Category: Artist Blog

Artist Teresa Bernard’s blog about her oil paintings and the inspiration behind them. Every painting has a story. The blog also discusses other topics of interest to all lovers of great art.

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Everyone Loves Wildlife Art

wildlife art
Ladybug #2 – Almost Perfect Camouflage wildlife art by Teresa Bernard

Why We Cherish Wildlife Art

Our affection for animals is what makes wildlife art so popular. Everyone has some type of fondness for animals, and even if they don’t love all types, there’s usually at least one favorite animal on everyone’s list. People from all walks of life find joy in the variety of creatures, great and small, that grace our planet—a gift from God to both the Earth and humanity.

Some are drawn to the exotic wildlife of distant lands, others by the wide array of birds flying overhead, while many have a deep appreciation for fish and other marine life that live in our waters. And of course, we mustn’t forget our beloved farm animals and pets!  Our endearment for animals is what fuels the popularity of wildlife art.

Wildlife art appeals to everyone because it:

1. Connects Us with Nature: Wildlife art connects people with the natural world, evoking emotions and fostering a sense of wonder. Whether it’s a painting of a majestic tiger, a soaring eagle, or an endangered aquatic species, wildlife art resonates with our shared love for the planet’s diverse creatures.

2. Enhances Living Spaces: Animal paintings add a touch of nature to your home or office, complementing nearly any décor. They offer a beautiful way to bring the outdoors inside, especially for those who can’t venture outside as much as they’d like. These artworks provide a sense of being in nature, even from the comfort of your own space.

3. Spark Conversations: Paintings of the animal kingdom can be a great way to start a conversation. Animals are so interesting and there is such a variety of life in the animal kingdom that you will never lack something to discuss. When visitors come calling, your animal art can be a great way to get a good conversation going and keeping it going for hours. What a great way to pass the time!

4. Relive Adventures: For nature enthusiasts, wildlife art offers a wonderful opportunity to reminisce about memorable trips to the zoo, safaris, or other outdoor adventures. It allows you to relive those cherished moments spent among wildlife.

5. Diverse Artistic Expressions: Nature offers a vast array of creatures to depict in wildlife paintings, from mammals and birds to fish and insects. And domestic animals like pets or livestock are portrayed too. Artistic depictions of animals can vary from realistic to abstract, to whimsical, or anything in between, catering to any décor style or personal taste.

Conclusion

Wildlife art provides a unique opportunity to admire the natural beauty of animals and their environments. It appeals to people of all ages and backgrounds, offering something for every enthusiast to enjoy. So, the next time you’re searching for a gift for someone (or even yourself), consider the timeless charm of wildlife art.

You May Also Like

FROM THE EDITORS: We trust you found this blog on wildlife art to be informative and helpful. We’re sure you’ll enjoy the animal and wildlife paintings below too. For more information and details, click or tap the thumbnail link.

wildlife paintings
Flamingo and Chick  
(2023)
12″ w x 12″ h
insect canvas art
Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillar (2022)
6″ w x 8″ h
marine art
Swimming with Sharks
(2023)
12″ w x 16″ h

⇒ See More Wildlife Art Here

Art Gallery Quick Links

Flowers     |     Landscapes     |     Marine     |     People

Space Art     |     Still Life     |     Wildlife

Additional Reading

Sunset Paintings, Why I Love Them

More information about this topic and many others can be found in My Artist Blog Index. Check it out!

Have a question?

If you have a question, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Thanks for reading this!

Feel free to share this with your friends.

 

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Artist Interview

I had the privilege of being interviewed by an art student attending college in California. His assignment was to pick an artist, interview that person, and write a paper about the experience. His questions were intelligent and well thought out. I thoroughly enjoyed answering Eric’s questions and was delighted to read his essay. I have it posted below, with his permission, for you to read.

—Teresa Bernard

Artist Interview: Teresa Bernard

By Eric Pott, May 8, 2007

For my artist interview project, I was fortunate in my Internet search to find the website of Teresa Bernard, a Texas painter. Teresa is an accomplished artist with a wide variety of skills and experience; she has an interesting background and has had the opportunity to express her creative abilities within her career as well as for her personal enjoyment. Teresa is primarily an oil painter; she showcases and sells her art on her web page while at the same time pursuing web design professionally. After seeing her paintings, I decided to contact Teresa and was delighted when she e-mailed me back to say that she would be honored to be the subject of my interview.

