Last day of august? Can you believe it? This summer seemed to have passed by in a blink.  I can already tell that fall is approaching because there is a crisp cool breeze already in the air.  My favorite time to make art is in the fall because in my town you can really see the seasons change- and during the fall the leaves change from green to red/orange/yellow and you can really smell the trees in the air.  I know it's a little odd but you can smell Christmas approaching. :) Here is the latest for a painting a day- I wanted to do an impressionistic... blurry.. scratchy.. night scene. Painting dark on dark is pretty tough because the layering of the different depths of dark. I had the most fun painting the lights.  Oil painting on board- 8 inch by 8 inch. :)...
 I have come to accept that I am an avid junk collector or maybe I should call myself a junk connoisseur or maybe call it a thrift connoisseur.   I have had a love for thrifting since highschool where I used to dig in the dollar bins and rummage through my parent's attic searching for old prom dresses and old hats.  I love a good thrift because it's like finding a treasure that has been forgotten all about and the treasure found me.  Maybe I am a little bit of a sucker for a nostalgia thrift- because I love thinking about where something came from.   I have been noticing there are a ton of tv shows revolving a good junk hunt and I wanted to share with you my favorites.  Dirty Money is the much watch if you love a good thrift. The show is about two brothers in New York City- they do everything from dumpster dive, pick up broken junk from antique dealers, and plenty of haggling.    They basically turn old junk into vintage treasures and sell it at different flea markets all ov...
Where I have I been? to a place with trees, no internet, lots of paint supplies and were little pugs run free. I can't even tell you how nice it was to unplug for a few days.   We traveled out to eastern Oregon with the hubs, pups, and family members in tow.  We saw a ton of deer while we out here and one morning I had the pups off their leashes and about 3-4 deers came by and the pups were so excited that they decided to chase the deer.  I think I ran after my dogs for maybe 1/4 of a mile before they stopped and were too tired too move.  I think they thought that they could out run a deer... :)  Well thank goodness deers don't dine on pug. I heard the deer around these parts will actually let you get close enough to feed them.  We rode bikes, did some art projects, went hiking, and drifted in canoes.  Up above is the hub's little brother and his girlfriend.  I was nervous having my camera in the canoe because the hubs kept trying to tip the canoe and splash me with paddl...
Happy Monday! Did you have a super weekend? I am still out on my road trip with the hubs and family and we are having such great adventures.  I can't wait to share with you all my pictures- I have been snapping and all my little paintings I have been doing a long the way. Don't you just love that quote above? It reminds me that there is only one me like me and only one of you like you.  I think we all get influenced by life on how we should be or should act and maybe even the green eyed monster comes out when someone else has a different set of circumstances then you.  Am I the only one who is a little jealous of the teenagers on my super sweet sixteen? :) or maybe even a little jealous when the rich and famous are complaining about the paprazzi but they still make a million dollars a year and get to live their dream everyday? Granted I don't personally know any famous people (will I did meet the guy from American Pie once in an airport like 10 years ago) and I don't ...
I really wanted to paint a fun old yellow couch for a painting a day chellenge.  This is an oil painting that is painted on wood panel.  I started out with a pencil sketch directly on the panel.  How I came up with the image- is that I use a series of images and piece them all together to create one image! This way I can get exactly everything that I want in the picture. :) I  wanted to have the light streaming through the windows and do an outside in kind of effect. What are you making today? ...
I wanted to do a little DIY on how to prep your surface for making a beautiful art project.  This can apply to lots of different types of mediums.  Why is it important to prep your surface before your amazing art project? because it seals the surface and prevents the medium from soaking into the surface and in turn you will use less of your medium.   S upplies: 1.  Your surface for your dazzling artwork 2.  Paint Brush- not too big and not too small.  Something with a soft bristle- something that the hairs don't fall out.  Doesn't have to be fancy- it can be synthetic. 3.  Gesso- if you don't want to use Gesso you can use acrylic paint. 4.  A Cup 5.  Water to go in the cup. 6.  some sand paper- I use one of those square sand paper sponge like things- under $2 from the hardware store. Directions: 1.  Lightly sand your surface if it's not canvas. 2.  Put a little gesso on your surface.   Less is more! It's easier to add gesso then remove it. 3.  Dip your pa...
 Well my painting a day is ode to Mad Men. First of all I can not get enough of the show- I just love the style and the drama.  I also love their creative department and how they look like they have hand drawn story boards and I simple just die over all the outfits..  It's so funny watching the pregnant ladies drink and smoke- I am guessing they didn't know better back then?  I am only in season 3- so don't spoil it for me! I didn't think my painting a day yesterday was finished so I repainted it with a mad men theme :)  I repainted the lady mostly as a naughty housewife face from the 50's with a modern twist with her body and body language.   I always think the people in Mad Men are like people from the late 50's with a wink.  I also wanted to keep some abstract shapes in the back ground to give it a little bit more depth. Happy Saturday. :) ...
