Morning Stroll, white ibis

"Morning Stroll"

Made a few corrections and added extra details to this little painting from a few years ago.

I gave the grass more shadows and enhanced the water to set the ibis off. I also added more feathers. I just love the blueish hues in the shading. Then I dabbed the water with more sparkle and made it drip from the beak slightly.

This bird was a visitor while I was out painting on location at the Savanna's Recreational Area in Fort Pierce. I got quite a few pictures of him as he walked up and down the edge of the water. 

~ Exclusive Art

~ Original Acrylic on hardboard

~ Professional Materials

~ 6 x 6 inches

~ Ready to Frame 

SOLD

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Savanna's Stream

Savanna Skies

 

Sea Star, beach

 

"Sea Star"

© Fawn McNeill 2020

Found this starfish at Walmart. It was bleached white.  It was smaller than others I had found, so I thought it might work well on this small cradled hardboard.  I painted it and adhered it with acrylic modeling paste after I created the beach.

 I inverted the support and primed and painted the beach on the back so that I could use the cradled edge as a frame. Usually, the cradled back is used to hang the art and the sides get painted, so framing becomes optional. But this way I had a built-in frame!

(It is quite difficult to paint the inside edges of the cradled wood without ruining the painting!)

 I had done this once before and really liked the effect ("Shoreline Treasures").

Also, I created "Sea Angel" at the same time as this project.

Enjoy!

~ Exclusive Art

~ Original Mixed Media

~ Professional Materials

~ 6 x 6 inches

~ SOLD

Click here to see more!

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"Seabiscuit Shoreline"

Seahorse 3D

Sea Angel, shells

"Sea Angel"

© Fawn McNeill 2020

 Played around with the patterns on the shells and they reminded me of a skirt, so I went with that and found some shells for the wings and head that were shiny.  Fun little project!

 I created "Sea Star" when I created this project.

Enjoy!

~ Exclusive Art

~ Original Mixed Media

~ Professional Materials

~ 6 x 6 inches

~ Not Available

Click here to see more

Email me if you are interested in something similar: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com

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"Blessed"

Below the Surface, turtle, fish, starfish, shells

"Below the Surface"

© Fawn McNeill 2022

Experimented with a limited palette. Wanted the texture to be the main focus. Added actual starfish, seashells, and clay objects that I created from molds. Used the palette knife to create the interesting textures of seaweed and sand. Peaceful. 

~ Exclusive Art

~ Original Mixed Media

~ Professional Materials

~ 6 x 6 inches

~ Sold

Click here to see more

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 3D Sea Star

"Coming Storm"

 

Cliffside, ocean, trees

"Cliffside"

© Fawn McNeill 2019

Never posted this one, not sure how I overlooked it! 

Playing with texture, I added gel medium with a knife to create a buildup for tiny branches and bark on the trunks. When that dried it was interesting to add colors that enhanced the effect.

Enjoyed the whole process!

• Original mixed media
• 8 x 10 inches
• Custom frame
• Professional materials
• Sold

Click here to see more

 ge.

Breakthrough, water lilies, mixed media

"Breakthrough"

The young flower was coming up under a lily pad. Got some interesting photos of this area while I was out working En Plein Aire (on location).  Originally, I just wanted to capture the warm morning sunlight chasing the cool shadows away.  It made the many shades of green into a feast for the eyes!  But I got carried away with the impasto, hidden critters, and beads. I also added glitter paint here and there for a little extra shimmer in the water.

The impasto effects are made with heavy gesso and a palette knife. Some of the lily pads, lotus flowers, and the little stick that the snail is on are built up with it.

 The baby turtle is actually a metal charm that I primed with a primer that is made for use on metal (so the paint doesn't peel off).  He was just too shiny to leave unpainted!  I wanted him to blend in more.

The dragonfly is made from paper clay, which is an air-dry clay with paper fibers added to it for strength. I used a mold to make it. Paper clay is wonderful to work with for mixed media projects. It receives acrylic paint well. I added iridescent paint into hues of blue for his color.

