Abstract Portraits

I have tried for a few years now to paint portraits.  I am realizing I just do not enjoy creating realism.  Maybe because it is too much of a challenge for me (very possible)  or maybe its because abstract is just more interesting to me.  Either way I grabbed a canvas board the other night along with some paynes gray and white welcoming whatever showed up.  

Whenever I paint this way I always feel as though parts of myself spill out onto the canvas.  I suppose each of us leave small parts of ourselves within our work.  Whether its images or words it would be hard not to.  As artists our work comes from a deeper place, one that we may not even be aware of.  And that place can be very powerful . . . 

xo

Linking up with Paint Party Friday today :)

The Girl With The Crazy Red Hair!!

Ok, so I know I said this about my last painting, but I LOVE this girl!!  She is based off of a sketch I did about a year ago and as with the angel I omitted the open eye and nose.  And I think it fits somehow.  The idea of using red for her hair was very scary for me.  I went with golden's pyrrole red.  I think that shade just goes so well with black and white. 

As always  I like to show a few pics of how she came to be . . . 

First I used black and white paint very thickly applied to the canvas.  This is another 16x20.  Surprisingly I am enjoying going large with these faces.  

I use a stablilo marks all pencil in black to sketch her out and also use a faber castell gelato which smudges really well dry for the eye details.  The hair I squeezed right out of the bottle of the fluid acrylic.  Scary indeed!  It reminded me of scribbling!  

Here is an upclose shot so you can see some of the detail.  I stamped in her hair "you are loved"  which I hope you can see in this pic.  I still love stamping.

This gal is available and headed to my etsy shop soon but you can email me if you fall in love with her too! ;)

Today I flipped through my sketchbook and picked out another girl.  I started a new black and white background.  I hope to get to sketching her out on it soon!

Sharing at Paint Party Friday.  

Hope you are all enjoying a great and safe  holiday weekend.  I will be back on Sunday with some new digital sketches to share!

xo

Painting My Girls And Going Bold !!

For those of you who have been following my blog for awhile you may already know how much I do not like painting faces.  I love to sketch faces but when it comes to painting them I get too anxious and I end up with a stiff neck from stressing out trying to be perfect!  Last week I saw a link someone posted on Facebook for an art video by artist Karrie Evenson.  I was not familiar with her or her work so I decided to check her out.  And boy am I glad I did!  Her work is amazing!  She has many videos up on youtube on acrylic painting.  She is all about being free and being bold in life and in your art.  One of the videos I watched was from her tv show "karrie on canvas".  She was painting a woman with wild hair.  

Watching her paint and not get all caught up in the perfection of it inspired me to give it a try and paint one of my girl sketches.  I am still on a black, white and red kick so I thought I would continue with that palette.  I went big and bold choosing a 16x20 canvas no less!  I added molding paste for texture.  The first image is how she started out.  I was so inspired that I took a small bottle of black craft paint and drizzled her hair on the canvas right out of the bottle.  Then I scratched into it.  I was shocked at how much I enjoyed it.  I decided to not get crazy with her face.  I drew on the face with my Stabilo pencil and smudged with a brush for the details.  She has no nose cause lets face it, they are really hard for me to paint!  lol  And besides, I kinda like her face this way.  

Here is the finished piece.  I just love her!!  Adding all the details was just super fun.  I used some new foam stamps for the words.  This piece has lots of texture.  I am so happy to have discovered Karrie and I hope you will visit her website.  I think  you will love her too!!  If you want to loosen up and be inspired be sure to check her out!  

I have even started a new large canvas with another girl, this time an angel.  I will share her soon!  She is almost finished!  

Sharing this piece over at Paint Party Friday.  

xo

Love Is Enough . . .

"love is enough"

mixed media on 12x24 wrapped canvas

available on etsy 

This is the first time I tried a 12x24 canvas and really love the size and rectangle shape.  I went shopping last week and bought canvases as well as some new foam alphabet stamps and a foam heart stamp which I used on this new piece.  As  you can see I am still on the black, white, and red kick!  I may be stuck there for a while.  There is just something about black and white.  And red just fits so well with it too.  I have been using pyrrole red instead of a crimson.  The pyrrole red is an orangy red which I like better with the black and white.  When I used crimson it looks like blood to me.  Weird I know!  Ick!  lol

I added lots of texture with scrapes into the paint and drizzling black and white in scribbles all over.  Love the foam stamps.  This time the words were in my head before the painting.  I added the lines around the words with a faber castell gelato.  Its water soluble but looks like a crayon when u first draw with it.  I liked the look of that.  I needed something around the words.  They looked so lost out there alone!

