painting
I'll be like, "hey.... this should work" and "ooo yeaa... I can do that to achieve that effect."

and at the end of day 1
Motivation is back and I'm ready to paint again :)

Arts and Artists I love

2010-04-12T02:21:00.003+07:00

http://www.robertbateman.ca/art/rbop/rbatemanonpainting.html
http://www.robertbateman.ca/art/rbop/fiveeasypieces.html
good inspirational read :)

http://www.terryisaacsart.com/
I have his book on acrylic painting technique "Painting the Drama of wildlife"
a good one

http://wildlifeart.wordpress.com/
or www.jasonmorgan.co.uk
amazing wildlife artist - oil painting
WIP in his blog

http://www.epicart.net/
man, that tiger looks like a photograph

Pochi painting WIP

2010-04-10T23:08:00.007+07:00

My last painting was 3 years ago....
crazy huh....
anyway...
this is a painting that's long overdue
I posted that I was going to paint this one on Dec 19th 2007
and it's now April 2010
wihuuuuu......

okay......
so this is Pochi Poronchi
(the reference pic)

and this was left like this for around..... 2 years ?
oh my

okay.... so I recently started painting again
Day 1 (3 hours)
adding in some color inside

did the eyes and the spray bottle
I've never done still life, so with the spray bottle, I was struggling with the shape and how to make it look plastic-ky

Day 2 (3 hours)
added more background color
it was ultramarine blue + dioxanine purple + titanium white
it took me quite some time to do the background
I'm re-learning the basics of acrylic.....

a little zoom

Day 3 (2.5 hrs)
adding fur details
I'm starting to get frustrated here....
how do I do this ? how do I ? how ? how ? how .....

Day 4 - didn't paint

Day 5 (5 hrs)
finding courage and continuing with it

yeppp.... 5 long hours of trials and errors and experimenting and figuring out this and that

the result :)

I know it may not look finished...
It feels like it's a cut and paste object placed on the canvas
but I really like the color of the background and how it gives a flowy feeling
I seriously find the flowy purple soothing to look at
and I don't want to mess it by adding shadows
and honestly, I'm scared to ruin it ;p
So I'm leaving it like this for now....
This is just to get me started painting again, I don't want to put too much pressure on myself
I was quite pleased with the result :)
I know it's not perfect and the object may be a bit too small in proportion to the canvas.
and I need to learn more about how to paint fur
but for now.... I like it :)

closer look

I'm always open for critiques and suggestions :)
feel free to comment :D

Pochi & spray bottle
Acrylic on Canvas (50cm x 60cm)

Dried Acrylic paints

2010-04-10T22:54:00.004+07:00

ahoohooohoooohuuhuuu :(
I have a jar (474 ml / 16 oz) of TitaniumWhite Finity Winsor & Newton that has dried up :(
I bought it years ago.
It's kinda rubbery now and if I use an old brush and fiddle with it for a while, I can use it, except it may have tiny clumps here and there.
that's US$20 wasted :(
I searched the internet whether there's something I could do to save it, but I couldn't find any solution, so in frustration I poured a little bit water on top.
I know, but it gave me a peace of mind "at least it'll stay 'moist' under that water now"

Maybe I'll use it for a 'fun' painting, crazy impasto ;p
white on white
or pastel colored painting
we'll see
UPDATE :
I used a pallette knife and
I just pressed the paint with the pallette knife onto the canvas, kinda like using a gesso
and it works :)
of course it takes time to spread and smooth the paint onto the canvas and just keep going until it's all even.
if you have some spare time, it's actually kinda fun :)
so this way, I get to use my "dried-up" white paint

seee :)

on the other hand,
I have another glass jar of Liquitex Titanium White (the flowy one)
which I couldn't open for years
so I actually managed to open it...yeayyy
How ?
Heat water in a pan until hot enough... not boiling
put the glass jar upside down for a while, not too long though, just to make the Acrylic that's dried up inside the jar to soften up a bit so it won't seal shut the lid anymore.
then take it out of the water
leave it for a while if the glass jar & lid are too hot to touch
you might want to use a thin surgical glove here
then... twist the lid open and voilaaaaaaaaa !!!! :)
so happy I got it open
then wipe or pull the softened dried acrylic that's been "gluing" the lid to the jar
yupp... that's why u need the glove so you don't get paint all over your hand :)
that's it :)
easy and the paint is still good and flowy :)
just like brand new

