Painting a Landscape on ACEO card - acrylic painting

Time Lapse Creation of Abstract ACEO Painting - Alien Lake

Speed Painting - ACEO - Acrylic - Fiery Ballerina

ACEO Paintings from Today 4/27/15

I never did ACEO art before. ACEOs are collector cards that resemble baseball cards and such, but are original artworks. They are 3.5" x 2.5".

All three of the above ACEOs are available on EBAY. I did time lapse videos of the Dolphin Play and Fiery Ballerina ones as well and they are on YouTube Here.

Artwork Viewing in a Setting

This is pretty cool. It's a tool to create a room setting for artwork. It's available at Art Showroom

ArtistShowRoom

Room made at ArtRoom

Blue Heron on Lake

Blue Heron by the side of Tampier Lake in the summer. Acrylic on 16x20 stretched canvas.

Original: $800 (free ship to US). Contact me for information on shipping and payment options.

Prints available here.

Graceful Gazelle

Acrylic on 9x12 canvas paper.

Original available matted and framed: $150 free shipping to US.

Daughter and Grand Daughter Portrait - Acrylic on Canvas Paper

Finished this today. The final painting is 9x12 Acrylic on Canvas Paper.

Original and Prints not available.

If you would like a portrait of yourself, a family member friend or celebrity, please contact me for information on pricing.

On my Easel - Portrait of Daughter and Grand Daughter

This is going to take a few days. But I got it started today anyway.

Siberian Tiger Repose

This one took a few days, but I finished it today. Acrylic on canvas paper 9x12.

Original unframed: $270, contact me for payment and shipping information. Shipping free to continental US.

Great Tit - Acrylic on Canvas

Okay, the name Great Tit is funny, but this is a delightful little bird for a painting subject. So full of color and the expression of the facial features make it look like a real little clown.

Acrylic on 8x10 stretched canvas.

Original available: $240 (includes shipping to the continental US).

Prints available here.

Space Angel Fish - Acrylic on Canvas

I spent a lot of last week getting caught up on a writing deadline, so I didn't get much painting done. I did a couple of things, but nothing really postable. Today was my first 'real' day back in the swing of things painting. I was in a little bit of a surreal mood, and was thinking space, then space angels, but for some reason wanted to do something with fish (probably staring at my fishtank for too long). Sooo... space angel fish came into being.

It is an 11x14 acrylic painting on stretched canvas (Fredrix Professional Series).

Entered in the NFAC contest. Bid on entry for great deals on original artwork - click here.

Original available: $616 - free shipping (US only).

Prints available HERE.

Shepherd - Acrylic on Canvas

Felt ambitious last night and started a painting that I didn't end up finishing before I got so tired I had to call it a night. So, finished this this morning.

16x20 acrylic on stretched canvas.

Original painting for sale: $950.00 Contact me at tparrington at gmail.com (trying to cut down on spam, so instead of a link I am posting the email like this. make sure to turn the 'at' into a '@' and eliminate the spaces) for payment and shipping options.

Shipping on all paintings free to the continental U.S. I don't normally ship outside of the U.S. due to the extreme costs of shipping large paintings over seas.

Prints available to any location HERE.

Something New

Surreal Reality

I haven't done anything like this before, but I sure had fun doing it. I saw an artist I admire do something like this, and really wanted to try my own version of it. I am going to be doing more of this I think. It was just so much fun to do.

Original 9x12 acrylic on canvas paper: Not for sale

Prints can be purchased HERE.

Today's Painting and a Tip

Today's painting is a totally personal one. I wanted to capture my dog, Batty. Yes, that's her name and she lives up to it. Even though she's a girl, I named her after the character in Fern Gully (Robin Williams voice) and perhaps I should have taken that character's mental abilities and personality into consideration before bestowing the name on my puppy, dogs like people tend to live up to their names. But I loved the character and it's crazy personality, so I guess I got what I asked for. We love this little nut-case. She's a 5-year-old papillon who has captured our hearts as well.This is a 9x6 acrylic on canvas paper.

