Since the days are getting so short and the dark and colorless outdoors clearly indicate Christmas is not that far away, I decided to feature the original art and art prints which are definitely my best sellers again this year.
I believe that some subjects, themes and genres never lose their appeal and originality. When the festive season comes around, we want something cozy and something warm not only in the physical surroundings, but also in our heart. The soft snow scenes and the attractive Christmas florals have been always loved a lot.
I know that no print or printed art product can ever resemble the impact of the original art, but still: there are many occasions when one would go with lovely art print either on their notebook, mug, tote bag, wall tapestry and similar things. I do not make my own prints because Fine Art America does it better. The selection of products is also huge: from greeting cards to all kinds of framed and unframed art prints on different surfaces, even would, metal and silver, from apparel to bath towels and bags and tote bags.
After I posted a few feature posts last year I was very lucky to also sell one original art piece: the spruce creek. It looked excellent in the black frame, and the lady who purchased it said it made look gorgeous the entire room . Who knows, I hope to sell some more original paintings, especially taking into account that the number of original paintings I have created is large. I would gladly ship some art, too, especially watercolor paintings. They are light, just the weight of paper, so shipping is way less..
Looks beautiful and completeThe lonely tree looks cozyBig textureThis gallery displays a few of my bestselling art prints.
Some bloggers purchased a few original paintings in previous years. It is just so, that the bigger the painting is, the more expensive the shipping becomes, and it isn’t up to me, but the shipping companies. I would love to say a big thank you to all people who have purchased my art over years and who enjoy it every day in their homes and offices.
There is never too much beauty. There is never too much art. I’ve been to many houses and seen many designer home improvement ideas. A home without art on its walls looks somewhat deserted and empty. That applies even to classy furnished homes. One can have very basic furniture, a few textiles, a few great plants and lots of art and the whole space will look gorgeous.
When I was moving recently and had to take off walls all numerous paintings in the gallery, I could see that many paintings on a wall make the space look much larger. I was convinced about the opposite before.
Crowded versus minimalist
Many paintings do not create a crowded look if they are chosen carefully and art is tasteful and these are originals, not prints. Prints actually add feeling of cheapness to any space which is ok for an office, but not that much for a living space. However, it always depends. Even minimalist spaces look much warmer and much more livable by adding a matching and suitable art.
Flower paintings
Flower paintings are such an enhancement anywhere. Depending on style, floral art can add luxurious and elegant feel or very rustic and homey feel.
Floral art might add more feminine feel to a space that just does not make us feel cozy and well-taken care of.
Why not to create on your own?
Therefore, I would suggest: paint, create or buy beautiful original floral art. Once we have a few tubes of paint and some frames and paper or canvasses, we can create quite a few paintings. The added bonus will be your energy which goes into art and makes your space shine.
Energy of art in our space
Energy in our space is matters. While print will decorate the wall, it will have hardly any energy which circulates around that room. Energy of a printer and paint? That is why we have to choose carefully inherited or antique pieces of art. They come with their energy. We have to make sure this energy is not going to harm us. If we want to have not much impact on our personality, we can choose neutral art or art which displays nice and clam scenes. Floral paintings are definitely carrying good energy and they also have a nice appeal.
Choose beauty
It is as simple as that: there is never too much beauty and coziness!
Large floral painting classes start soon. Sign up from the website.
Original paintings are available for shipping or for purchase in person.
Choose beauty and coziness, especially in the cold season.
Copyright notice: Copyrights of displayed paintings, drawings, images of work in progress and images of finished paintings belong to artist Inese Poga. Please, do not use painting and drawing images unless I have given you a written permission. That includes no pinning on Pinterest.
My art gallery is on the move: paintings are traveling to Ajax soon. There are numerous paintings, endless sheets of drawings, sketches, frames, framed and unframed paintings of all sizes.. Due to that, I am offering nice deals on my art at the moment. While I can give discounts to art that is purchased online, the expensive Canadian shipping services make it difficult. The winners are definitely art lovers and art collectors who can come to the gallery in person before the moving date. That is the end of July or close to it. I would like to have a well-organized move. You could help me move, you certainly could by purchasing some art.
