Summer Art Camp - Surfing Art

This past week was the perfect temperature for our "Surfing Art" camp ~ As my group of artistic surfer girls ~ inspired by the surf, sand and sea ~ designed their beach themed art with the mediums of pottery, paint and collage.

The wonderful art of children is so inspirational and beautiful.

Surfer Girl ~ Hand Drawn Images by Four Little Beach Babes

The images above were created by the girls in my "Surfer Art Camp".  You can click on the pictures to download them as coloring book pages. 

The girls used crayons to color in their beach babe portraits - which were then laminated and glued onto a mat board.  They each wrote a few sentences about the picture and added decorative images of sea life around the mat board frame.

 

Hand Painted Pottery Fish Plates

Each artist has their own distinct style

that becomes visible as they make their color choices,

and add paint strokes to the medium on which they work. 

Fish plates fired and ready to be taken out of the kiln!


Hand Painted Beach Girl Portraits 

A picture was taken of each girl holding a boogie board.

The girls used their beach picture as inspiration for painting.  Working the colors of tan sand into the light blue water that was then mixed into the bright blue sky.

They drew their portrait, added sea life, outlined everything with a black sharpie and painted their artistic renderings with acrylic paint.

Surfboard Designs

An image of a surf board was drawn onto a large piece of foam core board, cut out with an exacto knife,

and painted by the artists.  The boards were glazed with Mod Podge and a hook was attached to the back for easy hanging.

Nutritional Cupcakes

The girls made delicious and somewhat nutritional cupcakes by using mashed up peaches and orange juice in place of oil and water in the ingredients.

Of course, the gobs of icing and sprinkles, while adding to the yumminess of each cupcake, diminishes the wholesome value somewhat. :)

Beach babes ready for the waves. 

Thank you girls for inspiring all of us with your artistic vision!

Beach Babes Commission Portrait ~ In Progress

~ A Peak inside My Studio ~ 
The progress of a commissioned painting from a photograph to the finished painting on canvas.

 The original photograph

Step One: Composing the picture with a charcoal sketch on canvas

Step Two: Laying out the painting with complimentary colors.

Step Three: Painting in skin tones and color value.

Step Four: Adding shadows and highlights.

And the finished piece:
Beach Babes Painting on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Two Views:
The original photograph and finished painting side by side.

If you would like to see more of my work, click on my custom orders button.  A custom portrait makes a wonderful gift for mothers day.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

Hello Spring!

A New Painting to welcome Spring
which officially begins tomorrow!


Red Bikini
8 x 10" acrylic on canvas

Enjoy your weekend!

Everythings Coming Up Pink!

If the seasons revolve around my latest color palette,
Spring must be right around the corner! One can only
hope the cold winter days are just about gone!

Beach Picnic
Acrylic on 8 x 10 inch Canvas


Poolside Glamour
Acrylic on 9 x 12 inch canvas


Seaside Siren
Acrylic on 8 x 10 inch canvas.

Time to get to the gym so I can look as good as
these vintage beach babes and fit into my springtime
wardrobe! Yikes!!!

Summertime Dreaming

With the sunrise coming earlier, and the noise of sweet

birds chirping, and garden centers adding spring flowers;
my thoughts ~ and paintings ~ are turning to the delicious
warm days of summer. My studio is filled with nostalgic images
of bathing beauties captured on canvas.


This painting, based on an old photograph of
my sister, sold within hours of listing to a happy
buyer in Canada. Guess all the snow and ice of
the winter Olympics have her dreaming of summer too!


Perfection
This 8 x 10 " painting was inspired by a vintage
photograph of a woman diver. I kept the composition
simple so the focus remains on the beautiful form
of the woman.


Lady Swimmer
Another 8" x 10" painting inspired by
a vintage photograph of a bathing cap clad beauty.

These paintings are just a few in my "Vintage Pool Series"
which I'll be posting - and listing in my shop - in hopes that -
like the early sunrise and sounds of spring - they'll bring
the warm days of summer that much closer.

Custom Portrait - Two "boys" on the beach

A new custom portrait of a

Grandfather and his Grandson
by the Ocean shore.


The Original Photograph
How sweet is this?!

The Painting -
Stage One
Laying out the composition and color values .

And more new works from my busy studio...

Girls by the Shore Hand Painted Art Block

Fashion on the Beach Hand Painted Art Block

Can you tell I'm over the cold weather - Nothing like a little
bit of beach art to lift the winter doldrums!

