Christine Eastwood, Art: 2014

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Woman in Scarf

I don't usually post a picture before I'm sure it's completed -- but I was so pleased with the results so far (and I haven't decided if I want to mess with it or not) that I wanted to put this one up. (The poor lady doesn't even have a name yet.) I just finished taking a three-day workshop with Fealing Lin @ Catalyst and this is from the class. It's such a major departure in style for me. I really like the effect and will try to incorporate more of what I learned as I go forward. I hope you enjoy.

UPDATE: So I decided she was done and she is simply, "Woman in Scarf." And I still hope you enjoy! Mar. 8, 2015

Sunday, October 19, 2014

It Takes Two

For whatever reason -- maybe it's all the dancing shows on television -- I had a desire to try painting a couple dancing. And if I'm going to paint two people, well, it almost has to be the tango, n'est-ce pas? I'm trying some new techniques with this painting, allowing the shadows to have sharp edges (something I don't generally do). It was definitely an interesting exercise since there were two people and I not only had to get each one sketched in a fashion that made sense and was recognizable, but they also had to relate to one another in size. (It's good to challenge yourself!!) I hope you enjoy it.

(detail)

October Morning

For those of you who follow this blog, you know that I don't generally do a lot of landscapes. But I was going through some of my photos and ran across this one that I took last year at this time when we were in Calistoga for a family wedding. The mornings were crisp and a ground fog shrouded the fields as the morning sun came up. It was so tranquil and almost other-worldly. I was trying to capture that feeling in this landscape -- to share the golden hazy light that blanketed the field across from us, revealing only glimpses into the distance.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Twilight Waves

This is based on a photo that I took at dusk while standing out on the pier in Newport Beach, CA, and looking down the coast to the next one. I'm trying to capture that moment when there is still enough light to see, but with darkness being imminent. It's amazing how quickly everything changes moment to moment.

Winter Waves

This is from a photo I took in January 2013 at Newport Beach, CA, near the pier. It was a bright, sunny day with lots of wind, and the surf was up. We were actually killing some time and getting in a last little bit of sight-seeing with our friends before driving them to the airport for their return flight home to Kiel, Germany. They were delighted and snapped lots of pics to show friends back home and help perpetuate the myth of the weather here in Southern California!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Fried Egg Poppy

The first time I saw one of these, it stopped me in my tracks. There's something delightfully fun about this huge, frilly poppy that looks like a giant fried egg. So when it came time to make a painting for the 7th Annual Daisy Miracle Benefit (http://www.daisymiracle.com) which supports the UCSD Neonatal Intensive Care Unit -- this was it. For the last couple of years, I've painted pictures of little girls, and I just felt like it was time to change it up a bit. Et voila! This is my fourth year donating art and I am so pleased to be able to contribute to this very worthwhile cause. I hope you'll visit the website and read about Miss Daisy and the legacy she leaves behind.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Simple Succulents

I read a decorating article just the other day that declared "grout is out!" Who knew!? But that makes this even more fun because this painting was actually done for the purpose of floating it in a clear acrylic frame and placing it as the back-splash over a kitchen sink. (And that was before I read the article. I feel so smart!) The goal was to create a pop of color for a kitchen that has white cabinets and a subdued palette of neutrals on the counters and walls. When my daughter-in-law and I began discussing what to do with that area, the discussion eventually morphed to putting a painting up. She loved the idea and so I set to work painting one of her favorite plant types -- succulents -- for the kitchen wall. It's about to go to its new home and I hope to add a photo when it's in place.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Toys on Parade

This is a second painting done for our grandson's nursery -- part of the work completed in my last semester's watercolor class. It's such fun to do something like this when you have a very special audience.

The Watchdogs -- Otis and Sammy

This has been done for a few months, but it was a surprise painting for our new grandson's nursery -- so I couldn't post it before now. Otis and Sammy are our two miniature schnauzers and they hold the place of honor over Harper's crib where they can keep an eye (or four) on him. This was truly a labor of love and it's so exciting to see it up in place.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Seeing Blue

Okay -- the final assignment -- and I do mean final. We were charged with doing a self-portrait (eek!) and I decided that since I've been so liberal in adding odd colors to other portraits that I've done it was only fitting and proper that I treat myself the same way. I'm not one of those people who naturally smiles when a camera is aimed at them, but I had no idea I would look sad. I really wasn't, I was simply contemplating the fact that it's time for me to leap out of the nest and the safety of painting class and try doing something with all of this. That's not to say that I won't take other classes...it's just time to "graduate" and move on. So maybe what that look was is wistfulness. It's been fun. The best part has been the people with whom I've painted and become friends. So here it is ... a self-portrait of the artist.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Eye of the Tiger #3 -- Confidence

For the final painting, I decided to shift styles and let the colors mix and merge directly on the painting. This is a technique that I often avoid because I don't feel as if I have as much control over the outcome. And yet this time, like the painting title, I felt confident enough to just let it go and see what happened. Ironically, this is my favorite of the three. I think this tiger had something to teach me.

Eye of the Tiger #2 -- No Fear

The second in my series of tigers. This next keeps the soft painting style, but a more ferocious expression. This tiger is telling you that he's not afraid and he's ready to take a stand. I actually had a blast painting the teeth on this guy.

Eye of the Tiger #1 -- I Can Wait

We've just finished working on a personal series of three paintings. I originally decided to try my hand at painting lions and tigers. (And everyone added, "...and bears! Oh my!") At first there was no particular reason other than I hadn't tried painting either one before and I thought it would be interesting. But along the way my focus shifted to the tigers and the intensity of their expression. I painted them softly, almost gently, but let their intensity and strength come through the eyes.

Little Red Riding Hood

ittle Red Riding Hood hurried through the woods toward her grandmother’s house. She was frightened by the villagers’ stories of the big bad wolf who lived in the dark forest.

More experimenting in our class to learn how we might use watercolor in applications other than simply a painting to be hung on a wall. This time we were to take a children's story and work through concept sketches and color scheme experimentation, with a final product of an illustration and the text it might accompany. We were also challenged to so something "different" with the story -- to provide a "twist." I decided to use the negative space painting technique to create the suggestion of a forest with Grandma's house in the distance. And my "twist?" -- Little Red Riding Hood is no longer blond-haired and blue-eyed like the illustrations I remember from my childhood, but a young woman of color. I wanted to try updating this story to a "modern" version that might appeal to children of all ethnicities.

Untitled -- Negative Space Painting

Some of you may have noticed that I have not been posting my work this semester. It's not that I've stopped painting, it's just that this semester's watercolor class -- taken with a different instructor (Kristi Genoway) -- has been a time of exploration and experimentation. One of the most freeing parts of the class as been her encouragement to indulge in "spectacular failures." And trust me, I've taken full advantage of that and produced some pretty awful stuff. But along the way, I've also learned some really cool techniques. This is an example of a process called "negative space painting" where layer after layer is added to produce a feeling of depth. It got confusing at times, trying to remember what needed to be left unpainted at each subsequent step, but the end result was quite interesting.