My New Studio

At last!! I am in my new studio, finished setting it up yesterday and was straight down to work on some commissions. It's a lovely sunny space, really quiet with great views and I am sooooo happy there..

Mentoring

Student Studying ‘A’ Level in Fine Art

In June 2007 I was contacted by a student from New College Telford in her 2nd year of A Level Fine Art. As part of her 2nd year Hayley was required to do an intensive study of an artist’s work she admired. Hayley found my work on the internet and contacted me. Like me, Hayley has a passion for bright bold colours and flowers and was very drawn to several of my floral designs. I was thrilled to be asked by Hayley to be part of her project and since then we have been in regular contact, with lots of questions being asked about my art process & discussions about her project. It’s been a great experience and I really wish Hayley all the best in her project and for the future. I just wanted to share some of her work/sketches with you which are of her floral studies and I think you’ll agree are beautiful; I particularly love the depth & tone achieved in the black/white studies.

Flower Commission

Starting a commission for a flower painting, I firstly decided on the flower that I was going to use for the project.. I have some lovely Hydrangeas in my garden and am always fascinated by their beauty, i particulary love the uniform of flowers that go to make up a seemingly larger flower creating a wonderful display of colour with different hues.

Firstly I draw a rough sketch of the flower, this will form the basis for my painting.

Then I decided on the layout as i wanted to use the same image in different posititions on the canvas, to create a relatively uniform image. I have been colour charts and samples of colour by my client so I have a very good idea of what i want the finished painting to look like.

So I draw out on my canvas the position of the flowers and start the first flower. I am painting in a loose abstract style using a palette knife and flat end brush and using a blending brush to soften certain areas. I like to do each flower individually as it helps me with the flow of the painting.




All the flowers finished now, I have blended the oils and spent time on building depth and with the darker 'rose' colour:







Finally, I add the background, an ivory cream and also add blushes of rose within the background to soften. I also use smatterings of grey/silver and the darker rose colour around the painting to add more interest. This is the finished result:








closeup

copyright of all images remains with the artist Jean G Dayton 2007

Busy Days commission completed

I have just completed a pet portrait of Shelley the Rotweiler and her owner....and here she is....

Something a little different.

Art Design and Colour Meaning

People are becoming more aware about the power of colour to heal every aspect of their lives. We are surrounded by colour within natures flowers, trees, rocks, minerals and animals and we mimic these colours in our homes with soft furnishings, upholstery and ART. Here you will find a brief introduction about colour, it’s positive benefits and how it can enhance your environment.

RED This colour has exciting & stimulating qualities, which is why it tends to be used in restaurants to stimulate the appetite and conversation; so a good colour to have in a dining room. Red is vibrant and gives us energy, it brings strength, warmth & energy and is associated with love. It is a yang colour and a person would wear this colour if they wanted to create an impression or feel confident and powerful in their surroundings, hence the term ‘power dressing’.

PINK When white is added to red it transforms it to Rose Pink, a softer more delicate colour than red it’s associated with the feminine energies and with unconditional love. It’s a colour associated with good health and well-being. A Good colour to have in a bedroom. It is associated with healing of the heart centre, the crystal stone Rose Quartz is a soft baby pink and is very often used for this healing purpose.

ORANGE The colour of joy, it has the power to encourage freedom and movement on all levels of our being. Its warm invigorating nature makes it a real mood lifter. It is also the colour of creativity so this colour would be a good colour to have in a study, work place or kitchen. Orange promotes confidence and a feeling of well being and that ‘everything is ok in my world’ so it is a good colour for encouraging and cultivating self worth.

YELLOW It is the colour nearest to sunlight. Its sunny disposition radiates warmth and inspiration. Yellow works with the intellect and mental inspiration, making it a beneficial colour to use in a study or place of learning. It is a happy colour and is often associated with summer, sun and jovial times. Children are very often drawn to this colour. It is a colour that calms our emotions and is associated with the solar plexus energy centre.

BLUE This colour promotes a sense of peace and relaxation, making it a good colour to have in a bedroom, meditation room or in a room set aside for relaxation. It is also the colour of communication so would be good to use in any communal areas of the home such as the dining room or lounge/sitting room. Depending of the shade of blue, it can have varying effects on ones being - turquoise blue is a powerful colour used in spiritual practices and is the colour of the stone ‘Turquoise’ which is revered by the Native American Indians. A deep electric blue is used as a powerful healing and protective colour and is used in many spiritualism churches. Baby blue can be a calming colour for children and would be a very good colour to use in a baby’s bedroom.

GREEN The colour of balance. In nature it is the colour of life. As the colour of balance it is able to bring stability to both mind and emotions. An unassuming colour that has a soothing tranquil quality so again this would be a good choice of colour for a living room or family room, encouraging harmony within the home.

