Little Birds

I always mean to document a painting from beginning to end. Usually I get too absorbed in the painting to remember to stop and take pictures between stages. This time I got one of the underpainting and finished work.
It's titled Little Birds and is 24 in by 36 in, oil on cnavas.

Here is the initial underpainting

And the finished peice

Valkyrie

I just completed a new painting titled Valkyrie. In Norse Mythology it was a female figure who chose who would die in battle. This is very similar to the Celtic goddess Badb, who I recently painted.

This painting is available in my Etsy shop
 

New Artwork

It's been a little while since I've posted anything, so I have a lot of new paintings to share. Lately I have been doing a lot of fantasy and scifi themed work

Red Roses 18x24 oil on canvas

The Journey 24x48 oil on canvas

Badb 24x48 oil on canvas

Dragon's Wing 18x24 oil on canvas

The Archer 22x28 oil on canvas

Untitled 16x20 oil on canvas(sold)

Unicorn 22x28 oil on canvas 

Kelpie(Waterhorse) 20x16 oil on canvas

Several of the new paintings have been added to my shop on Etsy 

If you have any questions feel free to send me a message 

Pop Femme Sugarcoated Strange. Group art show in Santa Fe New Mexico.

I have a show opening soon in Santa Fe, New Mexico!


POP Femme Sugar Coated Strange 2011
April 29 – May 31, 2011
Opening reception: Saturday, May 28, 6:00
Show opens Friday April 29th with artist reception Memorial weekend Saturday, May 28th. In POP tradition the show will host an art raffle with 100% of the proceeds to benefit Southwest C.A.R.E. Center, a Santa Fe based non profit that supports New Mexicans living with AIDS & HIV, without prejudice. Tickets available now-$10 each or 7 for $60. Raffle ends May 31st (art online by April 29th.)
Featuring Aunia Kahn, CJ Metzger, Miss Mindy, Kristen Margiotta, Elizabeth Caffey, Angie Mason, Laurie McClave, Catherine Zacchino, Rudy Fig, Aleloop, Sara Holbert , Phresha Le Vandale and Emily Trovillion among others.
Preview of the show online now.
Pop Gallery, 133 West Water Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

Oil Painting Tip(Underpainting With Gesso instead of Acrylic)

Oil Painting Tip(Underpainting With Gesso instead of Acrylic)

   I have heard of a lot of people doing their underpaintings with acrylic and then completing the painting in oils. I have done this too in the past because it dries so much faster than oil. The advantage of an oil underpainting as opposed to an acrylic one is that the oil paint will absorb each subsequent layer better than the acrylic.

Also when you attempt to paint over the acrylic layer the oil layer on top of it will seem dry but as you trying to build on top of it the paint pulls away, you can actually see a height difference. This is probably because of the nature of acrylic paints. They dry slick and aren't porous like oil paint is. The layer you place on top doesn't sink in properly to truly bond with the underpainting.

   An easy and effective alternative to acrylic underpainting is just using black and white gesso to do the underpainting. It has the same drying time as acrylics but is more absorbent. It gives the surface the tooth that acyrlic doesn't. If you want a smoother surface you can lightly sand the dried underpainting with a fine sandpaper. Just make sure to dust it off afterwords.

   I recently started doing this and it has worked out a lot better than acrylic. If you are doing the underpaintings in colored acrylics I would suggest adding gesso to them to improve the absorbency. 

Not only has this helped keep the first oil layer on top from peeling or scraping away the oil paint seems to dry faster.

                                         Underpainting

                                             Finished painting

And now for something completely different!

Recently I did a series of paintings that are very much different from my earlier work. This series drew from memories of emotional experiences. I really felt the need to experiment with an alternate method of expression. Rather than using the human figure to communicate an experience or feeling I used a series of objects. And invented a few machines. I really had no idea how these images would be perceived in comparison to my earlier figurative work. It felt like a risk and in the end was more exciting for me.

"Slowly" 14"x18" oil on canvas

"Phobia" 14"x18" oil on canvas

"It Likes You" 14"x18" oil on canvas

"Why Does Everyone Run Away From Me?"

18"x24" oil on canvas

"I Feel Sick" 14"x18" oil on canvas

"Come Closer" 16"x20" oil on canvas

New Paintings!

Recently I have finished quite a few new paintings which you can see on my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.caffey

Many of them are also available in my ebay shop http://stores.ebay.com/Oil-Paintings-by-Elizabeth-Caffey