www.TerrieLeytonFineArt.blogspot.com

I'm in the process of redoing my blog name and it's look. 
The new spot is:  www.TerrieLeytonFineArt.blogspot.com and is partially set up now, but, should be finished  within a week.  Hope to see you there!

 

Riverwalk Stroll and Cruising on the River

A few months ago I joined the River Arts Group in San Antonio and now am hanging art in their gallery.   I thought some San Antonio type paintings would be appreciated and took a boat tour on the river downtown to look for interesting painting sights.  Here are two of my latest paintings: top - Riverwalk Stroll, and bottom - Cruising on the River.  Both of them painted in acrylic and they're 8"x10".  Both will be part of a 6 piece series.  While #3 Riverwalk painting is already started I've had to shelf it for a few weeks to finish up a painting for the Lulling Oil Museum's  "Reflection of Texas" art show coming up on Sept 9th .  The reception time is 2:00 - 6:pm.  Come join in the fun and be sure to check out both of the paintings that I'll have out there.  Hope to see you then!

Looking for someone to paint a portrait for someone you love?

Contact me at www.TerrieLeytonGallery.com and click "customer Service".

Brothers In Arms - A Family Thing

This is a painting of a father and his 3 sons, all in the military, at different times in their lives. The oldest son, on the right, died young in action. The father, third from right, was painted from a blown up 1 1/2"x 1" slightly blurry, black and white photo. The painting was a composite of different photos of the men and the military equipment that each used. I changed the lighting of 3 of the people in order to give the painting a more cohesive look with the light all coming from one direction onto the people and equipment. I put the flag enveloping the men to stress the patriotism and sacrifices the family has made for our country. This is a 22"x28" oil painting.

MORE FAMILY HEIRLOOM OIL PAINTINGS ARE ON THE WAY SOON!

It's really important these days, with families moving across the country to be where the jobs are and relatives spreading across the entire map, not only keep your family history alive, but to pass it on to future generations so the stories will remain strong long after we're gone. Stories are awesome, but, stories with pictures are so much better and a picture is worth a thousand words, so what better way to pass on a piece of your history than to do it with a quality work of art?
Right now I'm working on 2 more heirloom paintings and will share the results with you as soon they're completed and the customer gives their ok.

LATEST FAMILY HEIRLOOM PAINTING

This is my latest commissioned "family history" portrait painting. This oil painting is of the customer herself,in the foreground, years ago. Behind her on the left is her deceased husband in uniform is saluting a half mast flag in honor of a family member who had passed on. On the right are her parents in their wedding dress standing in front of a 1947 Fleetwood, Chev. In the Center, behind this beautiful woman,is a glimpse of her old family home, the water collection tank they had way back then, a field of the cotton that they used to pick, and their old Farmall tractor. Now, I'm working on another commission of a family bringing a load of cotton into a one of Geronimo's old gins.

COSTS OF CREATING A PAINTING

Several days ago a woman was telling me and another person that she'd had a show at a local hangout and sold quite a bit of her art (photography). I was surprised because art doesn't normally sell well in our town - unless it's marked down to $20 or less. This woman suggested that if I had a show there, marked my paintings $20. each, then I'd probably sell between 6 to 10 pieces and come home with $120 - $200 for the show - like that was a good thing! I had to hold my jaw to keep it from dropping to the floor. I put in a good 8 hours or more on each little 8"x10" painting - and even more time depending on subject and details. The cheapest canvas you can get is about $3. You have to prime your canvas - that's about $21. for 2 qts. Each tiny 1.25 fl, oz. tube of paint ranges anywhere from $6. and on up per tube. Then there's brushes and the more you pay for one the better and easier your work goes, but say you got a $6. cheap kids pack. Of course you need either Gamsol or medium if you're working on oils to thin out or layer your paint. That's $7. to $15.per small bottle. Then there's mineral spirits to thin your paint or rinse your brushes ($21.) and brush cleaner ($12.) to get out the tough stuff. If you're putting on a frame you'll pay about $15. at half price at Hobby Lobby and LOTS more at frame places, unless you go for a photo frame and then people look at your work like it's "cute". To make a living at painting you have to factor in marketing, office supplies, the fuel it took to get your materials, the electric for your lights and heat, etc. What about all the education that it takes to get to the point where you can sell your work? Now,minimum wage is $7.25 an hour - that not accounting for the years you've studied art(your promotions), but just straight out of the "box". Looking only at labor: $7.25 x 8 hours = $56. and none of the materials costs have not been factored in yet. Can you see why an original 8"x10" oil (or acrylic or watercolor, etc) painting should never be sold that low? An artist ruins the value of their work by pricing it too low and it's very, very hard to get it up to where it should be when you've underpriced your work. Hence the term "starving artist". I have to say that all last Summer I advertised 8"x10" single portraits of pets or people for only $40. Why did I do that? It was a promotional device to get people to notice and buy. There was a problem with that. The price was so low, that people didn't think they'd be getting quality work. Let's remember to factor in all the expenses and time invested before sticking a price on our work.

