SOUTHERN SUNRISE ACEO

 

SOUTHERN SUNRISE ACEO
PROFESSIONAL ACRYLIC PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
3.5" x 2.5" on canvas multi media paper

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

This is an ACEO I created a year ago and it seems to have got lost in the shuffle. I really love the subtle colour changes in the sky and the reflection on wet sand in the foreground.


Cat # 13055 Southern Sunrise

TREE LINED LAKE - Postcard Size - OSWOA

TREE LINED LAKE by Sea Dean (in daylight)

TREE LINED LAKE
PROFESSIONAL ACRYLIC PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
6" x 4" on 140 lb cold pressed watercolour paper

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

TREE LINE by Sea Dean (Phillips Long Life soft light)

Here I examined the painting from yesterday and picked out some favourite colour combinations. I then created a new painting based on the previous composition.

I am also wanted to  simplify some of the detail and practice natural abstract skills. I added a lake in the foreground for colour and compositional balance.

I like both paintings and they could even be considered a pair, showing the progress of an artistic idea.


Cat # 14044 Tree Lined Lake

TREE LINE - Postcard Miniature

TREE LINE by Sea Dean in Daylight

Add caption

TREE LINE
PROFESSIONAL ACRYLIC PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
6" x 4" on Canvas Panel

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

TREE LINE by Sea Dean in Philips Long Life soft light

I had fun here working with warm colours in the foreground. It's a challenge making trees look natural, but one of the secrets is in spacing. In this painting they are in a line, so it was even more crucial to make them uneven in height and growth pattern. This also makes the painting more interesting to view.

Some paintings look quite different in daylight. This painting was finished at night and as I'm not in my studio I photographed it in the regular room light, a long life Philips soft light. What a difference when I photographed it in daylight. 

I also find that when I show my work in a gallery, it looks quite different to when I hang it at home. It's good to be aware of this and if you are buying a painting, think about what kind of light you will generally view it under. A low light dining room bulb will make the painting appear quite different to bright daylight streaming into an office.

I enjoy this painting both ways, and it adds a different dimension to a painting in your home.



14043 Tree Line

CURRENTLY ON AUCTION - Kalamalka Lake of Many Colours and Cherry Cherie

KALAMALKA LAKE OF MANY COLOURS
PAINTING BY SEA DEAN AFTER Mel Basaraba
8" x 10" on Canvas Panel

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

One of my favourite paintings from 2011. Going to a new home with a special low auction start price.

CHERRY CHERIE?
PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
6" x 8" on Canvas Panel


To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

A great still life based on a 10 minute study of cherries.



I'm playing catch-up, so in the meantime, here are a couple of paintings on auction. 


Cat # 11003 Kalamalka Lake of Many Colours and Cat # 12063 Cherry Cherie

FAMOUS ARTIST BIRTHDAY, WINSLOW HOMER - MINI MASTER SERIES - LITTLE BOY BIG DREAMS by Sea Dean

 

LITTLE BOY - BIG DREAMS
PAINTING BY SEA DEAN AFTER WINSLOW HOMER
4" x 4" Mini Master on Canvas Panel
Homage to Famous Artists on their birthday

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

I studied Art History in England, so I'm my knowledge of artists outside Europe is limited. Of course I had heard the name and seen some of the seascapes, but until you make the effort to study an artist in paint, you don't seem to put the two together.

I love the light in this little excerpt from one of Winslow's water colours. It is created with light naples yellow and warm blue, with quite deep shadows in the foreground, thrown by the backlight of the sun. This little boy was so whimsical and I'm curious what his companions are doing. To me it looks like they may be painting plein air, which would be very challenging in a boat. 

This may be a little over the top, but this wan't painted in my studio, I had no lamp and it was  getting dark. I had my paintbrush in one hand and a Sylvania Dot iT in the other and painted till I was done. Then I wanted to blog a photo of my crazy idea. Trouble is that I needed another hand because I also had to hold the camera. You get the idea. :)

WINSLOW HOMER

Winslow Homer was born February 24, 1836 Boston, Massachusetts. He came from a long line of New Englanders. It is not surprising therefore that he is best known for his nautical subjects. He started out as an illustrator and moved to landscape and seascape painting mainly in water-colour. He was also a printmaker. In 1859 he opened a gallery in New York City but it wasn't a wild success.

