Another Macantosh painting w stripes

I just think these stripes look like Christmas. I have been having a lot of fun with this striped cloth and apples. This is one of several that I have on ebay this week. One of them has a very low reserve price. This one has no reserve if I remember correctly. To visit my ebay site and possibly bid on this piece or another one click here

Hot Cup 6x6 oil on canvas

This is one of several little "kitchen" paintings that I have been working on in preparation for small works shows and holiday giving.  I love doing them.... instant gratification !  This one is on auction this week on ebay with a low start price and no reserve.  Feel free to make a buy it now offer if there are no bids :-)  I also have a few w very low reserves and a penny starting price so check them out as well.  I am hoping some folks want to get creative with their gifts this year AND support the arts by supporting the artists.  To see and bid on this painting click here

To check out my blog... click here

SOLD 12x12 Macintosh on Red and White Striped Cloth $250

I just posted this 12x12 piece to my ebay gallery along with it's little sister, a 6x6 macintosh on stripes. I put both on auction and the smaller one's auction begins at .01 just for fun. It feels kinda Christmasy. To go to my ebay gallery, click here or visit my blog

Watching the Gulls

I have been working on this little commission piece and I love the way it turned out.  I put the commission opportunity on auction on ebay last week and this person won the bid.  I put it out there again for this week but offer it any time for $99 for a 6x6 or 8x8 oil on stretched canvas.  I love working with people's family beach vacations as they were always my own favorite vacations.  Doing nothing all day but playing in the waves, hanging out w the family, watching the little kids play, walking the shore.... ahhhh... that's the life.  If you want your own little painting you may contact me through email ( artistswaygallery   at  yahoo   ) or through ebay.... http://midwest-fine-art.com  This can be a unique gift for a far away family member or just for yourself :-)

Want your own beach painting? you can buy it now for $99. just email me a pic or two to the above yahoo.com address.

SOLD! Hot Cup of Coffee 6x6 oil on cavas

Hot Cup of Coffee daily painting 6x6 oil canvas Aycock.  Well it is that time of year again.  I am going small for holiday giving.  It seems like when ever I am painting this time of year, I always have a hot cup of coffee or tea near by and they often sneak into my paintings.  Want to bid on this painting?  visit my ebay gallery....http://midwest-fine-art.com

Prairie Road

Casinos are popping up everywhere in Oklahoma. I have never been to one but I have traveled down the little dirt road right next to the casino that goes off into the wilds of Oklahoma prairie land. There are a lot of dirt roads out in the prairies that provide a way for oil companies to go check their oil pumps that are plentiful out here. I got lucky this particular day. The landscape still held on to the greens of summer but allowed the red of sumac to enter the scene and the bane of allergy sufferers, beautiful golden rod.

Petunias 16x20 oil on canvas

I am laid off from one of my very favorite jobs :-(

I got the phone call as I was walking in to go to work ( early ) . The person I answer to at the Arts and Humanities Council was very upset and very sorry but the hospital... Hillcrest ... has chosen to shut down the program due to $$ problems. I am sure they didn't give an ounce of thought to what they have and what they will miss out on. You can't buy this kind of marketing.... This is a program that costs next to nothing and yields huge benefits in patient satisfaction. It lowers depression, fear, speeds healing times and gives patients a general feeling of good will and warmth rather than cold poking, prodding, boredom, pain, worry etc that fills the rest of their days. I hear from sooooo many patients that this is the one thing they look forward to during their week at the hospital. It is one of the things that makes them inclined to recommend the hospital to others. I could go on but at least I got that off my chest. I guess I better get to my other love, painting :-)

A happy ending to this story.... I GOT MY JOB BACK! After a letter writing campaign from nurses, doctors, therapists and staff and of course, me.... I got called into the principal's office.... ok, not really the principal, the CEO's office.... just felt like going to the principals office. Anyways after a 20 minute conversation with him concerning the value of the program, I was reinstated!!! Cool huh?

SOLD! 6x6 Vineyard

My students asked me to demonstrate painting a landscape. Several wanted to know how I painted my Vineyard painting and so I demonstrated from that original, changed it up a bit and came up with this little 6x6. I stuck it on ebay today with a starting bid of $43 with no reserve. I have a ton of stuff on auction this week considering that I just got laid off from one of my very favorite jobs as facilitator for the Arts and Healing Program at Hillcrest Hospital.. Gotta ramp up painting sales to make up for the difference. Check out the auctions at http://midwest-fine-art.com

You will find a bunch of pretty little landscapes and a lot of one item kitchen paintings.

