The Tardis

Our collector, his wife and children are true blue Dr. Who fans. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the British science fiction television series the TARDIS, which stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space, is a time travel machine. A properly maintained and piloted TARDIS can transport its occupants to any point in time and any place in the universe. In the series, the Doctor pilots an unreliable, obsolete TT Type 40, Mark I TARDIS. The chameleon circuit board is broken, leaving it stuck in the shape of a 1960s style British police box after a visit to London in 1963.

I mix Ultramarine Blue + Ivory Black + White in various proportions for the TARDIS, or Police Box.

The body of the blue Police Box is painted first. The light on this one is more similar to the 1960s vintage before all of the electronic accoutrements found on more modern versions, like the one at the top of the page, were added.

Bracing my wrist on the mahl stick to steady my hand I letter the signage. What is a mahl stick? CLICK HERE to find out.

After the TARDIS is finished I start blocking in the Sunflowers.

Leaves are worked around the yellow, helping to shape the large blossoms. Adding the dark centers makes them immediately identifiable as Sunflowers.

The petals catching the sun are highlighted with Cadmium Yellow Light. The cheery blossoms of the Sunflowers dance in a gentle breeze drifting through the courtyard. Or maybe the air is swirled by the electromagnetic field surrounding the TARDIS! WHO knows? Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Bluebonnets and the Chinese Zodiac

Our collectors love the Lone Star State and what says Texas better than Bluebonnets? These beauties are from our garden last spring.

We are so fortunate to live in the Lone Star State. Our studio is nestled among ancient Live Oaks and floats on an ocean of Bluebonnets in the spring.

So a couple of pots of Bluebonnets bring a touch of Texas to the piece. I paint them in the same sequence I do most blooming plants: Flowers First, Leaves Last. If I were to paint the foliage to begin with my brush would pick up some of the green as I worked on the flowers, dirtying the blossom color. By blocking in the mass of blooms first the color remains crisp and clean. Cobalt Blue + White is used for the Bluebonnets. A bit of Ultramarine Blue is added to the mixture for the flowers in shadow.

White caps finish out our Texas State Flower.

The Chinese year of each family member was mentioned in passing. I thought it would be fun to have tiles by the door to represent each person’s symbol. I had to Google the Chinese Zodiac to get a feel for the designs.

After doodling a bit I came up with some symbols of my own. I was really pleased how the wing and tail come together on the Rooster to make a heart! Doing research I found out I was born in the year of the horse, guess that’s why horses were my first love!

A Rabbit completes the trio of Zodiac tiles. I let a Bluebonnet break up over the lowest tile to give the painting more dimension. Remember, you can enlarge any of the pictures by clicking on the image. Have a GREAT day! Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

If you would like to receive an email every time I publish a new post please feel free to subscribe to my blog. CLICK THIS LINK and scroll to the upper right side of the page. You will see a heading EMAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS. Just enter your email address and click the button “Sign me up!”  It’s easy. And if you enjoy my blog please CLICK the FaceBook LIKE Button. As we say in Texas, “Much Obliged!

Tiling the Courtyard

The upper level of the courtyard is blocked in first. The back part is in shadow, I paint the tile nearest the wall cooler so it will recede. The sun streams across the front portion of the floor, the warmth makes it come forward. The basic tile mixtures are made from varying proportions of Cadmium Orange + MUD (Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson) + White. I use blues leftover from the water to add coolness into the floor.

The upright planes of the steps are made darker because they receive less light from above than the flat, top surfaces. The upper step is touched by the sun, the other two remain in shadow. Then the lower courtyard, completely in shadow, is painted with warmer mixes made by adding a little Cadmium Red Light to the paint used on the upper level. I make a few brushstrokes of Ultramarine Blue + White near the back of this level so it recedes.

Perspective lines are drawn into the wet paint of the floor. I do this freehand with a fine liner brush. Using the mahl stick would limit the movement of my hand, making it difficult to pull a straight line.

The next step is to delineate the horizontal lines separating the individual tiles.

The edges of the tiles are now highlighted and the floor is finished. Can’t you just feel the toasty heat of the sun warmed tiles under your bare feet? Tomorrow we’ll do some more planting, hope you’ll come give me a helping hand. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: www.senkarik.com

Ancient Stone

Here’s a closer view of my setup. The glass palette rests on a white board placed on top of a culinary cart with wheels. The two shelves give me plenty of room to organize my paint. You can see the basic colors lined up on the shelf directly below the mixing surface, handy to grab when I need more. The toilet tissue is used to wipe my brush. I do this every two or three strokes and immediately throw the paper away so my hands don’t get dirty. A clean brush makes for crisp colors on your canvas. The mixes for the stone walls are laid out on my palette.  #1. Ultramarine Blue + White. #2. Cadmium Orange + Ultramarine Blue + White. #3, #4, #5 and #7 are mixed from different proportions of Ultramarine Blue + Cadmium Orange + MUD + White. #6. MUD (Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson) + White. GO COWBOYS!