I was initially drawn to Teresa’s website, which I found while browsing the “Yahoo!” artist directory by category; I was interested in talking with a painter, and I found that she painted with a number of different types of subject matter, including religious paintings. I noticed that her website contained a great deal of information already, and I guessed that there was a great deal of interesting thought that she could elaborate on in terms of some of her early influences and her knowledge of art within the context of her career. I also wanted to learn her opinions of the art world and of its business aspects. I contacted her via e-mail in late April, and we communicated for about a week or so, during which I submitted to her my interview questions about her art, background, career, and her opinions of the art world in general.

Teresa was very fortunate to have learned many artistic elements and principles early in life. Her father was an art teacher who studied under the instruction of a successive line of artists; he taught classes in her town, as well as in some of the surrounding communities. In our interview, she placed a tremendous amount of emphasis on the artistic fundamentals and principles of design that he taught her: “….shading, lighting, composing, design, proportion, perspective, balance….all the elements that go into good composition.” Mrs. Bernard had attended college here in California, and she described in the interview that she had not originally intended to become an art student but instead initially studied Bible and communications courses. She attended Ambassador College (which she later mentioned was right across the street from the Norton Simon Museum) in Pasadena until it lost its funding; she then transferred to Pasadena Community College. There she began significant studies in the school’s substantial fine arts program, where she was required (among other things) to compose and paint artworks using styles from each major period of thought. “It was during [these] classes,” she said, “that I gained my appreciation of various art techniques and styles.”

I was interested in how she applied her artistic style in her career, and she described some of her experience as a graphic designer. She found much of her work on newspaper layouts, advertisement designs, and art design for a collector car magazine to be very rewarding. “I was doing what I love to do,” she said, especially with “complex pieces,” but she did not recommend a career in graphic design unless one was very determined. Easy access to desktop software and other tools have reduced the demand for graphic artists, she explained, and it is difficult to earn a very good salary in such a field – which was one reason why she was prompted to move into the area of web design. Designing web pages is a task that suits her personal style as a realist; she feels that often web pages are, in substance, a form of advertisement or brochure meant to advertise a product that requires a very direct approach to the viewer. “Realism in art conveys the message in a straightforward manner,” she expressed, “What better way is there than to use realism in designing a website?”

artist interview
Covered Bridge in Lane County, Oregon by Teresa Bernard

This realistic approach is evident in many of her paintings. “I paint what I see in a realistic way” is how she illustrates her personal style. Covered Bridge in Lane County, Oregon, one of her landscape paintings, is an excellent example of this. Colorful fall hues, deep shadows, and well-composed single-point perspective provide depth and space to this painting, which conveys a simple and rustic virtue that is implied in the aged white bridge and natural surroundings. Strong command of perspective is important in many of her paintings; to her, this technique is largely what gives a subject depth. “Without good perspective, the entire painting can be thrown off, and proportions are wrong,” she notes. She uses layered paint and careful application of color with a dry brush to achieve a sense of texture in her compositions as well. It is with these techniques that she often communicates a very Christian message within her paintings; her desire seems to be to represent God’s handiwork in nature, honoring the “beauty and majesty of all creation” through realism.

Mrs. Bernard has some experience within the art world in terms of shows and exhibitions, and she listed several types in which she has entered her paintings: judged art shows, gallery fundraisers, and online auctions. She seems to prefer displaying her work within these types of exhibits rather than in privately owned art galleries; oftentimes, these galleries show multiple artists’ work, and she feels that much of the time, artists do not receive as much individual promotion because of this. “I have much more interest in promoting my work than the gallery owner does,” she observes. “Their interest is making money no matter whose work they sell.” Additionally, in her experience, she has seen galleries often charge outrageous commissions, about forty to fifty percent. Teresa hopes to eventually be able to paint and show her work full-time in art shows.

