Color Mixing

I used to purely mix color based on what my eye saw. Maybe I should preface that comment with the additional fact that I tend to see saturated or high key color all the time. So I was mixing color all the time with a heightened key, based on it's root hue (like lemon yellow or cadmium yellow), focusing on the value of the color and it's relationship with the values of the colors laid down around it.

It hasn't been until recently that I've realized how much more powerful my paintings can be if I instead focus primarily on the color temperature and less so on matching what the base or root hue is. I'm enjoying this diversion and all it is teaching me.

Progression

I have been thinking lately about the natural progression of an artists' style, and specifically how mine has evolved. 

In my earlier years I copied other artists work (Richard Stone Reeves, Sam Savitt, Wesley Dennis, and horse racing photographers in Sports Illustrated, to name a few), striving for a photo-representational final piece. I worked in charcoal, pen and ink, watercolor, colored pencil, pastel, acrylic paint and oils, trying to master the hand-eye bit. Success was measured by how close my finished piece got to representing the real thing.

In college I was encouraged to step away from representation and explore the possibilities of color, form and line purely on their own. I lost myself in the joy of laying down shapes and building up texture free from any notions of perspective or actuality. Any surface fell victim to my tools - fingers, scraps of canvas, palette knives, spatulas, vermiculite, and even a garlic press - all called to duty in building my paintings. Success was measured by the balance of pattern and strength of composition, as well as a certain experimentation with the paint and other elements.

Post graduate work had me building installations. I began creating physical spaces asking the viewer to examine their thoughts on ideas like memory, home, and a woman's role. Of course, while I was making this art, I was considering my own life journey, getting married, creating a home of my own half way across the country, and having children. Success was now measured by my internal processing - what questions did I need to ask that would help lead me to my own happily ever after?

And then I stepped away from art-making for a bit.

Now, more than a decade later, I'm back painting. I've been painting subject matter that I love (animals) and doing it pretty much on my own (although I have been taking the occasional class, I'm not completely immersed in any sort of program). Most recently I realized that I've developed my own style, one that blends lessons I've taken in from the earlier phases of my life.

My work is rooted in representation, yet there is a passion for color and gesture that comes from my love for abstraction and art-for-arts-sake (or "just because" sorts of art). And my best pieces also are able to convey an emotion, hint at that relationship, between the viewer and the subject of the painting.

All this sort of smacked me when I got Duane Keiser's latest oddments paintings delivered to my inbox yesterday (www.athousandsmallpaintings.blogspot.com , #57 and #58). He painted some conversation hearts, which you may recall I tried my hand at last month. His hearts look just like what I envisioned mine should have been. Yet at the time I painted mine, I was pleased with my effort, even though I knew they had fallen short of what I wanted them to be.

You see, still lifes are all very new to me, and consequently I feel as though I'm back at the beginning, trying to paint things tightly and very representationally. Yet what I really strive to do is paint them with freedom that comes from total comfort with my subject, my tools, and my talents.

When I shared Duane Keiser's conversation hearts with a friend (Tami Oyler - you must take a peek at her work - www.lookofeagles.com), her response was "Art is when I draw Point A and Point B, and you dance in the spaces in-between."

I love that concept. It sums up where I want to be. And where I'm already en route to. Dancing.

Thanks, Tami!

Kim

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

www.turtledovedesigns.com

What on earth was I thinking? My father would answer "you weren't."

It is, after all, my busiest time of the year in the studio. Starting October 1st, I am double, even triple booked, with daily commissioned portraits through December 15th. I work late nights and weekends to meet the holiday rush, mostly because I cannot bear the thought of someone wanting to give a pet portrait and not being able to.

I was completely booked for this year's holiday season last January, yet I still slid in a handful of portraits for repeat clients. There were also a couple stories that tore at my heartstrings, so I made room for them too.

Just with the painting alone, I'd be terribly busy.

Then I go and publish a book on top of this schedule! Yeah, the timing makes sense because of the holidays, and the book will be a great gift. But the paperwork and coordinating necessary in order to calculate how many copies to include in the first run, how much shipping materials I will need for that first mass-shipment, not even mentioning the editing and proofreading and proofreading and proofreading.

Did I say there was some proofreading involved too?

I'm trying more so than in years past to get out of the studio and have some downtime. I've been reading quite a bit (and co-leading my 5th grade son's Battle of the Books team with a good friend), and also started a new knitting project (challenging for me, but ridiculously simple for the rest of the world). And I FINALLY chose a paint trim color for our bedroom after 6 years (it's got some dorky name, but essentially is the color of carmelized pumpkin pie).

Today is mostly paperwork and coordination related to the book. I am looking forward to painting for a few hours this afternoon, though. Painting still is the brightest point of my work days. The next brightest is delivering the works - I love the variety of client reactions.

Guess I'll be getting lots of both in the coming month!! :)
Thanks for following along,
Kim
ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com
www.turtledovedesigns.com

Good Reading Material

I've been trying to catch up on the stack of magazines in the studio corner. I don't subscribe to that many - Art Calendar, the Artists' Magazine, and American Art Collector - but when time is at a minimum, reading is the first thing that goes. And I've got a small mountain of issues stretching back to the summer months.

