Painting Mock-Ups

 

Working on the concept for a series of Flowery Memories of Childhood with small 5x7 oil on canvas paintings of my family (parents and siblings) set against floral backgrounds.  The original concept was to paint the humans with few facial details and in odd skin colors to blend in more artistically with the looser floral backgrounds (once painted).  There has been a suggestion, however, that it would be preferable to paint both the individuals and the flowers with more realistic details.  More opinions welcome!

Option A:  Paint both background and people in realistic colors with facial details included (example Lucy bottom pic)

Option B:  Paint backgrounds and people in bolder colors with fewer details (example Lucy 2nd to bottom pic)

These smaller paintings are companion pieces to my bigger 18x24 oil paintings in process (see below)

This Beautiful World

View from Marin County of San Francisco Bay, including Angel Island, and in the distance, Mt. Diablo.  Shot walking the Dipsea trail from Muir Woods in Mill Valley to Stinson Beach.  Nice workout, lovely views.  More landscape pics taken during this hike at  Lucy Autrey Wilson (@lucyautreywilson) • Instagram photos and videos and some with people below

I Agree

 Walking around the neighborhood, I spotted this sign.  Couldn't agree more (although not all the time!)

Blue Flower Limited Edition Art for Sale

 

Blue Flower Ghost original  

11 x 14 Charbonnel oil monoprint on Fabriano Tiepolo paper, 2019

$300 unframed

To buy with PayPal:  https://py.pl/GEgUQ

Marin County Drought - We're In for it Now!

 Top two photos taken April 2021; Bottom two taken August 2016.  Different angles, different lenses and a significantly different amount of water!  

Sam at Limantour with Found Lego Toy

 Playing with layers put the waves in the sand dunes at the beach.  

Cacophony

 My younger, super cellist sister, recently gave me our grandfather's violin.  I recorded myself playing it and added some other musical elements.  The sound made me think of the word Cacophony, ie "a harsh discordant mixture of sounds."   That, in turn, reminded me of the mixture of experiences that make up life.  In my case, the approximately 75% of allotted time already lived.  Fortunately I have the thousands of photos my father took over the years, as well as a vast trove of other artworks and photos.  Happy technology has advanced to the point where all of this can be easily put together.  Here is one result. 

Beating Heart

 

Gearing up for Valentine's Day with a beating glass heart GIF

Heart Mumuration

Lucy in the Air, with Diamonds

Aural Allure

What to Paint?

 I have three blank canvases size 18x24.  These can be a series, or 3 different subjects.  Some subjects might work better in a larger 30x40 size.  HELP me decide:

For the three existing 18x24 canvases should I paint

A Three Taylor Twins in Marin Paintings (ie top 2 candidates above plus 1 more tbd)

B Three Ocean Gull paintings (ie 3rd photo composite above + 2 more tbd)

C Three Flower Fantasy paintings (ie 4-5 photo composites above + 1 more tbd)

D One of each:  Photo 1, 3 and 4 

E One of each:  Photo 2, 3 and 5 

 

OR should I buy two more 30x40 canvases and paint

F  Two large Taylor Twins in Marin paintings and use the 18 x 24 canvases for B or C above

G  Two Flower Fantasy paintings and use the 18 x 24 canvases for A or B above 

Please Pick A, B, C, D, E, F, or G and help me decide!!

Two More Quilts for 2020

 The perfect snuggle size 56" x 72" each.  Last two quilts of the year! They are always more work than they appear!

Top:  Crow, Flamingo and Dodo birds in red, black and blue

Bottom:  Funky Birds and Bugs in purplish blue, and yellow

Flannel backs for both (not shown here.)  Made for two very special people!

Thanksgiving Hike along the Trails above Rossmoor in the East Bay

Thanksgiving day socially distancing hike with family.  Clear blue skies, fabulous views, unique terrain, steep uphill - well worth the effort!

Two New Bird Quilts in Process

 Top two birds will make their appearance in a Crow, Flamingo, Dodo Bird Quilt; bottom 4 Funky Birds are set to show off in a Funky Bird and Bug Quilt.  My Style continues to be messy, creative and imperfect- just like the birds!

New Large 36 x 36 Oil Painting

 Boat in the Water with the Taylor Twins.  Oil painting on stretched canvas 36" x 36".  Background from a photo shot in Bolinas during a King Tide event; swimming Taylor Twins referenced from a Marriott swimming pool photo taken during the weekend of Rachel and Court's wedding in Oakland.  

Playing with Photoshop's New Sky Replacement Tool

 

Always in the mood to learn something new, while not wanting the end result to to be like anyone else's, I decided to experiment.  Photoshop's new Sky Replacement tool has a number of nice sky presets.  But when I use them, I'm using elements I didn't create, and that anyone else can use, which is never my first choice.  So, I figured out how to insert another image into one of the Sky Replacement layers to create something that is all original. 

Top to Bottom:

1.  The original, edited photo, of a king tide shot in Bolinas, California in Jan 2018.

2.  That same shot with one of the Photoshop sky replacements.  

3.  A photo of mold growing on one of my lemons.

4.  The original photo with a close up of lemon mold replacing the Photoshop sky.  Looks like the fire sky we experienced for too long this past summer!

In the Studio

 Top to Bottom

1.  Finished oil on canvas 18x24 "Fleeing the Fire Ash Sky"

2 and 3:  In process 36" x 36" oil "Boat in the Water" very early stage underpainting

Playing Around With Old Photos, Patterns and Neural Filters in Photoshop on a Gray Day

 Top to Bottom

Photo shot in Seattle, September 2011 with Amber, Cole and Wilson - as shot

Same photo with B&W filter and some Photoshop Beta Neural face smoothing

Same photo with a different Neural filter and a pattern overlay of a repeating self portrait painted by my father, the late, great E.A. Autrey

Same photo toned down a bit by re-layering the original photo over the 3rd photo.

Since I am no longer travelling up to Seattle on a regular basis, this makes up for it a little.

New Fabric Designs and a Contest Entry

I'm back doing more fabric designs, which are available in my Spoonflower shop here:  https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/lucy_autrey_wilson. 

 Some of the new designs are not yet available but will be soon.  They can be seen by clicking on the "designs not for sale" button.  I have to buy test samples before I can sell.   Some of what's new is described below

 Top to Bottom

1.  New coronavirus repeating fabric design.  The viruses were created with Illustrator and Photoshop, then layered on top of a photo of a chain link fence in front of a garden which was modified to more closely appear like an electron microscope scanned viral specimen.

2.  I painted a Dodo with pen & ink and watercolor, put it on a watercolor rainbow painting and added scanned cheesecloth. 

3.  An old fabric design of a bacteria.  Face masks made with bacteria and/or virus image fabrics seems like something that makes perfect sense.

4.  Last, but not least, I created a Poster Tea Towel image (to be printed on linen) as my entry into a Spoonflower contest.  I painted the image (actually a larger version of it) while on one of my many Ibiza vacations.   Voting starts Oct. 22.  You can vote here:  https://www.spoonflower.com/design-challenge

 

Painting Mock-Ups

 Trying to mock up a few future paintings and can't decide.  Any thoughts on preferences would be very helpful!  Choices below:

Top to Bottom:

1.  Dodo Over the Rainbow

2.  Dodo in Distressed Natural Environment (global warming theme)

3.  Dodo in the Forest 

4.  Durer's Nemesis Angel of Fortune at the Beach with Raven

5.  Durer's Nemesis Angel of Fortune with Rainbow Background and Raven

6.  Boat in the water in Bolinas