I enjoyed my interview with Mrs. Bernard; it was interesting and informative. As a student of art, it was intriguing for me to be able to ask real questions and receive good practical insights into the techniques that a professional artist uses and to learn about the business end of the art world. The most important thing that I took away from the interview, however, was that to have a career in art, it is important to love what you do. “Most people work in jobs they do not like, but that has never been the case for me,” she stated. “I’ve never not loved what I do for a living.”

About The Author

At the time of the artist interview, Eric Pott was an art student attending Cerro Coso Community College in Ridgecrest, CA. Eric reported to me that he received an A on this assignment.

Art Gallery Quick Links

Flowers     |     Landscapes     |     Marine     |     People

Space Art     |     Still Life     |     Wildlife

Additional Reading

Artist Biography of Teresa Bernard

Artist Statement by Teresa Bernard

More About the Artist

My Oil Paintings Index

More information about this topic and many others can be found in My Artist Blog Index. Check it out!

Thanks for reading this!

Feel free to share this artist interview with your friends.

 

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Three Types of Oil Painting Canvas

types of oil painting canvas

Canvas paintings are among the most popular forms of art whether they are composed using acrylic, oils, or some other medium.

Oil paintings on canvas are classic and have been around for centuries. Artists the world over have used a variety of surfaces for their works of art, however, canvas still remains the most often used surface, and it is what I compose all of my paintings on. There are three types of oil painting canvas that I paint on, let me describe each of them.

Gallery Wrap Stretched Canvas

types of oil painting canvas

Some artists call this type of canvas “gallery-wrapped”, while others call it “gallery wrap”.  The terms are often used interchangeably, and I have used both myself.

Gallery-wrap canvas is a painting support surface in which a closely woven canvas fabric completely covers the stretcher bars and is then “wrapped” around the frame and attached with fasteners on the back. Unlike traditional canvas, gallery wrapped canvases have no visible fasteners (such as staples or spline) on the front surface. This method of construction means the artist can paint on the profile (edges) of the canvas, thus allowing the artwork to be the focal point from every angle. It also means the finished painting will not have to be framed before being put on display.

Customers who purchase my paintings on this type of canvas prefer the contemporary look of gallery wrap canvas paintings without a frame. However, I have many customers who love the classic look of framed artwork and will have their paintings mounted in a frame before display.  It all depends on what you prefer. Framed or not, paintings on gallery wrap canvas look great either way.

Features of Gallery Wrap Canvas Paintings

  • Trendy, stylish
  • Back stapled
  • Painted edges
  • Does not require a frame but can be framed if desired.
  • Arrives at your door ready to hang on the wall.
  • Improves the visual appeal and atmosphere of any room.

The majority of my paintings are created on gallery-wrapped canvases and are available for purchase on this website.

Traditional Stretched Canvas

oil painting stretched canvas

There was a time not too long ago when traditional stretched canvas was the only option available when an artist wanted to paint on stretched canvas. This style of canvas is classic, having been around for over 500 years. Today most artists prefer to use gallery wrap canvas, however, you can still find paintings composed on the traditional type of painting surface.

In this type, the canvas material is stretched over a wooden frame called a stretcher and secured with staples or tacks on the sides (rather than the back). The sides are usually left raw or unpainted, reminiscent of way paintings were done by the Old Masters. Paintings composed on traditional stretched canvas require a frame before display.

While some artists like to construct their own stretched canvases, I prefer to purchase my artist-grade canvas in bulk, pre-stretched by the manufacturer, and commercially primed. When the canvases arrive at my studio, they’re ready to receive my paint.

Features of Traditional Canvas Paintings

  • Classic style canvas
  • Side stapled
  • Raw unpainted edges
  • Requires framing before being displayed.
  • Enhances the aesthetics and ambiance of any area.

I have some paintings on traditional stretched canvas available for purchase at the link.

Canvas Board

oil painting canvas board

Stretched canvases can be very expensive, and that cost is often reflected in the price artists charge for their work. However, there is an excellent alternative to stretched canvas that is less expensive, and that is canvas board.

Canvas board is a rigid, lightweight, and sturdy painting surface constructed of a 1/8-inch-thick cardboard panel covered with thick canvas material. This canvas type is durable, resistant to warping, and easier to frame than stretched canvas. Canvas board paintings will require framing before hanging on the wall.

