art for sale Archives - INESE'S ART STUDIO

September 8, 2024September 30, 2024

Vibrant red color in my still life paintings

Red color in large still life paintings, watercolor

Just like other primary colors, red color can have numerous variations of cool and warm shades. Red color is eye catching and energizing. I won’t try to list all symbolic meanings, but among well-known attributes, red color has a protective aura.

Unfortunately, no camera with all automated settings, can ever much the sensitivity of experienced artist’s application of any color. Therefore, the red color in a painting might be more yellow, as it very often is, more orange, or bluer. The color distortion has a wide range, and it is also difficult to correct because any change affects the entire image.

Creating the still life with red jug from 2012 drawing

Next layer, trying to identify where what will be

It took a lot of guessing what goes where since I didn’t have the actual reference in front of me.

Bright red color in still life with the red jug

The new still life with red jug, has many red tones. I tried to capture them on images, as well, and I must admit, not always successfully. I know, people say, it doesn’t really matter, but if you see the actual painting and image thereof, you would agree that it matters. I created the drawing on Arches cotton watercolor paper in 2012. When I started feeling better, I decided to finalize all paintings on good paper since it has become extra expensive. Painting on such paper, is a pleasure.

Full size painting, still life watercolor

The new painting is large: 24 x 18″ or 61 x 46 cm.

I noticed quite early that direction of light is very important for me. Whether you look at my drawings, pastel or acrylic paintings, or watercolor art, light always comes from the left. It’s just how I see everything. Once you have established your personal perception of light direction, you will notice how easy it is to apply shadows and use the composition effectively.

Fall still life watercolor painting for sale

Vegetable still life, watercolor painting

All still life paintings in this post have red color in them, some more, some less. Some have very warm red, some – rather cool. The same applies to different parts of one and the same image. When people start painting, they rarely think of these things – direction of light, cool and warm colors, volume and contrast and so forth. The subject is not that important, but the before mentioned things are since they are the main principles of painting.

I’ve always loved drawing and painting still life. It is easy to set up using whatever you already have at home. Certainly, some items suit still life settings better than the others. Yet, there is a way to implement anything. It could be your personal items, fruits, vegetables, flowers, books, souvenirs, attractive dishes, plants, bottles, jars and jug, I mean, the choice is endless. I love painting still life because I don’t need any photos for reference.

Any of my still life paintings always start with the pencil sketch or drawing. I draw sometimes straight on watercolor paper, sometimes – on whatever paper I have, and then transfer the drawing onto watercolor paper. Most of still life paintings are done on Arches cotton paper. I don’t use bright white paper, but rough and cold press for sure. I like the texture of paper even though it can make painting process more difficult.

I hope you enjoyed the attractive red color!

Original watercolor paintings for sale

Group art classes

July 12, 2023October 18, 2024

Summer landscape – fantastic subject

What to paint in the summertime? If you are in the countryside, traveling or live in the suburbs, I believe it’s impossible to avoid painting at least a few landscapes. What do we include in the summer landscape? Everything which speaks to us or says loudly: it’s hot, it’s wonderful, and it’s summer. My summer landscape is based on my surroundings and what I see outdoors. My private park has numerous wildflowers, and it is actually rather wild with huge old trees, various greases and plants.

We can interpret any landscape in numerous ways. Choosing certain color for wildflowers, buildings, sunny or cool color for grasses, adding trees or water, roads or fences – it depends only on artist where you want your viewer to go. I would like my viewer and art collector to feel happy about what nature provides us with, enjoy the views which might not be around forever. In that regard, I am documenting the natural beauty before we kill the Earth completely. Thee is so much beauty in the simplest summer landscape.

In my opinion, taking pictures of art and then posting them as separate images without background, literary destroys the art. I do that still because many places require to do so. Original art breathes and emits plenty of great, uplifting energy. All devices and cameras take away a lot already, and the small image you can see on the phone isn’t really my painting. It’s gone through numerous adjustments and algorithms. Regardless of that, I hope the energy within my summer landscape paintings is still visible.

These particular paintings were created between 2010 and 2021. There are many more, but one post can include only few images. I believe I already added too many pictures, but – when else to allow color to sparkle and imagination to run freely? I intend to initiate Studio 65 sale to celebrate my birthday. That’s pretty much the only celebration I will have. Most of paintings are available as originals and also as prints. Originals are available from my art studio in Ajax, Ontario, Canada. Prints – anywhere.

Bright and happy, we could use more of that, couldn’t we?

