Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Paint My Photo
Where Photographers and Artists Meet
[1]
EDITORS WELCOME
If you aren't a member of PaintMyPhoto, then please have a read of this newsletter and see what you are missing. Are you are a photographer who would like to contribute good quality, copyright-free reference photos for our artists to use for inspiration? Are you an artist (a complete beginner or a professional, it really doesn't matter) who would benefit from being able to use copyright-free photos? Perhaps, like me, you are a bit of both! Membership is free and you will find the site a very
[2]
Franklin
Franklin is a very talented artist and photographer who lives in Belgium. Visit Franklins gallery on PMP to see more of his wonderful photos and paintings. Visit his PMP profile to contact him.
Franklin
Perfect Photos of Provence & Stunning Street Scenes to Name but a Few...
First and foremost, on behalf of all members, may closely attached to Provence in France for sure. Each we thank you for your generosity in sharing your time I go south, my camera gets hot. I can shoot 1000 wonderful photos! Can you tell us how you first pictures a week. discovered Paint My Photo? What type of camera and equipment do you I first started with IDAP in September 2010, use for the photographs that you post on following some tutorials, painting some basic Paint My Photo? things and subscribed to the watercolor challenge. November 2010 a photo (Fig still Im using a bridge camera: a Sony DSClife) from PMP by Teresa Houston was HX1 with a 20x lens (extends from 28mm chosen as the painting challenge of the to 560mm). It has also a HD video recorder, month. Bix, leading this group, suggested to a 3 inch tilting LCD screen, up to 10 frames/ me to post it on PMP to show it to Teresa. I second and panoramic view shots. The best spent some time finding my way on PMP but finally compromise for a good price in my opinion. went through all difficulties and started to post my photos Sometimes I also use a tripod. as well. Nowadays, I enjoy every minute I spent on PMP, looking for photos which can suit my feelings of the What, if any, photography/image software do you moment to express myself artistically. I like to have a look use to manage your photos? at others contribution too, artwork and photos. What is your favourite photography subject? I take so many ... its difficult to single out a specific subject. Flowers, people, animals, village views, landscapes, lavender fields, streets ... but my heart is [3] I never rework my photos. Sometimes I crop a part of it, frame my paintings with a French shareware called Photofiltre and Picassa.
FRANKLIN
If you had to choose just one photograph that you have posted on Paint My Photo, which one would it be and why? The ceramic shop in Roussillon is one of my first but also a very successful photo on PMP. I really like this village and I can spend hours just hanging around to find something I would have missed the visit before. The village view of Saignon, is a very paintable village, my Egyptian girl, my daughter, the Provence balcony, the rolled petals (flower), my abstract reflections, the poor fellow Ive met in Prague. Finally, wed love to know a little more about you, do you have a personal website (or other online presence) where we can see more of your work?
Provence Balcony
Im still working part time (4 days a week) as an Application and Development Engineer in the aluminum business. Being a sportsman since my early youth, Ive played football (soccer), basketball, volley-ball, swimming and karate. Martial art has been an important part of my lifestyle. Im a 4th Dan Shotokan and Im still practicing 4 times a week, teaching kids and adults. Artistically, Im still posting on IDAP and PMP as Franklin (subscribe and be my friend) but also on Facebook:
Egyptian Girl
https://www.facebook.com/francis.klinkemallie
Now you know why Im using a nickname as FranKlin. It is the first 4 letters of my first name and name. Ive started painting watercolor in September 2010 and couldnt stop since. Lot of my painting is referenced from a PMP photo and if Im still painting, its due to the encouraging comments from some good friends on PMP. Im sure they will recognize themselves. Some of them joined my group of friends on Facebook as well and I enjoy this because it makes our discussions even more familiar. You can see more of Franklins many wonderful photos and paintings by visiting his PaintMyPhoto gallery:
Carlyn - 1
http://paintmyphoto.ning.com/profile/klinkemalliefrancis
Winter Scene
Old Barn
[4]
FRANKLIN
Abstract Reflection 1
Martial Art
Bar in Antwerp
Rolled Petals
Sunflowers - 13
Chat-Kha
Saignon
[5]
Rodney Campbell
Rodney is one of PMPs very talented photographers and is based in the USA. To see more of his photos, visit his gallery on PaintMyPhoto. Rodney can be contacted on his PaintMyPhoto profile.
Rodney Campbell
Sparrow Preparing to Land
Rodneys Gallery is Packed with Amazing Bird & Insect Photos, Plus More!
First and foremost, on behalf of all members, may we thank you for your generosity in sharing your wonderful photos! Can you tell us how you first discovered Paint My Photo? I spent a great deal of time on the internet looking for subjects to paint. Being concerned about copyright issues, I would email the photographer to get permission to use their photo as reference for my paintings. Most gladly gave me their permission but it was not always possible to locate an email address for a photographer. I saw references to PMP on ID&P as well as on a couple of other sites. I was delighted to find that Roy had setup a site that took care of my concerns about copyright and provided an opportunity for myself and others to share our photos. PMP also inspired me to shelf my little used point and shoot camera and to purchase one with more range and capabilities. I began in earnest to capture photographs that could serve as reference for myself and others. It's been great to meet so many interesting artists and photographers through this site. It's also been quite exciting to see how this site has grown over a period of a couple of years. What is your favourite photography subject? My favorite subjects are wildlife and flowers. I particularly like butterflies because they frequently give me an opportunity to photograph both in one shot. When I was a youth I spent a great deal of time in the fields and forests. I took nature and my surroundings for granted. Now that I'm much older and have the time to revisit the outdoors, I find that many of the quail, pheasant, loons of my youth are no longer in this area. There is however an abundance of some species that were rare when I was young. We have nesting Osprey near my home as well as an abundance of Egrets and Herons. Photographing animals is particularly rewarding for me because it requires learning about their behaviors and habits in order to locate and photograph them.
