Jennifer

"Jennifer"

8" x 10"

Oil on Canvas

Amber L Bailey

I am pretty happy about the way this portrait turned out. I have been intrigued by my friend Jennifer's Facebook picture for a while so I sat down and decided to paint it...right off of the screen. I'll bet that was better than having a print. It's late, I worked all day, worked out and painted tonight. I am tired. I am going to re-shoot this piece tomorrow in the daylight. :) I can say I am happy with it, I just wish I could take a good picture! Tomorrow can't come fast enough...oh and it's FRIDAY!

New Figure/Portrait Painting

I started a new painting tonight. I'm not ready to post pics yet, I will get more done on it tomorrow and hopefully post some then. I am working from a photograph on this painting. I'm taking a break from still life for a little while and working on a figure/portrait piece of a young woman. This painting got off to a strange start. I have never laid one out quite like I did this one. I think it's coming together nicely however. Stay tuned for pictures tomorrow.

About me, my art and my blog

About my blog

I've been itching to start an art blog for quite some time. I've browsed so many inspiring "Painting a Day" blogs that I couldn't resist starting my own. Although mine won't be quite a "Painting a Day" blog, I do hope to post to it regularly with my latest thoughts or, better yet, new paintings! I am currently working on my own website. As for this blog, I hope it will serve several purposes. First, I would like it to keep me thinking and writing about my art. Second, I want it to be an incentive for getting some new work done. It will hopefully do both and more.

About my art

At this point in my career, I paint with oils, in an impressionist style. My subject of choice is undoubtedly the human figure. I don't quite feel I'm painting if I'm not painting a portrait or figure. I work as quickly and as loosely as possible, and have found that the more I work a painting, the less I like the result. I have also had fun in the past working with still life and landscape. My first commission was a landscape painting. Though I work mainly in oil, I have also done a lot of work in pastels, charcoal and graphite. I've also used ink.


What I want to do next

I want to PAINT! I have found every reason in the book not to pick up a paint brush and simply do what I love. I would like to continue working with the figure and face and to incorporate them into environments - crowds, festival scenes and such. I have done some of this, walking around at parks and outdoor malls, snapping pictures of unknowing subjects. The paintings turned out looser than what I had aimed for but I won't call them failures.

Who I like right now

As far as Painting a Day blogs, I love Carol Marine's blog. I love her style! She finds something, anything, to paint EVERY day and she makes it look amazing. Her blog should be enough for me to look around my apartment, my cubicle at work or my kitchen and find tons of inspiration for putting paint on canvas - or board - or paper! I'm also digging Peter Cox - talk about someone who can express the human form and put his subjects in an "environment" as I like to call it. What I've seen of his work is amazing. Other artists I like include Carla O'Connor, Robert Burridge, Cheri Christensen and Leslie Toms.

Of course, there are many more amazing artists I could take a lesson from.

Stay tuned for my first painting post.