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Waiting for the model to return from break.            Beginning part of one of my still life paintings.

 

  "Talent is long patience" By Gustave Flaubert

 

I just finished taking my second,  four day still life and figure oil painting workshop, from the artist Robert Johnson in Fredericksburg Texas.

 

Met a lot of wonderful people, learned a lot, and had a wonderful time. It's about a ten hour drive for me in each direction (that part is not so good).

 

I also learned a lot about myself in the artistic sense.

 

-Which direction I want to go in my paintings.

- What I have to do to get better.

- Understood more about my oil painting art supplies.

- Getting out of my comfort zone is good.

 

I take notes when I go to art workshops. When I get home, I retype them and keep them in a folder with the workshop artist’s name. Having notes organized in folders helps me to find information fast later when I am painting.

 

I’m ready to get back to painting in my studio!

 

Thank you for reading my blog,

Debra Snyder Heard

 

 

 

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them."  By Henri Matisse 1869-1954

 

A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man can not live without love.
- Max Muller

 

 Composition - The act of organizing the elements of an artwork into a harmoniously unified whole.

 

"Waiting for Romance" is a beautiful reminder that everyone wants true love and romance.

 

Art jobs in my younger years included being a display manager for high quality retail stores. My work was to arranged merchandise in a way to attract customers to want to buy and be excited by what they see. I also worked with retail market buyers drawing their layout ads to show/instruct their company photographers how the merchandise was to be displayed for newspaper ads.  

 

Now when I arrange still life for my paintings I see how my past experiences has benefited me.

 

Planning my painting composition takes one or two days to arrange, and to decide how I want everything to look. Color, lighting, theme, unity, harmony,  variety, dominance, balance (asymmmetical or symetrical), and sizes of everything are taken into consideration. I also have to really like it!

 

Next I take pictures of my still life many times at different angles. I upload the photos on my computer to see if I like the way everything looks. Using the computer and camera gives me a different viewpoint angle of looking at everything. If I don’t like the way things look, I go back and change things up in my still life arrangement. Then I take lots photos again ( I do this many times). If I have to go to photoshop to crop or enlarge I do.  Finally I print out my selected photo just for reference. I get everything exactly the way I want so I won’t run into problems later. After I do the under painting, I put the photo away and work from the still life only.

 

I see a lot of beautifully still life paintings from artists that show wonderful skills, but the composition is weak. It destroys the power of the painting.

 

 

Life has a really neat way of connecting everything from the past to the present. 

 

Thank you for reading my blog,

 

Debra Snyder Heard

 

 

 

 

         Working at an Art Crawl

 

I am a quiet person that likes to stay at home, working in my art studio, reading a good book, or working in my garden or flower beds.

 

I belong to a local co-op art gallery that takes part in art crawls every other month. When it comes time to go to these things I usually don’t want to go, but I make an effort to push myself to advertise my art.

 

Tonight I saw quite a few people stop at my painting for long periods to time (that means they really like them) to look.  

 

I made an effort to meet and talk to people that came into the gallery.  It turned out to be fun, and it wasn’t because I was serving the wine. ( :

 

                                         Here is some more of my paintings.

 

Thank you for reading my blog,

 

Debra Snyder Heard                        

 

 

 

 

 

Here is some close up pictures of my work.

  

It was nice to open the paper and see this article in the paper this morning.  I would love for you all to come by and visit the gallery and see my work if you can!

 

Thank you,

 

Debra Snyder Heard

 

 

       Time For Tea by Debra Snyder Heard

 

"A successful painter is continually painting still life" By Charles W. Hawthorne

 

 

“Time For Tea” is a reminder to enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

 

I drink hot tea and coffee all day long.  It is my addition and habit of indulging pleasure.

 

The flowers are “yuletide sasanqua’, which is a type of camellia that I have growing in my yard. It blooms about twice a year.

 

I believe life should be about positive things and sweet pleasures. Surrounding myself with things I am grateful for.

 

The response I hoping to inspire through this piece is when people look at my painting they will remember to enjoy themselves with the small pleasures in life that they have around them.