Beach Living and Life is Good

As a teenager, and now as an adult, I've always felt very fortunate to live near the beach. In high school our summer days were spent lying on the beach and cruising along the boardwalk. My first job, besides babysitting, was at a Dairy Queen on 19th St - right off of the boardwalk ~ easily accessible for visits from friends. Later on I worked at a Water Slide - remember those - at the south end of the beach ~ another job for which friendly visits happened frequently. My husband, who I knew ~ and went out with for a short while ~ in High School still loves to surf. In fact, it's very rare that we don't take a vacation without the surfboard. Now our teenagers are experiencing ~ and enjoying ~ this same beach lifestyle.

Recently I've been working on a series of hand painted collages on canvas which reflect the delights of summer and the ease of beach living. Here are a few more - which, if you would like more detail, are listed in my shop ~ www.magicmarkingsart.com


Biking by the Sea
5x7" Hand Painted Collage on Canvas

Summertime on the Boardwalk
5x7" Hand Painted Collage on Canvas


Morning Surf Session
5x7" Hand Painted Canvas
This painting is from a picture of my son and his two friends out enjoying a little morning surf session.

Wishing you a peaceful, creative day.

Some days it nice to have a helping hand....

Today was one of those days!
Thanks Mom and Dad!

About 15 minutes after art camp began today I received a phone call from my son - one of those phone calls that, as a parent, you hate to receive ~ "Mom, I'm OK, but I just had an accident - I was hit from behind while stopped at a red light - the other guy is fine too, but he's older so there's an ambulance coming to take him to the hospital, the police are on their way, and your car is totaled."
~ OK ~
Deep breath and a prayer of thanks that everyone is alright.
Then, of course, the questions. What happened, are you sure you're OK, are you sure the other guy is OK, is his car totaled too, was there anyone else involved, I hear the sirens are you sure you don't need to be checked out...Alright, let me call Grandy and Pops. I'll see if they're available to come get you.
Another deep breath and another prayer of thanks.
First because my son is fine, as is the other gentleman.
Secondly because my parents live close by and I knew I could count their help.
One phone call later and my dad is on the way to wait with my son while the police collect information, to bring him back home, to return a short time later to take him to the doctors office to have his neck and back checked out ~ to return to his home so my mom could get my son from the doctors office and take him to pick up HIS car - which we had just dropped off this morning to have the tires rotated - which is why he was driving MY car - while I was in the middle of teaching an art class with no mode of transportation.
So, for this - and for all the other times you have dropped everything to help us out - I say Thank You and I Love You.

Illustration Friday - Shaky

Beach Babes
Hand Painted Collage
on 5x7" canvas board

Shaky
The little boy felt shaky walking towards the ocean shore.
The sand tickled his bare feet ~
The seagulls screamed for crumbs ~
But the warmth of his sisters hands in his
gave him courage and security.

Beach Babes is one of my new summertime collage pieces
and is available in my etsy shop: www.magicmarkingsart.com

Commissioned Portrait Painting of Two Beach Babes

Original Photo

Beach Babes Painting
Acrylic on Canvas
30" x 40"

Yesterday Jenna came by to pick up her finished portrait painting, which she and her brother gave to their mom last night. I haven't heard yet from Jenna as to their mother's reaction from this incredibly thoughtful gift, but I can imagine it was emotional. ~ And I just want to say - from the bottom of my heart - Thank you for giving me the opportunity to paint this piece. You both are a treasure!

Illustration Friday - Surfers ADAPT to water and wave conditions.

Illustration Friday - Adapt
Acrylic on Canvas
A surfer learns to adapt to changes in wave conditions and water temperature.
When our children were younger my husband bought a soft surf board, which is wonderful for beginners, so he could teach our son and daughter how to surf. We live on the East Coast where wave conditions are usually ideal for the novice surfer ~ therefore, not too intimidating ~ as you can see from this painting I did of my daughter. This same yellow board has made its way around the neighborhood as our neighbors children have learned how to surf. I can imagine there are numerous households around here that have pictures very similar to my painting.
Anyway, as the end of the school year gets closer, it won't take us long to adapt to the lazy days of summer, and all the glorious memories which this season brings.

Enjoy adapting!

Commissioned Painting - Portrait of Two Beach Babes

Picture of Two Sweet Babes on the Beach

A sister and brother, who are good friends with my son, have commissioned me to paint this picture of the two of them. The two siblings were about six and three when this picture was taken. That beach day is a just a pleasurable memory as the girl just finished her first year of college, and her brother is a sophomore in high school. The painting is to be a surprise mother's day/birthday gift for their mom. As you may imagine, I am pretty nervous about this painting, since I know it will be a true treasure for their mother. As I started sketching the picture onto canvas today, all I could think was "Lord, please guide my hands!" Here is the beginning ~ I drew it out with charcoal, and then used a paint brush and water to add value and shadows with the charcoal dust. I'll spray a fixative over the charcoal, followed by the acrylic paints. They want to keep the colors pretty true to the picture; so many more prayers are to come! :)