More painting fun

A few months ago I sat down for a Saturday of painting and this came out (but I only decided on the layout and finished it last week). The peacock and flower designs came from an art book Othman gave me a while back, and I had fun playing with acrylic paint, paint markers, permanent markers, and watercolors to make it (as well as extra paper and scissors!). Most of it is metallic and shiny so it doesn't show well in photos, but it's a fun piece! 

This one I painted for the lovely Brooke, and gave it to her as  gift before she left for the US last week. I forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to her, and when I asked her to send me one I got this perfect photo. The dark background makes it look really nice!

Then last Friday my friend Ingrid invited me over for a painting afternoon at her photography studio with a couple friends of hers. I had these four little canvases that I didn't know what to do with, and had fun making this simple design on them. The colors don't show very accurately here (again the silver is shiny), but I had fun playing with the colors she had at her place—much brighter than the ones I own!

Ingrid is in fact the one that started this all, back in December 2013. Thank you dear friend for helping me fall in love with painting!

A new project

The inspiration, found long ago on the internet and saved to desktop (though I'd love to take credit for the idea):

The studies:

The canvas (Othman helped with the drawing part) and workspace:

Progress:

2015 in review

A lot of people had a crappy 2015, at least that's what my Facebook newsfeed and the news in general seem to show. I, however, was not one of those people.

photo

I started 2015 with a much-needed and much-appreciated job change. I developed career opportunities and got some interesting new experiences as the spring went on. Othman and I also got to travel around Morocco a bit to some pretty inspiring places.

In the summer, I spent a wonderful two months with my family in their new home. It was truly a wonderful summer, full of close and extended family, sunshine, walks, beauty, celebrations, and joy.

Upon my return to Casablanca I got the job opportunity of a lifetime and started working at an international school, where I have been so fulfilled and happy. The difference in my personal life is huge, and my home sees a happier me much more often nowadays.

2015 was a year of portrait photography for me. I was able to experiment and explore with lots of different subjects and settings, and loved every minute.

Painting was another theme throughout the year, as I focused on trying out new techniques and subjects while developing my skills.

Othman and I gained new friends who we now can't imagine life in Casablanca without.

Though we're back in Casa as of yesterday, we ended the year in France, and had a holiday filled with family, children, and smiles.

Throughout the year I was able to rely on my caring, patient, and attentive husband for all the support I needed. 

It was a year full of changes, full of love, and full of life. Here's hoping that 2016 brings ever more of each of those.

Studies and paintings

Lately when I paint I've been making studies before I paint on the canvas, to give me guidance and help me with my choices. It's been working pretty well, aiding me to go from an idea to a polished final product. 

This study I did at when painting with a friend a while back, experimenting with different techniques in order to know what worked and looked best. (O added the pencil sketches as an idea.)

The final result is one of my favorite paintings I've ever done. I'm not sure why I love it so much, but I do!

A couple of weeks ago I read in some corner of the internet that master American painter Georgia O'Keeffe painting not only her famous (infamous?) flowers and skulls, but also landscapes. I hadn't ever known that, so I googled to learn more, and came across this painting.

I simply fell in love with it; the layers and colors and surrealism just drew me in. I showed it to Othman who immediately said "You should paint one like that! You could do something really cool with it." I agreed, and not long after made this study, aiming not to copy but to make something inspired by the original.

Last Sunday and this morning I worked on the largest canvas I've ever painted on (it's still not huge but mine are usually smaller than a printer paper, while this one is significantly bigger), and this came out.

The colors look more smooth in real life, but the camera makes them look kind of choppy.

Thank you Ms. O'Keeffe!!

Two gifted paintings

I love painting.

I also love giving gifts. So giving paintings as gifts is something I've done a lot in the past few years! (This blog contains 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 instances of that!) Just last week I completed two painting projects for two different friends. Each painting was specific to each friend and happily for me both were well received.

I paint the way I cook. When I have either the need or the desire to paint or cook something, my first stop is Google. Just like I search for recipes including the ingredients I have in my kitchen, I search for a project or an idea that matches the sort of thing I want to paint. In both instances I look at many models and my final product comes out as an amalgamation of what I saw and what comes from my own head.

While the main idea for this painting came from the internet, I did it in my own way with my own reasons. I was experimenting with the background as I went along and am happy it turned out as nice as it did! I gave it to a friend who had a birthday a few days ago, and whose native country has trees that lose their leaves in the fall, unlike here in Morocco. Thus the fall-colored cut up bits of wrapping paper "leaves" in her painting.

 I found a melted-crayon version of this painting online, whose idea I loved, but whose execution wasn't the kind of project I was going for. So I made this whimsical but evocative painting with my acrylics for a friend who appreciates the meaning behind it.

Since I found my love for painting a few years ago I've been developing my craft a lot, and with each new painting I explore new techniques and themes. Going through the "my paintings" tag on my blog to find the instances of gifted paintings above showed me how I've moved from very rigid or rather sloppy paintings to being able to have more control in recent projects! It's quite satisfying to see. One way or anther, painting is lots of fun and I'm already debating what my next project will be!

1, 2, 3 paintings!

Having been working freelance at five jobs since January, I haven't really started or finished any big painting projects lately. This one from back in the winter looks very different from when I started, but it's not done yet. I want to work on the highlights and possibly change the background a bit, but I just haven't been able to get around to it.

Before, from January...

and after!

However I have done a couple small painting projects recently! This first one I did on whim one day... I started  with the brown color and let it develop from there— I didn't have a clear idea of what I was painting at the start. But sometimes that's the best part. Othman really likes it, but I'm ambivalent— it was really just me experimenting with techniques.

The second project I started and completed yesterday. Othman got me four little mini canvases last Christmas, and from the start I knew I wanted to write a word with them. A while back I came up with a background idea and tried it out, but in the end I didn't like it at all. 

So yesterday I got them out again to start over, wanting to make a gift for my friends Jessica and Ahmed and their lovely little Noor. I'm very happy with how it turned out!

These were actually featured in a photoshoot I did of their family today... stay tuned for those photos!