"Hiking in the Dark"/Sparkle Magazine Illustration

A new illustration for Sparkle magazine - now completed!

The challenges:

* Nighttime
* Depth of field

The Final Illustration:



The Thumbnail:



The Sketch:


If you enjoyed this post, please check out previous posts of Sparkle Magazine illustration:
* A Change of Heart
* Watercolor Walls

Thanks for stopping by!

"Watercolor Walls"/Sparkle Magazine Illustration

Yeah! I was given the wonderful opportunity to illustrate for Sparkle Magazine again in July.

The challenge for me in illustrating this story, titled "Watercolor Walls", was to depicted a Mom who is ill in the hospital; and to paint several watercolor paintings as if created by a child.

The Final Illustrations:

If you enjoyed this post, please check out my previous Sparkle Magazine illustration post:
* "A Change of Heart"

On another note, my website has recently been updated. Please stop in and give it a view! www.cherylkugler.com

Thanks for stopping~

Cheryl

Jamaica! The Paintings from "Creativity Unbound"

This past March, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in Creativity Unbound! A fabulous week of painting and bookbinding at the Calabash House in Treasure Beach, Jamaica...and a great time of the year to get away from the wintery March weather.

The week-long workshop was conducted by my friend since childhood Bridget, and her talented painter partner Paul.

Here's to reminiscing...a week of paintings:




















Yet to come...a peek at the books we created, and snapshots from the Calabash House!

Creativity Unbound is scheduled for March 2011. Check out their website at http://www.creativity-unbound.com/ for more info about this amazing week.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy seeing:
* "Gardening Paintings - Influenced by Ben Snijders Work"

Hope you are having a wonderfully, creative summer!

Kitties in the Garden - EVERYWHERE!

I admit it. I'm crazy about cats. Around my gardens you'll find tall ones, fat ones, quirky ones, and real ones....meandering amid the spring and summer blooms. Come meet my feline friends! >^..^<

Two meowy friendly "sentries" welcome visitors, one of them an eye-fluttering girlie-girl...





Nestled in the rocks...



Peonies galore, kitty is taking a bath in the background...







The real cats meows...







A few too many cat treats, perhaps?...



A gift from my bro-in-law, this fella's one cool dude...



The newest addition to a recently expanded garden, my tall gal is awaiting the growing cosmos, zinnias, and sunflowers to envelope around her by mid summer...



And, Cosmo Kitty - A dear friend gave me Cosmo Kitty and said the gorgeous orange/salmon roses from her garden are called Tequilla Sunrise. Cheers to colorful, beautiful blooms in the garden this year!



Come back again soon. We'll take another walk amid the blooms.

If you enjoyed this post, please check out:
* Kitties Favorite Bath! Lap, Lap, Lap
* Mid May in a PA Garden
* Color of Spring Everywhere!
*Blooms Basking in the Summer Sun

"A gardener is an artist who paints the world with flowers." - Marjolein Bastin

Gardening Paintings - Influenced by Ben Snijder's Work

This week, I'm finishing up my semester-long college painting class. It's kept me up to my elbows in oil paints since January.

Final Project: select a master artist, create a series of four paintings (minimum size: 18" x 24") that are influenced by studying the master artist. Influenced by, not copy. And, complete in 6 weeks.

My Artist: Dutch-born artist, Ben Snijders http://www.bensnijders.nl/

I like the use of palette knife and broad brush strokes of Snijder's work.

Painting 1:
Influenced by Snijder's painting "Still life with red accents and enamel"
Photo of my still life set-up:



For this painting, I opted to use complementary colors of orange and blue, versus the monotone approach shown in Snijder's influence painting.

Painting 2:
Influenced by Snijder's painting "Two Bottles of Red"
Photo of my still life set-up:

Although I did add yellow flowers to the final painting. I must admit, this is my LEAST favorite of the 4 in the series.

Painting 3:
Influenced by Snijder's painting "With Barbara"
Photo of my still life set-up:

I used denim as the theme here, taken from Snijder's composition. I simply threw a pair of my jeans up on the stand to serve as my background.

In progress photo of the painting:

Painting 4:
Influenced by Snijder's painting "Blue Pots"

Snijder's painting is monotone in blues, and for mine I opted to use purples. For the background, I tossed in several purple shirts, and a purple towel!

And, the final painting of peat pots and crocus.

Whew!! What put this project in perspective is learning that Snijder's has taken up to a year to complete ONE painting!

