Art Exhibit and Sale at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art in St. Joseph, Mo

These two paintings will be on display and for sale at the Annual Members Exhibit at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art in St. Joseph, Mo. thru the end of February, 2012.

Took the painting up to the museum today and walked thru the current exhibit.  On the lower level is a wonderful exhibit of works by William Rose entitled "In Light-Faces & Figures".  His rendering of the faces and figures with wonderful lights radiating within are truly a joy to behold.  He is a Kansas artist known for his work in figurative works. 

This beautiful museum is a small gem of the midwest and well worth your trip.

Happy Painting,

Jennylynne

Painting a Tuscon Scene-A study in planes

This is the finished painting done from a picture provided to me by my sister, Beth.  It is of the mountains in Tuscon behind her house.

I have wanted to paint these mountains often, as the light on them is so facinating.  When we go to visit, the light in the Tuscon area is so different than ours here in Missouri.  I still am a firm believer that you should only paint scenes of locations you have visited.   The memory of those locations help you to paint the scenes as you remember the places you visit.  With photos, you need to be aware of the lies that photos tell.  If you have not visited the places you paint yourself, you will not know how to edit them and change them for your paintings.  

Have fun and enjoy the journey.

Jennylynne

Christopher Neal White-Fallen hero and his amazing family

This portrait of PFC Christopher Neal White was painted for his family and the new Lodge at the Chris Neal Farm. He was killed in action on June 20, 2006 at the age of 23 years old in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Our Grateful Hearts Project creates portraits of our fallen soldiers completely free of charge to the families of these heroes.

Their families are heroes too. They have given the ultimate sacrifice of their children, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers and cousins. Christopher's family have taken their grief and turned it into a wonderful tribute to their son and to all the soldiers who have gone to war and given of themselves to make our lives better.

Christopher's family started the Chris Neal Farm called Camp Hope in Farmington, Missouri where combat wounded veterans can come, at no cost to them, to have handicapped accessible experiences and activities such as fishing, hunting, hiking and skeet shooting. Their facitilities are first class handicapped accessible.

They are keeping the spirit of Chris alive in giving hope and enjoyment to disabled veterans. Please consider them this Christmas and donate to help them keep this facility going for our amazing combat wounded warriers. You can contact them at their website:www.chrisnealfarm.com.

If you know of a family that would like a portrait of their fallen soldier please have them contact us at www.gratefulheartsproject.com.

Thanks to all our soldiers who give selflessly to keep our country and our freedoms strong.

Jennylynne Gragg

Founder of the Grateful Hearts Project

Portrait of Boo

This beautiful boxer has crossed over the rainbow bridge. He was a much loved pet and constant companion of his owner, a little girl who was going thru cancer. Boo stuck by her side and offered her an escape from the rigors of cancer treatment. He would even let her dress him in all kinds of get-ups. He never saw this as an affront to his dignity. He was a true friend to not only the little girl, but her family as well.

It was an honor to do this portrait of him in the tiara that denoted his stature in the family. What a loving memory for them to keep of this amazing dog.

This is a 5"x7" portrait format.

Enjoy and happy painting,

Run free and be at peace, Boo!

Jennylynne

Heading to the Big Cedar Lodge Paint Out in Branson, Mo.

Wednesday, I will be heading to Big Cedar Lodge for the second Paint Out Event in Branson, Missouri. It is always exciting getting ready for such an event. Besides clothing(for all types of weather), you need to pack all your painting supplies, frames, easels for display, business cards, bio, bug spray, sunscreen,, ivy block. Well, you get the picture.

It also means that once again I will trying to reduce what I take and pare down my equipment so I don't have to unload so much stuff. This for me is always a challenge! When I was only doing pastels, it was a nightmare. I am not a minimalist when it comes how many pastels I think I need. I have over 3000 in my studio but obviously can not take that many on location. So, I have three boxes each loaded with around 200-300 pastel pieces. Each box is filled with pastels for a certain location. I have one for painting in Missouri, one for out west like New Mexico and another for seascapes locations. My hubby made a travel box for my supports and papers that work well for toting surfaces ready for painting and also the finished work, in relative safety. The downside of pastels on a paint out is numerous when painting in plein aire, but the results are well worth it.

Oils, on the other hand, are wonderful on paint outs. I narrow down my oil colors to just six, plus white and the Gamblin grays. My main colors are French Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow Light, Yellow Ochre,Cadmium Red, Burnt Sienna and Titanium white plus Art spectrum Clear. When painitng in Missouri, I will also include Olive Green and Phathlo Green plus cobalt blue and cerlean blue. I do on occasion take additional colors but these are my mainstay. By narrowing down my colors, I can create harmony throughout the painting right off the bat.

I usually take my break down table that folds all up in a little carrying case for easy packing.(You can find this marvelous table at Bass Pro Shops) I take my small easel and also my french easel, my umbrella, camping chair that folds in a bag, my backpack, a small box filled with additional paints, and my pallette box. I also include a small old rug or drop cloth for standing on while painting. I spray this with bug spray and have never had chiggers or ticks.

Hope this helps you and if you have any questions, just send me your questions in the comment and I will try and answer it quickly.

Happy Painting!
Jennyynne

Antoher painting exploring shadows

Lately I have been having fun exploring shadows of all kinds. Afternoon shadows are one of my most favorite things to paint. This latest painting is no exception. This is a studio painting done from photos and an onsite oil study. I cannot begin to describe the joy of painting this scene. The scene is in Lakewood along the road where the golf course winds around and thru. Most people drive right by this spot and never notice it. I'm sure the ones who live around this little pool enjoy its beauty immensely.

The entire pond is quite tucked in by hillside and trees. In fact you must get out of your car and go to the edge of the hill just to catch the beauty as it unfolds around you. I have seen lots of wildlife(they always know the best spots) and its peaceful serene setting is what draws them, I'm sure.

This painting, as well as my other new paintings in and around Lakewood, will be the my booth #4 at the Longview Art and World Music Festival starting this Friday. Come on out and enjoy the treasures that will be displayed there by all the artists and be sure and take one home with you.

Hope to see you there,

Jennylynne

Second installment in the revision of the plein aire

Okay, the first image is the first try at revision. I decided to extend the sky all the way across the top of the painting. Also made the cove bigger and lost the slant. Started to add some additional color to the background foliage and tweak the sky holes a bit. Still did not like the fact that my focal tree is just kinda hanging out and not the star. Also, in this version, the background trees are not fading back like they need to and am still not happy with the lack of variation in the grass around the tree. Also noticed at this stage that the background hillside is pretty much one line and needs variation and also to be blued-down for it to recede into the background and show distance.

In the second photo of the painting, you will see that I addressed all those issues above. I toned down the size of the sky holes, varied the line in the background trees on the hillside and also brought the line down so the sky holes made more sense in relationship to the sky. The other thing that I did was to vary the colors in the grass and tone down the background colors a little so the tree now takes center stage. I also softened the bushes in the intermediate part of the scene so they would not compete with my tree. By changing the grasses, and toning down and mellowing the background my tree now becomes the star. And I didn't have to change a thing about the tree itself-it just needed the supporting players to get out of its light.

I also softened around the water's edge in the cove to give a little more variation where the shoreline meets the land and to soften the slope down to the water.

Hope this helps you to feel more confident when you need to re-visit a painting-It's fun exploring them with new eyes and finding ways to improve upon your original idea. Especially when you do a plein aire with a limited time crunch. They make a great learning too.

Happy Painting!

Jennylynne