Underwater Models

I took a break from painting and went to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab to watch fish and other creatures swim by.  Sea Lab is a wonderful resource for everyone to learn more about the Gulf coast, but it is especially good for a person who doesn't scuba dive (like myself) and who wants to see what lives under the water.  I use Sea Lab to get closer to my models and to formulate new painting ideas.  It's a good place to take a summer break and dream.

 

 

 

 

 

Travel When You Can, Paint What You Know

Summer always makes me think of vacations and travel.  The siren call of distant places comes to me as my surroundings turn a vibrant green under puffy white clouds and bright blue skies.  Humidity and heat builds to a distracting level in July and August.

 

I think back to my travels. I experienced a chilly summer night while eating at an outdoor courtyard restaurant in southern California.  I camped in Yosemite at the foot of spectacular snow peaked mountains.  I stood under an endless clear blue sky in Taos, New Mexico.  I rode a ferry to the wind blown island of Nantucket.  I saw the Colosseum golden and lit in the Roman night.  I went to the fierce western coastline of Ireland.  All of these places live in my memory and make me smile.

 

But the thing is, despite my best efforts, I fail at painting them the way I saw them.  Too much of my own green of July creeps into the color mixing.  The light doesn't look right because I live under a different slant of sunshine.  And humidity changes perspective considerably.  That great artist teacher, Robert Henri, wrote about this phenomenon and surmised that a painter always paints the place where he or she lives even if the painter travels to depict other places.  He was right when he said "Paint what you feel.  Paint what you see.  Paint what is real you."

 

So I will take Robert Henri's advice and paint the United States south and things that are a part of life in the south.  I will travel when I can. 

 

Mona Vivar, Moonlight and Magnolias, 11 inches by 14 inches, acrylic on canvas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Image copyright of Mona Vivar 2013

Using Facebook to Promote Your Art

Years ago the only way to get your art in front of people on the Internet was to build your own website or have a professional web designer build one for you.  That required a lot of time, knowledge and money.  Not any more!

 

This year I began using the Facebook business page tool to showcase my paintings and reach audience.  The set up is free and easy to use.  No HTML skills required.  Good digital photos are needed if you want your page to look attractive.  You control how often you change or add information.  You can add a link to any other site on which you showcase your art.  Both Ebay and Etsy offer applications that can be added (for a small fee) as a widget to your Facebook business page.  My page is Mona Vivar Fine Art on Facebook.

 

Beyond the basic set up and up dating of your page you can promote it to users of Facebook.  There is an "Ads Manager" section that appears when you have a business page.  This marketing tool is not free, but for a minimal cost of $1.00 per day you can promote your page to thousands of people using Facebook.  I have been using the promotional tool for three months in varying intervals and have increased page likes from 5 to 92.  New customers are bidding on or buying my work on Ebay.  My best results come when I post a new painting every day to Facebook.   I haven't even begun to use the "offers or promotions" tool. 

 

That's it.  Real simple.  Facebook business page saves you from having to spend too much valuable painting and marketing time creating and maintaining a website, and you can use it to promote your current website if you already have one.  Use it and have time to enjoy your summer!

Mona Vivar, "Sea Shell and Clouds", 11 inches by 14 inches, acrylic on canvas

Mona Vivar Fine Art Ebay Store



The Business of Art

It has been six months since I started working full time as an artist.  I sold my art in brick and mortar galleries and on the Internet in the past, but this is the first time I have worked selling my art for a living.  So what I have I learned in six months?

 

PRODUCTION, PRODUCTION, PRODUCTION:  You have to make a LOT, and I mean a LOT of art.  Reason being is that you will make some art that you will need to toss.  You will have days that you have to do other things, and the extra inventory will help keep you in front of your customers.  Demand will rise and you will need to be able to provide a supply of art for it.  You become a better artist by making more art.

 

 

STANDARDIZE YOUR OPERATIONS:  Big businesses do this all the time.  If you want to be a business you need to do it too.  Using the same tools, materials, procedures help you make and sell your art.  I order canvas in bulk (saves a lot on the cost) and put the same base coat color on the canvases as soon as they arrive.  Or more correctly, my husband puts the base coat on.  This operation gives me at least a month's supply of canvases ready to go and prevents all sorts of delays due to prep time.  I use standard size canvases.  This makes it easier for my customers to frame the paintings later.  I use the same palette of colors so I don't flounder around wondering what color to use next.  All this saves time and effort.  I work in sets or series.  Why only paint one piece at a time when you can do two or more?  It will make you more efficient.