I love my easel, it allows me to lower and raise the painting so I don’t have to reach too high which would strain my shoulder. If you would like to know more about the easels we use CLICK HERE. The piece is put down to the lowest level to paint the top portion. Brushstrokes of the various dark mixtures of stone color are made randomly in the shadow area of the wall. Then I come back and loosely indicate the crevices of the ancient stonework.

I’m following another simple rule here: Cool Colors Go Back, Warm Colors Come Forward. The back edge of the receding plane of the archway is painted more blue, or cooler, than the front part so it will go back.

Now we’ll let a few rays of sun brighten up the wall over the door.

The shadow of the red door is painted with a mix of Magenta and Cadmium Red Deep. The portion glowing in the sun is pure Cadmium Red Light.

The building is constructed, now we can begin planting! The flowers of the Trumpet Vine are blocked in with Alizarin Crimson + White, Cadmium Red Light + Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Orange + Alizarin Crimson and pure Cadmium Orange. The paint is all smooshed together, I want the area to be covered with a jumble of color.

The foliage is painted around the flower color, then I come back in and add the highlights on the blossoms touched by the sun. Can you see how the cool blues of the water in the distance fall in back of the warmth of the red door and Trumpet Vine in the foreground courtyard? That little rule about cool colors going back and warm ones coming forward does work to give the feeling of depth in a painting. That’s all for today. Hope you’ll come back and visit our studio tomorrow. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

The Jewel

Since the sky is the source of light I begin painting there. Cobalt Blue + White is used for the upper portion of the sky which is darker. Near the horizon the sky becomes lighter and yellower, here I use a mix of Cobalt Blue + a tiny bit of Pthalo Blue + White. Clouds hover near the distant shoreline, the base color is Ultramarine Blue + Cadmium Orange + MUD + White. MUD is a deep purple made of equal parts of Ultramarine Blue and Alizarin Crimson. If you would like to learn more about our Double Primary Mixing System and why we came up with the name MUD CLICK HERE.

The finishing touch on the sky is to add the highlights on the fluffy summer clouds. By painting them wet into wet I can soften the edges, making them drop back. I follow a simple rule for painting the water, Muted Colors Recede, Intense Colors Advance. The most distant water is made duller with mixes of Ultramarine Blue + MUD + White. Coming forward I use Ultramarine Blue + White, then Ultramarine Blue + Pthalo Blue + White, shown above.

The water in the foreground is brighter, or more intense, than that in the background. It was made with a mix of Pthalo Blue + a tiny bit of Lemon Yellow + White. I let the sunshine illuminate the distant point, the foreground bluffs will be in shadow so it will glow.

La Jolla means “The Jewel”, it’s one of Jack’s and my favorite places. Painting this wonderfully beautiful cove for our collector brings back many warm memories. Have a great evening. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

If you would like to receive an email every time I publish a new post please feel free to subscribe to my blog. CLICK THIS LINK and scroll to the upper right side of the page. You will see a heading EMAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS. Just enter your email address and click the button “Sign me up!”  It’s easy. And if you enjoy my blog please CLICK the FaceBook LIKE Button. As we say in Texas, “Much Obliged!

Sketching the Basic Plan

All of our studio furniture is on wheels, making it very easy to adjust my setup. When working on a larger painting I like to be able to stand close to the canvas as I sketch up the basic plan. With the palette out of the way I can see the entire canvas to judge my drawing and most important, the perspective. That’s my supervisor Molly, one of our rescue kitties, behind the laptop.

Using a brush dipped in a thin oil wash of equal parts of Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson thinned with Liquin the horizon line is established first. Then I draw the perspective lines for the building and Tardis.

The background arch and doorway are complete, now I begin working on the “Time Machine”. If you will enlarge the image by clicking on the picture you can see the vanishing point for the police box on the right edge of the canvas. The vine is washed in with Viridian Green and Pthalo Blue that have been mixed with Liquin.

The basic plan is up on the canvas, providing a road map to the finished piece. I label the flowers, I don’t want to forget what is supposed to be planted as I’m caught up in the excitement of painting. Have a great evening. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: www.senkarik.com

Collaboration for a Milestone

This is a fun project for long time collectors who discovered my work soon after they were first married in the 1990s. The collaboration will be a surprise 20th anniversary gift for the wife. Our client especially liked the “window into another world” feel of the painting above, Unforgettable Elegance. He wanted to combine elements from their life together along with many of the different places they’ve lived including La Jolla, Texas, Arizona and London.

London? Both Jack and I immediately said, “A red phone booth would be really cool!” I found this image on Google.com.

Here’s my sketch. The jewel like water of La Jolla, California will be seen through the archway. Texas Bluebonnets fill the pots on either side of the doorway. The flowers in the planter in the right foreground are all found in Arizona. The Phone booth will be nestled among Sunflowers and draping vines. When our collector saw the sketch he immediately emailed and said, “the phone booth is perfect. We are all huge Dr. Who fans. That could be the Tardis.”