Winslow produced a lot of work for Harper's Weekly and was hired for some major work illustrating the civil war. After the war his work became far more nostalgic, focusing on women and children. He was not very successful during his lifetime, and many of his paintings took years to sell. During the rough times he was supported by his mother and brother Charles.

He died September 29, 1910

VAN GOGH MOON

VAN GOGH MOON
PAINTING BY SEA DEAN AFTER VINCENT VAN GOGH
4" x 4" Mini Master on Canvas Panel
Homage to Famous Artists on their birthday

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

Wow! Doesn't it look cheesy?


VAN GOGH MOON

I've always been a great proponent of painting the masters. We were encouraged to do this when I was at Art School and since then I have designed my signature class, "Paint a Masterpiece" which teaches acrylic painting by copying a master work in one day. I have received all kinds of criticism for this, so I was pleasantly surprised the other day to read this

"The respect and admiration which Van Gogh had felt for Millet never deserted him. Just as his early works were influenced by that painter of French country life, so at the end of his life he still turned to him for inspiration. This and other paintings of a similar nature were based on prints of Millet's 10 engravings, Travaux des champs (Work of the fields). 'I can assure you that making copies interests me enormously' Van Gogh wrote and he saw work of this sort as not only good for him as an artist but as a means of alleviating the pressure of his mental illness." Bernard Denvir

I am following in Van Gogh's footsteps by painting the moon which appears in "Starry Night"-

Cat # 14041

400th BLOG - MINI MASTER and MINI MASTERPIECE SERIES

These are from my favourite two series and I wanted to share them with you in one place. It also shows how you could display a whole collection in your home. Left to right and top to bottom there are 13 MINI MASTER (homage to a famous masters on their birthday) and 8 MINI MASTERPIECES.

MINI MASTER and MINI MASTERPIECE SERIES
BY SEA DEAN
4" x 4" on Canvas Panel

To view my Gallery or purchase any of these paintings please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me. As you can see, these originals are very reasonably priced and can be mounted on the wall as is, framed or displayed on a mini easel.

BLOG 400

First I would like to thank all my readers for helping me reach this milestone. When I started daily blogging 400 posts ago I would never have imagined that I would keep it up this long. In some ways it's not surprising, because I am a published author several times over. As a teenager I was a prolific letter writer and I also kept a diary for many years, so I suppose there is some latent memory from those marathons. Life does have a habit of getting in the way though and until now, my adult writing has been dedicated to writes and re-writes of manuscripts. One day I will share my latest literate effort, but it's still under wraps at the moment.

When I took up blogging I had been a member of Daily Paintworks for about 6 months and although painting daily, I had not yet worked up to speed of painting a new work each day. That changed in January 2013 when Leslie Saeta set her first challenge of 30 paintings in 30 days. She recommended setting some creative goals, and I chose to learn more about ACEO (ART CARD EDITIONS AND ORIGINALS) by painting one each day. I was thrilled when I developed quite a following in the first month and I haven't looked back. 

No artist can hope to sell every piece they create, but it is a fact if you produce more finished work you will sell more paintings. In 2013 I created 282 paintings and sold over 100 which was somewhat of a record for me. I also blogged, moderated my GET YOUR ART OUT THERE group on Facebook and completed a huge amount of hands on learning. This year I have begun implementing plans for "Paint a Masterpiece" to start making a profit so I can draw a wage: This may mean I blog and paint less frequently for a while until I can afford an assistant of course.

Listing

Cat # 14032 Homage to Franz Marc "Horse in a Landscpe"
Cat # 14027 Homage to Norman Rockwell "Rockwell Cat"
Cat # 14016 Homage to Jeff Koons "Pink Dog"
Cat # 14015 Homage to Edouard Manet "Manet's Rose"
Cat # 14007 Homage to Gerhard Richter
Cat # 14014 Homage to Paul Cezanne - "Purple Mountain"
Cat # 14010 Homage to Sargent - "Lady in Lilac"
Cat # 14018 Homage to William Morris - Snakeshead "
Cat # 14012 Homage to Berthe Morrisot - "First Dance"
Cat # 14009 Homage to Barbara Hepworth
Cat # 14023 Homage to Jackson Pollock - "Jackson Bouquet"
Cat # 14003 Homage to Henri Matisse - Matisse Line Study
Cat # 13277 Homage to Philip Wilson Steer - "Sailing"
Cat # 14001 "The Red Bridge"
Cat # 13282 "Delicious"
Cat # 14005 "Pink Sparkle"
Cat # 14002 "Big Blueberry"
Cat # 13273 "Doris Duck"
Cat # 12054 "Red Rose"
Cat # 12056 "Yellow Rose"
Cat # 12055 "Blue Rose"