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RODNEY CAMPBELL
What type of camera and equipment do you use for the photographs that you post on Paint My Photo? My camera is a Nikon D5000. My lenses are a Nikkor 18-55mm VR lens, a Tamron 90mm Macro Lens and my favorite a Nikkor 70-300mm VR telephoto lens. What, if any, photography/image software do you use to manage your photos? I use Photoshop Elements 8 to crop and edit my photos. I occasionally use Photomatix software to create an HDR or High Dynamic Range photo.
Bobcat
If you had to choose just one photograph that you have posted on Paint My Photo, which one would it be and why? Serendipity plays a large roll in photography. I would have to say that my favorite photo is of the Boy and the Girl holding hands. I saw them on the sidewalk while vacationing near Traverse City Michigan. I had no time to get a technically good photograph but I captured the essence of what I saw and I think their joy and happiness comes through. Finally, wed love to know a little more about you, do you have a personal website (or other online presence) where we can see more of your work?
Lungwort Blooms
My website is rodney-campbell.artistwebsites.com. More of Rodneys wonderful photographs and paintings can be viewed in his gallery on PaintMyPhoto.
Swallowtail Butterfly
Rock Glen
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RODNEY CAMPBELL
Make a Wish
Bald Eagle
Cherry Blossoms
Red Fox
[8]
Mystery
If You are a Portrait or Figure Painter, Make Sure You Visit Fredas Gallery!
Can you tell us how you first found out about Paint My Photo? I had been a member of another site where I could share my photos. Other members were very creative and I became fascinated with the techniques, but it was strictly a gardening site so they didn't allow me to share all of my photography. So I started looking for another site that would better suit my needs. I found a site called Picture Social at picturesocial.com I loved that site but it was here that one of my friends there told me about Paint My Photo, because she knew that I loved painting in watercolor. I have enjoyed the site and it seems to be perfect for me. I hope to be here a very long time. What is your favourite photography subject? My favorite subject is my daughter, because this is something we love doing together. However, life itself inspires me. I love capturing images in my camera lens that has the potential to be framed as is and appreciated as art. I love creating the perfect compositions and seeing the results. Digital cameras are awesome for this purpose. What type of camera and equipment do you use for the photographs that you post on Paint My Photo? I use a Canon 60D with the standard lens that came on the camera and a Canon 70-300 zoom lens. Before I got the 60D I used the Canon EOS 20IS.
What, if any, photography/image software do you use to manage your photos? I would love to own Photoshop, but for now I do very little editing. There is a site that I go to sometimes called Pic Monkey that allows me to edit my photos somewhat. I also have software that came with my camera called "Digital Photo Professional".
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If you had to choose just one photograph that you have posted on Paint My Photo, which one would it be and why? The photo titled "Remember" is the one I would choose, because it reminds me of a painting done by a famous painter, Andrew Wythe. This photo is of an old house that sits on a hill in the horizon with a girl in a white dress at the bottom walking towards the house.
Finally, we'd love to know a little more about you, do you have a personal website (or other online presence) where we can see more of your work?
Blonde Curls
I was born in Orange County, New York, but moved south when I was very young. I now reside in a small town in the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains with my husband, two children and one precious grandson. I graduated from Ferrum College in 1998 with a Bachelor of Art, a minor in history and a second minor in education. I am now a certified k-12 art teacher at the Benjamin Franklin Middle School where I have taught for fourteen years. I have exhibited my work at numerous Piedmont area shows winning awards such as 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the watercolor division as well as honorable mentions and people's choice awards. Although I experiment with many mediums in the art world my preference is watercolor. I am a member of a site called Pixoto.com:
http://www.pixoto.com/freda.nichols1/recent.
I am on Facebook and I have recently completed a website for my galleries at artistwebsites.com where people can purchase my artwork and photography:
http://fredanichols.artistwebsites.com/.
PMP Members can also see more of Fredas fabulous photos and artwork by
Strawberry Ice Cream
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General Lee
Wild-Side
Bright Side
Free
Fredas ChoiceRemember
My Lady
A Fiddle
[11]
Ruth Archer
I am a web developer by day and an artist & photographer whenever possible. I am based in Cambridgeshire, UK. I also help Roy as an administrator & Newsletter editor on PaintMyPhoto. You can visit my gallery and contact me via PaintMyPhoto.
Creative Inspiration
The Downfall of Icarus
I find that for me that sometimes an idea needs to evolve in its own time, as is the case with my latest painting. The more I try to force an idea, the more I tend to struggle with it. Until recently Ive also lacked the confidence to tackle many of my ideas and then a friend said the following to me:
Never feel you can't do something artistically because you're not talented enough. I've always believed that creating art has to be done for your own self fulfilment. So if it gives you some sort of pleasure, then do it without regard to what anyone else may think.
