Under-painting Done For New Painting

I'm now getting back into the studio and creating a series of birds of northern California. My goal is to paint loser and make each mark count. I've been enjoying Painting my World by Karen Margulis blog on The Evolution of Style...What is the Key? Although I don't use pastel's, I love her work and her inspiration. Here is my start with my first bird painting in my series.

I tend to paint tight and I want this one to be a little loser and just enjoy the process. We'll see how this goes.

One More Glazing and It's Done

So yesterday I put a glaze over the painting and it felt like the turtle was a little more in it's environment. I noticed that it needed more the the dark background around the turtle's body to give it more punch. After that I decided one more glaze over the painting will finish it nicely. I'll give it a few days to dry before doing that. In the meantime off to do another series of birds of northern California. I'll post that here in a day or two.

Family Emergency And Getting Back To My Turtle

I can't believe I've been gone so long from painting and blogging. I had a family emergency that took me to Michigan for almost a month then trying to get back to a routine again has for the most part been difficult.

I started on my turtle earlier in September and here is where I'm at now. The turtle seems to sit on top of the painting and not in it, so I'm going to paint a glaze on it which will have the turtle be part of the environment it's in. I will finish it tomorrow and post the final results.

Sea Turtle Sketch For New Painting

Sea Turtles for me are interesting to paint because of all the textures and the sea bottom 

is so abstract. You can see what it is but I have so much fun with the shapes in the design.

New Tide Pool Painting

Tide Pool II

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I tend to go choose the most difficult paintings to create. 

 I love tide pools! I have great memories with my girls at the beach in

the NW and now here in California finding them. This painting was inspired by

the tide pools of Mendocino, California. Although it did start out

vastly different, I ended up using more imagination than my photo 

by the end. I was getting too detailed in all the colors and things

going on in the photo, so I finally took away the photo and just

painted. I included beach sand from this coast into the painting, which is a lot 

of fun. This is for sale at my online gallery.

Riding On The Beach

Riding On The Beach

This is from a photo I took when I was up in Long Beach

Washington and have been wanting to paint it. 

It's been a while since I painted in watercolor and I was enjoying the process.

 This one isn't for sale since 

I'm not real happy with the colors. I plan on trying 

another one with a better plan on colors.

Family

My family was able to come out to see us for the first time since we moved to the coast. 

It went way too fast for all of us since they could only stay for four days. It took a full 

day just to get here! So 2 of the 6 days were spent traveling. 

The 2nd photo is of  my mom, cousin and me on the balcony where my cousin stayed.

He had amazing views of the ocean! And we were able to see whales! My sister and brother in law stayed just above and also the views were fantastic!

The 3rd photo I took was the day after everyone left. The sun was so red from all the fires

that have been burning 

So now that everyone has left, it's time for me to get back in the studio and our 

daughter to go back to school. I found several photos I took that have given me some 

painting ideas!

One Of My Favorite Birds To Watch & Paint!

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Rufus Hummingbird

These tiny jewels have always fascinated me! To watch them 

go backwards, forwards and straight up and down and 

every which way, they look like they are having more fun than 

most birds around them! I don't have the greatest camera, so taking

photos is difficult. With the photos I work with I get enough 

of what they look like to help paint them the way I like. 

New Print That's Ready For Hallows Eve...

Raven In Autumn

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I was really in the mood to paint this scene one evening 

in the Fall. I haven't painted in watercolor in a 

while and felt this scene required it. 

Gallery Sale On All Oil Paintings

Ocean Breeze

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Great new prices on all my artwork for a while. This 

is one of my favorites of the ocean waves on a summer day.

If you have any questions, please contact me through my 

gallery on the buy now button. This one is also in a active

auction that you can also participate in.

New paintings that can be made into high quality prints by Mishelle Tourtillott at

Art By Mishelle's Print Store

Visit the Store for Beautiful Museum quality Giclee Fine Art Prints on Premium Quality Fine Art Paper or on Fine Art Canvas. Choose a Frame which fits your home or office.

Millie

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This is Millie our dog that has now gone to doggie 

heaven but is still with us in spirit. She loved family and

just hanging out with us. They make great pets for people

 with children. Her ears were really that big!  

We just moved to the Northern coast of California and their is a lot of inspiration here. When sitting at the beach painting I'm finding the motion of the sea is difficult to paint. I created a painting with the waves but I will admit I did take it into the studio to complete the painting with photos I had taken. Plien air painting is something I want try out soon. Here is the finished painting.

Ocean Breeze

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Posters Now Available To Purchase

Sandhill Cranes "Morning Light

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I now provide poster prints for those that prefer 

something a little less expensive than the original painting.

You can also pick out frames, mats or just the poster.
The frame and matt are not included in this print.
Original is available at link on right.

Cloud

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This is our foster kitty which we adopted after 

falling in love with her sweet disposition. She is 

a people cat through and through! 

Tide Pool 1

Tide Pool 1

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We have always wanted to live near the beach and we had a opportunity to do just that a few months ago. I love the cooler weather and small town living. It's still a adjustment for everyone. I wasn't sure I would like a smaller community but it has it's benefits. Less traffic and fewer people on the beaches, even with tourist's here. I have a little more time to paint and the inspiration here is endless! I just finished a painting in mixed media. Although this painting was inspired from the tide pools of the NW, it had it's challenges and I finally finished it. There is real beach sand incorporated into the painting from the same beach it was painted from!