SLEEPING BEAUTY on Windpower Vellum

SLEEPING BEAUTY
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
6" x 8" on Windpower Vellum

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

Some may think I've gone off the rails, but actually I'm returning to my love of expressionism and whimsy. Impressionist style landscapes and seascapes are fun, but occasionally I have to return to free flowing design. This type of art is popular in Europe and major cultural centers around the world, but not as popular on the marketing website I use. If anyone knows a place where I can sell Expressionist and large Abstract paintings I would be very interested to know.

I have some favourite sections of this painting. What do you like most about it?

EXPRESSIONISM

Expressionism was developed as an avant-garde style before the First World War. In a general sense, painters such as Matthias Grünewald and El Greco are sometimes termed expressionist, though in practice the term is applied mainly to 20th-century works.

Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. The style extended to a wide range of the arts, including expressionist architecture, painting, literature, theatre, dance, film and music. It remained popular during the Weimar Republic, particularly in Berlin.

The Expressionist emphasis on individual perspective has been characterized as a reaction to positivism and other artistic styles such as Naturalism and Impressionism. Expressionist artists sought to express meaning or emotional experience rather than physical reality. The term is sometimes suggestive of angst. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.

From Wikepedia


Cat # 14040 Sleeping Beauty

FAMOUS ARTIST BIRTHDAY, ANSEL ADAMS - PHOTOGRAPHER - WIGWAM, MINI MASTER SERIES

WIGWAM by Sea Dean in Daylight

WIGWAM
PAINTING BY SEA DEAN AFTER ANSEL ADAMS
4" x 4" Mini Master on Canvas Panel
Homage to Famous Artists on their birthday

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

I displayed one of Ansel Adams prints on my wall for many years and wanted to paint that wigwam or teepee for this homage. I looked high and low and couldn't find a print online, so this painting is from memory. I recall the print being sepia toned, but I added a hint of colour. I think I've achieved the right atmosphere without making an exact copy of Adams' work.

Rather like Edouard Manet in painting, Ansel Adams played on strong contrast between light and dark tones. I always find this style very challenging to paint without the finished work looking like a cardboard cut out. Here, the wigwam, took more than an hour to find the correct tonal balance.

ANSEL EASTON ADAMS

WIGWAM by Sea Dean in halogen light

Born February 20, 1902 in San Francisco, California, USA.

Ansel Easton Adams was a photographer and environmentalist. His black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have been widely reproduced on calendars, posters and books.

Adams mainly used large-format cameras which helped create the sharpness of his images. He also perfected the Zone System along with Fred Archer, a technique for translating perceived light into specific densities on negatives and paper, giving photographers better control over finished photographs. The technique created the depth and clarity which make his photographs so mesmerizing.

His legacy includes helping to elevate photography to an art comparable with painting and music, equally capable of expressing emotion and beauty. He told his students, "It is easy to take a photograph, but it is harder to make a masterpiece in photography than in any other art medium."

Numerous works by the artist have been sold at auction, including 'Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park' which sold at Sotheby's, New York in 2010 for $722,500, the highest price ever paid for an original Adams photograph. For more on Ansel Adams see wikepedia

He passed away April 22, 1984 in Monterray, California


Cat # 14038 Wigwam

RED MOUNTAINS on Windpower Vellum

RED MOUNTAINS
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
8" x 6" on Windpower Vellum

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

The colour of the sky and the mountain theme was inspired by a photo on Pinterest, but then I applied the concept to my own landscape design. This mountainscape combines many familiar elements, the sawtooth ridge, the glacier and the receding ranges in the distance. This is a spring view of a valley with surrounding mountains still holding most of their winter overcoat.

It struck me that this would also make a wonderful square composition as well as a double horizontal. I'm always happy to adapt one of my paintings to any size and shape on commission.

