An Artist's Journal:Paintings by Felicia Marshall

12"x 16" acrylic on hardboard I am always excited when I get to use red in a painting, which is one of my favorite colors. I spent a lot of time on the background on this one.  I know your probably thinking, "what  background?"  Well I had a background of thin transparent red fabric with light shining  threw it. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I was going to pull it off.  Then I  painted over it and everything finally felt right. The background and foreground weren't  fighting with each other anymore.  I guess I should write about what is actually in the  painting since I just explained what isn't.  I enjoyed working with this one, it had everything I like, from the rich red and black colors to the mask itself.  I love masks and can't wait to  paint my next masked figure. Their will always be a next masked figure.

12"x 16" acrylic on hardboard This was the painting in which I finally became comfortable with painting soft edges. It seems so simple to do, but after a lifetime of coloring inside the lines it's hard to do the opposite   I originally had an elaborate background on this painting.  I even painted it all, before I painted over it. I quickly realized that even though I spent a lot of time panting the details, in the end it was just too distracting.  I have always had a problem with editing, so this was big for me. SOLD

12"x 16" acrylic on hardboard We pulled out some old Halloween costumes.  I loved the way the dress caught the light from the window behind us.  The feather mask was one of those things that spoke to me when I was out shopping for something else.  I wasn't prepared to make the purchase, but I thought about it for a couple of days and found myself walking right back into the store and sealing the deal.  The best thing was, everything was marked half off.  I didn't have to feel so guilty about the frivolous purchase.  What a difference a few days make! In my own defense  I think this mask has been put to good use already with this painting, or at least that's the line I used on my husband.  I pushed myself with this painting and I got to use a lot of bright color.