An Artist's Journal:Paintings by Felicia Marshall

8 x 10 acrylic on hardboard I took this one from a family photo.  The back of the photo had a few sentences indicating that the picture was taken after church services. The couple had just become a deacon and a deaconess. This is quite an honor for Southern Baptists. I originally left a lot of white behind the two figures, which stayed true to the original photograph, but it just wasn't working. My son walked through and offered his opinion, which he never does because he could care less about art, and painting, and creating.  Girl stuff is how he would describe what I do. He is a young man of simple words and he did not let me down this time. He looked at the painting on his way to the kitchen and said, "It needs more depth." He had never been so right, nailed it!  It needed more depth, so I added more shadows in the background.  We often laugh about him getting a "B" in Art.  He wears his "B" like a badge of honor, because his mother is an a...

8 x 10 acrylic on hardboard I am still working on portraits and light.  I finally got tired of mixing this specific pinkish rosy color every time  I had to use it, which was often.  It never occurred to me that I could just premix an entire bottle or tube of the color.   That was until I read an article that had a painter describing her process.  She mixed some of her own colors so that they would be ready and waiting for her to use. "Duh! how brilliant, simple, and efficient." I went out and purchased some empty paint tubes.  I was shocked that they make these.  "Empty paint tubes!...duh!  It's my new favorite thing. SOLD

8 x 10 acrylic on hardboard I'm really working hard with trying different colors in my palate. I naturally would've painted the little girl's shirt a light brown, maybe a brownish yellow, or a calming blue.  Here you can see, I chose green. It went well with the scenery in which she sits. I'm taking baby steps. I'm also working hard at not modeling everything way too much.  I keep having to remind myself that, sometimes less is more.  I'm fascinated by artists that can show great detail and visual information with a few simple brushstrokes. "That takes great skill!" Here the little girl is sitting on the swing and fort set, which gave her great height, almost putting her above the fence line, which is where the sun was setting. This allowed me to create a fantastic halo around her hair. The swing's gone as of a few summers ago, when a tree remover miscalculated his angle and demolished it. One by one each kid stood at the window in disbeli...

8 x 10 acrylic on hardboard I had a great painting day over the weekend.  I was in the zone for most of Saturday.  I painted almost all of this painting that day.  The portrait alone would have had me pulling my hair out.  The little girl has dark skin and because she's back lit,  it was hard getting just the right balance of features and shadows on her face.  I find painting nature difficult.  I guess I am not bad at it because I have some great comments on the way that I handle certain landscapes, but it is not a subject I feel comfortable painting.  When your painting nature you have to constantly edit because you can't paint every leaf or twig.   So you are constantly asking yourself what is important.  Then you paint in the important stuff  like it took little or no effort at all.    SOLD

8 x 10 acrylic on hardboard I love the result I got from cropping the portrait so close.  Sometimes simple is more effective.  I learned a lot from this painting.  First, there is no such thing as too close.  Second, blurring the edges of the hair is far more interesting than painting in individual strands. Third, softening up the jaw line creates a much more rounded face than using sharp edges.

8"x 10" acrylic on hardboard Wow! I don't believe I actually completed this painting.  I began painting this one some time ago.  Before I began I knew it would be difficult and completely out of my comfort zone.  Usually I try to stick with one or two flowers in a painting at a time.  Painting individual petals drives me CRAZY.  So why would I paint a cluster of tiny flowers that have soft edges placed inside a highly reflective glass jar?  I must be insane. I don't really remember why it seemed like a good thing for me to paint two weeks ago (when I originally started this painting.)    Not For Sale