Cat # 14039 Red Mountains

WINDS OF CHANGE

WINDS OF CHANGE
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
11" x 14" on Canvas Panel

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

This is a local view. The mountain with snow is called "Little White". The painting started life as a realistic landscape, then one day I had a desire for abstract colour and altered it. I wasn't completely satisfied and put it aside. Today decided to work on the sky and thoroughly enjoyed adding the colourful wind and highlights of GOLDEN copper fine. I really love the result.

I then went on to work on a submission painting and I love that too. I won't be showing the second painting until after the jury process. Both of these paintings really make my heart sing and I will enjoy living with them until they sell.


Cat # 14036 - Winds of Change

CHERRY STUDY II

CHERRY STUDY II
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
3" x 4"on Canvas Panel

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

As this is the last background study I wanted to make it special. I decided on my favourite GOLDEN Fine Copper Iridescent paint with GOLDEN liquid violet iridescent shadow. I think adding the lime green stalk finished the painting beautifully.

So that is the last of the cherry studies for now. I haven't cut the canvas panel yet, so it's still possible to buy all four studies as one 6" x 8" painting. I think the new collection of backgrounds really make it pop as an art work.

Cat # 12063-2 Cherry Study II

RISING MOON on windpower

RISING MOON
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
6" x 8" on Windpower Watercolour

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

This is the sister painting to "Setting Sun" which is also on auction at Daily Paintworks. I was inspired to paint this by seeing a lovely silent full moon reflected in water. It's mesmerizing how a full moon looks so big on the horizon. This one reminded me of a big slice of edam cheese.

The colours I used were magenta, lime, violet, purple, orange and white.

Thank you for viewing and sharing my work.


Cat # 14035 Rising Moon

FAMOUS ARTISTS BIRTHDAY - MINI MASTER SERIES - CHARLES-FRANCOIS DAUBIGNY - LANDSCAPE

WAITING FOR THE TIDE BY SEA DEAN AFTER CHARLES-FRANCOIS DAUBIGNY

WAITING FOR THE TIDE
PAINTING BY SEA DEAN AFTER DAUBIGNY
4" x 4" Mini Master on Canvas Panel
Homage to Famous Artists on their birthday

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

This is a detail taken from "Boats on the Seacoast of Etaples" 1871. While I was painting this Mini Master I discovered that Daubigny worked with quite a limited palette. I achieved the result with Raw Titanium, Burnt Sienna, Sap Green and Brilliant Blue with a touch of Matisse Indigo. 

Both the original and my version have quite a warm feeling, like a quiet summer afternoon. As you can see, the sky was very reminiscent of Monet and it is apparent that they worked together. The treatment of shadow and highlights is also very like Manet. A very enjoyable painter to study.

CHARLES-FRANCOIS DAUBIGNY

Born in Paris 15 February 1817
Studied under his father and Delaroche
Painted in Holland, Spain, England, Northern France
1870-71 Visited England
Influenced by Impressionists Monet and Pissarro

Daubigny painted on his custom made boat and Monet loved the idea and copied his example

19 February 1878 Died in Paris aged 61

From Wikepedia


Cat # 14034 WAITING FOR THE TIDE

CHERRY STUDY I

CHERRY STUDY I
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
3" x 4"on Canvas Panel

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

Another tweak of a cherry study background. I kept the light permanent blue but added complimentary lime green and some Naples yellow in my trademark swirls. I think this is my favourite so far.




Cat # 1263-1 Cherry Study I

SETTING SUN on Windpower

 

SETTING SUN
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
6" x 8" on Windpower Watercolour

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

I was inspired to paint this sunset by an artist at Daily Paintworks who placed a lovely orange sun in a winter landscape. I chose a seascape with a giant sun dipping beneath the waves. It was refreshing to paint this after weeks working large which takes a lot of focus.

Thank you for viewing and sharing my work.


Cat # 14033 Setting Sun

HIMALAYAN STARS - EXHIBITION SIZE

HIMALAYAN STARS

HIMALAYAN STARS WITH FRAME (progress photo)

ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
24" x 18" Gallery Wrap Canvas
Currently mounted in Antiqued Gold Frame

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

Himalayan Stars is an enlargement of a tiny ACEO painted a few weeks ago. I loved the miniature so much, that I decided it would make a wonderful large painting. The opportunity to enter a juried show came up, so I thought this was the perfect choice. 