What poignant and sage words these are and I wanted to share them with you. Creating art, in whatever form, is a pleasure that is available to everyone and should be embraced accordingly. No one should ever feel that they arent good enough, or didnt have formal training and therefore cannot produce interesting and creative artwork. Just enjoy being creative!
Here at PaintMyPhoto, not only do we want to provide wonderful reference material for our members, we also strive to actively encourage and inspire everyone who would like to express themselves creatively.
[13]
Rick Miller
Rick is a multi-talented composer/singer/songwriter/ musician and producer based in Canada. All Ricks music can be found on his website:
rickmiller.bandcamp.com
A Musicians Perspective
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Rick has painted the artwork for most of his albums.
1) First and foremost, Rick, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. Music is known to be a great source of inspiration for painting. As a musician, what do you find inspires your songs and music? Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to take part. Looking back at the music I have created over that last 5 years or so, I have to say that personal experiences are the driving force behind my artistic inspiration. Some of the experiences Ive had over the last 5 years have affected me deeply, and when someone of an artistic temperament is emotionally affected, the result is usually an artistic expression of some kind. For me, the most powerful form of expression is music, so when I feel the need to express myself artistically, music is usually the result.
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An Interview with Rick Miller, Composer, Singer, Songwriter & Musician Cont...
2) Your music often includes classical instruments, such as the flute, cello and violin, played by very talented musicians who join you. How do you decide on which instruments to include in a piece? When writing music, I tend to hear it in my head first. Sometimes you hear what instruments you feel should be playing, and sometimes not. So what it really gets down to is trial and error. Because music to me is more of a hobby rather than a profession, I can afford to take plenty of time and try different things, and with this time, I will try different sounds with different backgrounds over and over until I find the right sound. Sometimes this is easier said than done. 3) When developing a new piece, do you leave the guest musicians to interpret the song and play freely, or is it a more controlled process? Depends on the musician and the music. My flute player (Sarah Young) and my cello player (Mateusz Swoboda) are both classically trained musicians who are much more comfortable with a sheet of music in front of them. I may make suggestions as to the playing style, but the music itself has to be written down ahead of time. Another factor is that they both have day jobs, so they cant afford to take lots of time working with me to figure out the best approach to a piece. Barry Haggarty on the other hand, who plays lead guitar for me is a rock musician at heart. I tend to just give him the outline of what I need done and let him go at it. I always get him to play several different versions of something, which I will pick apart later in my own studio, then put back together the way I want it. 4) Not only are you a multi-talented musician, you also paint as well and have painted most of the artwork for your CDs. Where does your inspiration for your paintings come from? My answer to this question is more or less the same as I gave for your first question. Painting like music is a form of artistic expression and when artistic people feel the need to express themselves, some form
X X X X
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An Interview with Rick Miller, Composer, Singer, Songwriter & Musician Cont...
of art is usually produced. Sometimes its good, sometimes it isnt, but the important thing is that the work of art is an expression of something from inside. I havent painted for a while, as Ive spent most of my hobby time lately with music, but Im hoping to get back into it in the next few years. 5) What, if any, is your favourite genre of art? That is a difficult question to answer. As an artist, I would have to say that expressing myself musically has always given me the most satisfaction, however appreciation of art for me comes in many forms. I enjoy reading, listening to music, looking at old paintings and wondering what the artist was thinking at the time. How many forgotten worlds and lives were being expressed into that canvas or book? Who or what the composer was obsessing over when he wrote his concerto?
LINK
Image taken from Ricks video The Fortunate One, which can viewed on YouTube.
Art is always an expression of the artists inner self, so there is always a story to tell.
Rick Miller is a multi-talented musician/composer/singer/songwriter/producer and painter based in Canada. His style of music is Progressive Rock and is soft, dark and melancholy. You can listen to all his music on his website rickmiller.bandcamp.com. The good news for Ricks fans is that he is working on a new CD, which will be released later this year, so watch this space Rick has kindly made one of his new tracks available for us listen to Ode to an Angel on his website now.
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Ode to an Angel
Roy Simmons
Roy is the founder/owner of PaintMyPhoto. Without his generosity none of this would be possible - heartfelt thanks Roy! Contact Roy on his profile at PMP. View Roys paintings in his PMP Gallery.
Roy Simmons
Paignton Sunset
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PAINT IT FORWARD...
David endorsing and encouraging his work:
You may also like to know that the British Prime Minister has seen the documentary and sent a letter to
"I wish you every success in your efforts to extend the success of the Southend Mencap Music School... I hope that the example of Southend will encourage duplication of the model across the country" ! ! ! ! ! ! Rt Hon. David Cameron, Prime Minister
So with such high level support you would be forgiven for thinking that the project is well funded and does not need help from anyone. However this is not true, like many charities in these difficult times, raising funds and obtaining grants is a challenge. I am also of the opinion that the best way to raise both awareness and a little money is by giving people a fair value exchange. This is what David does with his many fund raising concerts and events. So as the saying goes... and now for something completely different....
PAINT IT FORWARD...