 

 

Thank you for reading my blog,

Debra Snyder Heard

 

 

“The Perfect Model” by Debra Snyder Heard

Pencil on Gray Paper, 10 ½ x 13 inches

 

"Talent takes long patience." by Gustive Flaubert

 

Several months ago I attend an art workshop in Frederiksberg Texas. On the third day a model was due that morning to pose for us to paint. She walked into the door all flustered because her water pipe was being repaired, and she had no water in her home that morning to wash her hair, and to clean up, so she came as she was. No makeup and wild hair. I liked the honest real look!

 

What made her such a good model was that she could get into the exact same position/pose after rest breaks. Few people can do this. She used her eyes looking at all angles to measure where she was before moving. She had a positive and charming personality too.

 

It is very frustrating as an artist painting or drawing, and the model never gets into the exact pose after breaks. It means EVERYTHING changes! A fraction off and the perspective is in another angle. Lots of times I just start over, for the practice, and never have a finished product.

 

Thank you for reading my blog!

 

Debra Snyder Heard

 

 

 

Old Copper Teapot With Pink Camellias by Debra Snyder Heard

 

 "Color is like music. The palette is an instrument that can be orchestrated to build form."  By John Sloan 1871- 1951

 

When I travel out of town I sometimes stop at antic stores/barns for a driving break to stretch my legs, and also to find props for my still life paintings. There are certain things I look for that makes me think that certain items will do well in a still life painting.

 

Later when I got home my husband asked me what I bought. He hates to go into these types of stores. I showed him the copper teapot and blue vase. I told him about the antic barn that I walked through, how it was so big that I didn’t go through all of it.

He made the remark, talking about the antic barn, “Who in the hell would buy stuff like that?” I looked at him and said, “People like me”.

 

 

                                                           

 

 

 

  Creating My Own Christmas Cards

 

“The real artist’s work is a surprise to himself” By Robert Henri 1865-1929

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the technology that we have available to us nowadays. Just wish that it was around 30 years ago.

 In the past, it was a long expensive process to create my own cards. Now everyone is creating their own cards, and it just keeps getting better and easier.

 

I think family and friends would enjoy receiving a more personal card, than a commercial card that was brought from the store.

It is a way to share my artwork to others during the Christmas season.

 

Every year that I do this it is going to get better and more organized. 

Here are some examples of my work.

 

 

   

   Christmas Cards by Debra Snyder Heard

 

 

Thank you for reading my blog,

 

Debra Snyder Heard

Art Work in Progress by Debra Snyder Heard

 

"Painting is a self-disciplined activity that you have to learn by yourself." By Tomase Beardsen

 

Showing you what is on my easel.

This is the beginning stage for my next painting. I’m working on a small canvas this time.

 

I feel that it is very important to do underpaintings. Also to have a good beginning stage. I let the first few layers of thin paint dry before I start using a lot of color.  This helps to build up different values.

I work mostly from the still life, but use the photo for aranging my composition.

 

Thank you for reading my blog,

Debra Snyder Heard

  

 

 

Crimson and Cherries by Debra Snyder Heard

Oil/ 12 inches x 16 inches

 

“Painting is drawing, with the additional means of color.- John Sloan 1871-1951

 

“Finishing a painting demands a heart of steel: everything requires a decision and I find difficulties where I least expected them.” – Eugene Delacroix

 

 

 This painting is still wet. I will take another picture later, when it dries to replace it.

 

  

I carefully planned my composition and colors on this painting before I started. I feel that it is important to have a theme color, and objects should connect in a meaningful way when placed together.

 

I started to name this painting “Waiting for Romance”.  Some of the definitions I found that is connected to the color crimson are (that I liked)  “the heart’s mystery, importance, and power.  

 

I like to paint paintings that are pleasent for people to look at, and brings good memories into their homes. A lot of artists don't like to do detailed paintings or drawings. I'm glad God/nature was not that way. Look at all the beautiful things we would be missing.

 

Thank you for reading my blog,

 

Debra Snyder Heard