The painting is currently displayed in a wide gold frame at the low price of $495 plus shipping (Regular $695 Framed). Although it is for exhibition, if you love it contact me and I will reserve it for you.  

BLUE HIMALAYA ACEO

No image can do justice to this painting. There are areas with deep impasto, the background mimics pastel with it's multi layer, multi-coloured approach and there are small touches of copper  which shine like fine gold in lamplight.

A special painting for a special person. Is it you?


















Cat # 14021 Himalayan Stars

CHERRY SUTDY III

CHERRY STUDY III
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
3" x 4"on Canvas Panel


To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

This is my second rework of a 5 minute timed study completed for a challenge in 2012. We were asked to divide a canvas in 4 and paint a 5 minute study of a single object in different positions in each oblong. I chose a cherry. At the time I wanted a quick painterly background because of time constraints. Now, I am working my way through the cherries painting a different background on each one.

The original background was too dark and too cool. I love the pink backgrounds I see on Leslie Saeta's work, so I decided on pale pink for this cherry and I added some mixing white to it. I also wanted to darken the shadow, so I chose deep blue for bright morning sunlight. I rather like the effect.

It wasnt until I started labeling this blog that I realized that the palette for this painting is Red White and Blue. Rather appropriate with the 2014 Winter Olympics on at the moment. Go Team!

I have a couple more of these cherries and I'm curious what different backgrounds will do for them. Tomorrow I hope to unveil a large painting I've been working on for a submission. This time I really really think it's done. :)


Cat # 12063-3

CHERRY STUDY IV

 

CHERRY STUDY VI
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
3" x 4"on Canvas Panel


To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

This is a rework of a 5 minute timed study which I did  in 2012. At the time I wanted a quick painterly background because of time constraints, but now I wanted to try a different background. Unfortunately when I changed the surrounding colours, it became necessary to change the colour of the cherry, so the initial 5 minute study turned into a 2 hour redo. Sheesh!

The original background was too dark and too cool. I warmed it up with ivory white and Naples Yellow, but the cherry then also became too cool in comparison. In making the changes the cherry became more graphic, but I quite like that and it was a great learning experience. I have a few more of these to play with and I'm curious what different background choices will result in.

Cat # 12063-4

BREEZY BUTTERFLY ACEO or ATC - CAROL MARINE'S COLOURS

Breezy Butterfly ACEO in Daylight

BREEZY BUTTERFLY
Essence Painting
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
2.5" x 3.5" ACEO OR ATC

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

I was reading a blog interviewing one of the top Daily Painters, Carol Marine and her choice of colours, or palette, caught my attention. Carol appears to sell every painting she makes for upwards of $100 and probably creates in the region of 200 paintings a year, so when she says something I sit up and listen.

Like many other top Daily Painters, Carol uses oil paint and a limited palette of ULTRAMARINE, CADMIUM YELLOW LIGHT, CADMIUM RED MEDIUM, (near primaries), ALIZARIN CRIMSON, BURNT UMBER, and TITANIUM WHITE. She says she occasionally uses PHTHALO BLUE, PERMANENT ROSE and CADMIUM LEMON (a different grouping of near primaries). Today I decided to take Carol's palette for a test drive. In  my work I use about 20 colours because I prefer to use paint direct from the tube with only slight modification because the colour shift is difficult to predict when mixing. Reducing the number of tubes to 4 plus white was going to be a challenge indeed.

The first thing I discovered is that I rarely use any of these colours. This could be due to acrylics behaving differently to oil, in that they shift colour and dry darker. I have previously found the cadmium light yellow too cool in tone and I tend to reach for the richer CADMIUM MEDIUM. I love Ultramarine, in acrylic it loses it's brilliance as it dries and tends dulls when used as a mixer. As for Cadmium Red Medium, I'm not keen on the blood-like hue and prefer the richer, cooler PYROLE or the more brilliant NAPHTHOL. In fact, the only colour I have in common with Carol is ALIZARIN CRIMSON which is a wonderful modifier for green and makes lovely mixes with CADMIUM ORANGE, or LIGHT PERMANENT, AUSTRALIAN SKY and COBALT TEAL blues. I fare better with the second line up, using PHTHALO fairly often and ROSE a little less. As for the Umber, I NEVER use any brown, but used it often when I was an oil painter.

