People are always asking me how I paint so fast, and really – I don’t.  I think I actually start painting them in my head the moment I first see the photo, then more so the night before I get to work. The actual painting part is just a formality by then.

This weekend, for example, I painted two portraits, two pet portraits and a painting of a house. In two days.

Lest you think I was locked up in my studio ignoring housework (well, I was, that) my children, my family or my hygiene…this is really what a day in the (weekend) life looks like:

Get up by 7 a.m. Maneuver past two cats and 1-2 kids who have accumulated in/on my bed overnight.

Stumble to computer; check email, facebook, twitter. Repeat at 10 minute intervals all day long.

Husband cooks kids a carbohydrate-rich breakfast of pancakes or French toast. (EVEN ON WEEKDAYS. SO SPOILED.)

Drive to Starbucks. Order an Iced Tall Nonfat No-Whip Mocha. (My husband calls it the “Why Bother?”)

Make myself an egg white omelet while dreaming about yolks. And bacon.

Go into studio. Clean Barbie and kid-craft detritus from my desk.

Sweep up more kid-craft mess from under desk.

Yell at kids to clean up rest of kid-craft mess, along with  Mighty Beanz, American Girl, Hannah Montana MP3 player and assorted clothing.

Sit down to work. Mocha is gone. (Parched from all the yelling.)

Crack open a Coke Zero. It’s 10 a.m.

Pencil out first two paintings of the day. Apply masque pen.

Leave to pick up The Girl from taekwondo practice. It’s Weapons Day.

Back into the studio; masque pen is dry. Start painting backgrounds.

Paint black and sepia tones in darkest areas (pupils, shadows).

Break up a chess fight.

Let cat in.

Rotate laundry.

Add to background color; start painting in mid-tones.

Kids ask for lunch. I buy some time by suggesting apples and string cheese.

Kids ask me to cut the apples. I freak out.

Put on headphones. Blast movie soundtracks, Barbra Streisand or Glee. Don’t hate.

Kids see headphones and suddenly, urgently, need to talk to me. They gesture wildly. I turn off music; they tell me a knock-knock joke.

“How do you wake up Lady Gaga? Poker face!”

Let cat out.

Make PBJs for the kids.

Paint for two hours non-stop. Keep headphones on even after music has stopped.

Drive to art store for clear-coat.

Help daughter sign on to American Girl website. It crashed three times. Divert her attention by suggesting she play dress up.

Let cat in.

Apply pink finger nail polish to daughter.

Reapply polish to four fingers.

Paint for 20 minutes.

Listen to son play Star Wars Imperial March on the recorder. Again.

Paint for 15 minutes.

Yell at the kids to stop wrestling and READ.

Pour glass of wine.

Make dinner.

Eat dinner.

Paint for 20 minutes.

Watch Food Network or Jeopardy! with kids.

Put the kids to bed.

Pour another glass of wine.

Paint until I can’t stay awake any longer.

Blog about it.

Phoebe

Lillie

Jaxsen

House in Summer

Jack

The new year is off to a great start – I have nearly 20 paintings on the books right now and more coming in every few days. I feel so lucky that I get to do this, you don’t even know.

I put together this little video of the First Painting of 2011 process; I am still in my Frida Kahlo phase so please enjoy the soundtrack, The Floating Bed, from the movie Frida, which I also love.

My hope for this year is that I will be able to do a few more of these little videos, and also hope that they will improve with each attempt. Right now my “crew” includes a 7 y.o. cameragirl, an obstinate ginger cat and my ridiculously feeble editing skillz.

Bear with me.

Frankie and Jessie

 Completed: January 4, 2011

Soundtrack: Soundtrack from Frida, Various Artists

Beverage: Mochas, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bushmills and Diet Ginger Ale (the painting took a week!)

There is this show coming up at the end of the month that’s calling for art inspired by Dia de los Muertos. I had such luck painting my daughter as a two-headed girl a few weeks ago, that I thought I’d try my hand at painting her as a Catrina figure.

Today we drove to my parents’ house on the coast to pick the kids up and while there, I decided to attempt Phase I of my project – painting my daughter’s face. Phase II will be working from those photos to create a portrait and if I’m lucky, Phase III will be managing to get the whole thing to the post office on time for the show.

And yes, I do sometimes randomly carry my face painting kit around. Doesn’t everyone?

Tools of the trade

Note to self: wear makeup on Saturdays.

She was patient.

And still.

