Paradise

 Paradise

5" x 7" oil on stretched canvas

Available on Etsy - $55 plus shipping

Mid winter in the north is cold and dark and full of snow. It makes me long for warm sun and bright colours, like this Bird of Paradise flower.

I toned the canvas with a cool pink (Hornyak Pink by Kama Pigments) that I let peek through the paint and add interest.

Have a peek at what's available in my Waifs & Strays sale of original art which continues until January 31st.   Free shipping on most pieces within North America!

You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, my blog, Illustrated Life and on Facebook and Twitter.

 Great Horned Owl 

5" x 7" oil on panel

Available on Etsy

Great Horned Owls are native to Newfoundland but not often seen.  Their colouring is a perfect match for their environment of spruce trees making them blend in beautifully.   These are glorious birds and powerful  hunters as I found out when one attacked my ducks in a meadow pen a few years ago. You can read more about that day on my blog and see some photos of the owl.

My Waifs & Strays sale of original art continues until January 31st.   Free shipping on most pieces within North America!

You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, my blog, Illustrated Life and on Facebook and Twitter.

Waifs & Strays Sale

 www.jeanettejobson.com

I'm a fairly prolific painter, even when working on a series.  I take 'breaks' from my series subject by painting other subject material and also paint demonstration pieces in workshops.  Annually I like to provide paintings from old and new work to collectors at a reduced price. 

From January 12 - 31st, I will be making paintings available through my website on a first come basis.  You can see the images currently on the Waifs & Strays Sale page of my website, but prices will not be populated until January 12th at noon NL island time.  I cannot accept reserves prior to the sale date, to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to purchase.

Shipping is included in the purchase price unless otherwise indicated.  Framed pieces which are under glass  will have the glass removed prior to shipping.

There are a number of palette knife paintings in this sale, as well as some brush paintings.  Enjoy looking!

January Woods

 January Woods - Sold

5"x 7" oil on panel

The first real snow of 2015 layered everything with white today and provided a snow day for many.  Me included.  Its never really a snow day as technology increases remote connectivity and I worked from home.

However, at 4am I couldn't sleep and was up and in the studio and found an image I had taken a few years ago looking out from the protection of the woods into the clearing of the meadow and decided to paint it.   I believe painting becomes automatic to me, no matter what the time of day, whether night or day.

I am surrounded by trees where I live in the country and over time have made trails and clearings through the trees that provide magical places to observe light and colour.

Sparklers

 Sparklers

8" x 10"  oil on panel

Available on Etsy

Sparklers was a demonstration painting at my last palette knife painting workshop of the year that was all about painting Christmas.  There's something satisfying in creating reflections of light on a curved surface.  Especially more challenging when using a palette knife.

Its time to wind down a little for Christmas and allow some rest and relaxation with friends and family. I wish you all a safe, healthy and happy holiday season.  I'm looking forward to many things in the new year - new paintings, new roads to travel, new challenges to solve and new friends to make. I hope you'll be among them and perhaps we'll meet at one of my 2015 art workshops.

You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, my blog, Illustrated Life and on Facebook and Twitter. I've just joined Instagram and am learning the curves.  You can find me there at jeanettejobson.

First Snow

First Snow - Sold

 5" x 7" oil on panel

After the first real snowfall of the year, I drove to an out of town gallery to collect a couple of pieces that hadn't sold during the summer.  The drive was lovely, as snow sat heavily in the trees, blanketing the world and making it look like a picture postcard.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw some boats that were pulled up from the water for the winter. Sitting there in the browned grass with snow covering the edges of the boat, I knew there was a painting in the scene.  Just a hint of the water behind the boat tempts the viewer to look further into the painting.

After each painting that I complete in my current series of boat paintings, I use the leftover paint on the palette to create a small 5" x 7" piece, usually available in my Etsy store.

You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, my blog, Illustrated Life and on Facebook and Twitter.  Stop by and say hi, I'd love to hear from you!

PS  Registration for my 2015 art workshops opens on December 15th   www.jeanettejobson.com 

Light

 Light

5" x 7" 

oil on panel

Available on Etsy

The warm glow of a candle is always appealing in a darkened room. It can mean decoration or essential light and watching the flickering flame is addictive as watching a fireplace.