Bouguereau w an Oklahoma Twist

I teach oil painting to adults and every semester we pick a master to play around with.  Last semester it was a young girl painted by Bouguereau.  I teach demonstration style and so it is a great tool to have a photo of a beautiful face to work from when teaching the glazing process.  By trade, I paint more in the style of the post impressionists and you can probably see that influence in this painting as well.  I used the face as a jumping off point, added my new scarf, put her in an Oklahoma prairie and put a red ribbon in her hair.  I have several of these demonstration pieces in my ebay gallery and this piece is on auction this week ( soon to be over )  Check them out here... http://midwest-fine-art.com 

You may also visit my blog for more about me and my work or to purchase my teaching videos or my new book on oil painting.  http://margaretaycock.blogspot.com

Peoney 6x6

Just listed this on auction w no reserve for $39 and free shipping through my ebay store http://midwest-fine-art.com/   I did a whole series of these earlier this season and somehow this one got lost in my studio.  Just found it and put it out there for bids ( at a very low price, I might add :-)  I will not be painting the peoney again until next spring.

flaming red head

I usually work from life but during Tulsa's Mayfest celebration earlier this year I took several photos of street performers.  This young woman was a multi talented performer who played the violin and also juggled!   Due to Ebay's greatly reduced listing fees this week, I have this and about 80 of my other paintings on auction this week. See if you can locate other full figure paintings of this girl.  I have also listed 2 paintings with no reserve at under $10 just for fun.  Check out my ebay site at http://midwest-fine-art.com/  if you are interested in finding out more about my work, purchasing a teaching video or my new book on painting the still life in oil, you may do so at my blog at http://margaretaycock.com/

My Shining City 8x10 oil $150

They tore out a lot of houses near my neighborhood in order to make way for the expansion of a near by university.  As luck would have it, that never happened and so we are left with beautiful grassy hills with lots of shade trees that is kept mowed by our city.  It provides me a wonderful place to paint with out having to go much further than my own back yard.  From there I once caught a beautiful glimpse of my city as billowing clouds filled the sky and the sun began to set.  This is the result.  I put it on my ebay auction this week along with a huge amount of my other paintings ( ebay had a great listing sale )  There are a lot of my daily paintings on the site along w larger works.  my ebay gallery is at http://midwest-fine-art.com/  Just for kicks, I put 2 paintings in my gallery on auction for under $10 with no reserve.  find them and bid for a great bargain!

Gilcrease Workshop

gettting ready to teach the kiddies all next week at the Gilcrease. I am really looking forward to working with the teens. I love that age. Actually I love all the ages. We are going to be working on landscape, still life and portraits. Hope they can keep up with me :-)

SOLD My Secret Garden

This is my back yard in early summer.  I must admit, I painted this from a photograph as early summer is a battle between actually gardening and painting in the garden.  Thank heaven for cameras to capture what you can't get to.  I just posted this in my ebay auction site.This is on auction this week as I take advantage of ebay's great listing sale.   Almost everything else in my ebay gallery is on auction this week ( over 80 paintings )  See if you can find the 6x6 painting with the starting bid of $10. My ebay site.... http://midwest-fine-art.com/

SOLD! One in my Oklahoma Sky series

Out in Oklahoma we can all lay claim to some of the most beautiful skies in the world. This is one in a series of sky paintings that I am working on.  There are several of them on my ebay auction .  Feel free to go check them out here  I have started the auctions at $39 w no reserve or if you wish to buy it now, please make an offer of at least $80.  If you would like to check out my DVDs, my Book on oil painting, go to my etsy store 

Notes for drawing the human head

Measuring the Human Head

Many artists use measuring of one form or another during the process of drawing or painting the human head.  We will begin with some of the basic measuring rules that exist in a majority of human heads.  Remember, each face is different and these rules need to be checked if you are trying to obtain a likeness

1.  The eyes are placed in the middle of the face (not to be confused with the middle of the head)

2.  The face can be divided into 3rds.  Chin to bottom of nose, nose to brow, brow to hairline.

3.  There is a distance of one eye between the eyes and enough room for almost a full eye on either side of the face from the outside edge of your eyes.

4.  If you dropped a line straight down from the inside corner of the eye, you would run into the outside edge of the nose.

5.  If you dropped a line straight down from the middle of the pupil, you would run into the outside edge of the lip.

6.  The hair on top and side of the face has bulk.  If you are drawing a portrait of a person with hair you will add at least the distance of one eye to the top and both sides of the face.

