Muto's Minis #2

The second work I did on a canvas card was a painting for my grandmother. She sent me an old photograph of a peaceful water scene and asked if I could paint it. I would have liked to do a a full-size, canvas work, but my college lifestyle only allowed me to do this small 7" x 10" practice piece.

The subject matter consists of three boats resting on the shore. Their gentle curving forms rise and swell like the water. I had never painted a body of water before. I tried to mimic reflections on the water by cutting through the blue paint to reveal the white background with a palette knife. I am not pleased with the result. I enjoyed the shapes of the boats, almost resembling Nike swooshes. I had lots of fun using a sponge to make the trees on the left. It was a good experience to leave abstract art and do a piece that really means a lot to me as a gift to my Grandmother.

Muto's Minis #1 (The minis process begins!)

I recently found a product called canvas cards at the school store. They are comprised of a thin canvas material which is folded in the shape of a greeting card. They are cheap and can be unfolded to make nice 7" x 8" painting surfaces. I find the size delightful; it is the perfect size for playing with an idea without getting overwhelmed. I am going to do a series of 10 artworks exploring different styles on the nice little cards. I might even send them off to people or sell them for $1-$5 depending on how they turn out. The only problem is I don't have a good camera to take pictures of my work.

Here is my first experiment; I added the blue and orange color scheme to a doodle from and old sketchbook.