The snail is made from a resin mold that a friend gave to me. Resin molds are harder to work with and are not easily painted over.  I used a special primer (different than the one used on metal) to get the snail to receive the acrylic paint. Again, I wanted to get him to blend in.

Gel medium (matte) and acrylic modeling paste were used for adhesives. (I use professional-grade primers, paints, mediums, and sealers for longevity.)

~ Exclusive Art

~ Original Mixed Media

~ Professional Materials

~ 8 x 10 inches

~ Elaborate Gold Frame (see below)

~ $800.00 (Free Shipping in the US)

Email me for availability: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com

Click here to see more

Related Posts:

 Lovely Ladies

Eternal Joy

 

A Rose is a Rose

"A Rose is a Rose"

© Fawn McNeill 2007

 

While remodeling and organizing things this past year, I am also reframing some of the gems I find in storage.  

This is one of my Daily Paintings, back when I challenged myself to create about 5 paintings a week! Most of them were small, and many were quite impressionistic because I did them en Plein Air (on location) or alla prima (all in one session). This painting took a couple of sessions as I took my time to add more detail to it.

I love this frame. It reminds me of something you might see in a museum.  A quality frame can set off a painting, complimenting and enhancing it.  A frame also helps protect the artwork. This is essential if you have art created on paper or photos that you want to preserve.  These should be framed behind glass, with acid-free matting to slow down the aging process and to keep the art or prints off of the glass.  

• Original art
• Acrylic on hardboard
• 5 x 7 inches
• Elaborate gold frame (has a greenish tint to it)
• SOLD

Click here to see more 

Email me at: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com for availability

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Wedding Roses

 Out Front

Busy Morning, mixed media, colorful flowers, insects, and a frog

"Busy Morning"

    What can I say? I certainly got carried away with this little piece! 

    Honestly, I wasn't happy with it at first. It started as a palette knife painting. Nothing seemed to be working out.  I added more knife work and even used paper clay to build up the flowers.  (Paper clay is an air-dry clay that has paper fibers in it.  It dries stronger and is better suited for mixed media projects than regular air-drying clay.) But I still was not liking it. 

     Carol Jones (https://www.facebook.com/CarolsTreasuresFromTheSea), a close friend of mine, sent this resin frog as a gift with my order of seahorses and starfish. It made me smile each time I looked at it.  I moved it all around to see if it would look good and where I might add it.  It cracked me up! That got things moving.  I added some charms and then purchased some molds to make insects and flowers out of paper clay.  Thought I would use resin at first, but the paper clay worked so well I just kept making more.  

    The advantage of paper-clay is that I can paint it any color I want.  Resin stays as it was created, so you have to get the colors right when you make the mold.

    Painting the molded insects and flowers was time-consuming but enjoyable.  Each piece gave me a new idea of what else I wanted to add. I had to make myself stop because it was too much fun to keep adding more! 

    This breaks so many rules on so many levels!  So I went back and added shadows to the bottom and the left side of the painting (to tone it down some) and also to keep the viewer's eye in the painting.  I also used a solid color scheme of complementary colors throughout the project to harmonize the painting. 

    To top it all off, I made a shadow box frame for it and sealed it behind glass.  This added to the whole notion of a child capturing a frog in a jar!  So far everyone that sees it starts laughing.  That makes it all worth so much more!

ENJOY!

• Original art
• Mixed media
• 8 x 10 inches
• Gold shadow box frame (see below)
• SOLD

Click here to see more 

 

Winter Morning, sunrise reflections

Winter Morning

© 2021

Just rescued this old demo from last year.  Painted over most of it. Turned grays and rocks into lovely morning colors dancing on the snow and the water.  Love the unruly pine tree too! 

That's how life is for me lately, turning the struggles into something, although I'm not as sure about the outcome with life situations!  Most of it is good.  God is faithful.  (Romans 8:28, He works it out for good if you love Him.)