VIOLET This colour is a combination of the masculine energies of red and the feminine energies of blue, which gives this colour the ability to balance and calm these two energies within the home or within an individual. Bringing both physical and spiritual strength and calming to those experiencing sleep difficulties this colour would be most beneficial in a bedroom setting.

Step by step Pet Portrait 2

Another pet portrait, stage by stage, a lovely jack russell pup and his owner.

Stage 1 - Both the pup and the owner have been outlined in pencil and I have concentrated on the jack russell first, I tend to do the eyes first on as I feel i make a connection with the subject.

Stage 2 - I have decided to do a green background as I wanted to give the impression that the subjects were outside within nature. Ive concentrated on the owner more now, shading and getting the eyes right.

Stage 3 final stage - I have added more fine hair detail to the pup and more depth and shading to the owner. The background now completed brings the subjects to the fore. Job done.

Step by step Pet Portraits

Step by step approach to a pet portrait, Chloe, a westie

Stage 1 - Ive drawn the outline and started on the eyes and marked out with grey the shading on Chloe's fur. I decided on a blue background as this best complemented Chloe's colouring.

Stage 2 - now I am adding more depth to the painting. Her character is really coming through now

Stage 3 and final stage - I have completed all the fine hair detail on Chloe and deepened the blue in the background.

Pet Portraits

I have also completed several pet portrait commissions in the last few weeks......

Little Chloe, an adorable West Highland Terrier

Baz and Michael



I will be posting the different stages of each of these commissions

Both portraits can be viewed on my site at www.jeangdayton.com/petportraits.html

Flower Power

Petal

My offering for today is an abstract floral which was inspired by the falling petals from the flowers in my garden. Before I venture into my studio in the morning I quite often walk around my garden for inspiration (if its not raining!). I like to look at which flowers are blooming, which ones have made their descent into the ground again and the patterns the petals make when they fall on the grass.... I wanted this painting to be delicate and feminine yet bold and abstract too.

I underpainted in acrylics using various reds and one of my favourite W&N colours at the moment, Opera Rose, its quite like any other colour, a beautiful vivid pink. I then painted in oils in blends of deep burgundy reds, crimson, scarlet red and pink. The finished piece is quite striking and has a energy of its own - it is a 36" x 16" canvas.

I have recently made a few videos for Youtube to show my work and my art process. Not only do I paint abstracts, seascapes, florals I paint pet portraits and ACEO's too. ACEO's (Artists Cards Editions and Originals) miniature art. I was recently commissioned to paint a Beagle dog called Stanley, I have made a vid of this:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rUVuzLaH7k

Full Steam Ahead

Into the Sun

I can't believe its Thursday again tomorrow.... time does fly at the moment, its probably because I am working like a trojan trying to get everything finalised for my exhibition.. its all exhibition exhibition exhibition at the mo.... Anyway, inbetween times I have managed to complete a further 2 paintings today, the first is called 'Into the Sun' and will be part of the exhibition and I have posted a pic of it here.

My inspiration for this pic is the warmth of the sun and the glow it has on its surroundings. I love this image as it is tranquil yet strong and powerful.
It is painted on a 30 x 30" canvas so quite stunning in the flesh.




Light

The second painting that I finished today is rather more abstract than 'Into the Sun'. I have called it 'Light' - I chose the name beforehand so I had an idea as to the effect I wanted to produce; light reflections forming dark and light areas of colour, I have chosen greens and blues again, similar colours to that of 'Aqua' - I really enjoyed painting this piece to music today, it was some chill out music with a hint of eastern rythym to it so the drums kind of helped the painting flow along. It really does make a difference to my mood when I play music whilst painting; I usually go by my intuition as to whether I need it or not.

Monday again!!

Its monday again.... time is just flying by at the moment. Only a week to go before I put my paintings up at Highcliffe Castle. Just finalising everything this week, checking I have all the paintings strung, leaflets sorted etc.

Today the weather is rather putting me off painting anything, I have fully intended on doing so, however it has rained relentlessy over the weekend and looks like its set to continue. So instead I am writing my blog and yesterday I spent the day (on and off) sorting out a video to promote my work on Youtube which you can see by clicking on the link:-

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qlOyKIyNpcg

Yet another learning curve. I think I must spend about 65% of my art career painting and 35% promoting myself - on and offline.

Well I think I will go and sit in my studio for a while and see if I can muster up some inspiration to paint.

Mystical Colours

Mystical
Finished this piece today. It's in the same style as 'Orion' and is by far smaller at a cute 10" x 10". I love doing these smaller pieces as they flow really easily onto the canvas - I call them 'colour bites' as they are so vivid and succinct. I am really into these colours at the moment; the vivid pinks, deep blues and mystical violets, hence the name.

