"Commingled," Daily Painting # 36

"Commingled," Available (click here)

5" by 7"

Oils on Panel

Subtle Color

Out of the bouquet of flowers that my husband brought me I singled this simple one out for an unusual reason, at least for the way my mind works. (A mind drawn to brilliant colors like a magpie to shiny objects.) I picked this flower for its subtle but present color. Then, of course, I couldn't just have it sit in a lovely vase. I went around the house with the flower in mind. I spotted the abalone shell, a shell thought to be gloriously colorful, and liked the idea of showing how similar they are to one another. I wanted the idea and colors of the two organic things to commingle.

Next

Today's painting is begun, I'll leave the rest for a surprise later today. ;)

"Merely a Herd of Sheep" (final)

Merely a Herd of Sheep
Mixed Media

Final Process
For this piece I wanted to add to the sense of foreboding by making the technique a bit more rough. I intentionally exposed the layering of papers and elements of the drawing in colored pencil sticks. I used angles within the composition and background elements in the image to increase the mood and add symbolism.

Here is the original post about the development of this idea: http://ambergoulet-art.blogspot.com/2010/07/hooded-sheep-disclaimer-this-post-is.html.  Now I am finally sharing the final illustration!

Custom Made

The Object
I want to share the process of commissioning a pendant from me. It was a gratifying process, both Kelli and I were pleased with the piece that resulted. :)

The Means
Through my shop on Etsy there is what is called an "alchemy" section that will take custom orders. Kelli had seen my pendants and she decided she wanted to commission me to make a pendant in some of her favorite colors. (Kelli loves color, and she works with it beautifully! Check out her vivid paintings here: http://www.kellikohn.com/)


Details
In her bid she asked for the colors she was interested in and pointed out a couple of pendants she liked best from my shop. We "convoed" (or emailed for people not familiar with Etsy) back and forth discussing details. The price was at the high end of the prices in my shop due to the extra time spent finding the elements to make up the pendant as well as giving her options in the design.

Splendiforious
The price, color scheme, and amount of artistic freedom I had was decided before the commission was finalized. I sent her images of the design options and we agreed on the final design. In the process of the final stitching it does change a bit. Then I sent her an image of the final pendant before shipping it off. :)