Wish me well? Maybe buy a small art print or all kinds of things with my art, including puzzles, from my Fine Art America site:

Art collections by Inese Poga

Interested to learn drawing and painting? Please, click on:

Group art classes

or Private art lessons

Have a great summer!

April 26, 2023October 16, 2024

Creating art collections

Choosing artworks for collections

If you have been painting for a decade or longer as I am, it’s possible to see how all artworks fit into art collections. What are the criteria for creating art collections? There are many, and any large body of artworks can be sorted out by medium, style, certain color or particular subject. The best example is my Fine Art America art collections. I have put together art by medium, by subject, like floral art, still life, landscape and also by color. There will be black and white art collection available soon, as well. See link below or on Menu.

Spring landscape paintings, landscape watercolor

Painting from imagination

The spring as always is arriving slowly in Ontario. We see long periods of grey and earthy colors around us. The more grasses and trees wake up, the more patches of bright green are visible. Therefore, my grey and abstract watercolors were a good match for my surroundings. As I have mentioned many times, I prefer not to use any photos for my art. The spontaneous watercolors are simply watercolor washes at first, and I sort them out as I go and add definition. It is extremely easy to create art collections of abstracted art.

Getting composition right

Classic painting consists of background, middle ground and foreground. Plus, we need something to capture viewer’s attention with. It’s called a focal point in art. Everything including lines and colors of different values is organized in accordance with our composition. I believe that composition is difficult to implement when the artist doesn’t feel visual balance and natural flow of their image. I personally do not use any view finders or similar tools; I just adjust my composition as I feel it. Some of my art collections include highlights of compositional elements.

Simplicity versus complexity

Fragmented art can look better sometimes than very accomplished and compositionally perfect painting. Art collections can include simplicity or complexity of a particular subject, use of color and compositional elements. The blue period art collection displays exactly that – simplicity and strategically placed watercolor washes.

Abstract watercolor painting art collections

Art reflecting the season

Most of my art also goes by season, therefore, I have seasonal art collections, as well. Spring and summer landscapes, fall colors and snow paintings, they are all interesting on their own and placed in art collection. Floral art is a very big part of everything I have ever painted, I think it deserves a separate post. I know people who have painted a few artworks, some five or six paintings, and they try to immediately sell them and even teach painting. Well, it’s better to allow our skills to mature so that we are represented by what we do well, not by our first attempts at painting.

Buy original painting?

Original paintings have never been more affordable than they are now. I looked at my price charts from 2013, and my paintings sold for double the price I have listed now. That’s a horrible thing because everything has become at least 5 times more expensive. That includes watercolor paper, paints and I won’t even mention framing. There are inexpensive options, but I simply have too many paintings to frame each one. Therefore, I’m offering some framed art and some – unframed.

Available watercolor painting originals are posted on this page:

Original watercolor paintings for sale

All available art prints can be purchased here:

Art collections by Inese Poga

Want to learn watercolor painting? Check out this page:

Group art classes

April 29, 2019October 17, 2024

Spring paintings in acrylic

Spring paintings feel like a good choice when nature awakes

When else if not now to engage in creation of spring paintings? One can tell how much I love spring by just having a look at what I have painted recently: spring flowers, spring scenery and spring landscapes. I think I feel seasonal changes on a mental level very strongly. I cannot imagine I would be painting snow right now. Still life in that regard is the most neutral subject, but I felt I needed something more impressive.

My personalized realism

Most people believe I paint reality, but I do not. I use quite frequently real things, like I used real daffodils for the front part this time; however, I always beautify the reality and make any subject my personal reality. That means I give the subject my colors which I love at that moment, enhance the layout, and add extra contrasts or values, just to make everything more of what I experience at that moment.

Nature does not always cooperate

The truth is the spring has been slow again in Ontario. We even had very winter-like weather a week ago. Therefore, to facilitate the feeling of blooming and warmth, I just paint it. I decided to mostly post one image at a time whenever possible. Most people never read posts, so, they only have a glance at the featured image and move on. That is why most paintings, advice and images which are in the article go unnoticed.

Taking pictures

Taking pictures with iphone is very difficult. The extreme contrast is fine for any regular pictures, but not art. My solution is taking pictures with backgrounds, extra items, paints, brushes and similar. That works for the most part, but the painting area one works on, can be very messy sometimes. I mean, there are paint tubes, dirty paper towels, plates with leftover paint, brushes, sponges, jars with dirty water and all kinds of other things. Therefore, some pictures look messy by accidentally displaying some item which completely doesn’t fit the view.

