Sharen Chatterton » zinnias

Acrylic Painting From Start to Finish

Sharen — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:15:03 +0000

Just wanted to share a new painting I just finished. It is painted on 110 lb acid free natural white acrylic paper. I was inspired by a photo I had taken this past summer of a Gulf Fritillary Butterfly that had landed on a pink zinnia in our side yard. I actually used the butterfly and zinnia as part of my January Sketch for the Sketchbook Challenge and decided to expand on the image and create an entire painting. I videoed my painting process and so if you can sit through a little over 12 minutes of video, you can actually watch me journey through this piece. Enjoy.

January Sketchbook Challenge Theme

Sharen — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 19:49:48 +0000

Sketchbook Cover

Highly Prized

We got the January Sketchbook Challenge Theme the first week of January, it is “Highly Prized”. So many people have uploaded to Flickr some wonderfully creative ideas for the theme. I did a graphite of some of the “Highly Prized” things in my life. These include my Family-represented by my new grandson Finley, my faith, my beliefs, nature and God’s glorious creations and so much more. I will do more sketches as the month goes along, as well as creating some paintings from these sketches. I have already started sketching a painting I will do inspired by the zinnia and butterfly on my January sketch. I’ve also included a photo of the front cover of my new sketchbook, I used some archival scrapbook paper, and painted the red daisy and the butterfly with acrylics. I love the way the paper print comes through the paint on the flower and the butterfly.

Small Canvases

Sharen — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:52:37 +0000

8 x 8 canvas

I’ve decided to start work on some small canvases, after finishing my last 36″ x 48″ Painted Lady. I have two going right now, an orange zinnia, which is one of my favorite flowers, this is on a 12″ x 12″ canvas and a gulf fritillary on an 8″ x 8″ canvas. I really love painting the large canvases, but the small allow me to really concentrate on the details and I am a detail person. With Christmas around the corner, I’m not finding much time to paint, but I am more than enjoying the trade off, time with family and friends, whom I love dearly! Wishing the best of the Holidays to all.

12 x 12 canvas

"Painted Lady"

Sharen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:29:03 +0000

The beginning.

I am now working on a 36 x 48 acrylic on canvas. My inspiration was a painted lady butterfly that was taking advantage of the sweet nectar of a zinnia in our side yard. I was able to get within inches of her. I am always amazed at the creative power of God, the detail right down to the iridescent glow on her back. All the flowers are found in our front, side and back yard, zinnias and sunflowers, all of which are absolutely spectacular when in mass. The zinnias are such a deep, rich red. I am included pictures to show the progression of my work. I’m beginning to see the light at the end, however I still have a lot more work to do on the leaves and more detail work to do on the flowers, well back to painting.

Near the end.

Work continues.