For those of you that aren’t familiar with the Dr. Who series the Tardis was a time travel machine in the form of a Police Box. Going back to Google.com I found the image above for reference. We’ll start working on the canvas tomorrow, please do come watch. AND…. Before I let you go here is the link to Jack’s latest article on Fine Art Studio Online. To read Four Magic Words just CLICK HERE   Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

May Showers Bring June Flowers

WHEW! I’ve been boxing paintings to ship and preparing new canvases the last couple of days. So I just thought I’d share a little of our garden with you today. We had almost 3 inches of rain at the end of May and now we’re reaping the rewards. Our cacti are happy campers! The daisy like yellow flowers are called “Green Thread” because of their long, thin stems.

Here’s another one of our cactus. That’s Society Garlic blooming in the distant bed. You can click on the picture to see it larger.

Even the Hedgehog Cactus in our mailbox planter has wonderful pink blossoms. The small pink flowers are Drummond Phlox, we have Ms. Mockingbird to thank for planting them.

Variegated Ginger joins in the show.

And our “Frankly Scarlet” Daylilies definitely don’t want to be left out.

Paul and Nancy, some of our collectors gave us this pot. We love the combination of Petunias, Angelonia and Apricot Gaillardia.

Even the Succulents are happy and starting to show blooms. All is well in Jack and Mikki’s garden. I’ll be starting on a new commission in my next post, hope you’ll come follow along. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

If you would like to receive an email every time I publish a new post please feel free to subscribe to my blog. CLICK THIS LINK and scroll to the upper right side of the page. You will see a heading EMAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS. Just enter your email address and click the button “Sign me up!”  It’s easy. And if you enjoy my blog please CLICK the FaceBook LIKE Button. As we say in Texas, “Much Obliged!

Expression of Beauty

The yellow Sunflowers are blocked in with mixes of Cadmium Yellow Medium + Cadmium Orange + MUD and Pure Cadmium Yellow Medium. Mixtures of Ultramarine Blue + Cadmium Lemon Yellow make the leaves. A few strokes of blue leftover from the door are made in the foliage to add interest and coolness.

These blossoms immediately say “Sunflowers” when the dark centers are made!

The blooms illuminated by the splash of sunlight are highlighted with a mix of Cadmium Yellow Medium + Cadmium Lemon Yellow. A few petals drift to the courtyard floor in a gentle breeze.

Salvia is one of the few plants where I don’t follow the Flowers First, Leaves Last sequence. It’s easier to block in the gray-green foliage first with mixes of Pthalo Blue + Cadmium Orange + White. It would be hard to paint the leaves around the delicate blooms of the Salvia or Mexican Bush Sage.

The tall slender blossoms are made with Dioxazine Purple + White. I have to carefully “Lay” the paint on top of the foliage, I don’t want to pick up any of the underlying color and dirty the flowers.

Susan said they have lots of Hummingbirds flittering around their ranch. So I just had to include one of the cute little fellas in their special painting. My wrist is braced on the mahl stick to paint the fine detail.

Expression of Beauty    36″ x 36″    Original Oil Painting

More Nasturtiums are planted at the base of the Salvia and………We’re DONE! This happy southwest scene is ready to head out for New Mexico, bringing an Expression of Beauty to Susan and Jim’s ranch house. Thank you for following along and I appreciate all of your wonderful comments. Also, please feel free to ask questions, I’m here to help fellow artists. Have a great weekend. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Nesting Swallows

Swallows are nesting on our front porch! They’ve come back three years in a row but always make the nest in a different corner of the porch. This one is right where we can see it from inside the house through the window over the front door IF you stand on your tippy toes. I’ll keep you updated.

Back to planting. Geraniums fill the containers on the window sill and next to the door. The first step (#1) is to block in the red flowers with mixes of Cadmium Red Deep + Magenta and Cadmium Red Deep + Cadmium Red Light. Coming back I work the leaves made of varying combinations of Pthalo Blue + Cadmium Lemon Yellow around the reds, shaping the flowers (#2).

Using the corner of a small Bright brush, highlights are added to the Geraniums. Stems and buds complete the flowers, you can see them on the right in the pots on the window sill.

The containers in the left corner are now painted.

Let’s work on the White Hollyhocks, my paint mixtures are laid out on my palette above. #1 and #2 are Ultramarine Blue + White. #3 and #4 are Dioxazine Purple + White. OOPS! I left out #5 so we’ll continue with #6 which is Phthalo Blue + White. #7 is Phthalo Blue + Cadmium Lemon Yellow + White.

The mass of Hollyhock flowers are painted with the color mixtures shown in the previous photo. The jumble of color will be the shadows of the White blooms.

The foliage is painted with greens made of Ultramarine Blue + Cadmium Lemon Yellow. The blossoms are shaped as the leaves are made. Then the large blooms are highlighted with Pure White. After the tall stems and seed pods are added the dark centers of the crepe paper like flowers are delineated with Magenta.

The last touch on the White Hollyhocks is to dot in the bright Cadmium Lemon Yellow stamens. Turning our attention to the Nasturtiums filling the planter, the flowers are blocked in following my usual sequence: Flowers First, Leaves Last.

So……last but not least the round leaves of the Nasturtium are painted. Just a reminder, you can click on the picture to enlarge any of the images. That’s all for today, we’ve got more planting to do tomorrow. Do come back and follow along. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: www.senkarik.com