Acrylic paints

2010-03-02T17:36:00.007+07:00

I though I could find Finity Acrylic paint from Winsor Newton at bookstores but I couldn't find them :(
(they only carry the Galleria line)
then, d'oh.... I just found out Winsor n Newton have a new name for their Artist line, it's now called the "Artists' Acrylics"
(it was Finity Artists' Acrylic before....so they just omit the name Finity)

Anyhoo
I bought all my paints long time ago and luckily most of them haven't dried up yet otherwise I'd have to spend quite a fortune buying new paints.
coz.... I don't really mix color ;p
I know some ppl can mix and obtain every color just with 3 basic color, red, yellow, blue
but I can't and honestly, I just love looking at all the different color in my collections.
I know I know, they're not to be looked at, they're to be used in paintings !!!

but either way... it's kinda hard to get Artists' grade paint here, not that I'm a professional artist or anything, but if I'm gonna spend roughly the same price, why buy the student grade ?
I know the student grade are probably safer because they're "non toxic" but the ego in me just want the Artist grade paint. ;p oh well.

but good news....
I called this art supply store and they can deliver....... yippieeeeeeeee
we don't have a lot of art supply stores like in the US.... they're rare here ;p
I can go to the store myself but traffic is super crazy and I don't want to spend hours in the car
So....... problem solved........ will be getting my paints in..... errr............ 4 days ? let's see :)
I need Burnt umber, Burnt Sienna, Mars Black, Permanent Rose

In the mean time,
(not advertising for Winsor n Newton, but this might be useful because in the beginning I didn't know which color to buy)
Here is the recommended basic palette for Artists' Acrylic by Winsor Newton :
Lemon Yellow, Azo Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Light, Permanent Rose, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Phthalo Green Blue Shade, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Titanium White.

If you want to use just three primary colours they suggest
Azo Yellow Medium, Phthalo Blue Red Shade and Permanent Rose.

More here :
http://acrylics.winsornewton.com/en/usingartistsacrylics/colourpalettes/

I didn't remember what color paints I bought when I started out but I researched and researched and I just got kinda lost, but then I bought a few colors that was recommended by artists or by the paint manufacturer, and after a while, little by little, I just bought more because I thought I might need them, in the end, I think I got all the colors I need :)
at least for now.

How to clean up the brushes and tube caps here :
http://acrylics.winsornewton.com/en/usingartistsacrylics/cleaningup/

No matter what I do, my brushes don't really get cleaned thoroughly, I mean, they're still ok to use, but not clean clean, maybe I have a monk-ish side ;p
that's why I prefer cheap brushes, I don't feel guilty if I ruin them and I'm still experimenting at this stage, so :)

btw, I have Liquitex too, but they're harder to find here.
they're just as good, I think
and I've read that they say how you're not supposed to mix different paint brands because of bla bla bla.....
I mixed them (Liquitex & Winsor Newton, both Artist grade) and they turn out okay..... but it's just me :)

pictures from winsornewton.com

Sketches

2010-02-24T17:30:00.004+07:00

So I did these sketches today....

I'm so very rusty though, so I kinda struggled and I was about to give up in the middle because I thought they turn out so uglyyy.....
but as I kept on sketching, they turn out to be quite allright, .....for me at least :)
I know they're not perfect, (yes I notice the jaw :D and yepp... the nose too) but I'm still learning and it's a process.