8 x 10 inches

Acrylic on canvas panel

Ready to frame

SOLD

Please email me for availability, or about having something similar painted in a size you prefer: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com

Click here to see more

 

Palm on a biscuit, nautical art

Coconut Palm

How cool is that?  I tried waves on the shore at first, but the raised flower pattern on the sea-biscuit cried out to me, "Make a flower, or a plant, or something!"  It took a few tries to get it to look like a palm tree instead of a green flower, but it was worth the extra effort!

The sea-biscuit has an interesting texture, which I would like to explore the next time I create something on one of these.  It seems like it would make very nice seafoam and bubbles.  (See the painting below for the back of this sea-biscuit to see the texture. Click on the image to enlarge it.)  The prep for this was a little more involved: used bleach to clean it, and 3 coats of clear primer. 

~ One of a Kind Original Art

~ Acrylic Painting on a Sea-Biscuit

~ 5 1/2 x 4 1/2  inches

~ Painted and Sealed with Professional Materials

~ Front and Back are Painted and Sealed

~ Sold

Click here to see more

Back of sea-biscuit

 

Inhale - Exhale, mini, set, seashore

"Inhale/Exhale"

Sometimes you have to remember to just breathe!  Especially this time of year.  

Seems like the stress got overwhelming earlier this year.  I have slowed it down and told myself more than once, "It isn't even December yet!" 

Great gift idea:

~ Miniature Paintings: just 4x 4 inches each.

~ One of a Kind Original Art

~ Acrylic Paintings

~ Saw Hangers on the Backs

~ Painted and Sealed with Professional Materials

~ $450.00 for the Set 

~ Free Shipping in the US

Click here to see more

Email me for availability: Fawn@fawnsartstudio.com 

 

Florida Sunshine, butterfly

"Florida Sunshine"

One of my favorites! I just made this small painting available in greeting cards!

The butterfly landed on the grapefruit, which had a crack in it, and the light was making him glow.  It was captivating!  I took a lot of pictures at different angles until he finally flew off.

(The original is sold.)

5 x 7 cards, blank inside, $5.00 each

Click here to see more

Email me: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com  for information about having something similar created in a size you prefer! (Also we can create: animal portraits, kids with pets or livestock, homesteads, inspirational art, etc... )  Price list by size.

Thanks for stopping by!

Click here for customer feed-back to see what others say about my work!  

Working the Edge, tricolored heron, mixed media

"Working the Edge"

I saw this heron while we were out fishing in the rim canal at Lake Okeechobee.  He fished that edge for quite a while and I got some nice pictures of him.  This was a fun little impressionistic painting with lots of loose brush strokes and bright colors.

I hid some clear colored beads in colors that match, so it is a somewhat hard to see them until the light hits them.  There are some peach and orange beads on the hill, green ones among the lily pads, and a few blue ones near the rocks in the water.  The blue ones show up the best, which was the goal, so it adds more sparkle to the water. 

 Framed it in a nice wide custom frame and embellished it with silver lace along the inside lip (see below).

Enjoy!

5 x 7 inches

Mixed media

Sold

Click here to see more

 

Fluffy, bunny portrait, knife painting

"Fluffy"

This is a take off of "Peter" which I did years ago.

I thought I would add mixed media and thick layers of impasto, but I stopped here because I really liked it and didn't want to mess it up by adding too much.  It is much harder to undo mixed media than it is to change knife paintings.

I apologize for the glare on the images. I usually do my photography with a professional camera, but these were taken with my cell phone, because they were spoken for before I had a chance to get a better capture. The glare is in a different place on each image, so you can get a good overall idea.  (Images never capture the way it truly looks in person because the camera can't capture the subtle changes in values and hues.)

I made the little custom frame for it.  I mitered, joined and then embellished it.  I love the little bit of gold lace on the inside lip.  It adds a nice texture and enhances the painting too.