Paintings composed on a canvas board are not inferior to artwork on a stretched canvas. Many highly skilled artists enjoy painting on canvas board, and I’m one of them. Plein air (outdoor) artists prefer these lightweight canvases as they are easier to manage when they go on location to paint.

Features of Canvas Board Paintings

  • Rigid, heavy-duty canvas board
  • Sturdy and more durable
  • Requires a frame before hanging on the wall.
  • Easier to frame than stretched canvas.
  • Adds style and decor to any space.

See my line of affordable oil paintings on canvas board.

In Conclusion

There are many types of oil painting canvas available to the artist to compose art on, and one is not better than the other. It’s simply a matter of preference. What’s important is the quality of the composition, the skill of the artist, and the durability of the painting to last for years.

Once framed (or not) and hung on your wall, canvas paintings can bring any room to life. With proper care, canvas oil paintings will last for many years to come providing you with lots of viewing enjoyment.

Art Gallery Quick Links

Flowers     |     Landscapes     |     Marine     |     People

Space Art     |     Still Life     |     Wildlife

Additional Reading

A Painting in The Making

The Importance of Varnishing Oil Paintings

More information about this topic and many others can be found in My Artist Blog Index. Check it out!

Have a question?

If you have a question about this painting, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Thanks for looking!

Feel free to share this with your friends.

 

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Affordable Oil Paintings On Canvas

Announcing Affordably Priced Oil Paintings by Teresa Bernard

affordable oil paintings

ATTENTION all art lovers and collectors on a budget!

I am pleased to announce a line of hand-painted fine art designed especially for budget-conscious art enthusiasts. These unique, one-of-a-kind affordable oil paintings on canvas are perfect for adorning homes or workspaces without breaking the bank. Now anyone can own one or more of my original oil paintings.

This line of budget-friendly artwork is a standard size of 9×12 inches. Each painting is skillfully composed on a premium heavy-duty canvas board made of primed canvas over a sturdy lightweight cardboard, ensuring durability and affordability without compromising on design or quality.  In addition, every painting comes with a custom Certificate of Authenticity, as well as FREE shipping and handling inside the United States.

Be sure to bookmark this webpage so you can return here often, as more paintings will be added to this line as they become available.

Affordable Oil Paintings for Sale

Flowers

Click or tap on the thumbnail link for more information and to purchase.

affordable fine art
Prickly Pear Cactus
(2021)
9″ w x 12″ h
Landscapes

Click or tap on the thumbnail link for more information and to purchase.

economical oil paintings
Under The Shade Tree
(2023)
12″ w x 9″ h
affordable oil paintings
Under the Shade Tree in Autumn (2023)
9″ w x 12″ h
landscape paintings for sale
Lightning Strikes
(2023)
12″ w x 9″ h
rural landscapes artwork
Hilltops
(2023)
9″ w x 12″ h
shop for silhouette trees art
Trees at Dusk
(2022)
12″ w x 9″ h
reasonably priced artistic works
Blue Shutters
 (2022)
12″ w x 9″ h
bargain creative works
The Broadside of a Barn (2022)
12″ w x 9″ h
modestly priced artwork
Up The Steps
(2021)
9″ w x 12″ h
inexpensive works of art
Raggedy Ol’ Farmhouse (2021)
12″ w x 9″ h
economy priced paintings
Log Cabin in the Autumn Woods (2021)
9″ w x 12″ h
economically priced painted compositions
Fence Post in The Meadow (2020)
9″ w x 12″ h
Marine

Click or tap on the thumbnail link for more information and to purchase.

affordable oil paintings
Boat Fenders
(2003)
9″ w x 12″ h
moderately priced oil paintings
Along The ICW
(2001)
12″ w x 9″ h
Space Art

Click or tap on the thumbnail link for more information and to purchase.

affordable oil paintings
Asteroid Collision Course (2023)
9″ w x 12″ h
shop for space art paintings
Path of The Comet
(2023)
9″ w x 12″ h
economy art piece
Little Star Gazer
(2022)
9″ w x 12″ h
affordable oil paintings
Fly Me to The Moon
(2020)
9″ w x 12″ h 
Still Life

Click or tap on the thumbnail link for more information and to purchase.