I think they all took around 1 hour or so.
I sometimes take so long to do a sketch, but sometimes I'd do a 3 minute super quick sketches and they turn out great..... so maybe it also involves being "in the mood" to draw/paint and just do it without pressure or expectations.

I supposed that's why most of us don't really do sketches or paint, because halfway through we got frustrated and the sketches/painting really do look ugly, because they're not done yet !
and we judge ourselves and say that we're not talented enough to draw/paint.
We forgot to just have fun with it.
I know sometimes I feel that drawing/painting is a burden because I expect it to turn out great and if it doesn't turn out great, I'll feel bad about it, but Nooo !!!
I should just draw/paint, no pressures, and just experiment, have fun and hey...art is art :)
The whole experience should be fun !!
I forget that sometimes,
so I'm just going to start taking things easily, drawing/painting with no burden, I'm just going to draw/paint, have fun experimenting and learning and see how it goes :)

My Art Supplies

2010-02-21T13:41:00.003+07:00

I think I last painted in 2008
it's crazy how long I've been absent from painting !!!

So.... Since I'm going to start painting again
I thought I'd post some of my art supplies :)
actually, I had them on the floor to wipe all the dust away ;p

Here are my Acrylic paints

I started with cheap student paints that comes in little tiny tubes and after a while, I started buying the Finity and Liquitex Acrylic paints little by little....
and I think I have enough colors now :)
except.... the ones on the floor.....
the Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Mars Black, White, Permanent Rose and Magenta is drying out or has dried out. ;(
So... I need to get the essential Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna.... and maybe the Permanent Rose.
I still got 1 tube of Mars Black paint and 2 tubs of Titanium White.
I'll try to google if I can rescue / salvage the dried paints, but I don't know if it's possible or not.

Here's my Winsor & Newton artist watercolour collection

I was fascinated by watercolor art last time, still am, and these were on sale
so I thought.... oh well..........
some of them have dried up, but with watercolor you can always cut them open and use a wet brush with them, kinda like using the portable water color set that comes in tin.
So.... will try to explore watercolor later on :)

Some of my brushes... synthetic brushes for Acrylic paints

I have some of the more expensive Winsor & Newton brush here and the palette knife is also by the same brand, but I spend way too much time worrying about the brush.
So I find it better to use a more affordable brushes so I can focus more on the painting rather than the lifespan of my brushes.
Most of the brushes here is quite cheap actually and I still have more in my drawer, whenever I find a good quality affordable brushes, I tend to stock them up... well I only did once actually ;p
The pipette is used to add water drops when I want to thin out the paints on the palette.
My palette... I use Acrylic sheet cut out into a rectangle shape with rounded corners.

The whole lot

Will post painting photos soon, hopefully :)

The talented Audrey Kawasaki

2009-10-12T15:21:00.006+07:00

Have you seen this girl's work ?
They're amazing !!
Her work is a combination of manga and Art Nouveau fused together on a wood medium.
Some are kinda "creepy" but still beautiful ;p

Audrey Kawasaki
www.audrey-kawasaki.com

Do visit her blog here :
http://i-seldom-do.livejournal.com

yup, dat's her

and Here's a clip of her at Baby Tattooville 09 :

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0iqwMpkYGE

Her works :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNgctkZ6vjA

Terms and Conditions

2009-07-12T01:13:00.002+07:00

Copyright
All Contents (photos / artworks / design / articles / other data or information) presented on the LilMiracles.com site are copyrighted by LilMiracles.com and their respective owner and may not be copied, published (or otherwise made public) or modified without written consent from LilMiracles.com and their respective owner. You should assume that everything you see or read on this site is copyrighted unless otherwise noted.

There are suggestions on LilMiracles.com
(books, information on other websites / blogs, etc)
Those suggestions are useful for me.
They may also be good for you, however it may not be the same for different individuals.
I'm not responsible for any decision and results that you make based on those suggestions.