Although this is still early days I have had encouraging feedback already and Paul Carpenter Films may be involved if planning goes well. I am hoping that Hangouts give the opportunity to engage with online audience, however, this all needs to be tested out. I hope you find the possibilities that our connected world offers as exciting as I do. So, enough for now, please join in the discussions and let me have your ideas! Since writing the above I have been further inspired by a couple of threads on PMP that have developed around the idea of paintings being gifted to another member, who then gave to charity as payment for the Artwork! What an amazing idea! Could this be expanded? Do members want to fund raise in that way? We will need to discuss this, and see what develops. Roy, January 2013
Return to Uqbar may appear as part of the event. Rick Miller has generously given permission for the music to be used.
Note from the Editor What a worthy cause! Any ideas from our members, however small or off-the-wall, will be gratefully received. We know what a wonderfully creative group of people you are and were sure youll have some fantastic ideas!
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Roni Hennen
Roni recently joined us on PaintMyPhoto and is a very talented artist. She is based in America. You can view Ronis gallery, or contact Roni on her profile page on PaintMyPhoto.
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JANUARY CHALLENGE
Time may have been a limited commodity before, but that was nothing compared bringing a product from conception through development, production, and into the market place, and unfortunately the first thing left off of my to-do list was creating stuff. Then about six or seven years ago, I realized I not only had the time, but perhaps for the first time in my life, the resources, to just make art for the heck of it, and painting went to the very top of my to-do list! Except for a couple of drawing courses in college, I'm selftaught, well, self-taught with the help of at least 100 art instruction books, almost every instructional magazine printed in the last six years, and more hours on YouTube than I really want to think about! I started working with colored pencils and moved to watercolor, which has become my favorite medium. Although I've painted many watercolors, I feel I'm just beginning to know this beautiful, but temperamental "partner" in art. I hope to be painting for as long as I am breathing, but I don't ever want to be a "professional". I have a job, and have had many others, so painting for the sheer joy and wonder of it is more than enough for me!
Ronis Winning Entry - Getting To Know You 3) You entered our January painting challenge, "New Beginnings" and it was your first ever on PMP....were you surprised to find out that you had won, and what was your first thoughts? Well, it was kind of funny really. You see, I had posted a note to the discussion on the last day of the month saying that working with the limited, three pigment palette had been such an eye opening experience that whatever the outcome, I felt like I had already "won". So, the next morning when I got an email congratulating me on winning, I thought it was a reference to that post. Then I got another, and another, but it wasn't until quite late in the day that I actually checked to see if the results had been posted and if the judges had picked the ones I had. I almost fell of my chair when I read my name..actually I had to read it about five times before it sunk in!
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JANUARY CHALLENGE
The Monthly Challenges are great fun and encourage members to try new ideas and subjects - if you havent participated in one yet, then why not take a look and see what youre missing? View the Monthly Challenges Go on, you know it makes sense... Join in the fun and learn at the same time!
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A TEACHERS TALE
Judy Wright
Judy is a talented and versatile artist and art teacher based in America. View Judys gallery on PaintMyPhoto to see more of her amazing work. You can contact Judy on her PaintMyPhoto profile page.
Judy Wright
Sunny Ones
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A TEACHERS TALE
Between the two organizations, there is sponsorship of The Village Art Gallery, a co-operative of artists who wish to display their work, two very fine art shows and an art walk in March of each year that attracts buyers from as far away as Phoenix, Arizona, and San Diego, California. For the Mountain Shadows Artists Association, I am the webmaster for our website: www.msaayuma.org . I find Yuma to be a very rich environment for artists with many wonderful opportunities to learn, grow as an artist and get your work recognized! A bit about my development as an artist. When I was a college student in the mid 1960s, I began painting with acrylics. The very small school district where I had attended school had no art department, but my mother, who recently passed away at the age of nearly 94, did have a background in commercial art and also in elementary education. She did more interesting things with 3rd graders art wise than any teacher I have ever seen. Those 8 year olds were doing art activities that some high school students would have difficulty with and doing it well. I learned some basics from her during my years before college.
Coral World
I did paintings in acrylic for a number of years until my children came along. Of course a two year old is into everything so my art went away for many years while I was raising a family and did not come back to life until my daughter had graduated from high school and was off to do her own thing. At that point I picked up my acrylics again and started to paint, but soon discovered that watercolor required a great deal less space and fuss than acrylics did. However, the switch from a medium like acrylic to watercolor required a mental shift and techniques shift as well. At that point I began looking for watercolor instructors and had great difficulty finding them. When I did find a couple, I quickly discovered they were awful teachers! I struggled on my own learning from books, DVDs and finally in 2007, discovered an artist named Sterling Edwards who had helped to start a website called Art Academy Live that could be accessed for a small fee per year and had all kinds of mini art lessons online. A year later, I was fortunate enough to get into a workshop with Sterling in Salt Lake City, Utah, and really got my start with intense color which has become a hallmark of my watercolor art. I learned from him that a watercolorist cannot get strong, clear color from low intensity pigment that resides on the inner ring of the Lewis and Clarke Trail colorwheel. Bright colors like the phthalos and the benzamides
[24]
A TEACHERS TALE
Escalante Vista
Some of my favorite watercolors are those which have the brightest colors. Among them are paintings of the Desert Southwest, which I love. From the first time I came to Arizona, it has felt like home to me. The glow and intensity of the colors match my inner being and inspire what I create. A few of them follow: These paintings are entitled: Escalante Vista, The Garden Gate, Mission Bells, and September Melody (on a following page). Another recent influence on my artwork is watercolorist, Judy Greenberg with whom I had a workshop in September, 2012. Judy is using some interesting texture techniques with gel medium which I have included in one of my more recent paintings, From Los Algodones, with Love. Los Algodones is a sleepy little Mexican town which lies about 1 ! miles as the crow flies southwest of where I live in the winter. There are a number of artists there and the texture and color with which they make pottery is quite interesting and varied. The design of the pottery changes from year to year and what they have to offer is never repeated.