 

Mona Vivar, "Sea Treasures", 11 inches by 14 inches, acrylic on canvas

 

 

Mona Vivar, "Sea Treasures II", 11 inches by 14 inches, acrylic on canvas

 

FIND YOUR NICHE:   You won't be able to make art that everyone likes or wants, so figure out what you do best and who likes it.  This part takes time and makes the first two steps even more important.   You will have a lot of misfires at first but after a while you will hit your stride.  You will notice that certain images sell quickly while others just sit.  You will begin to see some common denominators among your customers.  Maybe they live in the same geographic region, maybe they tend to work in the same occupation, maybe they are younger or older.   Notice everything.  Don't make yourself crazy, but be aware so you can aim your best work at your market.

 

BE FLEXIBLE AND KEEP YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR:  What can I say?  Good luck.

Still Life Food for Thought

Artists are always seeking or developing their style.  I am no different.  All of us strive for a recognizable consistency in our work.  This has taken me years to find.  And lots of painting.  Lots of painting!

 

When I first began painting I wanted to paint only abstracts.  I primarily used oils.  Continuing studies in art history nudged me in the direction of realism, and a stint as a gallery manager of a wildlife art gallery pushed me over the line and farther away from non-objective painting.  I became obsessed with the 17th century Dutch painting style and copied some of those grand paintings to understand lighting, placement and detail in the still life. 

 

Abraham Van Beyeren (1667) "ostentatious" still life

 

 

I even went so far as to paint an entire show of still life works in oils based on the Dutch images--dark backgrounds, emphasis on a group of flowers, play of light on surfaces.  I learned much about consistency and style with that show.

 

A decade later I am still seeking, but remain focused on still life.  A simplified, modernized still life.  Acrylic.  With the object in the middle of the painting or close to it.  Maybe closer to Pop Art?  It surprises me.  This is why art is a lifetime pursuit.

Mona Vivar, "All American", 11 inches x 14 inches, acrylic on canvas

At Mona Vivar Fine Art



Go Outside

I am mostly an indoor painter with occasional bursts of ambition that drive me to venture outside for a session of plein air painting.  That being said, I recommend that everyone go outside at least once a day for a few minutes.  I believe that we, as all other creatures, thrive on and need the outdoors.

 

Step outside to feel the breeze on your skin.  Watch clouds and their shadows glide by.  Notice the sound of leaves rustling and birds singing.  Observe the enormous variety of color and texture surrounding you.  See if there are signs of a new season.  Smell heat, oncoming rain, fresh mown grass, white gardenias.  It is a renewing sensation that cannot occur in a climate controlled environment.

 

For a painter, the outside is full of challenges both good and bad.  Wind threatens the easel set up.  Bugs get stuck in the paint.  Extreme temperatures (most definitely in coastal Alabama) make it miserable or impossible from time to time.  Lighting conditions changes so rapidly that trying to work more than 45 minutes on one painting is fool hardy at best.  But, ah joy, if one is quick enough to capture a fleeting view fresh on the canvas!  A better artist is made at that moment.

So go outside.

Mona Vivar, "Spring Ambition", 20 inches by 16 inches, acrylic on canvas, painted plein air
Collection the artist

Image copyright of Mona Vivar 2013

Boldly Painted Magnolias

The soft month of June has arrived bringing bright blue days, afternoon showers, gardenia scented nights and the threat of hurricanes.  Cloud watching becomes a sport.  And the shiny, dark green foliage of magnolia trees cradle large luxurious creamy velvet blooms. 

 

I have always been intimidated about painting the magnolia blossom because it is a giant white flower easy to get wrong and it can be a clichéd image.  Nevertheless, I decided to tackle the tricky Magnolia grandiflora as a symbol of what I adore about the month of June in the south.

 

I focused on single blooms nestled in darkness.  I kept the drawing as loose as possible and painted in and beyond the drawn image to give the paintings more spontaneity.  I added random colors (violet, blue, orange) on various edges of leaves and blooms to create a sense of  dappled sunlight.  To make the white really look bright, I painted the blooms' shadows much darker shades that were a mix of violet, blue, and orange.  That helped harmonize the color scheme and made the brightest white (white with a little yellow added) really pop.  Most of all, I kept the pieces light hearted.

 

So here are the final paintings.  Enjoy!

 

 Mona Vivar, "Magnolia Magnificence", 11 inches by 14 inches, acrylic on canvas

Now available on Ebay at Mona Vivar Fine Art





Mona Vivar, "Shimmering Magnolia", 11 inches by 14 inches, acrylic on canvas

Now available on Ebay at Mona Vivar Fine Art

 

 

 

 

 

 

All images copyright of Mona Vivar 2013.