This was a demo piece in my recent palette knife workshop - Painting Christmas.  My 2015 workshop list is on my website and registration opens on December 15th.  If you're a mailing list subscriber, you'll find a discount code in the December Studio News which goes out tonight.  Sign up is easy on all the links below.

You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, my blog, Illustrated Life and on Facebook and Twitter.  Stop by and say hi, I'd love to hear from you!

White Chameleon

 White and Silver   - SOLD

5" x 7"  oil on panel

White is such an interesting colour to paint.  The purity of it when examined is not pure at all.  There is no single blanket of white.  It is a Joseph's coat of many colours that reflect the environment around it so that the use of a pure white such as titanium white in paint is left as an accent rather than a predominant hue.

This still life of a ceramic and silver ornament is made up of many colour:  orange, yellow, violet, blue, grey.  But the ornaments still read as white to the viewer.  Try putting a white object on a plain white surface and see it pick up colours from its surroundings.  Put a sheet of coloured paper under the white object or sit it next to something colourful and watch it change again, like a chameleon.

White can become warm or cool depending on its surroundings such as in this painting “The Two Sisters” by Joaquin Sorolla.  The sunshine gives a warm yellow cast to the dress which we instantly know is white, yet the blue of the sea provides cool whites depicting reflections and wave caps.


You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, my blog, Illustrated Life and on Facebook and Twitter.  Stop by and say hi, I'd love to hear from you!

Gold Mercury

 Gold Mercury

5 x 7   oil on panel

Available through Etsy

And still more mercury glass!  

Its more about the challenge of painting reflections than the actual shape of a subject for me. The light is likely what draws me to paint water and boats.  Reflected light and shadow need careful observation and consideration before putting down a single palette knife stroke.  Using a fractured stroke in areas, I drag wet paint across the picture plane, pulling colour from one area into another, creating lost edges and movement.

I probably look more than I paint in fact - like the carpenter's saying "Measure twice, cut once."  Its similar for artists.  The longer you spend observing and taking in visual information on shape, colour and value, the better chance you have for success than if you just slap down paint then try to correct in on the support.  That's when mud and frustration happen.

You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, my blog, Illustrated Life and on Facebook and Twitter.  Stop by and say hi, I'd love to hear from you!

Mercury glass

 Mercury Glass - SOLD

5 x 7 oil on panel

I inherited a number of mercury glass ornaments that were my parents and their parents before them which were hung on Christmas trees over the years. Its amusing to see manufacturers create replicas of original mercury glass.  As is said, what goes around, comes around.  It seems the world reverts to the classics in many areas.

Mercury glass, also known as silvered glass, contains neither mercury nor silver. It's actually clear glass, mold-blown into double-walled shapes and coated on the inside with a silvering formula.  There is a nostalgia associated with these decorative ornaments and they do have a special appeal that can't be found in ornaments found today. 

These ornament sized paintings are a break for me between painting larger pieces in my current boat series.

You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, on my blog, Illustrated Life, and on Facebook and Twitter.  Stop by and say hi, I'd love to hear from you!

Voices

Wave demo

oil on paper
Reproductions available through Fine Art America

As I paint, there are voices in my head.  No, not a mental health issue, more an internal guidance system that help me make decisions on the fly.  There is a colour commentary going on as I paint, that goes like this:


"OK, what the colour hue that I need to mix?  Is it the right value?  Lets put some on the canvas...ok, that works/darn, that's too bright/dark/light/wrong colour etc.  I want to lighten it with some of the blue.  Add more white, pull some paint from the mix created previously, try it again.  Ok, that works, now leave it alone and go on to the next section."

It sounds crazy when I write it out, but really that's the conversation I'm having with myself when I paint.  Its a series of internal questions, verified by paint strokes on the canvas than pushes me to the point of my original vision for a piece.  Each impending colour, value, or stroke is preceded by a deliberate decision. Whether that decision takes microseconds or hours, its still a decision that is debated internally, and sometimes on canvas.  It is a comparison of what is there to what could be there to determine if there will be harmony or a clash that sends me off the path.

Making Waves

demo oil on paper

Developing this conversation takes time and practice and is essential to provide the series of internal checks and balances that are required to make art that I am happy to put my name to. 

Do others have those internal conversations when painting?  I remember hearing a similar painting thought process from one artist, Rose Frantzen, but not from other artists.  Perhaps its not something one mentions in public for fear of being considered altogether too strange.