COMPLETED- Little church E. of Seguin, Tx.

Ok, this is the completed painting that was started on-location a couple of weeks ago. Do you know the area?

PLEIN AIR PAINTING

An artist friend of mine and I have been talking about going plein air painting (that's painting outside on the site) since last Fall. Well, Monday we did it. We arrived at the chosen spot about 9:am and painted until 1:30, went to lunch, then got to our 2nd site at about 2:45 and painted until a little after 6:pm. I had attempted plein air painting twice before but couldn't stand the heat or the bugs and hung it up after about an hour. This time it was fun! Probably had something to do with having a buddy to talk to while painting. Somehow you don't notice the bugs or the heat nearly as much as when you're out painting alone. My blond haired "California girl", friend faired pretty well, but I ended up rather crispy (b in a few places. Note to self" Take sun block and a hat next time!!! It was a great day and I came home so inspired with painting outdoors that the next day I talked my mom into driving up the road a little way from our house, where there's 2 huge, beautiful, oak trees with a field of gold flowers behind them, and the two of us painted. It was great! Painting outside straight from nature is supposed to help you make better color choices and help you learn to paint better and I think that's true. My first painting Monday morning turned out looking like a pastel - without my realizing what I'd done. I stepped back and took a look at my friend's artwork and it looked like it came straight out of the field that we were painting - her colors were so true. Of course I had to sit back down and start adjusting my colors to the reality of what we were looking at, but the difference of what I had thought I'd painted and what I really did was pretty amazing. That was a lesson in painting from life right there. Posted today is the 2nd painting from Monday (that's right, I'm not showing the first one) with a little over 3 hours into it. It still needs to be finished up- more details such as the leaves on the trees in front of the church, etc., but this is what it looks like at this point.

A PORTRAIT IN HISTORY

About a month ago a gentleman commissioned a portrait from me. He had black and white photos of his parents and wanted them painted in color, using his own skin tones and the variations in the black and white photos as the basis and wanted his father wearing his military hat- which he was not wearing in the photo. The gentleman also wanted to show that his family came from Mexico, but had moved to the U.S. and that a direct decendant of his had fought at the Alamo and wanted the date on the flag waving over the Alamo. It was tricky getting all of that onto the painting without having too much. All the portraits that I've painted up until now have been in acrylic paints. This was my first oil portrait and I have to say that the wait time between the layers of oil paint just about drove me crazy. Ok, so, here are the black and white photos and also the finished painting - that was delivered last week. What do you think?

SPRING AND DEATH

Spring has sprung here in beautiful Texas once again! It's warm breeze is blowing outside, the sap is flowing, and flowers are bursting up everywhere, but this week has been a sad one. A young friend of my grandson passed away from a freak accident and his death has affected our entire community as though sandpaper has been scratched across our hearts. My grandson, and many other kids, can't believe that their friend is really gone. They are shocked that such a tragic accident could even happen to someone they know and we adults are reminded once again how fragile life is. Please pray for the family of this young boy.

MEMORIAL DAY THOUGHTS

Hope everyone out there had a good, safe, Memorial Day and weekend! Ours was nice too. We took time to stop and think about what Memorial day means to us personally. My 24 year old nephew in in the Army and is doing his 3rd tour over seas right now. He's due to come home in a couple of weeks and we're all looking forward to seeing him again and praying that all goes well. His dad, my brother, was also an Army guy and did his time in Panama. One of my cousins is a lifer in the Army and just left Fort Hood for his 6th tour over seas. His dad was a lifer as well and retired from the Army. My dad spent a couple of tours in the Air Force - and we're still hearing his stories from it like it was yesterday. :) Mom's dad and all 4 of her brothers were in the Army or Air Force and all did their part for our country and our people. One of her brothers lost his life in the line of duty, as have many other military people over the years. He is still remembered and missed 52 years later. Let's remember the lives lost and do the best we can for the living.

EARTH DAY CELEBRATION

April 25th was our town's Earth Day celebration and my job for the past few months was to head up the Art Leagues' kite committee. My team was terrific! We had a kids kite making booth and gave away 42 free, recycled, kites to the kids who came and decorated them (with recycled paints). Some of our league members painted kites to sell there as well for a fundraiser for our group. Pictured are my team members and photos from our booths. To see the fabric kites that I painted for the fundraiser click on "KITES" at www.TerrieLeytonGallery.com

DRAWINGS FROM THE GREEK AND ROMAN ERA

March was a very good month for me. There was lots of sketching at the San Antonio Museum Of Art and lots of work completed in my studio. Also some of us artists from the Seguin Oakwood Art League have decorated several downtown windows with our art and it will remain on display untill the 26th of April. My mom and I have a window next door to Chiro Java, across from the court house, on Austin st. in Seguin. Two more artist's works are located behind Chiro Java on Nolte st. and four more artists have their work on either side of Picket Frames on N. Austin St.
Russell Lopez was the instructor at the San Antonio Museum Of Art for all of March and he was terrific! He is very well schooled and shares his knowledge generously. He's working on a workshop for this weekend in Seguin and will be showing us how to grind and mix paint from chunks of pigment, explaining and showing us why it's better quality than store bought tubes and cheaper as well. We'll also be learning to work with the old Master's "dead" pallet colors and learn how the various paint pigments react with each other, among many other things. Anyone interested in joining Russell's workshop can contact me here and I'll get back with you.
Posted today are some of last month's drawings from SAMA's sculptures. Hope to see you back here soon!

