Woodland Fairy Painting in Process

I have been working on this large 6 foot painting for the past few months.ย  I am still far from finishing it, but I thought I would share a few photo’s of my process and how this painting is progressing.

The canvas was so large, it wouldn’t fit on my easel, so I hung it on the wall.ย  I put paper behind the painting to protect my wall as I am a very messy artist! ๐Ÿ™‚

 

I am now blocking in all the little fairies and sprites that the fairy is protecting under her cape.

 

I went back and re-worked some of the background and trees.

An angled view…

The little ones are starting to look like fairies and sprites! ๐Ÿ™‚ย  I am enjoying creating all of their little faces and personalities.

I still have a lot more to paint. My goal is to finish by the end of the year.ย  That gives me about two more months. I have been working on smaller paintings while I am creating this one, and will probably continue with that schedule.

I hope you are enjoying this fall weather and have a Happy Halloween!

Have a wonderful, creative, and joyful day, Janell

 

 

 

What’s on my Easel Today

It has been a busy summer, and I haven’t shared much of what I have been doing in the studio.

Poppies2L

These are a few smaller paintings I have created.

MermaidPaintingLW

And this new painting from my Nostalgia series.

DressFormsPaintingLW

I also finalized my sketch and began working on a 3 x 6 foot painting from my “Wildish Spirit” series..

PrintofSketchesWLย I combined about 25 drawings from my sketchbook of all the children under her cape.ย  I then tile printed it out on my 8 1/2″ x 11″ printer and taped them all together. I’ll just say it took me a while! ๐Ÿ™‚ I am really excited about this painting, it has been a long thought process to create it.

WorkInProgressLWย Here is the painting in progress, The canvas was too big to fit on my easel, so I hung it on the wall.ย  I am still working on the background, but I am going to start adding the figures this week.ย  (That big mess on my table is a fairy garden in process.)

With my Achilles tendon surgery this spring, I had gotten behind on varnishing my paintings. The good thing about this is if I do a few paintings all at once, I don’t have to wash my varnishing brush so often. ๐Ÿ™‚

Varnishing A Mermaidl

VarnishingpaintingsL

I also have a video of my varnishing process on my Facebook page if you are interested in seeing how I do this process.ย  It is of my “Carousel” painting. Here is the link to the video:ย https://www.facebook.com/JanellMithaniArtist/videos/10155436508417021/

I hope you are having a productive summer, too!ย  ย I would love to hear what you have been doing.

Have a wonderful, creative, joyful, day! Janell

 

 

Posted in Art

Flowers on my Canvas

This painting began during a painting workshop as my demo painting. A few weeks later, I finished it in my studio.

I do love Painting flowers.

I hope you are having a fun summer.

Have a wonderful, creative, joyful, day! – Janell

Posted in Art

Woodland Animals to Decorate a Nursery

A few years ago I created a group of woodland animals for my niece’s baby. She was decorating his nursery in baby animals, so I created some art for her walls. I also loaded them to the website Redbubble.com and ordered some really cute t-shirts and onesies.

OwlWeb

I didn’t think much about it at the time, but I went ahead and made the account public so that other people can order these sweet little animals on t-shirts, bags, phone covers, and even stickers. I have had quite a few orders and I am thinking of adding some new animals to the group.

PorcupineWeb

The porcupine is the most popular, followed by the fox.

My favorite, is the baby moose. He is Soooo cute! ๐Ÿ™‚

MooseWeb

Which is your favorite?

Do you have any suggestions of an animal I should add?

Are you on Redbubble? If yes, let me know and I will follow you. ๐Ÿ™‚

Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell

Posted in Art

Painted Dresses for the Fairies

I have spent some time, trying to woo the fairies that live in my garden and studio into doing a bit of cleaning for me. Recently, I have even painted them some beautiful dresses.

Vintage Romance painting by Janell Mithani

Oh, but to no avail…they just aren’t interested in sweeping up my messes. Unfortunately, I share their disposition! ๐Ÿ™‚

But, the Altadena Open Studios Tour is quickly approaching, and someone needs to get busy!

Do you have any ideas to motivate my fairy friends? Or me? ๐Ÿ™‚

dress form painting by Janell Mithani

Dress Form 1, 10″ x 8″ acrylic on canvas

Well, I am off to find a broom and dustpan…

Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell

A New Painting of Tall Trees

painting of tall trees by Janell Mithani

“Growing Tall” Acrylic on canvas, 12″ x 36″

This painting of trees growing in the forest is inspired by the trees I have seen on my trips driving through California and Oregon to visit my family. ย I used a narrow, tall canvas on this piece to emphasize the height of the trees.

I am busy working on three new paintings. Yes, I am working on them all at the same time. ๐Ÿ™‚ ย I do this sometimes as one painting will need some drying time, so I switch to another one. ย  I also think I create more pieces when I work this way.

Do you ever work on more that one project at a time?

I hope you have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell

Happy Creative New Year!

This the year to be creative!ย  I just know it! ๐Ÿ™‚ย  Have you been thinking about doing something fun and creative?ย  ย Let’s make time in 2018 and make it the best creative year yet!

Now that the holidays are over, I can share a few of the gifts I made for friends and family.

I created this painting for my husband for Christmas.ย  Morro Bay is one of our favorite places to visit.

painting of Woody car at Morro bay

My sis wanted a tree painted on wood for her birthday…

I have also been working with some of the buttons from my ever-growing collection!

ย I hope you had a wonderful holidayย  season!

Have a wonderful, creative, new year, Janell

 

A Self Portrait Painting

A couple of weeks ago, I taught a “Self Portrait Painting” workshop. ย This is my sample painting.

Actually, it’s my first painted self-portrait. ย I’ve done a few self-portrait photographs when I needed to update my headshot, but never a painting.

I worked with a limited color palette that was influenced by the beautiful paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci. It was a bit different approach than my usual colorful palette.

We had a great time in the workshop and it was so fun to see all the different paintings.

Have you worked with a limited palette lately?

Or created a self-portrait?

Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell

A Sweet and Fun Loving Puppy Snuck into My Sketchbook

Look who snuck into my sketchbook! ๐Ÿ™‚ ย I sketched this sweet little dog for a client.ย  His name is Oscar and he is dachshund. ย Isn’t he just adorable?

Oscar drawing of dog by Janell Mithani

I started out with a light sketch, adding shading and highlights as the drawing progressed. ย I used 2B, 4B, 6B pencils with a little charcoal at the end for my deep shadows. ย I also used a 1/4″ blending stump and a gum eraser.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Hope you have a wonderful, creative, day! ย Janell