After I had managed to find a few lonely tubes of Carol's colours, I started on a the painting above.

Forcing myself to try different colours and adding a bit of umber did seem to work OK. With slow and careful application of the three main colours, using them mainly as glazes, I was able to achieve most mixes and I think the finished painting still retains a clear, bright look. The freshness probably comes from the cadmium light yellow. The main challenge was trying to mix a nice sky blue, for which I had to resort to PHTHALO. The red made a fairly good orange with the cadmium light yellow, but I preferred using the PERMANENT ROSE as a glaze to get a brilliant orange. As I suspected, the Ultramarine dried too dark, losing the blue and turning almost black when dry, but for this particular painting that was OK.

I've blogged before about moving from oil painting to acrylics and I have to admit that I miss it. With Oils it's easier to create depth because the paint keeps it's thickness as it dries. It also stays the same colour where acrylics darken. I spend a lot of time wrestling with these two things. I long to return to oils when I can get a separate studio.


Cat # 14030 Breezy Butterfly

FAMOUS ARTIST BIRTHDAY, FRANZ MARC - HORSE IN A LANDSCAPE - MINI MASTER SERIES

MINI MASTER by Sea Dean 4" x 4" Acrylic on canvas panel

HORSE IN A LANDSCAPE
BY SEA DEAN AFTER FRANZ MARC
MINI MASTER 
4" x 4" Canvas Panel
(better photo coming in daylight)

Homage to Famous Artist on their birthday. To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

"Horse in a Landscape" above is part of the current Mini Master series and can be purchased via Daily Paintworks. The second painting is one of my rare oils, 12" x 16", painted on canvas panel and available by contacting me. The use of colour and the almost confrontational stab at convention by seeing the horse from the rear, absolutely captivates me. As you see, it is a painting I have attempted many times, each one with a little more understanding of the complexity. I may be tempted to do a week of Franz Marc works because I find it almost impossible to choose just one as inspiration.

Horse in a Landscape by Sea Dean after Franz Marc 12" x 16" Oil on Panel

Franz has been my favourite painter for 45 years. I love his choice of colour, I love his experimentation and I love the deep thought that went into his work. To me he is the Master of all Masters. For that reason, this post is longer than the norm - I do not apologize.

FRANZ MARC

Franz Marc was born in 8th February 1880 in Munich, then the capital of the Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire. For all the 8's in his birthdate he wasn't the luckiest of people. His life was cut short, far before his prime when he was mistakenly sent to the front in the WWI. The order for his recall arrived a day late. 

His father, Wilhelm, was a professional landscape painter; his mother, a strict Calvinist. Both had an influence of Marc with his early work rooted in the landscape and later in spirituality. He has been called "The pioneer of spiritual abstraction".

In 1900, Marc entered the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, where his teachers included Gabriel von Hackl and Wilhelm von Diez. In 1903 and 1907, he spent time in Paris, France, visiting the city's museums and copying many paintings, which was the traditional way for artists to study and develop technique. 

Young Marc frequented artistic circles in Paris, meeting  many artists, including famous actress Sarah Bernhardt. In his twenties, Marc was involved in several stormy relationships, including an affair with Annette von Eckardt, a married antique dealer nine years his senior. He married twice, first to Marie Schnuer, then to Maria Franck.

Early on, Marc was drawn to the work of Vincent van Gogh as can be seen in an early painting "Sheaf of Grain". In 1911, Marc founded Der Blaue Reiter alongside an artist circle with August Macke, Wassily Kandinsky and others who had split from the Neue Künstlervereinigung. Marc showed in the premier Der Blaue Reiter exhibition in Munich, December 1911. In 1912, he met Robert Delaunay, whose futurism and use of colour facinated him. From then on, Marc created increasingly abstract art influenced by futurism and cubism.

Most of Marc's mature work shows animals in natural settings. His work is characterized by bright primary color, stark simplicity, an almost cubist view of animals and a profound sense of emotion. Marc gave an emotional meaning to colors: blue for masculinity and spirituality, yellow for feminine joy and red represented the sound of violence. 

Marc was conscripted as a cavalryman in WW!, but worked on military camouflage. He created a series of nine tarpaulin covers in in broadly pointillist style varying "from Manet to Kandinsky", saying that the latter was probably the most effective for anti-aircraft. In 1916, the government ordered all notable artists withdraw from combat, but before orders reached the front, Marc was struck in the head and killed instantly during the Battle of Verdun.

