knotwork » By Sidney Eileen

Painting Updates – 18 November 2012

Fine Art, Painting, Work in Progress No Responses »

Nov 182012

I worked on two paintings tonight. One is a continuation of the Diana Portraits project, where I laid down a second underpainting layer on a new test portrait. It’s just a field of olivy green, so it’s not really interesting enough to post a photo of that one. The other painting I worked on was the Complete Contentment Celtic piece, which is finally nearing completion. I think it just needs some more treatment on the outer edge.

Complete Contentment – WIP 10
5″x7″ oil paint on masonite board
On this layer (actually done in two sittings), I painted the dark brown border around the knotwork, and went over the outside edge with an opaque orange paint to hide some smudging. It will probably need another layer around the outside, as well as some other edge treatment, but it’s nearly finished.
For the record, I cannot for the life of me take true photos of the colors of my paintings at night in my home. This is not actually solid orange. :/

Project: Complete Contentment

Painting Updates – 4 October 2012

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Oct 052012

Wonder of wonders, on Thursday the 4th of October I finally sat down and got out my oil paints for the first time since moving to Las Vegas. The transition has been a difficult one for me, and my health problems continue to have a tremendous impact on my ability to work. With a little luck and a lot of determination, I hope to put out artwork and sewing at a more consistent pace. Thank you for staying with me during this difficult time.

The main purpose of getting out the paints was to work on the cover art for Mermaid Drowning, which must be finished before the end of October. While I had the paints out, I also worked on a couple other things. Primarily, I spent time adding shading to Complete Contentment, but I also put down an underpainting layer for another color/style test for the commissioned family portraits I started last winter.

Complete Contentment – WIP9
5″x7″ Masonite board
Oil paint
8 sittings
For this layer I added shading on the mouse and its tail.

Project: Complete Contentment

Painting Updates – 23 March 2012

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Mar 232012

I spent four hours this afternoon painting, finished the test portrait for Diana, and worked on two other paintings, a Celtic knotwork piece and a still life.

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Complete Contentment – WIP8

5″x7″ Masonite board
Oil paint
7 sittings

For this layer I added orange shading on the cat’s knot work.

Project: Complete Contentment

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Samhain Candles – WIP3

11″x14″ oil paint on canvas board
4 sittings

I finally purchased some warm hue black (lamp black) and used it to darken the shading in the background. I did not make any other changes, but the previous WIP was overall a bit darker than the actual painting.

I am now happy with the background, and in the next sitting will move on to the still life objects.

Project: Samhain Candles

New Art – Woven Celestial Dragon

Fine Art, Painting No Responses »

Mar 172012

6″x6″ ink and watercolor on Aquabord

2 sittings
7 layers

This artwork is a celebration of the Year of the Dragon, and has equal inspiration from Celtic knot work and oriental celestial dragon artwork. The violet dragon with metallic accents swims effortlessly through the night sky.

The base drawing is black acrylic ink applied with a dip pen. I used acrylic ink so it would not dissolve when adding the color.

I used masking fluid to protect the body of the dragon when creating the background, which is very heavily water saturated blue, dark blue, and black watercolor, with a spattering of metallic white ink. I rubbed out the spatters slightly, creating a slightly glittery sheen on the background.

The body of the dragon is several shades of violet watercolor paint. The scales and accents are violet metallic acrylic ink, and a small amount of blue metallic ink was used for the claws, accent on the hair, and dust falling away from the hands and feet. The metallic effect is impossible to fully capture with a scan or a photo, but in person it’s very shiny.This piece is for sale.

Project: Woven Celestial Dragon

Woven Celestial Dragon – WIP

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Mar 172012

Tonight I’ve mostly been working on the Woven Celestial Dragon 6″x6″ Aquabord. These are all the WIP images so far.

Click for larger image

2 Sittings
3 Layers

Between the line art and this image there were a few steps I did not scan.

First I used masking fluid to cover the dragon. This is only the second time I’ve ever used masking fluid, so I didn’t do a perfect job.

Second I saturated the surface with two shades of blue watercolor and a touch of black. I let that dry, creating the mottled, cloudy background. Since I’m doing this on Aquabord I didn’t have to worry about warping paper from oversaturation. Yay!

Third I wanted to sprinkle the background with silver acrylic ink, but I found I did not actually have any silver acrylic ink. Instead, I made a mixture of white ink and some Deviant Silver Stardust I have leftover from a fairy costume some ten years ago. I spattered it onto the piece using a cheap toothbrush and let it dry.

Fourth, I removed the masking fluid, revealing all my goof-ups. I retouched the background where the fluid went over the lines, and lifted the paint where I did not have enough coverage.

Click for larger image

2 Sittings
4 Layers

Oh, watercolors dry so much faster than oils! And they look completely different so I don’t get frustrated like with acrylics!

I added some soft lavender to the hair, horns, and whiskers. After laying down a mostly solid shade I went back and added some more paint in sort-of-random places to give the hair some depth. Full realistic depth is not important to me for this piece.

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2 Sittings
5 Layers

Soft slightly more blueish lavender to the underbelly scales.

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2 Sittings
6 Layers

I added another layer of fairly flat lavender to the body.

