Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Dawn, Daily Painting, wildlife art by Fawn

"Dawn"

This is all about the dawn of this new year. This pair of white ibis represents freedom and love.

We all make resolutions, but for me, it is deeper than that. I have been wanting to get back to painting more spiritual art again, more symbolism and parables. So this is the first. The dawning of new ideas, new visions, and new dreams. I am looking forward to what this year holds!

Thanks for stopping by!

  • 9 x 12 inches
  • Acrylic on hardboard
  • Classic black frame (see below)
  • Sold

Monday, December 31, 2007

Split Primaries, Happy New Year! Abstract Daily Painting

"Split Primaries"
8 x 10 inches
(ready to frame)
Acrylic on foam core board
I am not sure how archival this painting is. It started as a standard palette and quickly turned into a fun experiment. Foam core should be framed behind glass, but this has a lovely impasto quality, I would have to have an expert frame it.
It reminds me of Flowers exploding, or a rooster crowing in the morning. I guess it could be anything you wanted it to be. It was fun to create! I used a palette knife at first, then pushed some of the colors together with a brush, very much like I do on my palette.
These are the colors I use the most, and they are used in this painting: Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Medium, Napthal Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, and Thalo Blue. These are my primary colors and by using two of each (warm and cool) you can mix almost any color imaginable. I also use white, Dioxizine Purple, and Burnt umber.
I just love these intense strong colors. I can dull them by adding the compliment, creating lovely grays. I do not like using black, it takes over and muddies up my colors. I use it now and then with other colors in it, but I can get nice dark rich blacks in a variety of shades with this palette.

For tips on using color click here.

Email me for availability: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com

Click here to see more



Sunday, December 30, 2007

Wild Angels, Birds, palette knife painting by Fawn


"Wild Angels"
9 x 12 inches
Acrylic on hardboard
Sold

The morning I took some pictures of this stream, some of the foliage and mist looked like large beings. As I painted it, they began to look like angels. So I had to emphasized them.



Please email me at: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com  for information about having something similar created! (We can also create animal portraits, kids with pets or livestock, homesteads, vistas, inspirational art, etc.)  Would love to create an original with you!   
Price list by size.

Thanks for stopping by!




Saturday, December 29, 2007

Taylor Creek Again, Plein Air, Daily Painting by Fawn

"Taylor Creek Again"
(#4 in this series)
Acrylic on hardboard
8 x 10 inches
(ready to frame)
This is the same view of the levee as "Taylor Creek Too" which I did a few weeks ago. This time I zoomed in more and left out the big tree in the left foreground. I had set up farther away so the angle was a little different. This is a simple composition, yet it worked well for the birds I wanted to add. I added them this morning along with a few more details.
I saw pelicans, seagulls, egrets, cormorants, herons and a hawk! I settled for the egrets as they are so stunning. I love adding them to my paintings. We have small cattle egrets, snowy egrets, and great white egrets, all in different sizes. Then we have white ibis and the little blue herons that often turn white and look similar to egrets. I almost always see these beautiful birds while I am out painting, especially this time of year. Some stay all year, but the population increases three fold in the winter months.

Click here to see my gallery pages!

Email me at: fmcneillbarr@gmail.com for availability and/or information about having your own custom painting created. 

Friday, December 28, 2007

Taylor Creek Cypress, Plein air, Daily painting by Fawn

"Taylor Creek Cypress"
(#3 in this series)
8 x 10 inches
(ready to frame)
Acrylic on canvas
Not Available
Finally got to go back to Taylor Creek. It was a beautiful morning. I wanted to paint this cypress tree at a different angle than the last time. I love the interesting shape it has. This was done alla prima, including the bird!


Click here to see my gallery pages!

Email me at: fmcneillbarr@gmail.com for availability and/or information about having your own custom painting created.  

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Brunch 2, egrets, heron, Daily Painting, Wildlife art by Fawn




"Brunch 2"
5 x 7 inches
Acrylic on hardboard




SOLD


This is actually the fourth in this series, The first one was done last January! ("Breakfast")


The second one ("Brunch") is on special at eBay (see the side-bar). The third painting is called "Early Birds." they are all from Lake Okeechobee with this similar theme and color scheme.





I watched this great blue heron try to swallow a very large catfish. It took him almost half an hour. I got lots of great pictures. He would toss it up and turn it a certain way and try again and again. He would hold it in the water sometimes and then toss his head up again. I really thought he would have to let it go, but he finally swallowed it! Click on the image to see it closer.



This is painted alla prima, or all at once. This creates a nice wet-in-wet effect with thick impressionistic brush work. I love this technique. Usually I end up letting a painting dry and working over it to make final adjustments, but when they turn out like this it is very exciting. I will leave this one as is.






Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Top Notch, Paddock Farms Miniature Horses, Portrait

"Top Notch"

12 x 16 inches
Acrylic on canvas

SOLD

I have been working on this painting off and on for two weeks. Finished it up today. Well, maybe it is finished. Smile. I may touch up the background a little. I like the glow and may extend it down a little more.




Some friends of mine own a ranch called Paddock Farms. They have very nice show horses.


Thanks for looking!


Click here to see my gallery pages!


Email me at: fmcneillbarr@gmail.com for availability and/or information about having your own custom painting created. 

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

A Rose is a Rose, Alla Prima, Daily Painting

"A Rose is a Rose"
5 x 7 inches
Acrylic on hardboard
SOLD

I was thinking about a song called "A Rose is a Rose" as I painted this from one of the groomsmen's corsages. I added the bud and leaves to give the composition more balance.


Monday, December 24, 2007

Wedding Roses, Merry Christmas!

"Wedding Roses"
5 x 7 inches
(ready to frame)
Acrylic on hardboard
I wanted to paint this from life, but my corsage fell apart when I got home from my son's wedding. I wore a royal blue dress, so I used that color for the background. I put the roses in a bowl of water, and I painted them and rearranged them to resemble my corsage. The bridesmaids had on burgundy and the bride's mother had on silver, so I decided to wear blue and not step on anyone else's colors! Smile. Everyone else had red roses. The Church was all decorated for Christmas, so it was very lovely.


Email me at: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com for availability 

Friday, December 21, 2007

Hanging Out, palm tree, water, bird

"Hanging Out"
9 x 12 inches
Acrylic on hardboard
SOLD

I painted this in April and this week I have subdued the foreground to set off the middle distance. I really like the broken brush strokes and the colors in the water.
Thanks for looking!


Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Lake Lilies, lily pads with flowers, daily painting

"Lake Lilies"
© Fawn McNeill 2007

I just love this vertical format. I did one titled "Boat Trail" not too long ago from this same area of Lake Okeechobee. Created this from photos I took before the drought. I loved going out and looking at miles of these wonderful water lilies.

The canvas wraps around and the sides are painted so framing is optional.
  • Original Art
  • Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas
  • 6 x 12 x 1.5 inches
  • Sold

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Fawn McNeill's Studio



This is where I spend most of my time! The top view shows almost the whole studio. There is a large framing table just out of the picture to the right. I teach semi-private lessons at the drafting table and the craft table. My easel is in the far left corner.
http://www.dailypainters.com is posting studio tours tomorrow. It will be fun to get a peek at some artist's working space.
I have placed a large mirror on the right side of my studio that is at the perfect angle to my easel, so I can stand back and see the painting in reverse. That helps me see anything that needs to be corrected. (When you look at something for a long time it is good to see it at a different angle, up-side-down, sideways or reversed, then you can see the how the painting looks as a whole.)
I have large windows on the north side, so the lighting is usually very nice. There is also track lighting along the top left ceiling, as well as regular lighting and a ceiling fan. The book case is built into the wall on the far right corner. I have a stereo system there where I play christian rock and contemporary worship music as I paint. Positive, upbeat music makes for great painting sessions!
The doorway on the left is a storage room. The entrance to the studio is out of the picture at the closest left corner, and there is an entrance/exit that goes outside just opposite of it -- in the closest right corner on this side of the framing table.
I am very proud of this studio as I designed it myself. When we built our house two years ago, I had the dividing wall left out of these two rooms. My studio is located downstairs next to the garage and the laundry room. (Which is perfect, because I can take a break from painting and do some laundry and then go back to painting.)
The living area of the house is upstairs. That is the hard part! I am getting used to lugging groceries and such upstairs, but for a long time I had to take breaks in between trips!
I am pleased to say that I have been making almost as much $ as I did working a full time job! Not including the benefits of course, but the benefits of being at home doing what I love to do, and having time with my husband, far out way the stressful life of an art teacher in the public school system! I thank God everyday for this opportunity and for all of the support my friends, family, and clients have given me!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Hot-Hot-Hot, still life


"Hot-Hot-Hot"
9 x 12 inches
Acrylic on canvas

Not Available



I didn't get today's painting done, so I thought I would post this little gem that I did for a very dear friend of mine back in 2002.


This painting was done in many thin layers with lots of gloss medium mixed into the paint. It was painted from a still life that I set up and worked on over a period of a week. Each layer of paint must be completely dry to apply the next layer. Every layer effects the next. I really like the warm colors in the tomato and the counter top, but the contrast of the cool colors in the hot pepper just set it all off. There was a window off to the right, and the reflected bluish light was quite evident.


Thanks for looking!