The Finished Painting

Summertime Stories

I haven’t posted any work in a while because I’ve been busy working part-time with my husband in our new business and working on this studio painting. We bought a print shop called Spike’s Printing that’s been in business in downtown Pensacola, FL, for something like 60 years. It’s the only print shop in Pensacola capable of letterpress, foil printing, embossing...all the fun stuff! My husband and I have both worked as designers for years. This is very different from what we’ve been doing, and we are adjusting rapidly and loving it! 

I also haven’t painted any studio paintings in a while because my etsy shop MadAboutHue has been keeping me busy with informal, color sketch work for my customers. It was very refreshing to do a piece just for me. 

I like to prepare for more involved paintings with an exploratory color sketch. This preliminary work helps me to identify trouble areas and to plan value patterns and color mixtures so that the larger painting progresses quickly without having to paint over mistakes. The finished quality of my brush strokes is very important to me, and I like them to look fresh and purposeful. 

They both feel like finished paintings to me. One of the pros in color sketch work is that working small liberates me to use simpler brush strokes and brighter colors. And the pro of a more involved studio painting is getting to revel in all the beautiful details of the subject. I can appreciate both!