Twitter Friends to the Rescue!
Part of our class presentation had to include a bit about our chosen artist's background and process. In researching Snijder's, I came across an 8 minute YouTube interview of him that was completely in Dutch.



I could tell that between minutes 2:30-4:00 that Snijder's is describing how he goes about setting up his still life.

What to do? I reached out to my Twitter artist pal Debbie Lamey MacDonald (@lameymacdonald) of Nova Scotia to see if she knew Dutch or knew anyone who spoke Dutch and could provide a translation.

Being the wonderful Twitter pal that she is, she reached out to her followers.

Within a day, Evelyn McCorristin Peters (@EvelynMcCPeters), another Twitter artist friend from Florida, responded. Her hubby is native to the Netherlands and could provide the translation! Many, many thanks to Debbie, Evelyn and her husband. Being able to include the 1.5 minute piece of the video clip as part of my presentation was the perfect addition! The prof and classmates got a chuckle.

The Translation:
If you wish to view the video and wonder what is said between minutes 2:30-4:00, here's a quick overview:
Snijder's prefers to focus on models and still life over landscapes. He prefers them because you can make the composition exactly how you want it to look. He built the studio himself so he would have the correct light. He says the winter light is the best and most beautiful.

The still life they discuss is the first still life for that year. The interviewer asks where does the still life begin and end in the set up? Snijder's says he constructs the still life display bigger than he is going to paint, so he can chose the best composition. In this one he liked the blues and the piece of red cloth so he placed the red in the middle. For balance he put a leaf on the left and other objects on right. He has worked on this painting for a year, it is complete. Some go very quickly and some take a long time.

He is very careful about what he shows to the world. He will refuse to sell a painting if he does not think it is good enough.

Related posts:
If you liked this post, please visit my other "final project" posts for drawing class over the past year:

* Drawing II: Influenced by Berthe Morisot: A Series of 4 Oil Stick Paintings
* Drawing I: Teapots in Subtractive Chalk

I'm thinking about taking Black and White Photography for Fall semester. I hope to post photos of in-class paintings soon. Thanks for stopping by!

The Great CHAIRity - Painting a Chair of Boiling Springs

The Cumberland County Historical Society in Carlisle, PA is holding "The Great CHAIRity Event" as a fundraiser for the organization. Over the past several months, about 30 artists have donated their time to paint plank bottom chairs.

The chair I submitted represents Boiling Springs, PA and 3 events that happened there in the mid-1980's and mid 1990's.

The CHAIR:



In 1992, a local resident released a pair of black swans from Australia as a gift to his wife. Text reads "Black swans on lake token of love from husband to wife. - 1992"





In 1996, my father, a local builder, donated his time to build a new gazebo at the lake. The previous gazebo had been in existence in the late 1880's and had been gone for years. Text reads "Local builder masterfully crafts new gazebo by lake. - 1996"





In 1987, a local doctor gave a large donation to the local civic association enabling them to purchase and preserve the lake for the public. Text reads "Gift preserves Children's Lake for all to enjoy. - 1987"



Underside of the chair:



The chairs will be auctioned off in May 2010. The chair I painted is currently on display at the Village Artisan's Gallery in Boiling Springs. Please stop and visit this wonderful gallery and gift shop.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy:
* Glamour Puss/Sign Artwork for Tea Room Boutique

Glamour Puss/Sign Artwork for Tea Room Boutique

Meow! Finally, the artwork on the Glamour Puss Boutique sign is complete. I started painting the sign in January. And, the final touch - steam rising from the teacup - was added this week.

Glamour Puss in all of her beauty:

The Beginning Phase: 3 layers = 3 weeks of waiting between drying time = learning patience with oil paints!

Phase 2: Kitty begins to take shape.

Phase 3: Getting all dressed up. Almost there...

My personal glamour puss and big helper girl:



The sign now goes to the letter painter. And, in a few weeks will go on the front of Camellia's Sin Tea Parlor and Glamour Puss Boutique in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Say, you want a tour of this fabulous tea room? Here ya' go:

* Camellia's Sin Tea Parlor

Thanks for taking the time to view my artwork this week! Come back again soon~

>^..^<

Painting Class/"Prom Dress Awaits"

The only artwork I've been getting done lately are the paintings for my Painting 1 class at the local community college. It's keeping me v-e-r-y busy!

My blog is getting behind, so thought it best to post a current painting. Here's the painting I created in last night's class:



Five more weeks of class to go! ;)

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy seeing this class painting from January:
* Painting Class/Apples and Hat Box