"Secrets", 12x16, oil on panel, repurposed panels, portraits of women, women and jewelry, portrait painting, redheads, all prime painting

 "Secrets", 12x16, oil on panel

Sometimes if I have a good linen panel that I paid decent money for, I'll end up doing a really lousy painting on it. In the past, that would have really bothered me, because these linen panels can be very expensive! Recently, I solved the problem of guilt over a lousy painting on an expensive panel by taking it outdoors, sanding it down by hand till the surface becomes as smooth as I can get it, and then putting a nice thick coat of Gamblin white ground on it.

The portrait above was painted on just such a surface. I wasn't able to get all of the impasto marks completely smooth, but they were smooth enough to do this portrait, and I was pretty happy with how it came out.

I think I could have been a little bolder with the light on her red hair, but otherwise, I was okay with the result. 

Have you ever felt like you wasted something and figured out a way to salvage it?

Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for visiting my blog, and do come back again!

The Devon Horse Show Lady, 6x6, oil on panel, ladies in big hats, purple hat, Big hats, Devon Horse Show, Horse shoe millinery, portraits of women

 The Devon Horse Show Lady, 6x6, oil on panel

It's always fun to go to The Devon Horse Show and see all the ladies in their fancy hats. While I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those, I admire their creativity in dressing for the occasion!

This fun little portrait is available through my website- collections- "Little Gems". Just click here to purchase.

Thanks for checking out my blog. Come back again.

"Printemps", 6x8, oil on panel, women in hats, springtime, expressive portraits, little gems, portraits of women

 "Printemps", 6x8, oil on panel

I will always be an old-fashioned girl at heart. I have always loved things that reflect timeless beauty, history, charm, and a simple way of life. So I am of course attracted to things of the past. 

I think it would have been amazing to live during the Roaring Twenties, when fashion was influenced by the Jazz Era or the Great Gatsby era as told through F. Scott Fitzgerald. I also love the Victorian age and the 40's and.... oh I could just go on and on. The fashion of today is just not fashion at all!

Anyway, I digress. This little tiny painting is all about a romantic era. The girl's dreamy eyes are thinking perhaps of a lost love, or a husband at war. 

All I know is that she is sad, but still beautiful.

I enjoy painting little small portraits because I think they can be more expressive when they are done quickly, as this one was.

I named the painting "Printemps", which means springtime in French.

Thanks for checking out my blog. Check out more of my paintings at my website here.

"Nancy in Aqua", 14x18, oil on canvas

"Nancy in Aqua", 14x18, oil on canvas

Over the past few weeks, I've been trying my best to regularly attend the open studio sessions with a live model on Friday afternoons at The Venice Art Center. I have realized that the more that I paint portraits from life, the better I can evaluate values, colors and light temperature.

Nancy modeled for us last Friday as well, and this is the first time that I actually was able to attend two consecutive sessions with the same model. At the end of the day on Friday, Nancy had asked me if she could use a photo of my painting for her website, so I decided that I'd better make a good attempt to put on the finishing details at home.

I added the jewelry on her blouse at home, as well as playing around with that darned striped cushion! But for the most part , I was able to finish her face in the 5 hour session satisfactorily.

Nancy was a very good model- anxious to please and stayed perfectly still throughout. She is also an artist herself, so she had a very good understanding of the struggles artists go through in attempting to perform their craft to the best of their ability.

I was happy with the end result. I think I did a fairly decent job of rendering Nancy's character into the portrait. Nancy is an avid outdoors-woman, comfortable in her own skin, and like me she also enjoys ballet class :0) She also fishes, kayaks, hikes and paints images on coconuts, which she calls "Coconut Telegraphs", which she appropriately sells at a gallery in Key West. Whew! That's a lot of activity!

Nancy, however, has done a much better job at maintaining a ballerina's slim figure than I have!

Thanks Nancy, for the opportunity to paint you!

Nadia, portrait study

"Nadia", 14x18, oil on linen

Tuesday morning is my day to paint from a live model at a private studio. Although I was totally out of sorts this week, I did manage to turn out a decent painting, I believe. This week our model was Nadia, a woman with wonderful features, and very different from Carl of last week. It was her first time to model for painters and she kept changing position, but her large lips, small nose and Mediterranean coloring made up for it. Nadia is part Spanish with I think some Romanian blood as well, and overall she made for a very interesting model. We asked her to come back next week as well.

Although I should probably develop this painting a little more, I think I am going to put it aside for now and concentrate on new pieces for my upcoming solo exhibit in Venice in July. I am running out of time! If you have any interest in purchasing this painting, please email me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

The Other Woman, 12x16

"The Other Woman", 12x16 , oil on gallery-wrapped canvas



I know that the Daily Painters Gallery prefers that we do not post the same paintings two days in a row, but I am excited about this one! I worked on her skin color and features today, and I think that I made a significant improvement in the way this painting came out. I am definitely feeling as though I am improving as a painter, and what with the fact that I was one of the few painters who sold not one, but TWO paintings in last weeks invitational Paint-out, I am realizing that I have a future in art if I keep working hard. I look at the talent on the Daily Painters Gallery and wonder how in the world I'll ever measure up against the many talented artists there. And then I remind myself that I never had a fancy art education and only have been painting for two years, and then I realize I should not be hard on myself. I also need to thank the many collectors who have lifted me up and helped me believe in myself on the days when I wondered why I was even painting.



Today I am up, but tomorrow is another day. Stay tuned.