Blog | Shirley Phelan Art

Bears

A couple of years ago I was cleaning up at the end of a painting class and I was regretting that I was about to scrape a good bit of paint into the garbage. Transporting it home without making a mess was nearly impossible, and keeping it for the next class was also not an option. That day however, I did something different, I took my palette knife and scraped it onto a small blank canvas. I thought I would eventually use it as a background for a future work. After the next class, I did the same thing, but with a bit more intent as to where I placed the colors. As I continued to do this, I started to like the way the "picture" looked, more and more. When the canvas was full, I started another

Progress

While my other WIPs are giving me grief, I was able to put one in the done column, at least for now, while it dries. Then I can see it without all the glare on the wet spots and dull dry spots. Tom made some suggestions for improvement, and he was right on all counts. I need to get the lights set up for photographing this stuff again. He looks much better in person. 24"x24" Oil and acrylic on canvas.

WIPs

Is a painting ever really finished, or is it always a work-in-progress. I try to get to the finish line, but then I look at a painting sitting on the drying rack and think about potential changes that I could make to improve on it. Sometimes I act on it, but I have started a new practice of starting another version of the same painting, perhaps a different angle, or size, changing what I would have changed in the predecessor, rather than actually changing it. I like the way some of them look, even though they are far from done. Here is the latest. He still needs a lot of work and I am researching what symbols to put on his clothing, trying to make it a bit more authentic. I love doing feathe

Shirley Phelan Art

The view from the studio

Painting in the time of Covid

Changing it up...

Bears

Progress

WIPs