I like the graffiti feel of this piece.  Lately hearts and love are the main subject of my work.  I have been feeling very out of sorts these days.  Anxious to the point that nothing even looks the same or familiar to me.  I really hate feeling like this.  Hope it will pass soon.  In the meantime I will try to just paint and get out of my own head.  Not an easy task but a necessary one.  

Sharing with Paint Party Friday.  Is it really Friday again already???  

xo

Procession . . . New Black and White Art

"procession"

acrylic on 8x10 wood panel

Well as you can see  my blog has been abandoned for a couple of weeks.  I have been down for the count and I did not even see it coming.  What started out as a cold evolved into what I can only believe was the flu.  I am finally feeling better but not quite over it yet.  It is s sneaky little bug.  I would feel better and then bad very quickly.  Thought I was good christmas eve only to spend christmas day on the couch.  Quite the bummer but certainly not the worst thing compared to the sadness that has been happening around us lately.  

I did however get one day where I felt well enough to paint.  And lately I have been enjoying creating abstracts using a scraper and my hands.  I love the texture it creates and really like the process of scraping the paint around.  

I wanted to try just black and white.  So for this piece which I did on cradled wood panel I applied alot of titanium white first.  I am finding that I like the hard surface to paint on.  Then I used the black mixing it into the white randomly.  I kept going till I felt it was done.  I see some figures on the left side.  What do you see?? 

Sharing with Paint Party Friday.  

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday.  I feel so out of the loop when I am not online.  Hope to visit you all very soon!

xo

Back To Black And White . . .

It has been so long since I painted in black and white.  I was using it alot when I was creating pieces using my photography a while back.  So yesterday I got out a new 12x12 canvas and my black and white acrylics.  

I really do not like using brushes.  So I gloved up and started smearing paint.  This time an image did not show up right away but I knew I wanted to create some type of face.  I did have the large open circle and worked my way around it.  I scratched into the paint layers with my palette knife and scribbled with a white-out pen

I have to say I was a bit creeped out when I stood back and looked at the finished piece.  But I had such fun during the process.  And to tell you the truth I do like it.  I feel something when I see it and I hope others do as well.  

Sharing with Paint Party Friday.  Click Here to join us!

I sketched a face the other day for the first time in many months.  I will be sharing that in my next post so be on the look out!  

;)

NYC Inspired Black and White Photo Art

I am back to my former love!  I got out some of my NYC black and white photography and used it in these  new photo art pieces.  All I used was some black and white paint, a sharpie, and a white out pen for all the details. They were super fun and quick to create.  

I miss incorporating my photos in my art.  Some of you may recall my article published in Somerset Studio last fall that was all about creating black and white photo art.  You can check out that post HERE!

The techniques I used in these pieces were from Julie Prichard's "Mixed Media Variety Hour" online workshop.  I shared another similar piece in yesterday's post.  To view that post click HERE.  

 Sharing today over at Paint Party Friday.  If you haven't joined us yet please do!  Thanks as always to Eva and Kristin for hosting this great party every week!

I am thinking these will look cool framed.  I may do just that and hang them up in our living room.

xo

Black And White With A Splash of Red

"in the city"

mixed media on watercolor paper

© cathy bueti

Something about black and white that I love.  Maybe its the drama, or maybe its because it goes with everything.  I have done many pieces in black and white with altered photos so this time I decided to try a messy abstract piece with those colors. I completed this whole piece using my fingers instead of brushes.  And then lots of white out pen and black sharpie markers.  I like the splash of red too. 

I painted this last weekend just before I headed to the doctor for my emergency arm thingy.  And haven't painted all week.  I am feeling pretty crappy with this super antibiotic I am taking.  I am halfway through the 10 day cycle.  I will be glad when that is done.  The abscess is healing but my post traumatic stress continues.  I need more art.  I hate feeling so out of sorts.  I need to be kinder to myself. This too shall pass . . . 

Sharing this today at Paint Party Friday. 

Wishing you all a nice weekend  xo