Mission Bells
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A TEACHERS TALE
For Judys workshop, I put together a number of these interesting pots from photos I took a number of years back and combined them in that painting: This painting has been stamped with various textures using gel medium, including one which I carved out of Speedball soft texture medium, an old piece of burlap and the non skid material used to keep kitchen items from sliding around while you are in the process of moving your fifth wheel from place to place.
One of my more recent acrylics, The Lions Den won best professional painting in a Yuma Art Show a couple of years ago. It includes some texturing of the coral using molding paste and has a 3-D effect.
The lions Den
This is Moonlight Dance and is also a mixed medium painting using a variety of collage approaches including saran wrap on"acrylic"wash background, tar gel on rice paper for the moon and trees, molding paste in the background for the trees and painted crinkled ventilation tape for the foreground grasses." This is"a new thing for me and I'm still learning!"
Moonlight Dance
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A TEACHERS TALE
One other thing I might mention is my webpage address, which is part of the website I run for Mountain Shadows Artists Association:
http://www.msaayuma.org/
and my blog:"
http://www.judywrightwatercolors.blogspot.com/!!
Finally, before I end here, I must give a tribute to Roy Simmons, who created Paint My Photo and really is responsible for gathering us all together from the far corners of the earth to share and communicate and add to the richness of our collective being. Being a member here has greatly enriched my life and given me friends I would never have had otherwise. Roy, THANK YOU!!!!!
September Melody
Favorite of Mine
Three Clowns
[27]
Robyn Lovelock
Robyn (Ro) is a very talented artist and photographer based in Australia. She is also one of PMPs superstars, helping to keep PMP running smoothly and looking after members. You can view Ros gallery or contact her though PMP.
Robyn Lovelock
Simons Lavender Fields 7
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Foxgloves
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Daffodils
Spring Special
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Bluebell Woods
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Crocus
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Bluebells Growing Under The Poplars [29]
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A Host of Gold Daffodils
Spring Special
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Spring Flowers
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Cherry Blossoms 1
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Colors of Spring
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Magnolia View
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Pink Poppy
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Golden Jewels [30]
A WINNING WHIM!
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[32]
This particular area of Snowdonia is known as the Carneddau and is vast and rugged and home to hundreds of wild Welsh mountain ponies. We both love coming across them and Gary always stops to take plenty of photos, many of which he has posted here on PMP and some of them have been beautifully painted by some of the members here. Other wildlife we often come across on our walks are mountain goats, sheep and upland birds such as ravens, buzzards, stonechats, the odd skylark and snow bunting. It was not long before we came across the ponies on this walk on a remote hillside overlooking a beautiful valley, we came across a mare with a young foal, the wildest looking ponies weve seen to date! There was cloud all around us for most of this walk, yet the summits remained clear for us, the views were spectacular and we made sure we took time to admire the scenes before us, taking it all in as wonderful as Garys photography is, nothing can convey the sense of just being there.. This particular walk took us around 7 hours from start to finish and we walked 11 miles, climbing 3465 ft. Mountain walking is a great passion of ours and it fits in so well with our other passions of photography (for Gary) and art (for me). Garys landscape photography is very much influenced by a long standing love of the mountains. He has been a keen mountaineer since his teens. His passion for photography has grown over the years, mainly due to his love of wildlife. He says there is more meaning and purpose to his photography now that he knows they are inspiring me and members of PMP to paint from them, he thinks more about the composition and whether it will make a good painting. My walking bug started a lot later in life, as did the painting. Ive only been hill walking for just over 5 years and painting for 2 years. It was the walking which inspired me to paint, I just decided to paint a landscape one day and then that was it I never looked back.
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Although I dont paint landscapes that often now, mainly animals but I would really like to start painting more landscapes, Im just not as confident with them. I usually come home from a walk with a painting or two in mind, whether it be of a Carneddau pony, a mountain goat or a lake or ridge that weve seen. This painting of a Carneddau pony was inspired by a walk in the same area a few months ago and has also been painted by other members of PMP. It was also through walking that Gary and I met and I feel so lucky to be able to share such a passion. Were planning on doing a big walking challenge this year, the Welsh 3000 Challenge which is to climb all 15 mountains in Wales which are over 3000ft within 24 hours not sure if Im up to it but going to give it a try! Gary has done it before and assures me that Ill do it, so we need to do lots of training and lots of big walks to get fit enough, which means lots more photos to post to PMP and lots more paintings to paint! !"#$%%#&"'%#()"*"$#+'"&#*),$#-./0#.12#"*)%'$3#("(#"4%'#*"#"5'#-./0,16#7/"6#8.//%2#!-"#9.,'$#"+#:""*$;#
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[34]
BIRTH OF AN ARTIST
Peter Williams
Peter is a an artist of extraordinary talent and is based in Suffolk, UK. Visit Peters gallery on PMP to see more of his amazing work. You can contact Peter by visiting his profile on PaintMyPhoto.