The tip I promised in the title is always be careful to avoid damaging canvas' that are either completed and being stored or new and waiting to be worked on. It doesn't take much to damage them. Storing a canvas on it's ends can lead to warping over time, so if you have to store a painting or a new canvas for any longer than a few weeks, I suggest laying it flat on a shelf. Make sure to separate completed canvas with paint on them with a sheet of heavy duty plastic (can be found in paint stores and hardware stores, although garbage bags work okay too), to keep the paint from sticking to another canvas.

Another important thing to watch out for is pressure from something else when stored. I had a canvas standing behind my computer desk. It was only going to be there for a couple days until I used it, so I didn't think it would be a problem. I moved the desk a little bit a couple of times, I didn't think I had hit the canvas, but I did enough to cause dimpling.

This kind of damage may not make a difference as a practice canvas, but it isn't suitable to use for paintings to be sold.

Progression Post for Hyacinth Macaw 4/2/15

Just a few pics of the progression of work on the Hyacinth Macaw completed today - 4/2/15

Original 9x12 acrylic on canvas pad for sale $270. Email me for payment options.

Prints also available HERE

Progression Post for "Rack On"

I finished this painting today and thought I'd add a quick post to show some of the progression shots I took that may give an idea of the development of it.


1-The sketch. Some paintings I start with a blank canvas and do not sketch the scene or figure. However, when the entire focus is on a particular subject, I like to get the framework down first before starting to paint.As you can see by the original, I did some fiddling with the rider before going on to the painting stage. When I did the original sketch I was thinking about an old trainer of mine who had this trick of making his hat fly off whenever the signal for Rack On was called in the ring. It gave the impression of more power... and often worked. I also did some perspective work on the horse's legs, and decided to get rid of the background fencing in favor of no background scenery at all.

2-The values. Starting out, I just did black and white contrasts to show the shadow areas. In this piece, because the final color of the horse and rider's suit are black, I went just a little further and added some grays. The black parts can be as subdued or strong in the final piece as I need them to be, but some of it will always come through as a shadow. In this painting, however, the animal is black, the suit and hat worn by the rider is black and the saddle is black. On top of that, I made the background dark with some black in it (later on). That made it very important to find the values right at the start, so highlights to help the different areas stand out. I apologize for not getting a picture of the values stage. It's pretty close to the next picture, just minus the tan areas.

3-The 1st wash. This is a shade applied over all or some parts of a painting to shade in the upper color areas of the values. This first wash was a brown wash applied to the entire painting. In retrospect, I would have only washed the horse and rider, and left the background untouched by this layer. Both wash layers darkened the background a lot, and made it darker than I would have liked as a contrast in the final piece.

4-Second wash. This is a dark blue wash over the entire piece. Again, in retrospect I would have only washed the horse and rider's suit and hat. I didn't wash the blue wash over the rider's skin.



5-Final Wash- Black wash. Over horse only. I did not get a picture of this stage. Sorry. It would have been helpful to see how dark it could get after using a black wash, but it was an important stage for a black animal. Highlights are what bring out the horse, not shadows as in some paintings.

The final painting after all the highlighting and fine parts are added like bridal, ribbons, reins and stirrups.

Original 9x12 acrylic on canvas pad available for sale: $270. Email me for payment options.

Prints available HERE

Promoting Art

I'm a big fan of Million Dollar Listings (both coasts). On his Facebook feed today, one of the star realtors, Josh Altman (one of my favorites) said: No matter what industry you're in, sales is sales.


SELLING AND ARTISTS


Selling ends up being a dirty word in the artists mind. I'm including ALL artists in the general category of artist: musicians, media/fine artists, writers and writers. The only artists this applies a little less to is physical artists such as dancers. That is a different category altogether when it comes to making money. For most media artists there is a difficulty in offering pieces for sale. It shouldn't be hard, but it is and it seems to be partly self-imposed and partly created by a general feeling that seems to persist in the public. Art should not be sullied by money. Well, that's a lovely notion, but the artist definitely needs to be sullied a bit in order to survive. Even just to create costs money, and artists need to be able to purchase supplies not to mention food and living expenses.


For that reason, it seems that many artists choose a 'low key' sort of sales approach with their work. They put it out there for others to see, and hope someone asks if they can buy it. That's definitely the 'safe' method for selling.


Another popular method is to sell the artists rather than the art. For some that means opening up cloud funding campaigns to support the artist either as an ongoing fund or a one time thing to obtain a high priced supply item.