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2 Sittings
6 Layers

I experimented with color lifting to give the body more shape and texture. Overall I liked the way it worked, but I think next time it will work better if I lay down more color first.

Project: Woven Celestial Dragon

Painting Updates – 10 March 2012

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Mar 102012

I spent a little time painting this afternoon. It’s not much, but the weather was turning to rain so I came back inside. I hope to sit down to paint again in the next few days.

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9″x12″ oil paint on canvas board
7 sessions

All I added today were the irises of her eyes. They are phthalo blue and white, with a tiny bit of black for the pupils. Yes, her eyes are actually that color.

This is the color and style sample portrait for a series of much larger commissioned paintings. They are intended to match the color palette and style of family portraits she already has which were made the better part of a century ago. Unlike most modern portraits, the ones in her family have a very cool feel to them, with an olive toned background. However, I need to balance that coolness with warmth in the skin. To that end, the underpainting color is a dark, cool red. As the painting nears finishing, I believe I will need to underpaint with cool green instead when I create the larger portraits.

Project: Diana portrait

Click for larger view

5″x7″ Masonite board
Oil paint
6 sittings

I have re-painted the background areas with alizarin crimson.

Project: Complete Contentment

Painting Updates, 31 Dec 2011

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Dec 312011

I’m finishing out the last day of 2011 by working on art. The last couple weeks have been filled with contemplation, planning, and plotting, and I am so excited about things to come in the following months, including a return to writing tutorials.

Glass Vase and Candle - WIP2

4″x5″ oil paint on canvas
Three sittings
Reference is one of my own photos

In this layer I added brighter candle reflections in a very pale yellow.

Project: Glass Vase and Candle

Pentacle Candle and Apple - WIP2

3″x5″ oil paint on canvas board
Three sittings
Reference is my own photo

In this layer I brightened up the red of the apple, as well as brightening and better defining the white on the candle.

Project: Pentacle Candle and Apple

Familiar - WIP4

Oil paint on gallery wrapped canvas, 9″x12″x2″
Five sessions
Reference: One of my own photos of Ringo

I added some white detailing around the eye, as well as the whiskers above the eyes. I then stared at the overall painting for a bit, because I was very, very unhappy with the entire composition of the lighting. I wanted to give the appearance that the eyes are glowing, but it looked very confusing with the back lighting being so strong. Thus, I colored over all the backlighting with a thin layer of black, also adding some shade detailing around the muzzle.

I’m not sure if I will be doing any more work to this painting, so it’s a WIP submission. At the very least, I will take a better photo once the current layer is dry, so the tones are true.

Project: Familiar

Complete Contentment - WIP6

5″x7″ Masonite board
Oil paint
5 sittings

This one probably seems odd as part of a progression. I added a thin layer of yellow over the entire painting, which greatly decreased the contrast and brightness of each individual part already colored. I did this to even the tones a bit before layering again, to help hide the pencil showing through, and to completely eliminate any white spots still showing. In the future, I will do this kind of a layer to begin with.

Project: Complete Contentment

Painting Updates, 12 December 2011

Fine Art, Painting, Work in Progress 4 Responses »

Dec 122011

I had a little time on Sunday to work on paintings.

Diana - WIP 3

9″x12″ oil paint on canvas board
4 sessions

Unlike WIP3, this one is fairly color-true.

This layer I added very thin shading to the lighter parts of the skin, defining some details and adding warmth. I also added another layer of lighter green over most of the background, and defined the area that will be the shoulder straps of her shirt.

Project: Diana Portrait

Complete Contentment - WIP 5

5″x7″ Masonite board
Oil paint
4 sittings

I added the orange on the cat.

Project: Complete Contentment

Painting Progress 11-12-2011

Fine Art, Painting, Work in Progress No Responses »

Nov 122011

Painting and drawing is easier for me to do than sewing, because I spend most of the time sitting in one place. That means while I pace myself on the sewing I will be creating a lot more drawings and paintings. Today, I share with you some work-in-progress paintings.

I also laid the underpainting layer for a commissioned portrait, but that’s not very interesting to show because it’s just flat dark red. I should be able to add the first real layer of color in about a week.

Complete Contentment - WIP 1

Complete Contentment - WIP 2

This Celtic piece is drawing in graphite on masonite board. The red is a thin layer of oil paint. It is 5″x7″.

Project: Complete Contentment

Familiar - WIP 2

This afternoon I added a third layer to this painting I started about two years ago. It is oil paint on gallery wrapped canvas, 9″x12″x2″.

Project: Familiar

Unlimited - WIP 3

I have now put in four sessions with this untitled painting. It is oil paint on canvas board, 8″x16″.

Project: Distant Fire

Celtic Knotwork

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I specialize in realistic, fine art treasures, portraits, wildlife art, and fantasy art, Celtic knotwork, and abstract minimalist art. My primary mediums include colored pencil, ink, and oil paint. Examples of my past work are displayed in these galleries. I am no longer selling art or taking commissions due to health problems.

Celtic Knotwork

My Celtic knotwork is based primarily on the Irish illuminated manuscripts of the middle ages and bronze-age archaeological finds. They are all unique, original designs.

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