Peter Williams
As Time Goes By
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BIRTH OF AN ARTIST
Unfortunately I don't think this part of the conversation made any impact on my Mum as she was out in the back yard poking a steaming hot 'copper' with big wooden tongs in one hand and winding the mangle at the same time with the other. (People born after the 1950's will need to Google that) I had learned not to press home my point too hard with my stressed out Mum, especially when she was holding something like the big wooden tongs as it invariably led to something painful, so I let it slide. When Mrs. White gave me a letter the following day with the details of the forthcoming 'do', I told her my Mum couldn't take me so I wouldn't be able to go. No problem she said, she would take me herself. So Saturday came. In those days we boys would normally disappear off out to the wastelands for a day's bird nesting or play football in the park until it got dark, so when I got up early and dashed off to school nobody really noticed. Mrs White In the Swim spent a bit of time spitting on the corner of her handkerchief and robustly cleaning the corners of my mouth and nose (I still hate it when people do that to me) before bundling me into her car and setting off to St. Albans. I'd rarely been in a car so this was turning in to quite an adventure. Upon arrival we went into this posh building where lo and behold I spotted my painting all nicely framed up and displayed in the foyer along with all the other prize winners. I proudly went up onto a stage and collected my prize, it was a book token for twenty five shillings! (people born after the 1960's will need to Google that), and everyone clapped as I skipped down the steps to rejoin Mrs White who I noticed was a bit tearful. I don't know what I'd done to upset her, so kept quiet on the way back. Twenty five shillings! I knew exactly what book I was going to get. It was in the book department at the 'Main Stores' over in the town and I'd had my eye on it for ages. So as soon as the car pulled up back at school I was out and sprinting across the dell, over the railway lines and into town. I made a beeline for the 'Main Stores' and left clutching my book....'A Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom'. You can see where this is leading now can't you.
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BIRTH OF AN ARTIST
I treasured that book and I've still got it although it's a bit battered and dog eared now. Particularly from being vandalised in about 1965 by my younger brother after we'd had a fight and it was his way of getting back at me. But actually those torn pages, repaired with sticky-tape add extra memories to it, so I'll forgive you Malc. Anyway, over the following years I probably copied and drew nearly every photograph from that book. When I was about 14 years old I had a bit of a crush on one of the girls in my class (a certain Jennifer Rowland) and I remember proudly presenting her with a pencil portrait of a wild horse.....she was speechless and I'm sure impressed but her large, ginger, bully of a boyfriend at the time, Dave Ponting, wasn't going to let me capitalise on my success. Time went by and at the age of sixteen I left school and went to work in Fine Fare (People born after the 1960's will need to Google that) as the butcher's assistant. The following year, fed up with stinking of dried blood and having to scrape bits of entrails off Stag my desert boots before I could go out on a Friday night, I left home and joined the British Army aged 17 as an armoured vehicle mechanic in the REME. I continued my artistic endeavours throughout my service albeit mostly drawing caricatures of our superiors. It got me in a lot of trouble at the time, but helped make me popular with the other lads. Always shy and lacking confidence it was a great boost for me. This was the early 1970's, I do remember once painting a load of psychedelic designs on some wooden panels for a married friend to decorate his house in Germany. I wonder whatever happened to them. They'll be worth a fortune when I'm dead. Now fast forward to the mid 80s. This was during my time of having a passion for powerful motorcycles. I was in a hospital bed in Stevenage with a shattered femur, broken pelvis, broken elbow and various other injuries (I never said I was a good motorcyclist). Some of my colleagues from work at British Aerospace had a bit of a whipround and came to visit me. Knowing about my hobby of cartooning and drawing, and knowing I was going to be laid up for a long time, they had chosen to buy me a nice little set of watercolour paints.....good quality ones they were. I'd never tried watercolours before and didn't have a clue so I found a book by Alwyn Crawshaw and it set me on my way.
Calico Kitten
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BIRTH OF AN ARTIST
Thinking about my first efforts they were quite laughable really, but it was only for fun and with practice I slowly began to improve. I stuck to watercolours for a long time. Once I begin something I never give up until I reach my goal and I was determined to reach at least an acceptable standard. I think this turned out to be a good idea because I was able to build a foundation which I could always fall back on as I later tried to master other media. Fast forward again to 1996, I heard about a school reunion via one of my work colleagues who's wife it turned out worked with one of my old school mates. My name had cropped up. Having nothing much better to do I decided to go along. I hadn't seen or been in touch with anybody from school since I'd left in 1968 and to be honest, I hadn't missed anyone although I was wondering how a certain Jenny Rowland had turned out..... The reunion was held at the football club just up the road from The Carnival is Over the old school. I rolled up on my CBR600 in my best Honda 'T' shirt, parked up and made my way to the bar. The barman was wearing an old 'Free Mandela' T shirt. I couldn't resist asking for a pint of Mandela seeing as it was free. He didn't even crack a smile. I didn't recognise anyone and I don't think anyone knew who I was. It had been 28 years after all. I was scrutinising the name badges people were wearing and the first one I read was Ponting. Well, I couldn't help feeling a bit smug as the big fat, ruddy faced bloke I was looking at with the greasy grey hair hadn't aged at all well. I soon got talking to one of my closer school friends who had gone into the merchant navy at the same time I had joined the army. He was now the captain of a big ship, pretty successful, still single and a really dirty rascal. We were having quite a laugh when the door opened and a face I recognised straight away walked in, it was Jenny Rowland! Holding in my stomach as best I could I went right over. She didn't know who the hell I was at first but after I introduced myself we got on like a house on fire. Guess what! She had kept the wild horse pencil portrait I'd given her all those years ago. I don't much Cats Eyes remember talking to anyone else after that. Late afternoon, after a buffet and a few speeches, we left the football club. On my way through the door a large hand clamped my shoulder.