Selling my art: getting people to see it
Due to oversupply which is based on art print sales, it is very tricky to make people aware that this is original art and you can touch and feel the brushstrokes and textures. You can feel the energy literally floating around the place. Original art of good quality actually sells quite well, especially in person, especially when price point is intentionally made very attractive. When people get to see it, many love my art and are very willing to spend their money for something that beautiful. My problem has always been to get people in here. The location is fine; however, it is a corner lot. Parking becomes confusing, and there is practically no foot traffic.
Good original art sells
I sold 5 paintings before the surgery. Well, way too less to make this gallery move lighter, but it’s still great. I work passionately and methodically completing a painting. I have paintings which took me more than a year to bring to a condition which I was satisfied with. Watercolors can take up to 3 or 4 weeks, full sheet watercolors. I have been painting mostly large and medium size art. If I could, I would only paint large and very large art because that gives me so much more freedom. I am naturally interested in large-scale paintings. Even when I started out as a kid, my drawings and paintings were large. In average, every acrylic painting has taken me between 2 weeks and a month, and for watercolors that would be 2-3 weeks.
Value and uniqueness
Lucky artists who get remunerated for their input in creation of art! Taking into account the numerous hours which go into my paintings, the selling price is a tiny fraction of the art value. Watercolors are very difficult to repeat, if at all possible, therefore, each painting is genuinely unique. Acrylic is a very slow medium. It takes layers and layers to take the painting where I want it to go. I will not sell sketches and drawings, I will use them on the learning page of my website which is getting developed.
Website’s facelift and new learning page
I intend to restructure and reorganize completely my website; however, it will have to wait for a while with all the intense packing and unpacking. Sooner or later, there will be videos available too, but the current hectic situation does not allow for that. That is the future: presentations, traceable drawings, video suggestions, and I will link this with a Facebook community page where everybody who wants to try the particular subject will be able to post their creations and ask questions. Live classes will also take place at the new location; however, the number of participants will be limited.
I will still have plants and garden
Plants will come with me, and I have a great deal of them. I intend to dig out my herbs and peonies, irises and similar, the small lilac I planted last year and even lily of the valley. This place is a very amazing one: I have numerous plant species all around. I will really miss some of them, especially apple tree.
Enjoy the gallery, share blog link or pictures if you can
These are the recent images of my art gallery. A few walls and a few displays are visible. These are mostly acrylic paintings, watercolors did not make into this photo session. It feels a bit sad because I had a great art gallery here. It is not easy to find buildings which suit this purpose. Well, just keep in touch! Much more to come!
My iPhone takes quite dark pictures, although, I have adjusted settings. The light was not perfect, as well. I find that iPhone tries to totally dramatize any picture, so regarding a painting, it becomes very sharp and it lacks the value balance which is present in my real art. While I’m not 100% happy with these pictures, I would love you to still enjoy them. I believe it is an excellent gallery. Well, my art will be displayed online for the most part in the future, but I will arrange a showroom.
Copyright notice: Copyrights of displayed paintings, drawings, images of work in progress and images of finished paintings belong to artist Inese Poga. The use of painting and drawing images is prohibited if I have not issued a written permission.
The power of line is huge. Simple sketches in pencil or pen look impressive and artistically interesting. We are born with the ability to draw, but we just lose it as we grow up and get older. In order to simply look at something and draw it, one must practice. It will not happen right away, it will not happen on its own. One also needs to know what they have to look for and what they need to notice.
Perfection or discovery
Cravings for perfection can be irresistible, therefore, many people take credits for a drawing which they have created by tracing a photo or reproducing it on a larger scale using grid, display on a wall. Some artists edit the photo to obtain parts of printer paper size, so that it is possible to put them together in a line drawing. The question is: is that really a drawing or a copy of photography? To me, the latter is true. I do assume anything a drawing when we look at our subject and then manually draw it on paper.
Our eyes get it right
Is drawing difficult? In fact, it isn’t, but it takes time and practice, and anything which is somewhat time-consuming isn’t loved much these days. The general opinion is usually that camera gets our subject right and we might not get the right proportions when drawing. That is true to some extent only. If the distance between camera and subject is small, or the distance within the view is huge, camera will produce wrong proportions.