still life paintings for sale
Still Life with Black Jars (2022)
12″ w x 9″ h
economy artwork
Three Rustic Jugs
(2021)
12″ w x 9″ h
Wildlife

Click or tap on the thumbnail link for more information and to purchase.

best buy realism art
Eye of the Zebra 
(2021)
9″ w x 12″ h

 

Art Gallery Quick Links

Flowers     |     Landscapes     |     Marine     |     People

Space Art     |     Still Life     |     Wildlife

Additional Reading

Choosing the Perfect Oil Painting for Your Home or Office

Small Paintings for Small Spaces

More information about this topic and many others can be found in My Artist Blog Index. Check it out!

Have a question?

If you have a question about this press release, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to answer any of your questions.

Thanks for looking!

Feel free to share this with your friends.

 

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Southwest Paintings NOT by Teresa Bernard

I’m fed up! I can’t begin to express the frustration I’m experiencing with having my name misused by others. Individuals who are using my name, Teresa Bernard, to promote a line of southwest paintings I did not paint. It’s fraud, it’s a scam, and it has been going on for over a decade.

Art Buyers Beware!

You should know that the southwest painting you have just purchased is NOT an authentic Teresa Bernard painting. Contrary to what some unscrupulous art dealers tell their unsuspecting customers, I’m not the artist of the southwest-style paintings they are trying to sell. Let me repeat, I am not a southwest painter, and I have never been.

southwest paintings scam
Southwest paintings NOT by Teresa Bernard

These so-called “southwest paintings by Teresa Bernard” are being sold on eBay, Offer Up, Let Go, Fine Art America, and other places. I’ve even found them sold on a few auction websites as well. The listings say, “Teresa Bernard painted them,” but they are not mine. I did not paint any of those paintings. Also, the listing agent uses excerpts of my own bio without permission, which is an infringement of copyright. They use my bio in their descriptions to make these paintings seem more legit when they in fact are not.

Why it Matters

When you compare the southwest paintings to mine, you will find my artistic style is entirely different from those paintings. There is no mistaking that fact. One look around my website confirms this. I’ve studied a large sampling of photos of these so-called “Teresa Bernard southwest paintings,” and there is a lack of consistency in artistic style from one painting to the next. It looks like they are the works of multiple artists. There are also variations in the signatures from one painting to the next. And none of those signatures look anything like mine.

Teresa Bernard Southwest Paintings
Signatures vary from painting to painting and do not match.

Why it Should Matter to You

I receive emails all the time from individuals wanting verification that a particular southwest painting they have in their possession, or one they’re thinking of purchasing, is one of mine. They even attach a photo for me to look at. You can imagine their confusion when they learn I don’t do southwest paintings and that I’m not the artist of their painting. Still, others become quite indignant to learn their art dealer lied to them and fraudulently used my name to sell them a painting I didn’t paint. I feel bad for these individuals because they have fallen for a scam. All I can do is tell them to do their research; know what they are buying and whom they are buying from.

Who is this Teresa Bernard, Artist of Southwest Paintings?

At first, I thought it was a case of mistaken identity—that there is another artist in the world with the same name as me, and these must be her paintings. So, I didn’t give too much thought to the seriousness of this situation until the emails started coming in on a regular basis.

So, I did some research to see if I could discover who this southwest artist is. After searching on the internet, I quickly found out that I’m the only artist with the name Teresa Bernard who comes up in the “SERPS” (Search Engine Results Pages). There is no other artist with my name; I’m the only one. Go ahead; try a search yourself to see what you come up with. I’ll wait.

Don’t you think it bizarre that there is absolutely NO information on the internet regarding this artist of southwest paintings? Why is it, if she is such a famous artist and her paintings are highly sought after, that she is nowhere to be found?

You won’t find a website for her or the location of her art studio. There are no art shows, exhibitions, or gallery announcements for her work. And you won’t find any press releases, news articles, or magazine articles either. There is absolutely no information whatsoever about this southwest painting artist. Therefore, I am convinced she doesn’t exist anywhere or anyhow. Please prove me wrong if you can. I welcome it.

Proof of Authenticity

Certificate of AuthenticityFurthermore, I provide a custom-designed Certificate of Authenticity for each of my paintings. This is something you won’t get with any of the southwest paintings by the imposter.