Music or Not

Just thought I would talk about my art process a little more. I didn't make a blog entry yesterday so thought I would do so early today... before I start painting and maybe I will have a completed piece to show later - i underpainted another large 30x30" canvas yesterday (I always underpaint in acrylics and continue with oils). Yesterday I woke up very early with all these colours in my head, (in my minds eye) it was quite bizarre, the colours that i could mainly see were deep indigos and exquisite violet colours, so this inspired me to paint in these colours. The painting is very much in the early stages at the moment, however I am hoping today it will evolve today.

I wanted to talk about how music effects me when I am painting and to me it is crucial to work in a happy and comfortable environment as this enables me to express myself fully in my artwork.

Whether I play music largely depends on what kind of mood I am in as sometimes I need to paint in complete silence. However with music I have found it has without doubt helped some of my paintings evolve. I have painted some of my best abstracts to Madonna!! Another favourite for a very relaxed approach is Jack Johnson. Lately I have been using more calming chill out music, the likes of Buddha Bar and Café del Mar which take me off to creative places in my mind.

Later............

Orion
Well i have finished the piece that I was working on, I have called it Orion. I firstly underpainted with acrylic with phthalo blue, black, cerulean blue, violet, magenta and winsor & newton opera rose, a beautiful vivid pink which really complements the colours in the painting. I have tried to recreate the colours that I saw on waking yesterday morning in this piece, (vivid violets, blues and deep indigos). I use Liquin Original as a medium for washes and to give the painting a transluscent effect; when mixed with the oil colours it gives the oil fluidity and I am able to blend the colours to achieve the results I want. When I am working on such a large canvas I turn the canvas around to see it from a different perspective which gives me a different feel for the work and I am constantly moving the brush around the canvas, I am not always aware that I am doing this, however as a result of this it helps with the continuous flow of the painting.

The finished image I am really pleased with, the photograph as usual doesn't do the painting justice as there is a lot of depth to the painting and you really do feel like you are in another world. (note, must get a better camera!!) :o)) - oh nearly forgot to mention, I painted this one to Buddha Bar VII.

The Abstract Artist - beginning of the week

Aqua
My abstract work is flowing at the moment. I wake up very early some mornings and inspiration comes to me, I get images in my head and sometimes have to get up and write down the information. Its normally colours that I see or shapes and how the colours relate to each other. I work very closely with my feelings and my spiritual guides and today I felt inspired to work with aqua, blues & greens....And this is the result, I am very pleased with the colours and the painting just flowed. Its an oil, I love the vibrancy of the colours, the picture doesn't do it justice, it really is one of those paintings you could just literally fall into and drift off somewhere relaxing! I have called it 'Aqua'. Its a massive 30" x 30" oil on chunky canvas.

A perfect day for painting as the sky is slightly cloudy so no glaring sun. My studio is south facing so sometimes the sun shines in too much making it difficult to paint. However today was a good day. I'd decided that this week was going to be a week crammed full of painting. I have commissions to do and paintings for my forthcoming exhibition at Highcliffe Castle, so I am very very busy. It's all good....

Completed Pieces

Breeze
Today, a sunny morning so not the greatest time to paint in my studio, although its not too bright very early on, so i was up extremely early and in my studio at 8.30am. I meditate every morning, especially when I am painting that day as I find it helps me to focus really well. Focus is the key word to getting work done, as an artist, especially an abstract artist you need to be feeling just in the right mood to paint from your feelings about your chosen subject. I go through a little ritual of making myself a coffee, getting my brushes ready, mixing my paint, choosing my music, if it feels right. I sometimes have music playing as it helps to get the energy going, however, today I decided to paint in silence - my studio is in my garden so when I say quiet, that's rather dependent on next doors cat meowing at my studio door or the neighbourhood birds having their morning conversations. I love it really, i am very lucky in that I am surrounded by nature. That is very important to me that I have this environment in which to work, of course I get inspiration from nature and my garden is a great source for some of my paintings.



I completed a piece that I'd underpainted yesterday, my inspiration came from the wind in the air and how it made the the flowers in the garden sway and dance, particularly the petunias in the pots and baskets.. I have tried to capture a feeling of movement within the painting, a subtle breeze on various summer colours. I have called it 'Breeze', simple yet descriptive enough to capture a mood. It's a 36 x 16" oil on canvas. The naming of a painting is very important to me, as in a way, my paintings are my 'children', I put so much of myself into my work as I am completely passionate about art, that to name my paintings is a major part of the art process for me.


Touch of Green
This is the second piece that I started yesterday. I am really pleased with it. I wanted a piece that was fresh, clean and crisp, vibrant and stunning and I wanted to work with greens. Its a 24 x 24" oil on canvas and will be exhibited at Highcliffe for my solo exhibition. I have called it 'A Touch of Green'.