How camera distorts image
Camera draws closer the front part of the view or subject. It widens the middle portion and creates much more distant background part. This is very easy to notice in case of water reflections or shadows. When artist follows a photo closely, not the actual view in nature, the reflections will be stretched out for miles which would never be the case with reflection in nature.
Don’t take a picture
Many instructions start with: take a picture. I would like to say: don’t do that if you ever want to learn drawing. We have to trust our eyes and ability to recreate the same proportion, edge and line relationship and color transitions without additional tools. However, to get to the level when one can do the so-called “blind drawing” (you do not persistently look at paper or canvas but rather at your subject), you have to practice. That means making decisions and allowing the eye-brain signals to be transmitted to our hand with pencil or brush.
We can do it
That also means trusting ourselves more than a camera or grid. It also takes practicing daily or weekly and, at the end, this activity improves the brain functionality, memory and flexibility to an incredibly high level. When we sometimes look at a drawing, it seems it didn’t take time or efforts. It is due to the fact, that good art shouldn’t exhibit artistic struggles and technical difficulties, but mood and atmosphere of the painted subject. When we get past these struggles, the real creation takes place.
The principles and methods of drawing
There is an interesting thing: people, who cannot draw anything yet, believe they have to practice drawing a particular subject: portrait, landscape, still life or flower. That is definitely not true because once you can draw, you can draw absolutely anything. The principles and methods are actually the same regardless of what we draw. You cannot skip understanding values, shadows, highlights, proportions, relationships, contrast, perspective and negative parts. That is what makes drawing a drawing and eventually painting a painting.
Functions of drawing
Drawing has very different functions in the creative process. If it is an independent work of art, it will go through many stages until it contains all the above mentioned elements. If it is a sketch for use later, we will include only the most important lines. If it is a value sketch for painting, we will pay special attention to values, contrast and shadows. If it is an outline drawing for watercolor, we will have only slightly visible lines.
The rural house watercolor is a large and attractive painting in spring colors
Not what you draw, but how you do it
Therefore, it is not that important what you draw, but how you do it. Trust the power of line. It is rewarding. Sketches must help you in the painting process later, there is no need to overwork them and prepare for framing. Technique matters, but doesn’t mean it is the most important part of drawing.
Get rid of eraser
How to get rid of eraser? If your intention is to draw, do it. Erasing everything and starting over for numerous times isn’t helpful. You simply have to forget the eraser at home, so that you do not have it with you. When something does not come out correct, start from scratch, not from adjusted lines. Use focusing ability instead of eraser.
Early spring, rural hills watercolor, size of this painting is 24 x 18 in or 61 x 45 cm.
Go reasonably large
Draw reasonably large subjects. Tiny things cannot show any shadows, values or important details. Drawing large isn’t more difficult, it is just a strange assumption and belief that handling a bigger subject is more complex. If the drawing is for creation of painting, large is much better. Unless you want to use magnifying glass, avoid details which are hardly visible because they don’t get noticed anyway. Keep details under control.
Manual drawing for artistic freedom
Drawing is a wonderful thing. It allows one not to use any additional devices. You won’t even need a camera if you have learned capturing the most important features of the subject. It also gives one a complete artistic freedom: skip whatever part does not improve your scene or subject or add whatever it seems to be missing. There are no restrictions. It is visible right away whether one was drawing from reality or they are modestly describing their perfected copy of a photo as a sketch from nature.
Sketch in actual size
I create pencil sketches in the actual size of painting: this time it was 20 x 24 inches or 61 x 51 cm. This drawing serves as a reference. Colors are all in my head and everything else what I need is in the sketch. I transfer it onto watercolor paper and then apply washes which get defined with every layer.
I take numerous pictures: with iPhone and with camera using different settings. However, I do not ever get the colors which are in the actual painting. Therefore, I’m trying to also take some pictures with background by placing something around the painting.
To learn sketching and drawing, please apply for April classes: Art classes