One of the more powerful sales options for artist is to 'sell' the craft. Making money from teaching others how to create the type of art they do. There are several ways to make money from teaching online: classes, pod casts, and finally one of the most popular, YouTube videos. This form of sales has a double edged benefit. First the artist makes money from the actual teaching (straightforward fees from classes or ad revenue from videos), and second, when students find the artist this way they may be interested in the actual work of the creator and buy the pieces being created for the class or others found on the artist's website.


One way that simply isn't used enough is the direct sales approach. Telling people that certain pieces of work are available for sale. This tends to be looked on as crass, but think about it. In NO other industry in the world is it considered crass to tell people an item is for sale. People are shown information on the availability of everything from hamburgers to automobiles every single day. It's how they know what is available to them, and what the cost will be. There's nothing untoward about it. Of course, no one 'loves' commercials or advertising, but it is a necessary evil and both sides can benefit from it when it is done in an above board fashion.


So--- have something to sell? Don't be afraid to let the world know. You don't have to cram it down people's throats, or be obnoxious about it. Or you can, sometimes that works. Either way, no one will know what you have available if you are afraid to tell them.


AFRAID OF FAILURE - AFRAID OF SUCCESS OR JUST AFRAID OF RIDICULE


The direct sales approach is the one that inspires the most fear. It isn't just one single emotion that this type of sales creates. There are a couple of reasons people can be reluctant to use this method of sales for art. Some people are afraid to fail.


Afraid of failure - If you are afraid to fail you have already lost the battle. If you put your work up and list it for sale and no one buys it--you have failed, maybe. Not really though. So what? So it doesn't sell. You put it out there. That's the important thing. It may sell, it may not, but if you don't list it it will DEFINITELY not sell.


Afraid of success - That one seems the least likely, and yet, it actually happens a lot. People are afraid of what success will mean. For most people it is a big unknown, and people are afraid of the unknown. It is safer in the shadows. How can you beat a fear of success? Get over it, try it. You don't know until you give it a shot. If you become wildly successful and don't like it, quit! It is simple. It's easier than you might think to return to the shadows.


Afraid of ridicule - This is a big one for many artists. Since art, of all types, is largely subjective to opinion, what others think is a big fear for the artist. The only way to get over the fear of ridicule is to realize that it won't hurt as much as you think. If someone doesn't like what you do--so what. That's one person's opinion, and it isn't going to truly effect your life in any significant way.


So find a way to let people know about your work, and don't be afraid to promote it. What's the worst that can happen?

Some Things Just Don't Make It All The Way

Well, I finished the abstract I was working on today. I have a love-hate relationship with it. There are things I REALLY like about it, and things I don't... so, it was a nice experiment, and a learning experience, but sometimes working on something just doesn't turn out quite the way you'd want it to. That's okay though. That's what art is all about, experimenting with different ways to express yourself. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the only 'wrong' way to do it is to NOT do it.

Here's my abstract horses from today.

The shiny areas are just areas of wet paint that havne't dried all the way yet.

Early Morning Workout -- FINISHED

I finished the acrylic 9x12 Early Morning Workout painting early this morning (lol) at about 1:30 am. The horse and rider in the painting may not be up in the wee hours I was while painting them, but it makes me miss the early mornings before a show getting a last minute work in.

To buy a print of this painting CLICK HERE. Along with prints on archival paper, canvas and framed prints, they also have some really neat options such as cell phone cases, pillows and note cards.

Original 9x12 acrylic on canvas pad: SOLD

On the Easel - WIP - Early Morning Workout 3/28

Finished the last of the under painting coats. It is a little lighter than I'd like. I'm going to have to tone the whole thing down with a dark wash somehow, unless I can darken it down in the detail painting. It's looking too 'afternoon' instead of early morning like it started out.

The Fine Art Advantage

I have tried a few places to make prints of my work available. Of them all, I really like Fine Art America the best. They have very reasonable prices on the acrylic prints for sale and tons of other styles and choices to look through. They also offer great advantages for artists that other sites don't.

On the Easel - WIP Early Morning Workout

This is an acrylic on canvas paper from a photo from the WetCanvas reference library. Did the drawing yesterday.

