Pop of Color Black and White Trees | Acrylic Painting Tutorial

Black and White is a huge trend in painting right now. So I thought I would do a 2 part video showing how you can make a modern black & white treescape acrylic painting on canvas. This is super easy and fun  DIY project for beginners. The materials are a large flat brush (sponge brush is ok), a sea sponge, a plastic credit card and acrylic paints in black, white and your choice of color.

Black and White Trees Video (Part 1) shows how to do the black and white trees.

Pop of Color Video (Part 2) shows how to add color to one of the trees. I show turquoise, yellow and purple in the video but you can refer to my pink cherry tree or red oak tree videos if you prefer those colors. The steps are the same. Hope you enjoy!

And as a bonus I also have a Black and White Paris Eiffel Tower with red trees acrylic painting tutorial. It will be a live stream class on July 23, 2016 at 2pm CST. The recording will be available to watch anytime after that.

"Arkansas Beauty" Original Acrylic Painting by Angela Anderson

This was a special commissioned painting for Dan Fields of Fayetteville, AR.  He is adding art by Arkansas artists to his office. I was honored to be among the chosen artists.

I took pictures of my progress as I painted it. I thought it might be interesting to show the process of layering that I do on my paintings.  The first stages are always very awkward looking and I use them to make changes in composition.

 Initial Sketch

 First layer of paint. Blocking in shapes and background colors.

 Second layer. Adding color and details to butterflies. Adding highlights to flowers and leaves. I also changed the shape of the upper butterfly to a single wing (I had a better photo) and removed some buds and leaves that were cluttering the composition.

 Third layer. More highlights on flowers and defining leaves. Moved some buds around a bit and added some new elements to balance things.

 Fourth layer. Shading the flowers and leaves. Adding more color to butterflies.

 Fifth layer. More defining on flowers and butterflies. 

 Sixth layer. Adding details to blue butterfly.

 Seventh layer. Finished details on blue butterfly. 

 Eighth layer. Adding details to orange butterfly and a few more highlights on flowers.

Ninth layer. Another brighter layer of color on the orange butterfly.

Finished painting. Adjusted some colors on the orange butterfly.

After School Art Lessons

I am taking registration now for my after school art class.  We will have two four-week sessions starting February 21st with a week off for Spring Break in between.  Class size is limited. 

Amazon Music Sale

Two of my favorite albums are on sale for $3.99 today.  Thought I'd pass along the links.  
I used the song "Heaven on Fire" from the Radio Dept. for one of my YouTube videos (below).  Their music is very unique, kinda dreamy retro.  Bon Iver's front man Justin Vernon has one of the most unusual voices I've heard.  It almost seems high and off key but in a good way. His melodys are gorgeous.  Take a listen....

Kid's Painting Class - Butterflies

Today we worked on some butterflies in my kid's painting class. Yesterday we did the backgrounds on the canvases using plastic wrap on the wet paint to give them fun texture.

The girls drew their butterflies and transfered them onto canvas with graphite paper then used paint and water soluble pencils to add fine details.  I think they turned out amazing!  The oldest in the class is 10 and the youngest is 7!  Pretty amazing talent!

Some Guy Named Robb - Album Cover

Here is the new album from Some Guy Named Robb.  I did the cover artwork.   Search Amazon.com for some guy named robbSome Guy Named Robb

New Life Butterfly Painting

I love the symbolism of the butterfly transforming from an ugly and apparently lifeless chrysalis into something so beautiful. This was painted during a 1 1/2 hour worship service at Fellowship of Christians in Russellville, AR. 

angelaandersonfineart.com

NewYouTube Video! Acrylic Paintings by Angela Anderson

I thought it would be good to have a video of my portfolio.  When I found this song "Painting Pictures" by Adele I knew it would be perfect.  Hope you enjoy!

Gallery Changing Names

The gallery in Little Rock that represents my artwork is changing it's name.  Previously called the Arkansas Studies Institute Galleries, the new name will be the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Galleries or Butler Center Galleries.

New Business Cards

I decided to update my business cards and use my photoshop program to do a collage of my paintings on the cards.   I had fun with it and did a vertical design filled with images from several different paintings.

 I found some of the old cards to show how the design has changed over the last few years.  I may go back and do an image on the other side of the new cards like I did last year.  I really liked it and I ended up using that side to price things in several different shows.  So here is last year's design:

(front)

 

(back)

This design was actually one that I used for several years.  The header was on my website pages and promotional materials.  Most of the paintings in the header were created from 2005 to 2008, and all but the birches on the end are sold now.

Lake Dardanelle State Park Show

The Arkansas River Valley Art Center is hosting my artwork at the Lake Dardanelle State Park's Visitor Center during the month of May.  Check it out if you are in the area!  It's a gorgeous building with amazing exhibits and aquariums.  The view from the back deck is spectacular too.  A perfect picnic spot!

 

 

"Among the Stars" - Squid Fabric Contest on Spoonflower.com

 
This week's Spoonflower.com contest theme is SQUID!  Yeah, I have to admit I wasn't too excited about this one.  I wasn't even going to enter.  I decided to do some doodling and couldn't stop.  I love the wild diversity in the creatures found under the sea.  It turned out to be so much fun.  Voting started yesterday and goes till Wed. March 23rd.

New Artspan Blog

My website now has a blog option!!!  I will be moving my new blog posts to my Artspan blog.  Please be sure to check out my new posts on Artspan.

"Variable Cracker" Butterfly Paintings

Yes, more butterflies!  This variety is called "Variable Cracker", it is from Central America.  The top side is blue and the underside is orange.  I decided to do them as a set on 8" x 10" canvases. 

"Up Seems So Down" Album Cover- Part 3

 
Here is the finished album cover painting.  I decided the trees didn't add to the overall look enough so I took them out.  I painted the whole sky red and then went back and added cobalt blue and yellow to tone it down and create more depth to the sky.  I also put rings of color around the stars and added more light blue to the horizon line.  The sun was also brightened with a stronger yellow.  I love the overall effect.  I hope it makes an impact for Robb's album.  I can't wait to hear the songs!

Below I played with some potential fonts for the cover to see how it would look with the painting.

Here below are all of the work in progress photos.  It shows the changes I made to it before it was completed.