6 x 6 inches

Knife painting

Not Available 

Email me if you would like a portrait of your pet or livestock: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com

Click here to see more

 

Morning Path, knife painting

 

"Morning Path"

© Fawn McNeill 2021

The plants lit up when the sun hit them just right. The orange and yellow really caught my eye along this pathway. I took lots of photos. There were birds and wildlife greeting me at every turn!

I updated this little gem with a couple of palms, a bird, and a little bunny.  I also put it in this custom frame, which I painted with a lacy gold trim.  I love it!

Enjoy!

~ Acrylic on hardboard

~ Original palette knife painting
~ 5 x 7 inches 

~ Unique custom frame (see below)

~ $550.00 (free shipping in US)

~ Email me for availability (fawn@fawnsartstudio.com)

Click here to see more

                                             

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 On My Way

Gravel Path

Casper, white calf, knife painting

"Casper"

Revisited this older painting.  Corrected a few things, added flowers, and exaggerated the eyes to make it even cuter.   I also changed the name and put it in a new frame. 

Sometimes they go into storage and when I bring them out for a new frame I just have to fix the things that don't look right to me now.  

Too funny how we see things differently over time!

Description:

Original art

Acrylic palette knife painting

Image size: 5 x 7 inches 

Custom frame (see below)

$155.00 (free shipping in the USA)

Please email me for availability: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com or to have something similar created!

Click here to see more

 

To and Fro, beach, crabs, waves

 "To and Fro"

Palette knife painting on a small wooden plank.  This was actually a failed attempt at transparent layers of water rushing up over the sand.  The wood grain was perfect for the sand and made interesting patterns that I wanted to exaggerate.  But the wood its self was damaged in a quite a few places and the thin layers of paint exaggerated the odd scars in the wood, which went in the opposite direction of what I was trying to achieve.

So I squished out large blobs of paint and took my palette knife and covered the scarred wood with wonderful mixtures and textures!  I added some pearlescent paint in the water and two little crabs running back and forth on the beach, which made me laugh.  Good memories.

About this painting:

Acrylic knife painting

(mixed media)

Wood support, wired and ready to hang

12 x 5.5 inches

SOLD

Click here to see more

Thanks for looking!

All Wrapped Up Again, mixed media, heart

 

"All Wrapped Up Again"

Added some beads and glitter paint to this old gem.  I love the way it shines when the light hits it from different angles.  I also strengthened the tiny black shadows.  

I've been having too much fun with these mixed media pieces!

Mixed media on hardboard

5 x 7 inches

Custom frame: classic black

SOLD

Click here to see more

Enjoy!

Hot Pink, hibiscus flower, knife painting

 "Hot Pink (hibiscus)"

original knife painting

This started as a yellow flower when I did the demo for an art class in 2019.  I never finished it, so when I came across it last week I decided to use a knife to add some detail and strengthen the contrast. For some reason, I was just not in the mood for yellow!  I wanted to play around with red violet and really push the shadow in the center by adding dark purple.  

I also love the softer background, which is part of the original demo.  So the contrast of the softer (more blended) brushwork in the background is emphasized by the thick almost abstract effect of the texture from using the knife on the petals and the small leaf.  That was what I was experimenting with.  I tried this a couple of times recently but did not get the results I was after.  This one turned out as I had hoped it would!

Enjoy!

Original knife painting

Acrylic on canvas

8 x 10 inches

Ready to frame

$550.00 

Click here to see more 

Email me: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com  for availability or for information about having something similar created!  
Price list by size.

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Last Glimmer

Spring Breezes, seascape with flowers, knife painting

 "Spring Breezes"

Original palette knife painting

This was started as a video lesson, but when I went back to finish it later I decided to add the flowers blowing in the wind.  I love the thick impasto effect of the knife work in the flowers. It was fun to use more paint than usual and challenge myself to leave it alone and not detail it out!

Enjoy!

8 x 10 inches

Acrylic on canvas

Ready to frame

Not Available

Click here to see more 

Email me: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com  for information about having your own custom painting created! (Animal portraits, kids with pets or livestock, homesteads, vistas, inspirational art, etc... )  
Price list by size.