SUNFLOWERS- the Garden Centurion

Sunflowers Galore!  The gentle giant of the garden. Standing tall and bright turning to meet the sun as it travels across the sky. Like a centurion guarding the summer warmth as we anticipate the soon coming autumn chill.  You are my garden hero, spreading cheer and happiness with a boldness of  bright yellow like none other.

I know as an artist I am about 4 months behind with my seasonal art.  I will get my act together in 2019. I should have all my Christmas designs finished by August and at this time be looking to the red and pink of Valentine’s Day but for some reason I am stuck in Autumn and a season of harvest and blessings.  I’m loving my newest designs that feature the amazing sunflower and I just wanted to take a few minutes to show you a few of my newest sunflower designs.  All of these designs are available in varying sized prints, greeting cards and beautiful 4 x 6 art magnets.

If you like my art you should hop over and like my Facebook Studio art page.  I post all my newest works there first.  On my JulieTownsendStudio.com website you can order prints and sign up for my studio VIP news.  I also have an Etsy Shop that you might also check out.

Original Drawing included a very Grateful Mouse

Here I removed the mouse and added my drawing of a sweet little chickadee

Following Farmhouse decorating groups I've discovered that Buffalo Plaid is very popular

These designs make striking and unique greeting cards- Snail Mail is coming back in fashion

I came up with this design just last night using my sunflower drawing and a pumpkin graphics file

FOR WHOM THE COWBELL TOLLS?

Perhaps a commissioned cowbell tolls for you!  


I know it may sound like I'm bragging here this morning, but think it takes some skill as an artist to do a commission piece from a small photograph.  I've heard horror stories about artists trying to use a tiny, faded, wrinkled black and white photo of grandma to capture everything that the family remembers of her years after she has passed away.  I can only imaging how very hard it would be to make a realistic portrait on a canvas under these circumstances.  My commission experience wasn't anything so drastic but I was asked to paint a commission bell of of a beloved pet, in this case a horse and transfer that likeness to the small 4"x 6" metal surface of a cowbell. This morning I decided to share with you my experience.

Painting so many of these cowbells have given me some valuable practice and I think, just like consistently drawing in my sketchbook, these small artworks are also giving me valuable practice as an artist.  Painting small can be a real challenge because I naturally prefer to paint much larger. Today, I can report that I'm feeling much more confident at painting in general and I can almost paint chickens in my sleep. 

Up to this point, my cowbell commissions have been pretty non-specific and rather more a general theme such as "Can you paint me a rooster, a cow or a sandhill crane?"  I also get request for certain flowers such as the Texas blue bonnets, lavenders or sunflowers.  This particular commission request was much more stressful because this is not just any horse but the clients horse "Lady" and I had to get it right.  

I was a bit nervous during that time that I sent the initial photo of the finished bell to her Facebook message thread to the time that I received the "I LOVE IT!" reply.  Let me just say I gave a huge sigh of relief because this bell probably took me as long to paint as it would have taken to paint maybe 2 or 3 bells of a different subject.  

I am happy to report that this bell is today packed up and waiting for the scheduled postal pickup, soon to be a fixture in it's new home in Ponca City, Oklahoma.  As an artist, there is a great deal of satisfaction to take a project, even if it is as small a cowbell, from start to completion.  

Please contact me at Julie Townsend Studio Contact Page if you might be interested having me do a commission cowbell for you.  They make GREAT gifts!

I Create My Own World Full of Hummingbirds and Flowers- I'm An Artist!

Hummingbird on a Zinnia- 6x6

I love the boldness and sharp lines that are created here when I use a black sharpie marker in combination with acrylic paint to emphasize and outline the focal of each piece.  These are a few examples of my work that I have finished in the past few months using this technique and I just wanted to share them again.  I haven't really seen this style represented among other local artists and so I think it offers a unique illustrated look.  They are also very fun to create and I love painting on smaller 6" x 6"x 2" square canvases but it looks great on a larger canvas too.  Small, colorful, attention grabbing and very reasonably priced I think these would add some color to small spaces or in a grouping.
Some critics may say that outlining the art gives it a cheaper appearance but I love the combination of detail fine art and the illustrated comic look together.  When these pieces are all laying around in my studio it feels like spring is in the air and they almost always make me smile when I look at them.  I say FORGET THE CRITICS!  In my happy little world, I am the creator and I create what I like!

All these pieces are available for purchase on my website at Julie Townsend Studio or you can email me at Julie@JulieTownsendStudio.com if you would like a special commission piece created just for you.  

Fallen Leaves- 12x16 

Fallen Acorn- 6x6

Bachelor Buttons- 6x6

Giant Sunflower 11x14

 

Every home needs one- A COWBELL IN EVERY HOME!

Introducing the opening of my newest website feature- THE COUNTRY STORE.  I have made my ever so popular cowbells available on my website by clicking this link:  COUNTRY STORE

Right now I have 5 unique cowbell designs available but hope to expand that shortly along with other hand painted gifts.  (Please allow at least 2 weeks for me to process and get your order shipped as their popularity has been a bit overwhelming.)   These attractive but sturdy cowbells make great gifts. Custom orders (a small fee will be applied)  are considered and you can contact me to discuss the possibility of me painting something very special and unique for you.

Locally these cowbells can be seen at the following locations:
     City of the World Gallery at 1229 S. Casino Center Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89104
     Boulder City Art Gallery at 1305 Arizona Street, Boulder City, NV  89005
     Valleys Edge Country Store at 4779 W. Bell Vista Ave, Pahrump, NV  89060

Here are just 3 of my designs to choose from:

Rooster 2

Sunflower 1

Cow 1

Pretty as a Picture

You have probably heard of the old saying "Pretty as a Picture".  Up to this point in my painting, I have spent most of my time using reference photos to base my composition on and that has worked pretty well for me.  I really like using 5 x 7 photographs and normally will take a number of different images and use them as my inspiration. 

I recently used a photo taken by a fellow artist that was posted on facebook (very important that you obtain permission from the owner prior to copying a photo) and I painted it as a close rendition to what I saw on the photo.  I was so taken by the brilliance and color of this photograph.  It is an amazing shot full of cheerful bright colors.  There is just something about sunflowers that warm the heart of any country girl.

Original Photo taken by artist Janet Paden of Ohio

This was my original oil of the reference photo

My corrections so far have been removing the dark center under the butterfly and adding more blue to the background

The adjustments I made from my original painting was to remove the dark center that overshadowed the butterfly causing him not to stand out like I had intended.  I changed some of the background tint by adding more blue and lightened the centers of each flower by covering the paynes gray that I had over used in my first rendition. Still with additional critiquing done by a friend and an accomplished artist more changes are apparently needed.

    1.  The spent sunflower in the upper left corner has to go.  It is obvious that my intended focal point of this piece is the butterfly and yet the dark center of this sunflower draws your attention away from the butterfly.  My options are to paint it out completely or to reduce the size and add some petals of it's own so that it blends in with the rest of the composition.  
     2. I also plan to make the sunflowers less orange and more yellow so that the butterfly stands out even more.

As an artist, I needed to take a little more time considering the focal point of my composition.  Take the time to really look at your composition and consider your focal.  Ask yourself if there is there anything else in this composition that is overpowering or taking the attention away from that point?   A good suggestion is to have someone else take a quick glance and find out what they first noticed.  Which is what I did yesterday when I took my painting over for my friend to see.  I have also seen it suggested that you can also view the composition in a mirror and by seeing the image that you have grown so accustomed to backwards that it allows you too see the image from a different prospective.

The photo was an excellent start but my goal should always be as an artists to make my end result- PRETTIER THAN A PICTURE!