His work gained attention with influential circles during his life time; something most artists aspire to, but his early death cut short what promised to be a stunning career. Marc made some sixty woodcuts, lithographic prints and many paintings. Franz Marc died 4 March 1916 (aged just 36) at Braquis, France

When the National Socialists took power, they condemned Marc as an entarteter Künstler (degenerate artist) and ordered his works removed from German museums. His painting “Landscape With Horses”, painted in 1910, was discovered in 2011 with over a thousand other paintings, in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt whose father, Hildebrand Gurlitt, was an early collector of “degenerate.” art.

Find out more about Franz Marc here and here


Cat # 14032 Horse in a Landscape after Franz Marc

GROWING IN LOVE ACEO or ATC

PHOTO TAKEN IN FULL SPECTRUM LIGHT

GROWING IN LOVE
Essence Painting 
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
2.5" x 3.5" ACEO OR ATC

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

The original concept was to paint two flowers growing out of a heart. I did this and then allowed the painting to take over and tell me how it wanted to proceed This is the result and I may be biased, but I love it. 

As usual with these decorative paintings there is a substantial amount of GOLDEN copper fine, my favourite iridescent, which actually looks more like bronze or gold than copper. here I've tried to photograph it to show the shine when the light is on it.

When it came time, I found it difficult to name this miniature. "Hearts and Flowers" just didn't seem to encompass all it's variations. I saw all kinds of things in the design. Do you see the face? Actually after I had seen one, I started to see more ... a clown, an owl, big bird, a shy smile. I'm sure there are more. What do you see? 

I also find this is a design which could be viewed either way.


Cat £ 14031 Growing in Love

HEART CREST ACEO or ATC - VALENTINE

HEART CREST
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
2.5" x 3.5" ACEO OR ATC

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

A little return to Valentines, and it is little, an ACEO is a collectable miniature 2.5" x 3.5". Yes that is inches not feet. Just think how thrilled your Valentine would be with a miniature painting rather than chocolates or a stuffed toy.

My miniatures are identical in every way to a large painting. I prepare the acid free base, use top quality paints and mediums and then give them a final coat of UV protection to keep them forever beautiful. My available miniatures are on display at Daily Paintworks, Facebook and Pinterest. Enjoy.  


Cat # 13129 Heart Crest

LEMONS - NEW BRUSHSTROKES

LEMONS IN DAYLIGHT

LEMONS IN HALOGEN LIGHT

BRUSHSTROKE DETAIL

LEMONS
PREMIUM PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
6" x 8" on Canvas Panel

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

Sometimes life serves up lemons, it's up to you to make lemonade

This is painted from a photo by fellow artist Evhe. Artists like to challenge each other and this certainly made me stretch. The biggest challenge was making the lemons seem fresh and juicy. I added a lot of fine complementary touches in order to make them pop.

INTRODUCING MY NEW BRUSHSTROKE PAINTINGS

My artistic background is in three dimensional design and to this day, that is where my heart lies. I don't have the space for pottery, jewellery making and sculpture in my present studio and as my studio is also where I sleep, I have moved from oil to acrylic paints. Since I began experimenting with acrylics I've been searching for some way to add a 3 D effect to my work, which is not easy with acrylics. I've tried many ideas and suggestions with varied results. I have now finally found the right look and perfected the technique.

All my 2014 premium paintings will include this beautiful brushstroke effect. Now you can proudly show your acrylic painting alongside your oils and they will merit equal attention. I feel as if this is the culmination of a long journey. This effect alongside other hidden signature techniques, mean that my premium paintings cannot be mistaken for any other artist's work.



Cat # 14029 Lemons

FAMOUS ARTIST BIRTHDAY, JACK SHADBOLT - BUTTERFLY, MINI MASTER SERIES

IN DAYLIGHT

IN FULL SPECTRUM LIGHT

NAPLES BUTTERFLY
PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
4" x 4" Mini Master on Canvas Panel
Homage to Famous Artists on their birthday

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

Jack Shadbolt created a series of butterflies which caught my attention when I was researching this blog. I also painted a series of butterflies last summer and always intended following the series with another. Shadbolt's butterflies served as a reminder and also inspired me to consider what a butterfly looks like in motion. So here I was working on the impression of movement. I rather like the result. 