7.  You should draw the head life size or smaller as slightly larger than life may seem monstrous to the viewer.

8.  Life size of human face is aprox. The same size as the span of the human hand.

The Drawing Process

1.  Measure the span of your hand and put a mark at the top (forehead) and the bottom (chin)

2.  Divide the span into 3rds and mark the thirds

3.  Look at your model.  Are her brows at 1/3^rd?  Is her nose at 1/3^rd?  Adjust the mark to fit the model.

4.  Measure your model’s eye

5.  See how many times the model’s eye measurement fits into the space from the chin to the forehead. (Let’s say it is 6 times)

6.  Find a measurement that will go between your forehead and chin marks 6 times.  This is the size that the eye will be on your drawing.  Make a note of it on a straight piece of scrap paper.  You will use this measurement to measure everything on your drawing.  If your model is a photograph you will also mark on this paper the actual size of the eye from the photo.  (write the word photo next to one of the marks and drawing next to the other)  Working from life you will use the tip of your paintbrush and fingernail to mark the distance of the eye, always holding your arm straight without bending the elbow when measuring the actual model. 

7.  Using your eye measuring stick, mark the distance in eyes from the chin to the forehead.

8. Let’s say that you notice that your model’s eye is located 5 ½ eyes from the chin.  Count 5 ½ eyes up from the chin and place the mark for your first eye.  You know how big to make this eye as you have it on your measuring paper.  Now mark the other side of the first eye. 

9.  You are on your way.  You can now see where to put the 2^nd eye by seeing how many eyes fit between your model’s two eyes.  You can see how far out from the eye does the side of the hair begin, how far out does the hair go?  How wide is the nose? How far up do I put the brow?

10.  You can also employ some of the tricks I talked about above such as checking to see if your model’s lips are directly under the pupil or a little less or more.  Does their nose span the distance between their eyes? 

11.  The trickiest thing is to not get the two marks on your measuring stick mixed up.  You will use “photo” measurement to only measure on the photo and “drawing” to only measure on the drawing. 

Tips on Painting a Still Life from my Videos and Book

Notes for a Still Life Workshop


Setting up a Still Life.1. Put objects together that might normally be seen together (or not)
2. Keep it balanced
a. Remember that cast shadows and color intensity are part of the balancing act.
b. Use a variety of objects (large, small, short, tall etc)
c. Think about what colors might look good together. Opposites in the color wheel are an easy and sure bet. Opposites work well to form a uniform composition, for example, orange may be used to grey your blue objects when you want to create a shadow side and blue may be used to create shadow on orange.

Abstract Design
1. Begin with a viewfinder or create one with your hands.
a. Lightly sketch abstract shapes and lines. Use a little paint and lots of turp as you should expect to erase as you refine your composition. (Using a clean brush and turp)
2. Give a little thought to your focal point.
a. Decide what to leave in, move around or take out.
b. Avoid putting your focal point in the middle.
a. A focal point is a place where one or more of the following elements exist: 1. The most detailed or interesting object. 2. The lightest light next to the darkest dark 3. Side by side opposites. ( blue/orange red/green violet/yellow)
c. Allow objects to leave the painting area in at least 3 places. Make good use of the painting surface. (Don’t put all the stuff in the middle of your canvas with nothing on the edges)
Your beginning idea in abstract form may look something like this.














Firm up The Drawing
1. Make sure containers are symmetrical
2. Check the ellipse on containers. Top ellipse should be similar to bottom
3. Pay special attention to your focal point. Draw it really well.
4. No need to draw each pedal on flowers. Leave that area vacant.


















Add Color1. Block in all local colors first (the main color you see when you look at the object. This is usually a medium value and painted as a solid mass like if you were coloring in a coloring book. The only thing not painted solidly are groupings of flowers and leaves. Lay those in transparently with soft edges. Firm them up in the last stage.


Finishing
2. Add darks, then lights and then highlights (in this order) You have already painted in the medium values in the block in stage and they may or may not need further work. You may have to repaint the medium values when you are trying to create a transition area between the dark/meium or light/medium.
a. Ask yourself “ Where is the lightest light and darkest dark. Compare all other values to them.
b. Squint a lot when comparing but keep your eyes open when applying paint.
c. Use the biggest brush you can for the size of object you are painting.
d. Make your brush strokes interesting, going up, down across, diagonal using the sides of the brush rather then the point unless working on detailed areas.
3. Pay attention to where edges disappear (where one dark value meets another or medium value meets medium or light meets light.)