Then she requested a mirror, which seriously impeded our progress.

And she was very involved in the design process.

It turned out just the way we wanted.

It occurred to me that I hardly, if ever, post the original photo alongside the finished portrait.  But this is an exceptionally lovely one I received from a client, and a good place to start.

Green Eyes

Weebee

Completed: May 3, 2010

Soundtrack: Lady Gaga

Beverage: Coke Zero

When The Pioneer Woman awarded 14 of my mini portraits to contest winners on her site, I knew I was going to have to be organized about their production. Here’s how it went.

I started by taping up four pieces of Yupo because I’d decided to do  four paintings at a time. I kept dragging my sleeve through paint when I worked on the top row but didn’t learn my lesson.

I realize that a photo of this step was completely unnecessary.

I drew the main shapes of the subject on each piece. Then I applied masking fluid to the areas that should remain white. (You paint over the mask and then when the paint’s dry, peel it off.)

The parts that are blue will be white. If that makes any sense.

After the masking fluid is dry, I usually start by painting the background first; I spritz some rubbing alcohol on it to give it that funky texture.

I wait.

This background color is Winsor & Newton "Indigo." It's one of my favorites.

There is a lot of waiting around with watercolor. I wait until one part is dry before I paint next to it.

Then I did that four times.

Then I waited some more.

And painted the eyes and stuff.

Then I you know, did that four times.

One of the photos was of a cat looking through a screen, so I had this idea that I would put a piece of tulle over the painting and paint over the top. When it was dry, I pulled it off and you could actually see the pattern and it actually looked like a screen door.

Okay, every now and then I get a great idea. Sometimes they are greater than others. This is one of those times.

Look! It really worked!

I repeated the whole process twice, for a total of eight mini cat portraits so far.

I love cats.

It is a gift for my husband (the ‘bike’ portion of a triathlon series I’m working on) but it’s just not turning out how I’d planned.

This painting looked better in my mind.

So instead of getting all ticked off and pouty, as I tend to do, I’m going to view this as an opportunity. You see, with Yupo paper, you can actually wash it off and start over. And here are the pictures to prove it.

Run the paper right under the tap. Don't be scared.

Use a sponge to really scrub it.

Buh-bye, ugly painting.

See? Nothing left but the sketch marks and a little bit of masking.

It’s not so bad, really, to give yourself a second chance every now and then.

First off, I have a feeling that writing this post – and more importantly, getting all the photos and captions in the right order – is going to take me longer to complete than the actual painting.

I’m technologically challenged, but I have the best of intentions. Here goes.

Title: Redward and Whitey (RIP Whitey)

Completed: December 22, 2009

Soundtrack: Storm Large, “Crazy Enough”

Beverage: Three-Buck Chuck

At any rate, that’s how a painting goes, start to finish. Merry Christmas mom and dad! Hope you like the painting and I hope you don’t read this ’til after Dec. 25.

The first thing people ask me when they see my paintings is, “How do you do that?” Followed by, “How do you get that splotchy effect?” and “How long does it take you to finish a painting?”

Well, today, all will be revealed.

“How do you do that?”

The real star of the show is the paper I use, Yupo, which is not really paper at all. It’s a synthetic polypropylene product that is probably more like plastic than paper. You can read all about it here on the the Yupo website.

Since Yupo is not paper, it doesn’t absorb water. Or pigment. So the watercolor pools and puddles – and eventually dries – on the surface of the paper. 

Cool things about Yupo:

• It’s tree-free.
• If you don’t like how your painting is turning out, you can RINSE IT OFF and start over. For reals.

“How do you get that splotchy effect?”

A spritz or two of rubbing alcohol at different stages of the drying process yields a splotchy effect, depending on when you do it and which pigment(s) you’re using.

Before, and...

After.

“How long does it take you to finish a painting?”

With my technique, it sometimes seems like there is more waiting than there is painting. Waiting for the masque to dry. Waiting for the paint to dry. Waiting to figure out if I like the painting or not.

Since the paint does not absorb into the Yupo paper, I have to wait for one area to air-dry before painting in adjacent areas. Sometimes I have a couple paintings going at one time so I can alternate between them and keep busy. I usually complete the main image of a painting in a few hours, followed by drying time and then another few hours of detail work. If I have time, I like to prop a finished or nearly-finished painting up on an easel for a couple of days and just live with it for awhile. I might notice something when I’m walking by that I want to change or enhance.

Or rinse off and start over.