TamandaArt

Everyone knows that November is a dark month. It's the month where we eat supper in the dark and most of the lights are on early. I have complained about light before and it hasn't changed; November is still dark. Last year I bought umbrella lights and they are great but sometimes they still reflect on a painting and can give off a glare. I am not a professional photographer and I really don't have time to become one so I have to use all the cheat rules I can. Natural light is the best cheat when taking photos of artwork but November...it's not nice to us cheaters. See the glare on the left side? These two photos above were taken at the same location, it takes some time to get the right light and exposure. Natural light to start here but then I had to enhance the exposure. In this photo, I like to take photos with household objects so you can see actual size and colors to compare with. The walls were cream so I found some white furniture to help create a base color. If ...

I put up the wrong photo with the last post. When I was taking photographs I tried out the portrait setting on my phone and the results were not wonderful. This is the photograph that I am referencing.  Here is some progress shots of the grape vines. I don't usually paint this way with all the lines in first and paint around them. It is a slow way to go about things. I thought that it would make better photographs as a reveal but I find I am a tad frustrated with how slow it is to get to the base reveal. I am still following through with this technique, hoping my patience grows.  I am almost to the point where there is a little bit of color everywhere. There is still lots of go...

Back to the artwork once again! I have been working on this one since August on and off in between other projects. It is full of vibrant greens and bold pinks. I personally love the lyrical composition that seems to ebb and flow throughout the canvas carrying your eyes on an adventure. "Tranquility" oil on gallery canvas 18" x 24" x 1.5" Soon to be available at Kefi Art Gallery.   

In my attempts to take great photos that represent November, this beauty emerged. From this I have started painting. I laid a grid out for this one.  The drawing was going to have to be near perfect to get everything to connect perfectly. I started applying the warm greens in and realized that I had to be careful not to lose some of the lines drawn in. Also, I had to be careful because I hadn't drawn everything in (as I was afraid I would lose sight with so many lines everywhere). I found that I am still continually drawing and summing up where everything goes, and making sure it all fits right. I didn't realize how instrumental the drawing would be on this painting. As I get to this point, it is starting to stitch together better. There are a few hiccups (the canvas size is slightly boxier than my photo) but I have been able to alter a few things in the drawing to compensate without anyone being the wiser. Lets see how this is going to go...  

 November has always been a hard month to love for me. I have always associated November with the season closing down, harsh cold winds and grey miserable skies. This year has not been like that at all. I have been lucky enough to gather some great photos while taking my dogs for their daily walk.  I live right on the edge of a main street where there are shops and restaurants but to the other side is a subdivision. It's an older community so there are large trees mingled with a variety of gardens. The sun is making the tree colors absolutely stunning! The sun is so low in the mornings that I can barely see even with sunglasses on. This was taken on more of an overcast day. I still like the flow of the leaves and the branches. Color and light. Beautiful. There are some dismal areas and sometimes its hard to find the beauty, but I did! This photo is a beauty!  I was just there at the right time. The ravine is overgrown and a tangled mess that is less than inviting. The lig...

  This is the last post about the shed. I have included a collection of photos showing the shed from start to finish. April was clearing out the plants, shrubs and roots.  Footings and framing for the floor and the planks (trying to make as economic as possible during the wood inflation). Gravel to help level out where we were going to be working for the next few months. Also to keep weeds down.  May was a dry month and the framing and roof went up in two weekends. June was all about rain. We had to manage around the weather. The front door went on relatively early and the inside was painted when my husband bought a paint sprayer and had to try it out. The windows took longer as we were waiting on the glass. July was siding and trim as well as windows, side doors and skylight. I believe we also built the potting bench and started dressing the inside as well. August was soffit and finishing touches.  Spoiler alert; there are a lot of those final touches.   T...

Getting organized! Sometimes things can change in a design.  Originally I had wanted a Dutch door in the front but I had to agree with hubby that the Kijiji deal was too good to pass so we scooped it up. Now, the design started to alter. We had so much glass in the front door, so the amount of glass in the side doors increased (the front window size stayed the same as did skylight). The issue with so much glass was what was everyone going to see? The shed is facing the road and yes can be seen by anyone going by but also did I really want to stare at my lawnmower too? The answer was no, as you can guess. The simple answer was a small barn board wall. To display but also to help organize. We painted everything white just to keep it bright inside. (Ignore the tools and mess everywhere) You can see the change in these two photos above. It didn't take long before the potting bench was put in and another Kijiji item (the tall shelf / $45 and in awesome condition) was brought in. A littl...

August was the month when we could say that we were mostly done. That being said, there are still two more shelves inside that need putting up, some wood varnish needs applying and the double doors to the side need a weather strip. Not to mention about gutters. The concrete step was a learning curve. It all worked out in the end. We copied the brick and concrete for the ramp as well. These were weekend jobs.  They took longer than you would think. The siding was something new to us. We knew logically how it worked but then lining corners up and cutting everything made it real.  Super fun! I'd know how to do it again but am not hurrying to start that project. We realized that the siding was just getting us ready for the soffit. You wouldn't think that the soffit would warrant four photos until you realized how much time it took to put up. With two of us is was surely faster but it was still a lot of cutting. The corners were a conundrum but my husband got creative and by the la...