You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, on my blog, Illustrated Life, and on Facebook and Twitter.  Stop by and say hi, I'd love to hear from you! 

Coaxing inspiration

 Plumb Tuckered Out

5" x 7" oil on panel

Available from Etsy - $50 plus shipping

Inspiration is one of those strange things.  There is nothing constant about, no predictability, no reliability either.  It can be as elusive as a needle in a haystack or it floods your head with so many ideas you don't know where to start.

What is inspiration exactly?  The Oxford dictionary definition is:

"The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative."

When inspiration evades us, it can be coaxed out of hiding by ignoring it completely and just carrying on in any creative vein.  Like a toddler having a tantrum, if ignored, it stops crying and thrashing around and becomes curious about what you're doing.  Curiosity is replaced by the "I want to do that too." phase and before you know it, inspiration takes over your hand and head and is slapping paint on the canvas like never before.

Each time I finish a painting, inspiration drains a little and that's where I pull out the small canvasses like this one and just play.  I can see inspiration poking her head around the corner, sniffling a little but curious too...

You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, on my blog, Illustrated Life, and on Facebook and Twitter.  Stop by and say hi, I'd love to hear from you!

Autum Pear

Autumn Pear   - SOLD

5" x 7"  oil on panel

Silence doesn't mean I'm not painting.  It means its head down mode and full steam ahead.  I'm trying to make up time in the boat series after deciding that one piece just wasn't working for me, and there was no choice but to restart it.

I think we all know when we don't put our best out there.  Sometimes its easy to let something go just because its the path of least resistance, even if we know something is not right with the painting.  Yes, I could have added the piece but, to me, it would have stuck out like a sore thumb in exhibition and niggled at me constantly.

So now its being redone and coming along nicely.  I've also got #9 on the easel and am pretty much on track again for time - or I hope so.

Of course with the end of one painting, the inevitable "end of palette" small painting was in order.  An autumn pear.  Pears are likely the most over painted subject in the world, some good, some bad and some very bad.  To give them their dues, the shape is simple and value can be complex depending on the lighting.  Its the perfect beginner's fruit to test painting skills with in all mediums.

When I finish all the boats in the series, it might be fun to see if people can match the end of palette painting with the actually painting, based on colours used.

You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, on my blog, Illustrated Life, and on Facebook and Twitter.  Stop by and say hi, I'd love to hear from you!

Paintings are like books

 A painting is like a book, there is a beginning, a middle and and end. But paintings seem to come with more twists and surprises along the way, although some books can do that too.

There is a beginning to each painting; this is where the planning takes place.  It involves subject, composition, sketches, value studies, colour studies and palette choices.

 
The middle can be no man's land where things can go very well or go very poorly.  That section rests on mindset and experience.  There is a point where every artist believes their painting is beyond disgusting.  They believe they should never paint, why did they ever believe they could paint and that they'll give it all up and start knitting.  With experience comes the knowledge that this is simply a phase of unfinished work and progress is not often pretty.  Knowing that fact and keeping in mind the vision in your head sees me through to the end.

As the end approaches, all that angst from the midsection is eliminated and you can see things coming together.  There are still moments of trouble, where those 'just one little stroke here' can be the death of a painting that you spent hours on.  Like approaching wild animals:  slow movements, gentle touches and never look into its eyes.  That last section is putting the painting far from you and not looking at it for a week or more before deciding if any adjustments are needed.

I've just put #7 to the wall of the series of 15 wooden boat paintings that I'm working on and #8 is at the beginning stage.  Unfortunately I can't show you the full painting until the exhibition, but you can see glimpses here and there to pique your interest.

Glassy Jack

 Glassy Jack - SOLD

5" x 7"  oil on panel

Glassy Jack always makes an appearance in October, gearing up for the season of falling leaves, cold nights, candy corn, shiny smiles and long shadows. He's looking for a permanent residence to share his brilliance. Could it be you?

I have a couple of glass pumpkins that seem to find their way on to table tops in the fall and provide a warm glow in the evenings.  With a small candle casting light and shadow across a surface, its a prime candidate for a small painting.

There is an illusion that glass is difficult to draw or paint. In reality, its an investment of time to observe shapes and values and patience in ensuring colours correct and in the right place.  Easier said than done, you're saying.   Like the old carpenter's rule of "Measure twice, cut once.", something similar is true in painting.  I observe much more than I paint, meaning that I look carefully a number of times, check shape and proportion, colour hue and value against the subject and my colour study, THEN I put paint on the panel.  And one stroke only, removing the knife and going on to the next stroke.