PORTRAIT OF MATT

This is a portrait of my son's guitar teacher, Matt, at the New Braunfels Music shop. The background of the painting was changed from the inside of the music shop to an audience. Posted is the photo and the painting. Let me know what you think of it. I'm be painting several other portraits from there in the next few weeks and will post them as they're completed.

Last weeks' Coppini drawings

Last week we had a surprise at the Coppini Academy of Fine Arts. We were drawing a male model half of the evening and then suddenly the model's wife joined him! Yeow! So, instead of drawing 1 model in the 2 ten minute sets, we had two, and it was a little tough, but fun too. It was a challenge to see if I could get two figures in there and it was fun too. Nice surprise!

CLOSE UP OF A ZEBRA

Last night was another drawing session at the Coppini and the model was good. It's really nice to look around at each break and see what the others have drawn and how different they look just from moving the angle of the artist in relationship to the model. One of today's photos is of 2 drawings -7 to 10 minutes each. The 2nd photo is a 20 minute drawing. I drew her head too large though, and, since it was with conte' pencils, couldn't go back and "fix" that sort of thing. So I've covered the head for this photo. :) The third photo is of a painting I did a couple of weeks ago. It's a zebra's eye and I like the painting so well that I'm going to do a series of animal eyes. It's a challenge working with the light in their eyes. I took of photo of a horse last Summer and enlarged it on the computer and was amazed to see the horizon and other details reflected in that animals' eyes.

Talking about reflections~ one morning I woke up with my hand up close to my eye and suddenly realized I was seeing a very precise reflection of my bedroom window and the trees and sky - on the diamond in the wedding ring on my finger. I'd never noticed those kind of refelctions there before, shine - yes, but not reflections. That could be the makings of a very interesting painting. So, if you ever happen to see me sitting around somewhere with my ring up close to my eye, rest assured I'm not checking out the stone, I'll be checking out reflections!

DRAWINGS FROM THE MUSEUM

Tuesday night was another museum night and they had a pretty big sketching crowd. Lloyd Wright is the instructor for this month and I hear he always draws in the people. We were focusing on shading and shadows using conte pencils. My first subject was an Asian vase and the second one is bust and, I forgot to write down what and where they are from.

My son went along with all of us that night (his other choice was to sit around in a dentist's waiting area with his sister and nephew) and I talked him into drawing with us. He says he hates drawing and isn't any good at it, but he drew 2 little Buddhas and I was surprised at how well he did. It was another enjoyable sketching night!

AMOR

It's a beautiful, sun shiny, day out this afternoon. It's the kind of day that makes you want to grab your paint supplies and head outside to bask in the beauty of nature and create a piece of art too. So many artists feel that plein air painting is the way to go to advance you skills faster and better. I have a tough time trying to paint outside when it's chilly, or hot and buggy - hey, isn't that all our choices here in Texas lately?. I'v decided this is the year to get tough and get past that and "do it anyway". So, you'll be seeing some plein air paintings on here this year. I have several portraits that I'm either starting on or getting back to work on. They'll be on here soon. There are also 7 art competitions that I'm wanting to enter this year and I will post that work on here as well. So, in a nut shell, that's the schedule for 2009. Today's painting is the one I just finished up on Monday and is now at the American Bank of Texas in Seguin. Let me know what you think of it.

Happy February 2009!

Happy New Year! Can you believe another year has come and gone? Are you sticking to your New Year's resolutions? Yes, I've made mine and am keeping after most of my goals. I did let the entire month of January slip by without adding to my blog though and sure didn't mean to do that! I have been making art though. I've been going to a the San Antonio Museum of Art once a week with some fellow artists and drawing from their collections. I've also started going to the Coppini Accademy of Fine Arts with that same bunch of artists to draw from live models once a week as well. Saturday I mailed off a CD with a photos of one of my paintings for a competition. Entering competitions is one of my work goals for this year. Yesterday I finished up a romantic Valentine painting that's now hanging in an art league display at the American Bank of Texas until the 16th of this month. The drawings #1, #2, and #4 were done at the museum and #3 is from the live model sessions at the Coppini. Please post any comments you have. I'd love to hear from you! See you tomorrow!