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BIRTH OF AN ARTIST
I turned to see it was the barman... I get you now....free Mandela ...ha ha....I'll have to remember that one. I quickened my pace as the now well lubricated reunion moved to the old school up the road where we were allowed to explore the class rooms and corridors and meet some of the surviving teachers. It was nice to chat to my old geography teacher who was brilliant. I wouldn't have swapped him for all the tea in Denmark. I remember needing to pee and in the 'boys' toilets bumping into a tall guy in an expensive three piece suit. You know we all went to school with a smelly kid. (If you didn't, you were the smelly kid) Well this was ours and he was now a successful solicitor. He was enjoying a roll-up in the cubicle.... Fags have never tasted as good as the ones we shared in the school bogs have they Williams he said...I got out of there quick. I met up with Jenny again for a meal the following week and not long after that I moved in to her The Stripper house.....Oh yes, the shyness was under control by 1996. Jenny had a council house where she was living with her two daughters who she had brought up on her own. After a while we decided to buy the house from the council with a view to fixing it up a bit before selling and moving on. So that's what we did. After various improvements and decorating it needed some pictures before putting it on the market so I set about painting some. They were pretty naff but she liked them and encouraged me to do more. Once we had moved to a nice house in Benington I started putting some of my paintings into local village exhibitions. I remember the first time I hadn't a clue how much to ask for them so just took a punt. It turned out to be much more than all the others in the show but one out of the three I submitted did sell so it was encouraging. While traipsing around all these village shows I started to recognise some of the more talented artists work and spent a lot of time studying their techniques and chatting to the artists. That's how I learned really, I'd find someone who painted wonderful skies, tap their brains a bit then I'd go home and practice until I could do something similar. Somebody else could paint horses so I did likewise and so it went on. I won one or two prizes and gradually I improved until I found I was selling my own work quite regularly.
Glastonbury Man
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BIRTH OF AN ARTIST
I might sell two or three paintings at each of these shows and sometimes I'd do two or three shows in one week. The trouble was, I didn't have the time to paint enough pictures. This was when I took the biggest step of all. Aged fifty now, I'd already experienced three separate redundancies and was no longer enjoying the work I was doing. So after a long talk with Jenny about it and a bit of soul searching I jacked it in and took on a part-time lorry driving job, three days a week. The army experience was paying off at last. This gave me a couple of extra days a week to work on my art and I carried on like that for a while. But it was still frustrating when in the middle of a painting I had to drop everything and go off and deliver some tractors to Yorkshire or golf carts to Colwyn Bay. I was kind of stuck between two worlds and couldn't give either my best shot. So, the driving job had to go too. I sent myself on a picture framing course and purchased a load of equipment from Head in the Clouds eBay so that, if all else failed I could earn some money from picture framing. I still make my own frames. Luckily I haven't had to resort to framing for other people. Meanwhile Jenny was working hard as a school teacher so we always had a regular income. Then in 2002 Jenny began feeling the same way about her job as I had previously felt about mine. We decided to sell up in Hertfordshire, pay everything off, downsize and move to the coast here in Suffolk. I would do my best with my art and Jenny would do a bit of supply teaching. Plans were nearly scuppered before we moved though. I was riding my Triumph Daytona home one day when an idiot pulled out and drove his car straight into me. It was back to the same hospital in Stevenage I knew so well, this time with two broken wrists, a buggered knee and a mangled left hand. Lying there in my bed I calculated I'd spent almost as much time flying through the air as I had on two wheels so sadly I came to terms with the fact that my motorcycling adventures were over. We went ahead with the move and I started looking around for outlets for my work. It's a lovely coastal area and I imagined a great market for atmospheric beach scenes, landscapes and boats. It soon became obvious to me that the area was stuffed full of artists, all doing the same thing, mostly far better than I could. I needed to try to find a gap in the market.
