Tau Kappa Epsilon Crest

My boyfriend is a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon. He really wanted a painting of the crest so I made one for his birthday. It was one of the most difficult paintings that I have done not because it is detailed but for the simple fact that there is no room for error. His fraternity means a lot to him and I knew that the painting needed to be as perfect as possible. This painting is on a 24' by 32' canvas and took several weeks to complete because of all the layers of paint and the time to dry. I will warn anyone who sets out to do a painting with a black background, give yourself plenty of time and quite a bit of paint. But it was well worth it when I saw the look on his face and how it hangs in their apartment. I had to use several detail brushes to do the outlines. The brushes listed below work fairly well and come in all different sizes.

Tuscan Window Scene

This is one of my first paintings. I did it to go with the decor in my mother's kitchen. It is not the best work but I love how the rocks at the bottom turned out and its not bad for only painting a few weeks. In person the rocks are actually texturized which added a nice effect in my opinion. One of the hardest aspects in this painting was to mix the colors correctly. It is a bit stylized in places but I am still new. Also for those critics out there I know the proportions are off. This painting was a lot of fun for me to do and only two approximately five or six hours over the course of a few days. I really love the thick canvas for this project.

Sargent Art 90-3009 18-Inch by 18-Inch Canvas Panel, 100-Percentage CottonSargent Art 90-3009 18-Inch by 18-Inch Canvas Panel, 100-Percentage Cotton

New Experience in Painting

All my life I thought I only had a creatistic ability for putting things together in scrapbooks and collages but in October of last year I started oil painting with the instruction of a friend. I have never tried to create anything realistic before considering I can barely draw stick figures but it turns out that I am not completely horrible with a paintbrush in hand. I have completed several paintings just messing around or things people have asked me to do and hopefully with practice I will get better. I just wanted to share my experience for those of you out there who might not believe in your ability or have started a new hobby and would like some help.

Supplies:

1. synthetic bristle brushes ( any will work but synthetic bristles don't fall out as easily and get stuck in the paint)

2. basic set of oil paints of all colors (I bought a set with all the colors in small amounts--- Georgia and Reeves are good brands that don't require mixing with linseed oil)

3. Canvas of any size or thick paper that won't bleed through when painted upon

4. Acetone or Paint thinner (to clean brushes or to thin areas of your work)