Applying thick paint is the last stage to be
used in the lightest areas only. Brush is
almost flat and parallel to the surface of the canvas


Finished Painting

Cool Route 66 T Shirts designed by yours truely

Description

Once upon a time my mom, then a spry 23 year old, traveled from NY to California along that great highway, Route 66. She stopped in the desert to take a picture of a cacti that looked like it was kicking up his leg. She had her pal take a shot of her being kicked. That is her, doing the hand stand. Very cute! I have sizes sm, med, lg in Black and extra large women's in Pink and and teens large in Pink.( that one would work as a women's small as well )

They all have, what I believe are called cap sleeves, kind of 1/2 sleeve except for the teens shirt. They are all a cotton,spandex mix with just the right amount of stretch and softness. They are also longer than your typical t shirt.



Please excuse my lousy picture taking. The caption on the T shirt reads I'm still gettin' my kicks! It is   quite readable in real life:-) If you would like to own one please click here to go to my etsy store.

Coffee Cup Series

I am so thankful for the daily painter group. Because of them I have been having such fun doing these small paintings. I have a series of irises, peaches, cakes, pears, coffee cups.... the list goes on. What fun! Anyways these little paintings can be purchased directly through me $80 ea or go to my etsy store, or my ebay store where you can also see some of my larger pieces and some really cool route 66 T shirts that I just designed.

Peaches and Pears ( Pears SOLD! )

I have been painting as fast as I can to get ready for an upcoming show in my city, Blue Dome Arts Festival that runs concurrently with Mayfest . Thank God I got in the habit of these wonderful small paintings through the daily painting group. They are such fun to paint and I love the way they look when hung in a group. I have a bunch of them for auction on my ebay site and for sale in my etsy store . Anything not sold before, will go to the Mayfest show. On a side note, I also have a piece that just got into the Richard Schmid Art Auction. to bid on that piece, click here. As always, if you would like to keep caught up on what I am doing, buy my book or video tapes, you may do so here on my blog

Come and see me at the Blue Dome Arts Festival May 14-18.

Peach / Pear Series

I have been working on a series of 6x6 paintings that I will display at an upcoming festival in May. I got started doing these after reading about the daily painting idea.  Since then I have had a great time painting these little paintings and have been able to make a decent living doing so.  I love the idea as it makes it affordable for anyone to start collecting original art.  These little peaches and pears make me feel happy when I look at them and they look great in my own kitchen till someone comes along and buys them.  If interested in purchasing, please write to me.  I don't know that I will post these on ebay as I am trying to gather a nice group of them for the festival but would be happy to sell them to anyone interested in them.  They are $99each and you can purchase directly from me by writing to artistswaygallery ( at ) yahoo.com  I will send a pay pal request if interested in purchase.  Please do feel free to visit my ebay gallery for my large paintings at http://midwest-fine-art.com   I do have an instructional book and several videos for sale at both sites

SOLD! Still Life with Lemons 6x6 oil on canvas by Aycock

I've been playing around with old canvases. Cutting them down to 6x6 stretched, repainting portions and then framing in bright little frames. This one looks great in the little red, deep frame. It is on my ebay auction starting at $47 with no reserve. my site is at http://midwest-fine-art.com/

Happy Bidding.

Find more about my work at http://margaretaycock.blogspot.com/

SOLD !You can have your cake and eat it too! 6x6 oil

.

My friend, Louise came over the other night, bearing cake. She left us with a healthy share. Just before dividing the piece for our lunch, I thought ..." hmmm ... this might be fun to paint." and IT WAS! I had fun putting on the frosting.... just as if I were actually frosting it. I loved the painting and the eating of this wonderful cake... now I would love the selling... I will post this on auction on ebay in a couple of minutes. Will start low with no reserve or you can buy it directly from me for $99 if there are no bids. my ebay site is htttp://midwest-fine-art.com or you may purchase here.

Oh, I can include a great frame for an extra $15.

Oklahoma Vineyard SOLD!

I was working with one of my adult students today and she pulled out a photo of a painting that I had done years ago that she loved, an Oklahoma Vineyard. She asked me to show her how I did it and I guided her through the process using a 6x6 canvas ( I was working with one of my adult students today and she pulled out a photo of a painting that I had done years ago that she loved, an Oklahoma Vineyard. She asked me to show her how I did it and I guided her through the process using a 6x6 canvas ( the original was 16x20 and was a bit different than this one ) Anyways after a few hours she went home with a painting she loved and I got to experiment with a new product ( the masonite canvas ) and went away with a little mini painting that I loved. If you would like to purchase it you may, for $99 or take your chances on my ebay auction... I am starting it at $49. http://midwest-fine-art.com ( my ebay gallery ) If you want to find out more about my work, order an instructional DVD or my new book, check out my blog at http://margaretaycock.blogspot.com