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Showing posts from February, 2013

Fun with Portraits and Figures

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"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter." -Oscar Wilde "My True Colors" Self Portrait, Colored Pencil and Marker © Shana L Rowe Jackson 2012   Portrait and figure painting is very exciting for me. There are many things to factor in, not only do you have the same challenges with composition and color mixing as with any other painting, but you also have the challenge of creating a likeness to the sitter. Likeness is not only shown in a persons face, but body language as well, so it is important to pay attention to both in order to capture a persons essence. Likeness paintings can come in many shapes and sizes, they can be of one person, many people or even of pets (just because it's a Dalmatian doesn't mean it looks like all Dalmatians). Whether you are doing a close up (shoulders up [Portrait]) or far away (whole body [Figure]) view, likeness is very important. Looking at the painting below you

Ready For Spring!!

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  I live in Maine, which is a wonderful place to be an artist. The different seasons are a great backdrop for new inspiration, and it's nice to have the change in scenery. However, winter seems to run on forever!! I love winter don't get me wrong, the snow is beautiful, the cool crisp air, it is a magical time of year. By February though, I am ready for spring. It could be that the snow is all brown from the plows, or the fact that I am sick and tired of being sick and tired (flu season, ick!!) or it may be the fact that days are finally getting longer so I know spring is around the corner and it makes me want it that much more!!! Spring and fall tend to be my favorite seasons anyway, the colors are vibrant,(makes for fun and dynamic paintings!!) both seasons mean big changes and neither are too hot or too cold.        Lately I have been inspired to work on spring, and even some summer artwork. This is not unusual for me, it seems my inspiration "clock" is always a

Life in the 'Dale

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   Life in the 'Dale is a fun, whimsical series that I am working on, based on childhood, farming and a whole bunch of giant sized objects!! It is my longest going series thus far with 16 paintings and many more to come. I got the inspiration for Life in the 'Dale when I painted "I should have Kept that Cow" which is an illustration of the fairytale Jack and The Beanstalk. "I Should Have Kept That Cow!!"     I really liked the way it came out and the whimsical style in which I painted it so I decided to do more like it.      The name "'Dale" (The word Dale itself means valley or broad valley) Comes from a shortened version of my hometown "Farmingdale" . In fact the series is loosely based on what Farmingdale may have looked like long ago in it's founding days. Most of the images have an old fashioned twist to them, depicting simpler times.  I'll Be The Teacher's Pet For Sure!!!     All the titles are clever des

Finally broke down and made a Blog!! Glad to be here!!

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  I have been thinking about doing a blog for sometime now, but was worried I wouldn't have anything to say. Also, I am not the best at sp e lling (You have been warned ;) ) So never really thought this would be my thing. My main reason to have blog is to help promote and share my artwork with my fans, and give them a chance to get to know me better . Then I thought about it and realized that I LOVE talking about my art and art in general so why not start a blog? "New England Drive" 18"x24" acrylic © Shana L Rowe Jackson 2011   I guess I will start by stating a little bit about myself and my journey as an artist. I have been an artist for as long as I remember, in fact I was already showing signs of the "art bug" before I was out of diapers. I don't remember ever wanting to be anything but an artist. I started documenting my artwork in scrapbooks by the time I was eight years old, because I knew I would want to look back someday as a f