Fair-Weather Friends
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BIRTH OF AN ARTIST
I'd never lost my passion for animals and so began painting wildlife instead, along with a bit of figurative work. I was ticking along OK with online sales but none of the local galleries were interested in my work. They were (and still are) in general stuck on the coastal scenes and landscapes. It was a bit disheartening, I knew a lot of people liked my work but getting it out in front of them was proving very difficult. Then I was lucky enough to be put onto an opportunity by fellow artist and online friend Sue Warne who often exhibited her work at a pub/restaurant where she lived in Capel St. Mary. I drove over to talk to the proprietor who was a bit of an art buff and liked to do what he could for local artists. He liked my work and offered me a month's exhibition for no cost, other than to choose one painting for himself. Well, I sold really well and he let me stay on for a second month. I had to go over twice to restock and made enough money to keep me going for several months. Sadly he moved away to the West Country not long The Pear and the Tortoise afterwards so it was a one off. But it encouraged me to keep going along the path I had chosen. Of course the monster that has become the internet has been the most exciting and powerful tool for people like me. No, I don't mean what you are thinking, I mean for self promotion and selling worldwide. Not long after moving here to Suffolk in 2005, another artist friend told me about an art form he was having great success with called ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals), miniature paintings all at 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size and which were a bit of a craze in America. I had a look and could not believe the prices some were fetching on eBay. I decided to have a go. As I was aiming at American customers I began with some Western scenes, rodeo riders, Native Americans, that sort of thing. Well it was astonishing. Within a few weeks I had gained some faithful followers who bought my ACEOs as fast as I could list them. Some of these little paintings began fetching over a hundred pounds each at auction. I spent day after day painting four of them at a time, completing 200 of them in total. As my following grew I began to receive commissions to paint larger versions, mainly from Canada and the USA.
Sunburst
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BIRTH OF AN ARTIST
So I started looking for reference material I could use and came across the work of Edward Sheriff Curtis, a photographer from the turn of the last century who had travelled the Americas documenting all of the old Native tribes. I found some of his photographs breathtakingly beautiful and poignant and studied more and more. I fell in love with black and white work at this stage. Of course I then came across a lot of Western artists, people such as Martin Grelle, Kirby Sattler, Lee Bogle and in particular JD Challenger to name a few. These people all had a major impact on my style and the ACEOs gave me plenty of practice at achieving fine details. Put these things together and you will see the basis of my current style right there. Big open spaces, loose backgrounds with a highly detailed central subject. The popularity of my ACEOs eventually fell away when eBay changed their policies for international traders. I was losing Enduring Spirit interest in my 'production line' anyway so went back to concentrating on my normal sized work but still enjoyed painting the occasional Native American piece. I've even sold a few here around Leiston, mainly to the local Cowboys and other tradesmen. I haven't done one for a while now though as the wildlife work has gradually taken over my life, but I still like them and still have a few left which are hanging in the spare room. Writing this though, I'm feeling the urge to paint another Indian portrait.....we'll see. Nowadays I don't attempt to get into High street galleries. I'd rather hire an empty space and put on my own solo exhibitions several times a year. I also take part in fairs and local open exhibitions but by far my best outlet is with online galleries such as Affordable British Art and of course my own Mighty Fine Art website:
http:www.mightyfineart.co.uk.
More of Peters wonderful work can also be seen on PaintMyPhoto:
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James Swanson
James is a an artist of extraordinary talent and is based in the USA. Visit James gallery on PMP to see more of his amazing work. You can contact James by visiting his profile on PaintMyPhoto.
James Swanson
Cloud Reflections in Ece Saray Marina - Original Reference Photo
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The Painting Blue Water Harbor Cont. I then got real busy painting in all the paint colors from my palette where they were to go on the canvas. Working dark to light I blocked in the mountains, the water, the sky, and then the clouds. I love to work wet into wet. Thick paint mushed against thick paint makes for excitement in my eyes. This is where I start feel the strokes, and leave them alone. Now that the background is on its way I started to focus in on the boats and the energy of the harbor. I wanted to keep this painting loose and impressionistic. Everything is an indication or the accents of what is there. With the focus ending up on the only boat without a mast. Here I am getting the boats in the right positions. After the boats are put in place I took on the challenge of their masts and the reflections of them. I like to use my palette knife for this type if work. Little brushes tend to get me to tighten up, thus tightening up the painting too much.
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The Painting Blue Water Harbor Cont. I mixed up two versions of each mast color. One for the mast in the sky and one for in the water. Reflections are always a little darker than what they are reflecting. With the masts done I thought I was almost there, but one thing kept jumping out at me. The big sailboat mast to the left keep drawing my eye in and up out of the picture. I tried a few little painting things to it but I couldnt get it to work right for me. Finally though figured the cloud in the background could be bigger and I could use that to draw everything together. It pulled the sky, the mast, and the mountain together, bringing back the viewers eye to the boats and water. Here are some of the close up details from the painting.
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James Swanson
Blue Water Harbor was a fun little painting to do. A big thanks goes out to Ruth for her photo inspiration. I will be signing her name along with mine on the back of it. Thanks PMP for letting me do my thing here and see you all back at the site.
If you are interested in learning more about my painting project you can go to
If you are interested in learning more about my painting project you can go to www.theArtistAndTheTraveler.org
Snowbound
Yellow Sails
Beach House
Snowbound
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LINK
PaintMyPhotos Annual Swap Art Event
This annual event is splendid fun! PaintMyPhoto artists are able to enter a painting of their choice to swap and will be paired randomly with another PaintMyPhoto artist to swap their art with. To find out more about how to join in the fun, visit the Swap Art website.*
*Please note, this event is only available to PaintMyPhoto members.
Thats All Folks! The next edition will be published Summer 2013.
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