What's interesting about this picture above- is that I was taking a little afternoon snooze-a-roo and I woke up and took a few portraits.  I think one of my favorite things to do in the summer time is to take an afternoon nap.. well I think taking an afternoon nap any time of the year is one of my favorite activities. but naps are the best in the warm sunshine. Here is my painting a day! and I really wanted to paint another person riding a bike in a floral print.  I wanted to try and make it more dreamy- and have a little pug in tow. :)  I could also go for a nice bike ride this summer.  What's your favorite summer time activity? PS Painting is an original oil painting- 8X8 for the Goodfoot group show- 88 strong.  If your interested in purchasing this amazing painting- shoot me an email erikaleesears@gmail.com and we can go over the details. ...
I can't even tell you how amazing this challenge of a painting a day has been in the month of August.  I feel like I have learned so much already and we are only 10 days in! I have been working on a few little paintings for an upcoming art show and I am feeling very inspired. I working on a couple of paintings of people on bikes :) This bike is very similar to my first bike- I vividly remember the turquoise and how much I loved circling around the block.  For some reason riding a bike reminds of the times when you're young and you don't have a care on the world.  PS Painting is an original oil painting- 8X8 for the Goodfoot group show- 88 strong.  If your interested in purchasing this amazing painting- shoot me an email erikaleesears@gmail.com and we can go over the details. ...
I have always wanted to learn how to do an animated gif and I finally figured out how to do it!  Well...I didn't figure out how to do it- the hubs showed me how to do the gif magic! I married a smart one.. well he would like to think that he is smart but we all know I am a smidge smarter then he is.  :) I really wanted to do an animated gif on a time lapse of one of my paintings- I think next time I am going to try using the tripod so that I can get an even point of shooting. I am continuing to do a painting a day for the month of August- but I have decided to post them when they are a little bit more dry- so the color is settled and so that I can take a good photo of the work.  I do a lot of my painting at night- I think it's my optimal painting time when I am the most creative.  I am not sure what it is-but around 6-7 pm- I am in complete work mode... my ultimate artistic zen time.  haha like a painting ninja!  Maybe it something to do with all the years of me painting after ...
I am borrowing my hubs brother's Fujifilm Instax 200 Camera and I have to say I am totally addicted to using it.  I couldn't help snapping pictures here and there and it seemed like everywhere.  I felt like I was taking pictures that almost transported me back in time.  I have been using a digital camera for so long and I forget what it was like using actual film.  I can't just delete a photo and retake it - using a film camera there is no delete button! I was even a little nervous taking the first photo :).  Made me think of my very first camera- it was one of those hot pink long skinny cameras and I remember I was so embarrassed because it wasn't a square.  I used to take it to the playground and run around and take pictures with it.  When I could I would to sneak using my sister's Polaroid camera.  What's funny is that I still have my sister's old polaroid camera- or maybe I should say it's my polaroid camera :) Do you remember your first camera?...
This weekend I am going to try and sneak in some art shows and I think the hubs is going to take me to dinner and movie :).  I also got a loaner Instax 210 camera from my hubs little brother with some film!  Woohoo!  So excited and I can not wait to start snapping some photos and I also just love writing a little note on the photo. Here is my painting for the day and it's of St John's bridge.  For Portland being such a small city- we have a ton of bridges (I think we have like 7-8 for the one river) and this one is my favorite because of the bright green.   When I was a kid my dad would take me fishing right under this bridge- there is a boat launch.  I still remember my secret bait recipe- for catching fish.. it was velveta with a worm. :) Shhh don't tell anyone!  Whatever happened to Velveta? Is it still around? What are you up to this weekend? PS Painting is an oil painting- 8X8 for the Goodfoot group show- 88 strong....
 Hello! I didn't realize how busy this month was going to be until after starting this challenge of doing a painting every single day for the month of August. :) I am doing a group art show in September called 88 Strong at the Goodfoot .  September- I said the S-word! It's a sign  summer is coming close to being over. :( I am going to be doing 8 pieces for the show and I am going to pick scenes form Portland.  There are small pieces so they fit perfectly in the month long paint-a-thon of a painting a day. This is a painting of the Portland Rose Garden and I wanted to do something with realism and classic landscape techniques but with the abstract shapes.  I really wanted clean bursts of color but more square bursts of color like a  digital burst of color. I sound so artsy! lol :) My hubs as you know is a big computer geek and he makes i-phone applications.   I do all the accounting work for the computer starts up which gives me the time I need to paint. Well my husband i-pho...
  I am 2 days in to my month long challenge of doing a painting a day. I really love how day 2's painting turned out.  I wanted to do a two toned still life with a Polaroid OneStep SX-70 White/Rainbow Camera with Q Light.  Some Step by Steps :) I started with a light sketch of burnt umber. Couple of Quick Tips for Painting Still Life. 1.  Put your still life on a white piece of paper.  This is an easy trick to show the proportion of the shadow and reflective light. 2. Place your object at eye level and have it in direct view of your easel or workspace.  Then you can just glance at the object and not have to move around much.  I am putting this in my etsy shop . :) Happy Wednesday!  Oh what to paint tomorrow.. ...