There are links to a third party website.
I do not guarantee their site to be free of virus, bugs and errors.
Surf safely and it's good to always have a Anti Virus installed and running.
By following the links you hereby acknowledge that LilMiracles.com are in no way responsible for any material you may find offensive, or un-requested, on any of the sites you view from this page or our site.

Links

2009-07-12T00:47:00.002+07:00

Here are some of my super useful links :

www.Wetcanvas.com
I learn a lot from this forum.

About me

2009-07-12T00:29:00.010+07:00

I'm Ann.J
and
I just want to share
what I know and what I paint (my art)
yup, dat's it :)

Blog

LilMiracles.com
LilmiraclesArt [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com

Website
Ann-J.com
www.twitter.com/Ann_J
annj.art [at] gmail [dot] com

If you want to know more about me
Here we go :)

I wasn't very artistic when I was a kid.
I can never draw something just by imagining it.
If I wanna draw an elephant, I must see the picture of the elephant,
otherwise it's going to like a 3 year old just drew it, everything crooked and out of proportion.
Not that it's wrong, but I would like it to look like an elephant :)
I can't do sketches of moving objects as well, why ? coz they move, so I just can't.
Highlights and Shadows are also hard for me.
Plein air drawing/painting, mmm never tried them, but I figure I'll end up bringing every single art supply that I have, just in case, and it could probably get messy too... so....
but I know that everything can be learnt by practice , so I'm practicing :)

I got interested in painting when I was in Year 11 in Sydney, Australia.
I took a Visual Arts class, not knowing anything about acrylic paints and brushes.
I didn't learn much so I dropped the class after a few months.

I took Product Design in University
and on my way home one day,
I saw a place offering painting classes with Oil.
So I went there, took a class and went probably only 3 times
and I didn't continue coz I didn't learn much.
and it was more spending time filling colors on the paintings, rather than learning new techniques and then the 1,5 hours time was over, so I found it kinda useless.

I was then , determined to learn how to paint myself.
I can't explain it, I was just so interested in painting.
So I went on the internet, start searching everything.
I learnt about different types of brushes, papers, paints, etc
I also went to bookstores, bought some imported self-learning art books
Also bought some oil and acrylic paints, and painting supplies, cheap ones at first...
I then started painting

My first painting in oil on canvas turned great.
I, myself couldn't believe that I actually painted that.
So... me... someone who never hold a brush, who couldn't draw well, could actually paint something that good.
I don't mean to brag, but it was really good for a first timer.
I then started painting more and more.
I finally choose acrylic paint because it doesn't make my bedroom reeks of turpentine.
Yes I first painted in my bedroom,
and that bedroom has now been turned into a studio ;) but my wardrobe is still up there.
I now sleep in a room without a wardrobe, how artist-like is that ? :p
well, artists sleep in their studio, so....

Anyhoo....
The first paintings was an animal.
I'm just so into animals.
and the more I have art books, I started learning how to paint by reproducing the images in those books because I was still learning and their paintings were paintings that I love and they were my references.
I wanted to achieve their painting techniques, their choice of colors.
It's a good learning experience.

I have since stopped painting, or I only painted like once a year.
because I am, well ..... I have to admit.... was lazy...*boo*

But Now,
I want to paint again.
I'll do sketches
I'll do drawings
I'll do paintings
and I'll post it up here.
Whenever I have time to blog about it,
I'll share what I find out, what I've learnt, what I know
I'll share my painting supplies, my book references, my favorite artists
I'll share my painting techniques.
(It's actually a trial-and-error process rather than a technique, but still :))
I'll share stuff I know here.

Because I was in the dark when I first started and it took me awhile to find out about art stuff.
I didn't even know that there are many types of brushes, I didn't even know there are art supplies stores. *d'oh*
So Now I'd like to share what I know and hopefully it can help you too.