New spring painting, acrylic by Inese Poga

Just imagine how it looks on my wall

My pictures still display more contrast than they should. Everything is usually well-balanced in my actual painting. I work in layers and for many hours in order to achieve the color balance. As you know, acrylic paints, at least the ones which are available in Canada, become much darker as they dry. One has to calculate that in when applying paint. It can happen so that sometimes white or yellow paint is very weak, and fixing the value imbalance requires extra work.

Available for purchase

Any of paintings are available from my studio. Paintings which are displayed in this post are 16 x 20 inches or 41 cm x 51 cm. I have to mention that because pictures look all the same on the internet. Anyway, enjoy the Daffodil barn and spring paintings! Daffodil barn got lots of great comments on Facebook and Fine Art America site this time, in particular, in acrylic artists’ groups. Please, see links to other posts and FAA sales site.

Previous post about recent acrylic paintings: New acrylic paintings

Art collections by Inese Poga

August 3, 2016October 17, 2024

Nothing compares to summer painting outdoors

I wish summer stayed with us longer

Summer days are running away so fast that it is pretty clear: this summer is almost gone. It is certainly the best time to grab our paint box, some paper, pencil or brush and go outside. The weather isn’t too friendly in Ontario this year. I cannot recall so many heat waves and so many days without a drop of rain while I have been living in Canada. My mornings are spent at a clinic, afternoons – trying to get back in shape, but painting helps staying well.

What to start with?

When people ask me what they should start painting or drawing with, my answer is very simple: draw and paint anything around you. There is nothing better than drawing from real subjects and real places. Once you get used to it, you will notice how everything is more vibrant and more realistic when we paint from life.

Use real reference materials whenever possible

Lots of instructions start with: take a picture. I would love to say, however, do not take any pictures, but set up a still life or do a reference sketch. If it is a large work and you are afraid you’d forget the scene, you might also take a reference picture. The problem is that most people want to copy their reference photo instead of just using it. I might sound like an old vinyl, but it’s so silly to copy the photo and then pretend you painted it from scratch.

Chickadee in summer shade, watercolor, 12 x 16 inches or 30.5 x 41 cm

If you can draw, you can draw anything

The next thing which matters is this: once you learn drawing, you are able to draw anything. This happens because you have perfected your visual perception, developed eye-hand coordination and your hand starts perceiving impulses from your brain. Drawing happens as if on its own, and all we have to do is relax and observe.

The backyard, 12 x 16 inches or 30.5 x 41 cm

Watercolor painting, Backyard fence painting, summer watercolor

Create your personal color palette

Is it important to stick with colors which somebody else is using? Not at all. It is much better to explore and develop your personal color combinations. I also find that paints of different brands act very differently. My favorite watercolor paints are St. Petersburg artist grade paints. I haven’t seen any other paints which have such transparency and allow mixing colors easy. The secret is the natural and pure pigments they use as opposed to many paint manufacturers which cheat and replace pigments with fillers and binders. That means chemicals which do not enhance color or its purity.

Important art supplies

I usually use just one large round size 12-14 brush and one size 6 round brush for any up to 20 x 24 in watercolor painting. Along with paints and brushes, an extremely important part for watercolor painting is paper. When I am asking my students, why they are using this really thin and bad paper, they’d normally answer: they are just learning and it’s not worth to spend money on a good thick paper. This is a wrong assumption. Every paper acts differently. The thinner and lighter papers do not even absorb paint. It floats on the surface and creates ugly marks. It is also quite easy to lift paint, but not that easy to add more. My favorite paper is Arches. However, paint keeps traveling through layers of paper even quite a while after paint application. I am using other heavy, cold press papers also.

Reflection, pure watercolor painting, summer landscape

Blue reflexion, summer watercolor painting

Use good art supplies for practice

If you practice on a bad paper, you won’t know how much easier it is to paint on a good paper. Watercolor paper is definitely the most important part of all supplies for watercolor painting. I haven’t done much recently because I am trying to recover. It’s already a month after surgery, but it seems like I will need more time.

Support is always much appreciated

I would appreciate a purchase of any of my original paintings. After such a long period of being out of work, any support would mean a lot. I can certainly offer very good deals on originals; but prints and other products on Fine Art America site are inexpensive anyway. Since people rarely read these posts, this might go unnoticed, but anyway, I hope I can get something sold. Big thank you goes to 3 ladies, who bought 5 watercolor paintings!

My art prints and artistic products on Fine Art America:

Art collections by Inese Poga

Tag: art for sale

Vibrant red color in my still life paintings

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Summer landscape – fantastic subject

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Creating art collections

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Spring paintings in acrylic

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Nothing compares to summer painting outdoors

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