The art dealers trying to pass their paintings off as authentic originals by Teresa Bernard have no proof whatsoever of who painted them. All you have is their word for it. Can you really believe 100% of what they say? When you ask them for proof, they tell you to search the internet for the artist and compare the artwork and signatures. Well, we already know what happens when we do that, don’t we?

The truth is, they have absolutely no proof at all. You just have to take their word for it. They end the conversation when you question them about the matter too. This is further evidence that something is amiss, and they know it but don’t care. They just want to make a buck at someone else’s expense.

Made in China

I believe these southwest paintings are created in China. Then they are shipped to the U.S., and the Chinese tell their buyers that I am the artist. They exploit my name because I am all over the internet. If this isn’t the case, why can’t this other so-called artist, “Teresa Bernard,” be found? Why doesn’t she show herself? Or step up to make a public appearance and make herself known to the world? I’d be happy to send the individuals who email me to her website if only she had one.

I’m Not the Only One

Joanna Gaines of Fixer Upper
Joanna Gaines

This scam isn’t an isolated incident either. Joanna Gaines of “Fixer Upper” has also had her name misused in much the same way I’m experiencing.  It was even rumored that she was leaving her show to promote a line of skincare products. According to Joanna, this is simply not true. You can read her story here.

See For Yourself

If you are still convinced that I am the artist of your painting after reading this blog post, then before you send me an email with a photo attached, check out My Oil Paintings Index. It is a visual list of just about all my paintings. If your painting isn’t there, then it isn’t one of mine. However, if you find it pictured, I’m happy to answer your questions.

You May Also Like

FROM THE EDITORS: We hope you enjoyed this blog about southwest paintings by Teresa Bernard and found it’s information to be useful. We’re sure you’ll enjoy the fine art oil paintings below too. For more information and details, click or tap the thumbnail link.

Teresa Bernard art paintings
Path of The Comet
(2023)
9″ w x 12″ h
nautical still life wall art
Still Life with Coral and Lantern (2004)
14″ w x 11″ h
autumn shade tree wall art
Under the Shade Tree in Autumn (2023)
9″ w x 12″ h

Art Gallery Quick Links

Flowers     |     Landscapes     |     Marine     |     People

Space Art     |     Still Life     |     Wildlife

Additional Reading

Affordable Oil Paintings on Canvas

Choosing the Perfect Oil Painting for Your Home or Office

Small Paintings for Small Spaces

More information about this topic and many others can be found in My Artist Blog Index. Check it out!

Have a question?

If you have a question about this matter, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to answer any of your questions.

Thanks for reading this!

Feel free to share this with your friends.

 

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DIY Storage for Fine Art Paintings

storage for paintings

In need of storage for my paintings. They are everywhere!

I’m no longer in the workforce, which means I have more time to paint. My retirement affords me the freedom to paint as much as I want, whenever I want. However, I am now in a position where I require more space to store all of these fine art creations until they go to their new homes. To address this need, I created a lightweight yet sturdy art storage rack for my paintings.

A “Do-It-Yourself” solution for storing my artwork.

Pictured here is the art storage rack that I designed to house my paintings. My husband helped me build it in one afternoon.

storage for fine art paintings
My DIY storage rack for all the paintings I’m creating. As you can see, I have room to add more.

The supplies for this project were purchased from a local hardware store.  We used 1/2″ PVC pipe and the appropriate fittings to bring it all together.  Its overall size is approximately 3ft wide x 3ft tall x 2ft deep. Neither my husband nor I had ever worked with PVC before, so it was a bit of a learning experience for us, though not a difficult one. It wasn’t hard to build; it just took some thought as we were constructing it. The only tool required for this project was a PVC pipe cutter. And once the various pieces were ready, the assembly was quick and easy. I now have a sturdy DIY storage rack that works for my paintings and blank canvases.

What do you think of my solution? I’m satisfied with how the rack turned out. I’m quite confident you could build something similar if you decide to go the same route as me.

