Garlic and a Butterfly

To paint the garlic ropes I begin by mixing several shades of lavender, blue, ochre and gray-green. Then I loosely apply the paint in the basic shapes of the garlic cloves. Using many different colors to block in the garlic gives dimension to the ropes. Grabbing the mahl stick I now focus on painting the details of the individual cloves.

Butterflies are very special to my collector and her husband. When first discussing the elements of their painting she asked if I would paint a butterfly somewhere in the piece. I have never been happy with the results when I’ve attempted to paint flying birds or butterflies. So I suggested using a butterfly motif as a tile on the wall or designed into one of the flower pots. She thought the latter would be cool. Using a thin mixture of MUD (Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson + Liquin) on my slick, glass palette I start playing with butterfly shapes for the motif. The smooth surface makes it very easy to change lines. The final design is shown above.

Using the mahl stick to rest my hand I carefully draw the butterfly into the wet paint of the flower pot with a thin brush. I decided to add antennas to the butterfly, he just seemed kind of plain without them!

Garlic Ropes and Butterfly complete! Tomorrow I’ll start the floor, see you then. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: www.senkarik.com

A Surprise Visitor

This morning I was planting a Leather Leaf Mahonia in the garden when all of a sudden I heard a snort. I turned and found myself eye to eye with a young deer! I mentioned in one of my other blogs that Slinky follows us around the garden at a distance.  I noticed him sitting on the rock walkway about ten feet away watching the encounter. Then the young buck saw Slinky and headed toward him to investigate. Slinky took off toward the Castor Bean Bushes at the north edge of our property. I ran to get Jack and the camera. In the picture above you can just see Slinky’s ears behind the leaves (a little to the right under the label). To enlarge the photo just click the image. The picture is a bit blurred, in my excitement I jiggled the camera. In the next moment the deer lowered his nose to sniff Slinky and that kitty took off! We didn’t see him again ’til late this afternoon. Do you think Slinky is a Scaredy Cat?

Well, back to the easel. The Wisteria and adobe arch are blocked in next. The collector’s choice of the teal door is a nice touch, combining well with the sagebrush in the background.

The building in the left foreground is made darker, contrasting with the lighter, golden adobe structure behind. As the painting progresses you will see how this helps give distance to the piece. The ivy cascading down acts to soften the hard edge of the roof, adding interest to the upper left corner without drawing a lot of attention. Feel free to come back soon, but please don’t sneak up behind me and snort! (smile) Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: www.senkarik.com

A Challenging Dilemma

The fountain is a challenge. The collector saw a beautiful, cream colored Spanish fountain and wanted to incorporate it into her painting. The dilemma is to paint it light enough to read as a cream color but dark enough for the trickling water to show.

I make the upper tiers a bit darker in order to accentuate the water. The scallops of the lower tier will be highlighted by the sun. As I get the adobe walls, tile floor and foreground flowers finished the fountain will appear even lighter.

In the photo above I’m using a mahl stick. One end of the stick fits over the top of my easel, the other end rests against the edge of my palette. The mahl stick allows me to steady my hand while painting the water trickling down.

The fountain is complete with the water sparkling against the darkness of the cedar. Can you hear the music of the water dancing down the tiers? Have a great evening and we’ll see you back in the studio tomorrow. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: www.senkarik.com

A Sunny, New Mexico Day

The scene through the archway is painted first, beginning with the sky and sunlit clouds.

Moving forward, the mountains are painted in muted tones. The most distant mountain is more blue, making it drop back.

Now for the landscape immediately behind the patio. The cedar provides a dark backdrop to accentuate the light colored fountain while also adding mystery to the piece. I want the viewer to be drawn to follow the path, walking over the New Mexico hillside to discover what is beyond the cedar and sagebrush. Come visit tomorrow, I’ll be working on the fountain. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: www.senkarik.com

A New Start

Today I’m starting on a commission piece, the sketch is shown above. After visiting with the collector we decided to make a few changes. We are going to plant California Poppies in the left foreground planter instead of the Petunias. The Canna Lilies behind the fountain will be taken out to show more of the native New Mexico foliage. To the left  the canvas is set up on my easel and I’m ready to begin transferring my sketch to the blank surface. If you would like to enlarge any of these pictures just click on the image.

The basic architecture is sketched in first. Much like constructing a home, I build the buildings first, then landscape them.

I’ve got everything sketched up. I make notes of the flowers to keep me on the right track. I’ve been known to get so involved in painting I forget the changes I was supposed to make! See you tomorrow. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: www.senkarik.com