my lilac bush

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40% off sale on Tees and Bags

Today I am having a sale through my zazzle store on my tees and canvas bags.  Type in the code apparelbags13 and get 40%off.
http://zazzle.com/margaretaycockdesign

Mayfest Violinist 8x10 oil on canvas

Mayfest is coming up... this is a little painting that I did this time last year.  It is for sale in my ebay auction this week.
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Revising old paintings

A day to rework old paintings... Every now and then I go through my work and look at things with a fresh eye.  This is a painting that I did last year and something about it kept bugging me.  I changed the face a bit, hair, chest and then changed the arm and added a cape ( if you can't fix it....  hide it :-)  I had made her forearm to long I think but the hand ended up in the right place.  Rather than change the arm I just hid it inside the cloak ... brilliant, eh? The colors are still a little off in the photo above.  it is actually closer to the coloring in the bottom photo.
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Here is a photo of the older version

Stopping to pick berries 16x20 oil

Last year we had a wild hair and decided to check out the wagon races in a small town near Tulsa.  So glad we went.  We found a great spot to view the whole thing from a little hillside under a persimmon tree.  I got to take a ton of photos and we got to see all sorts of horses, ponies and donkeys.  Anyways... when I got home I fashioned this painting from several photos taken that day.  I pulled it out of the studio and made some changes to the girl on horseback today and then posted it to ebay on auction.
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Pears

I was recently hired by the Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council to do a mini workshop so that people could test the waters of oil painting.  Since I have practiced daily painting for quite some time now, I knew that I could introduce people to oil painting with a simple still life.  This was the outcome of that workshop.  It is on auction this week on my ebay site.  I have my still life notes a few posts down on my blog if you are interested.
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My God Children Picking Flowers

I was looking for something else and ran across this old painting.  I did this painting about 8 years ago and sold the rights to it to Carpentree which is the company who supplies Mardels all across the country with religious art.  They did a lovely job with it.  I retained the painting and it now resides with the parents of these two precious kids. 

MEME Gallery opening

There is a new gallery in town.  2022 E 11th in Tulsa.  I have a couple of pieces in the show which covers a lot of artistic ground from realism to the abstract, bot 2D and 3D, paintings, and photos.  A great space and great art!

Notes for painting a still life from my book and DVDs

I actually posted this in 2010 but decided to post again so you don't have to search deep into my blog to get this information.  I am doing a mini workshop this weekend at AHAH ( The Arts and Humanities Council, or Hardesty)  in Tulsa.   We will be working on those cute little 6x6 daily paintings.  I will post mine here after the workshop.

 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

Prairie Brook

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This was a painting that I started on site and finished in the studio.  Friend, Richard Higgs took my husband and I to some of his favorite off the beaten track places.  This was one of them out in the Tall Grass Prairie in Oklahoma

2 class assignements in my adult class

This is a painting that I just completed ( I think ) in my adult class.  I demo the process to my students.  We all start with the same photograph and each of us manipulates the photo and background to please us.  My girl ended up on a bluff in Ireland.  She now has long red,brown hair and is younger than the girl in the photo.  Anyways here she is and if you would like to bid on her, you can by clicking here
I have several other paintings on auction this week as well. 

 

On another note all together, I thought I would post a cool painting one of my students just completed in our " self portrait " assignment. I really liked it.  to begin she laid on the floor while another student arranged her hair and took her photo.  We then manipulated the photo using photoshop.  I love photoshop!  Great job, Tina!

I thought it would be fun for you all to see what might happen if you leave a painting in the hands of the artist for too long.  I have had this painting around for a while and brought it out the other day to list on ebay.  When ever you bring something back to your attention after not looking at it for a while, you notice things.  I decided to add and subtract a few things to make this a better, more balanced painting.  It is listed on ebay this week for still, a low start price w no reserve.  see how many changes you can notice.

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