A Napping Fairy Puppy Art Print & Additional Prints with Hues of Yellow...

My featured print auction for the week is on eBay here.  It is of a fairy puppy basking and napping atop a sunflower.

Additional artwork prints that I have listed are "Tulip" a yellow and red blossom, "Ocean Born" a blonde goddess inspired by Aphrodite/Venus, "Sunlight Sunbright" a yellow sunflower, and "Zen Water Lily" a pink and yellow nymphaea.  They're all based on my original paintings and may be found here starting today and ending next Thursday.  They all have some amount of yellow in them.

Except for images that I have yet to upload, my art is also available on my website at http://www.lisarusso.com; however, I like to sometimes offer some images on eBay at a lower promotional rate for the duration of the auctions!

Recently I've been trying to offer a small original weekly, but my organization system has not held up to the rigueurs of the holiday season...  I know my art is in a closet somewhere, but where, ah, that is the question...  Hopefully I'll be a bit better organized by the next time I list.  One nice thing about images saved on a computer is that they tend to be a bit more stationary!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

For Christmas my mother put up this framed print of the poinsettia flower painting "The Joy of Christmas" that I painted earlier this year.

She also put up this ceramic owl ornament that I made in Elementary School...  I made a whole group of animals that year, but I'll only subject you to this one this year :).

My mother inspires me.  For me, Christmas is in large part the love and joy my mother has taught me to see. She has a beautiful faith and I am so glad to be her daughter.

No matter what you celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with love and joy!

I am linking this post with Inspire Me Monday
http://www.create-with-joy.com/

Red Mushrooms Original Painting & Some Prints...

This week I finished this original red mushroom painting that's up on ebay here.  It's part of Nibblefest and starts at 99c, no reserve.  It's titled Mushroom Village.

I also have some additional prints listed, they all have some brown, even the tiniest little bit, in them...  They're all based on my original paintings and may be found here ending next Thursday.

Today is my birthday and also traditionally winter solstice as well as when the world is scheduled to end (or rather the Mayan calendar slated to restart), so an eventful day for certain!  I hope everyone is having an excellent week...

Anyway, I'm joining in this week with Paint Party Friday.  To see more participants, please visit:
http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

Blue & Purple Tiger Lily Original Painting & Print...

This week I have an original from my blue and purple flower series up on ebay here and the print is here.  It's titled Night Lily.

I also have some additional prints listed, they're all from my blue and purple flower series...  They're all based on my original paintings and may be found here starting today and ending next Thursday.  I have some additional prints from the series that I don't have up yet, but I'll probably add them into the mix gradually.

Usually my promo special pricing for originals is 25% off, but in honor of the holidays, my original painting is listed at 50% off of my studio rate with a bin at my studio rate.

Anyway, I hope the week has been treating you really well!

Wordless Wednesday: Craig & Amy's Wedding, Part I

On Wednesdays, when I get a chance, I like to share a photo, or in this case a number of photographs, that I've taken.  In this case, there are a few of me too.  These are some pictures from Craig and Amy's amazing wedding, it was a costume wedding...  I took more pictures then I care to admit, but I've winnowed them down to some of my favorites!  This is Part I of III.  The bride has yet to come out, but she definitely will in Part II...

Edit: Part II is here and Part III is here.

Alex and I as dueling Totoros...

More dueling...

Totoros reconciled...

Craig, the dapper groom...

Ladies from the wedding party...

The officiator...

Noah and Jillian...

Although I'm somewhat Wordy, I am participating in Wordless Wednesday.  To see more Wordless Wednesday links, please visit:
http://blog.aquariann.com/
http://www.create-with-joy.com/

My Thoughts on the Book "Painting Acrylic Flowers A-Z" by Lexi Sundell

I bought the book "Painting Acrylic Flowers A-Z" by Lexi Sundell a while back.  The art looked excellent and the book was on special so I decided to buy it.  Sometimes I'm disappointed with book purchases that I make online without seeing the book in person first, but this time I definitely was not!

The first section of the book covers materials and methods, so for 43 pages, she covers stuff like materials, simplified shapes of the flowers, composition, as well as beautifully photographed technique examples.  One of her suggestions that she utilizes quite frequently is using a medium to create striations and then when the medium is dry letting the color be picked up by the striations.  I haven't tried the technique, but it works extremely well for her.

Pages 46 to 125 have example flower paintings with detailed directions on how to paint them.  Each flower generally has two pages dedicated to it with very specific instructions on which colors to mix.  Each one has a special section devoted to explaining details that may be challenging and giving some advice as well as specific images pertinent to the example.  The flower I scanned in is a Gazania, not one I was familiar with before, but the special detail section was interesting to me.

She shares 40 flowers in this section.  Overall I was very pleased with this book, the information was presented clearly and well.  I think the information could be applied to a range of skills level.  I love to paint flowers and I enjoyed this book.  I feel like it could be especially useful if I were feeling blocked with a flower, even if that specific flower was not included, I could look at a similar flower...

The images in the directory are tiny, but I'm including it to give you an idea of the specific flowers she covers.  She also does a very detailed peony example in the introductory section.

I'm not in any way associated with the author, publisher, or selling venues of this book.  I just read it recently and thought it was a solid addition to my reference section and decided to share it here.

I am linking this post with Inspire Me Monday
http://www.create-with-joy.com/

Blue Winter Christmas Angel Original Painting & Various Prints...

This week I finished up this painting.  The original is on ebay here and the print is here.


It's a painting I thought I had finished last year, but on looking at it, I realized it needed a bit more attention!  I find that sometimes I can see things better when I don't look at them for a while...

I also finished the poinsettia painting I shared a work in progress shot a while back, but I forgot to post the link to the completed original on Friday the week that I did that...  If you'd like to take a look, I have it up as a print here.

I also have some additional prints listed, this week with a theme of blue and white, except for the poinsettia...  That bit of red snuck in...  They're all based on my original paintings and may be found here starting today and ending next Thursday.

I've done a little bit on my Bird of Paradise painting, but so little I'd feel silly posting an update picture!

Anyway, I'm joining in this week with Paint Party Friday.  To see more participants, please visit:
http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/