Traffic light mini series

I called this mini series of small paintings that were done from end of palette paint leftovers, the 'traffic light paintings' due to the red, orange and green colours.

Hard Pressed

Keyed Up

These were fun to do and were snapped up quickly from my Etsy store.  I eased my own rules a little to create another in this group which will be available to newsletter subscribers only.  As my Studio News will be sent within the next day or two, you still have time to sign up and see what the painting is.  You can easily sign up by clicking on this link.  Simply add your email address, hit subscribe and that's it!

Why the names?  It must have been my frame of mind at the end of a hard work week!  All I can reveal about the fourth painting is that it follows suit.  You'll have to be a subscriber to find out more!

Juiced Up

End of palette rules

 Juiced Up - Sold

5" x 7" oil on panel

I can never bear to throw away good oil paint when a painting is complete, so I usually end up creating a small painting from whatever is on the palette.  One of my secret end of palette rules is that I can't add any more of a colour to what's already on the palette, besides white.

I use a split primary palette which consists of cool and warm versions of each primary, as well as an earth tone like burnt sienna or burnt umber as well as titanium white, so it usually gives me a fair choice of colour mixing options.  However that can depend on how much of each paint colour is left over.

I lucked out with a good quantity of pthalo blue, burnt sienna, cadmium red, alizarin crimson and cadmium yellow, so I could mix pretty much anything I wanted and meet the value ranges needed to create this apple.

My other end of palette rule is that the painting must be small, quick to produce (no more than an hour) and loose.  It should be very impressionistic with the colour "bleeding" into other areas.  The challenge for me is that my end of palette paintings are a big transition in size as I come from large (30" x 40") down to 5" x 7" like this one.  I have to remember to get out the small knife and put the trowel away!

Website www.jeanettejobson.com

Blog  Illustrated Life

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Summer

 Summer

11 x 14  oil on masonite

Available for purchase on my website - $625 shipping included

A subject can be painting or drawn a dozen times, two dozen times and each time there is a new discovery in the process. Colour and value analysis shift with each new view.  Painting experience influences the approach and familiarity with the subject matter guides decision making.

This painting was the demo in yesterdays palette knife workshop on painting boats and water.  It was a subject that I had painting previously on a large scale (30" x 40") and long sold.  The simple shape lessens intimidation factors for those less experience, and the complex reflection shapes and colours gives a challenge for those with more painting time under their belt.

The next palette knife workshop will be held on December 6th and has a Christmas theme.  There is just one spot left right now so grab it quickly if you're interested.  All supplies are provides and lunch is thrown in as well, all for $150.  Registration is available online.

Website www.jeanettejobson.com

Blog  Illustrated Life

Facebook  Jeanette Jobson Fine Art

Twitter  Jeanette Jobson

Repeats

 Yellow

9 x 12 oil on panel
Available on Etsy  $95 plus shipping

I teach workshops in palette knife painting and find its a wonderful introduction for beginners who are intimidated by a more structured approach that requires more intensive drawing skills and control.  It also works beautifully for more experienced artists who want to free themselves from tight representational control and loosen their approach.

This little yellow boat is a piece has been used several times in workshops.  Its simplistic shape makes it approachable, yet subtle shading provides enough of a challenge in colour mixing and shape manipulation to have a good learning curve.

You can find more of my work on my website Jeanette Jobson Fine Art, on my blog, Illustrated Life, and on Facebook and Twitter.  Stop by and say hi, I'd love to hear from you!

Tors Cove

 Tors Cove - sold

30" x 40" oil on canvas

This painting recently sold and was one of my favourites.  I love creating wooden boats and the water surface they sit on.  I'm currently in the process of painting a series of 30" x 40" wooden boat paintings but can't share much of them until my solo exhibition opens in the spring.

But I will be sharing peeks at progress during the series and am ready to put painting number six on the easel this week.  Finding time to fit in teaching classes and workshops, a day job and this project is pushing the limits but always fun.

You can see more of my work on my website www.jeanettejobson.com or like my page on Facebook.  My blog Illustrated Life is updated as frequently as I can (I sometimes miss a week :)) and you'll find most of my day to day conversations about art and life on Facebook.  I hope to talk to you soon!