Did some of the under painting this evening.

Abstract Painting - Life in the Fast Lane

Completed today: Acrylic on 16x20 stretched canvas.
Title: Life in the Fast Lane

Original 16x20 acrylic on stretched canvas for sale: $800. Email me for payment options.

Prints in all sizes available HERE.

Where Inspiration Comes From

For just about any artist, whether they are writers, dancers, musicians or painters, inspiration is a pretty important necessity. It is definitely possible to create under 'the gun' without inspiration, but it is hard and often lacks feeling or the type of connection that causes others to connect with the creation. So, where does this elusive inspiration come from? (and it IS sometimes elusive.) I think for every individual the source is different.

For me, inspiration can be inner desire or passion, it can be interest or just a sudden impulse. What I do know is that regardless of where that inspiration begins, grows or occurs, I have to listen to it and enjoy it for what it is. It's one of the reasons my work can be so eclectic. Yesterday a horse, today an eye, last week an ocean shoreline, or dolphins playing in the sea. When writing, I can feel inspired by a romantic notion, idea or even anguish, or have a sarcastic cop character nudge my mind and insist on being heard.

Where does your inspiration come from?

Today I was 'seeing' my inspiration quite literally.

Arabian Head Study - Today's Painting

Today's work, a study on a horse head portrait.

Acrylic on Canvas board - original painting. No model, painting from memory.

Original 5x7 acrylic on canvas board: SOLD

Prints in all sizes available HERE.

Abstract - Roses

I actually started out doing something completely different with this one. I had begun to just create a background, and then decided I liked it more as an abstract so here is "Roses". Acrylic painting on canvas paper.

Original 9x12 on canvas paper: Available- Bid HERE

Prints in all sizes available HERE.

Summer Skier

Today's painting - "Summer Skier." I guess this latest snow blizzard here in Chicago has me dreaming even more about summer. There's nothing like boats, water, and even waterskiers that scream summer to me. This is a 9x12 original acrylic painting on canvas paper.

Ended up working a little more on this one, thanks to some suggestions from the folks at Wet Canvas, I added more detail to the boat to create a stronger focal point, and I fixed the untilted windshield (which I already knew wasn't right. lol)

Original 9x12 acrylic on canvas pad: Not for Sale

Prints available HERE.

Dolphin Play Fix

Quick shot of the corner of the Dolphin Play painting where I fixed the seal headed/duck-billed dolphin by turning into two dolphins (fixing the long body) and working on the original troublesome head.

Time Lapse Creation of Acrylic Painting - Dolphin Play

Acrylic painting on canvas paper. This painting didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. There were several things I really liked about it, but I ended up with one dolphin that looked really a lot like a cross between a seal and a dolphin (seal head, dolphin body)... I still did a time lapse of it if anyone likes to watch them. I enjoy making them and have fun watching the sped up version of the painting, lol. After the video I did re-work the seal headed dolphin and I did manage to change him... into a duck billed dolphin!!! LOL



For the record... I fixed it! I'll get a pic of it tomorrow. I'm exhausted by this painting, haha. I ended up turning the troublesome dolphin on the lower right hand side into two (it was too long anyway) dolphins and I got rid of the beak on the initial dolphin head.

Wildly Ringnecks

Acrylic on Canvas Paper - Created March 20, 2015

Arctic Freeze

Arctic Freeze - Original painting in acrylic on 5x7 canvas board.
Created March 10, 2015

Original for sale: $87.00 Email me for payment options.

Larger prints available HERE.

Life, The Universe and Everything

5x7 original acrylic on canvas board. Created March 12, 2015.

Original for sale: $87.00. Email me for payment options.


To buy prints of the original art by Tami Parrington CLICK HERE.

Wave

Wave - Original painting in acrylic on stretched canvas. Created on March 18, 2015

Original: SOLD

Prints available HERE.

Patriot Act

Original acrylic on stretched Canvas - Patriot Act
16x20 created on March 17, 2015

Original for sale: $800. Email me for payment options.

Prints available HERE

Sunrise on the Lake - Original Acrylic on Canvas

Acrylic on 16x20 stretched canvas. Created March 15, 2015

Original for sale: $800. Email me for payment options.

Prints available HERE.