This painting is by no means intended to be a copy of Shadbolt's work, however, the colouring is similar, especially the Naples yellow background.This is a colour often used to add sunny highlights to a painting and I love the way it offsets the bright blues and reds.
 
JACK SHADBOLT

Jack Leonard Shadbolt was born 4th February, 1909 in Shoeburyness, Essex, England. He was brought to Canada at the age of three by his parents and was raised in Victoria, BC.

After graduation he took up teaching and worked in Duncan and Vancouver, BC. Early in his career, he traveled and studied Art in London and Paris. Later he trained under Frederick Varley at the Vancouver School of Art. Like many young men of his generation, Jack's life was disrupted by military service and during World War II, he became an official War artist. He took a sabbatical in 1948, choosing to spend time in New York City. Afterwards he  returned to the Vancouver School of Art as head of painting and drawing and taught there until 1966.

Jack was an artist, teacher, poet and author. He wrote three books and many articles, profoundly influencing Art and Artists in BC and across Canada. He authored In Search of Form (1968), Mind's I (1973) and Act of Art (1981).

An extraordinarily prolific artist, Jack Shadbolt worked in what he called suites, derived from his experience of nature, his understanding of calligraphy, op-art, poetry and architecture. Paint slashes, incisive lines, butterflies, totem poles, insect life and ritual brides, everything was transformed using emotion and intellect. As well as many murals (Edmonton International Airport, the NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE, the former CBC building and a plywood relief created for the MacMillan Bloedel building in Vancouver), he created stage and ballet costumes and theater posters. He continued to work at quite a pace until his death at the age of 89.

Jack Shadbolt died in Vancouver 22 November 1998


Cat # 14028 Naples Butterfly

FAMOUS ARTIST BIRTHDAY, NORMAN ROCKWELL - ROCKWELL CAT, MINI MASTER SERIES

ROCKWELL CAT
PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
4" x 4" Mini Master on Canvas Panel
Homage to Famous Artists on their birthday

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me. 

My Mini Master series are Such a wonderful way to kick-start an art collection. They are on durable canvas panel with painted edges, so they can be displayed on a small easel, mounted on the wall with 3M poster tabs, or framed. They are every bit as beautiful as a larger version, but take up less space. 

You could add to the collection over time, on special occasions like Valentines, Easter, Graduation, Anniversaries, Birthdays, Thank you, Hostess gifts etc. My growing collection can be viewed on Pinterest.

There is also a sister series in the same size which you can mix and match. These are original Sea Dean paintings as opposed to paintings inspired by the Masters. In my Daily Paintworks Gallery you can search for 4x4, Mini Master, or Mini Masterpieces to find them all easily.

This was a tough homage for me because my painting style, paint and surface are completely different to Norman Rockwell, who was an illustrator rather than a fine artist. The most difficult part was finding something simple enough for a small canvas. I happened upon this detail from "Tom Sawyer - The Medicine" and just fell in love with this orange cat. Although his style is usually drawing on paper and colouring in afterwards, this painting is more akin to my painterly style. He cleverly added the cat for charm, but chose similar colours for the background so it didn't detract from the subject which is Tom Sawyer being given some medicine.  

NORMAN ROCKWELL

Norman Perceval Rockwell was born in New York, NY, USA February 3, 1894. He was an American painter and illustrator, with a broad popular appeal in the USA for their view of American culture. Norman was an early starter. He transferred from high school to the Chase Art School at the age of 14. He went on to the National Academy of Design and finally to the Art Students League, where, he was taught by Thomas Fogarty, George Bridgman, and Frank Vincent DuMond. 

Norman's breakthrough came in 1912 with a book illustration for Carl H. Claudy's Tell Me Why: Stories about Mother Nature. Then, at the age of nineteen, he became the art editor for Boys' Life, the magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), producing illustrations, calendars and covers for the publication. He is also famous for more than four decades of cover illustrations  for The Saturday Evening Post. 

His best-known works are the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter, The Problem We All Live With, Saying Grace and the Four Freedoms series. 

From Wikepedia

Norman Rockwell lived a long and highly productive life, which came to an end in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on November 8, 1978, aged 84.


Cat # 14027 Rockwell Cat