So...
if I can do it, so can you.
Start small, get those cheap student/kids grade art supplies and paint away :)

and remember there's no such thing as a bad painting,
1. you're still learning
2. it's Art.

So just Have Fun !!!

and Why "LilMiracles" as the name ?
I want my paintings to be my LilMiracles for me to enjoy, and maybe for others to enjoy too.
and Someday soon, when I'm good enough and I have enough paintings, I'd like to sell/auction my paintings (for a crazy sum of money, hey, one can always wish) and donate the money to charities so that the paintings can be a real Little Miracles for others in need. :)

Blog
LilMiracles.com
LilmiraclesArt [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com

Website
Ann-J.com
www.twitter.com/Ann_J
annj.art [at] gmail [dot] com

My Favorite Books - Guide

2009-07-11T18:25:00.003+07:00

Click here to go to My Store for 'Books & Stuff'

Books are one of my favorite things in the world.
I don't buy every new books that are marked "best seller" or "new arrival"
But Sometimes , some books are just so good, I just have to have them.
Sometimes the books are published way back then, yes old books are sometimes the best.
Sometimes I find books on sale of only 3 dollars !!
Sometimes they just got published and I got attracted by the pretty cover and they turn out to be great books.
Sometimes the cover is really "ugly" and "boring" but the book turned out to be fun.
But one thing's for sure, They're filled with so much useful and amazingly true information
Even after reading it months ago, you can always go back to it and find more information that you didn't notice before.

So here are My Book Recommendations.
http://astore.amazon.com/lilmiracles.com-20

They've given me quite a lot of useful information and inspirations and ideas.
and I just wanna share them with you :)

There might be some useful stuff in the store also.
I'll add more stuff that I find useful for me at the store, so you can benefit from it too :)
Some books aren't even in stock anymore, but I find them to be useful, at least for me :)

Enjoy !

PS. I will do reviews of the books in future posts, in the mean time, you can just follow the link to see the books :)

Flamingo mingo

2007-12-19T22:07:00.002+07:00

So, this is my Flamingo painting, which I did in Sept '07.
The reference image is from Crias at Wet Canvas *thx crias :)* What is Wet Canvas you ask ? Well, it's a very resourceful art forum where you learn and share. Come and take a look around :)

Please keep in mind, I don't have any formal art education hohoho, painting is basically one of my many hobbies

Background color's a bit grey-sih, but hey....
First , it's pink paint all the way, then 'erasing' it with white paint. *you can do dat ? dunno but I 'erase' stuff all the time*
then adding a little detail with black.

Then adding more detail, as you can see, I'm a not very descriptive *lazy*

They both look kinda the same below. ooh.. I've added some highlight on flafla's head *flafla is the flamingo's name*

Then added more detail on the feathers, and added some details on flafla's eye.

Painted the rest of the background white, and it's blue ornament thingy all around. And it's done, it's done !!!

My mom and sis kept insisting that it's not done yet, "it doesn't look done", they say, but I wanted flafla to be on a white background.

So here it is, FLAFLA :)

My Toucan Painting

2007-12-19T17:49:00.000+07:00

Yes, I also paint *wink* This is a a colourful toucan that I did back in 1999. wattt.... dat's like almost 10 years agoo.... I'm so not productive. hikz.... will start painting again. And No... it won't be like the daily painting blog where I paint 1 painting daily, I don't think I can do dat, besides I gotta work the reverse psychology on me hoho. Anyhoo....Totally Love the beak :)

This is basically a fun painting for me, dab dab paint, choose colours, dab dab again, desserts and tea on the side.... admire from a far... stare and daydream for 45 minutes.... 2 hours TV break.... approach painting.... mmm.... stare again.... decide to continue the next day... *am so lazy*. Next day... continue painting... pick colours...dab dab paint... dab dab some more. and done :D *victory grin*

Oopss... Almost forgot, it's Acrylic on Canvas, 60cm x 50cm (24" x 20")