You May Also Like

FROM THE EDITORS: We hope you enjoyed this blog about storage for paintings and found it’s information to be useful. We’re sure you’ll enjoy the fine art paintings below too. For more information and details, click or tap the thumbnail link.

country settings piece of art
Fence Post in The Meadow (2020)
9″ w x 12″ h
vintage car painting
Forgotten Roads of Bygone Days (2012)
24″ w x 18″ h
lighthouse artistic works
Currituck Beach Lighthouse (2008)
11″ w x 14″ h

Art Gallery Quick Links

Flowers     |     Landscapes     |     Marine     |     People

Space Art     |     Still Life     |     Wildlife

Additional Reading

A Painting in the Making

Developing an Artistic Style of Your Own

More information about this topic and many others can be found in My Artist Blog Index. Check it out!

Thanks for reading this!

Feel free to share this with your friends.

 

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A Painting In The Making

This blog post discusses my painting process—how I transform an empty canvas into a finished piece.

W.I.P. (Work in Progress)

gallery-wrapped canvas
Gallery-wrapped Canvas

All of my artwork is composed and painted on stretched canvases that have been commercially primed. I prefer gallery-wrapped canvas. It is the type of canvas that wraps around the stretcher bar support. This allows me to carry the painting around the edges of the canvas, giving it a more modern look. It also means the painting will not require a frame for display unless the customer wants it framed.

Gesso Primed Stretched Canvas

canvas with gesso layer
Gesso primed canvas.

Even though the canvas I use has already been pre-primed by the manufacturer, it’s not sufficient. Additional layers of primer are needed to provide proper support for the pigment. Before I start painting, the canvas has to be prepared and made ready to accept the oil paint. I apply two layers of gesso to the canvas and allow each layer to dry thoroughly between coats. After that, the canvas is gently sanded to remove any rough edges. I try to prime as many canvases as possible at a time. That way, I always have a ready supply of canvases on hand for whenever inspiration strikes, and I want to start a new painting.

For step-by-step instructions on how to prime a canvas using gesso, check out this article on WikiHow: “How to Prime a Canvas.”

Sketching The Image

sketch image on the canvas using a grid
Sketching the image on the canvas.

After the canvas has been properly prepared, it’s time to start sketching the image onto the surface of the canvas. Every painting begins as a simple grid drawn on the canvas. This grid serves to aid in the placement of the focal point and other elements where they will best complement the overall composition. Using a pencil or stick of charcoal, I begin sketching the image that will eventually become the finished painting. I try to make the sketch as detailed as I can, making sure to include the shadow areas too.

BTW, I normally don’t make my grid lines this dark. It’s best to keep them light. I only made them dark so they would show up better for the example. I will remove them before the layer of under paint goes on.

The Underpainting

underpainting
The underpainting.

An underpainting is the first layer of paint applied to the canvas and serves as a foundation for the subsequent layers of paint that will be applied as the painting progresses. It’s an important layer that’s largely made up of pigment and medium (a mixture of mineral spirits and linseed oil). I use this underpainting layer to get rid of the stark white canvas surface and begin blocking in color, which also helps define the image’s basic outline. I keep this layer thin, making sure not to cover up my sketch lines. That will happen later as I develop the painting by adding more layers of pigment. Once the underpainting layer has dried, I begin laying in oil paint layer upon layer and adding more and more detail as I go until the painting is finished.

Painting in Layers

layers
Layering on the oil paint.

I paint in layers, allowing each layer to dry before adding the next. It takes longer to finish a painting this way, but this technique will enable me to achieve the effect I’m working toward. Depending on the amount of detail that needs to be included in the composition, some paintings will have more layers than others. Allowing each layer to dry reduces the overall drying time required before applying the final layer, which is varnish.

Applying Varnish

After the painting is finished and has had time to thoroughly dry, I will apply a coat of artist-grade clear varnish to protect it and bring out the colors.

For more information on varnishing, see The Importance of Varnishing Oil Paintings.

The Finished Painting

white dog pet portrait
The finished painting.

The Large White Dog
Domestic Pet Painting by Teresa Bernard
16″ w x 20″ h
Oils on gallery wrap stretched canvas

Read more about this painting here.

 

 

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Additional Reading

Developing an Artistic Style of Your Own

DIY Storage for Fine Art Paintings

Three Types of Oil Painting Canvas

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