I'm newly enamored of Jeremy Lipking and Casey Baugh - Google their names - you will see extraordinary paintings. While I don't necessarily connect with their subject matter, there is no denying their mastertise (is that a word?). Their understanding of light, their manipulation of it as though it is a vase or ghourd or something solid, is extraordinary. And their use of edges - soft, hard, and lost - blows me away.

Ultimately, the one lesson that I walk away with when studying the work of these two is sweat equity. Both artists committed to their vision and worked towards it, despite the odds. That could have meant working two dead-end jobs and painting after hours, or relying on a spouse to hold the family together, or moving 1/2 way across the country to study/paint alongside a mentor. Whatever it meant, they did it, while staying true to that inner voice.

I have a wealth of respect for that.

Thanks for following along,
Kim
ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

PS The other thing they both had in common: Richard Schmid. Both (and others) have said that his book "Alla Prima" contains everything they ever needed to learn about painting. It's worth a peek or two - my copy is dogeared. Not that this makes me a better painter, just a disciple. Go to www.righardschmid.com to get your own copy. I recommend his dvds too - they are brilliant!

It's been many moons in the making, but the presses are rolling. I'm thrilled to announce that Painting a Dog a Day - The First Year is available in book form!!

The book includes 100 generously sized 8" x 10" pages of full-color images, including my favorite pieces and stories, along with an essay highlighting the first 15 months of paintings (October 2006-December 2007). I've interjected bits of hindsight and random thoughts about art-making alongside the images.

It's a beautiful publication, one that Dog-a-Day collectors and animal lovers alike will enjoy perusing.

The book is available in both softcover and hardbound editions, and will ship out December 1st via priority mail, in plenty of time for the holidays. It will make a great gift - so check your list twice, and then place an order.

The softcover edition is $39.95; Hardcover (with dust jacket) is $54.95. Shipping and handling will be an additional 4.95 - and I'll gladly combine shipping on multiple volumes. Just ask for a quote.

To order, send an email to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com with the subject line "BOOK". You may also simply send a paypal payment (ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com) for the total amount due, or mail a check directly to the studio (346 N Anderson, Lake Orion, MI 48362). Please include Michigan sales tax if shipping to a Michigan address.

If you pre-order your copy before November 1st, I'll have plenty of time to personalize an inscription and can guarantee holiday delivery.

Thanks, as always, for your time in looking at, and sharing, my paintings (and now my book!) with your friends and family.
Kim
ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com
www.paintingadogaday.com

Read This!!

From January 2007, "Watch Eye," 6" x 8", acrylic on canvasboard, portrait of a gray horse, $279 exquisitely framed. I do not understand why this painting has not yet sold - it is one of my favorites, and has been widely exhibited this past year and a half. Guess he's waiting for the right home. Is it yours? Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com.

Sit down, because I've got some great news.

The Painting a Dog a Day book is ready!! It's finally ready!!

It's been many moons in the making, but the presses are rolling. I am so excited to get these into your hands!

The book includes 100 generously sized 8" x 10" pages of full-color images, including my favorite pieces and stories (like "Watch Eye," above), along with an essay highlighting the first 15 months of paintings. I've also interjected bits of hindsight and random thoughts about art-making. It's a beautiful publication, one that Dog-a-Day collectors and animal lovers alike will enjoy perusing.

The book is available in both softcover and hardbound editions, and will ship out December 1st via priority mail, in plenty of time for the holidays. It will make a great gift - so check your list twice, and then place an order.

The softcover edition is $39.95; Hardcover (with dust jacket) is $54.95. Shipping and handling will be an additional 4.95 - and I'll gladly combine shipping on multiple volumes. Just ask for a quote.

To order, send an email to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com with the subject line "BOOK". You may also simply send a paypal payment (ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com) for the total amount due, or mail a check directly to the studio (346 N Anderson, Lake Orion, MI 48362). Please include Michigan sales tax if shipping to a Michigan address.

If you pre-order your copy before November 1st, I'll have plenty of time to personalize an inscription. VERY IMPORTANT: A pre-order guarantees holiday delivery.

Questions may always come to me at ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Thanks, as always, for your time in looking at, and sharing, my paintings (and now my book!) with your friends and family.
Kim

The Barbie Series

FROM TOP: "Bad Hair Day (Barbie)," 12" square, acrylic on gallery stretched linen; "I've Lost My Head (Barbie)," 8" x 10", acrylic on gallery stretched linen. Both available for purchase; inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .

Friends convinced me to enter some of my toy paintings in an exhibition at a local university. Originally I was going to paint finger puppets, but an afternoon spent sorting through my daughter's closet pushed me into an entirely new direction - Barbies.

These two new paintings are very much part of the "Tags, Toys and Treasures" group. But they have a presence that is oddly unlike the objects I've painted for "Tags, Toys and Treasures," and therefore will become their own entity/series.

Barbie is such a cultural icon that every viewer brings their own bag of memories and feelings to the paintings.

I'm laughing as I play with the dolls in my studio. It's a second childhood, working on these toy paintings, that's for certain! (Having 4 brothers, I didn't play much with Barbies. My oldest brother ripped their heads off to jam firecrackers down their necks. That sort of behavior wouldn't be tolerated these days, but it was pretty common place when I was a kid. We lived dangerously then, riding bikes without helmets and all. Ah, but I digress).

So anyways, here are the two pieces I'll be sending to the show. We'll see how they are received, and what sorts of other compositions I can build from Annie's stash of dolls.

Thanks for your time,

Kim

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/