In the last newsletter, I was working on a painting for our Christmas card, depicting our house in the snow. But then, we finally got snow and sunny days, so I took the opportunity to do a Liberty street scene instead. The painting I made for this card is 11x14 oil on canvas and depicts Main Street in Liberty. There's Sammy's holiday market-with Sammy himself sweeping snow, the post office and the church.
And today, my beautifully printed Christmas cards have arrived and I'm very pleased with the result:
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Christmas cards for sale!
I'm also excited to announce that they're available for purchase!
The cards are printed on heavy quality paper with linen finish (the best available).
Dimensions: 4 5/8" x7 1/8"
Value: only $2 a piece or $15 for 10 cards including envelopes.
To order, drop me a line at bsnelderwaardbrion@gmail.com, give me a call at 570-404-2191 or stop by at my studio!
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The making of
In my previous newsletter I stated that I like our Christmas card to represent us or where we are in life in some way. This street scene does that too. Besides the obvious, that we live in Liberty, this scene also represents challenge. Being 40+ and becoming first time parents early next year, we'll be facing quite a challenge. The street scene is also very challenging because I have to give Main Street a Christmas feel while still maintaining integrity, so I had to make up the Christmas decorations, add people and take out the power lines.
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The first sketch
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Blocking in the darkest colors
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Blocking in the mid tones and lightest colors. I waited with the snow because it's more difficult to correct things if you've already applied white on the canvas. You can scrape it off but when you apply another color, chances are that your new color will become too bleak and cold. In some instances, like here, with time pressure, I'd rather play it safe.
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I've carefully added some snow where I'm sure I don't have to change anything and start filling in the details.
The road looks spotty because I let my gloved fingers rest on the canvas as I added detail. I didn't use my mahl stick, I had to work so fast and I kept dropping my mahl stick (and with a pregnant belly, picking up stuff gets hard) so I just put that thing away. I was going to deal with the street last anyway.
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End result!
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In the next newsletter I hope to show you the end result of the previous painting, that is, if I am able to finish it. I've already started a different painting for my show(that just has priority). It's a big painting this time, and the scene is Bar Harbor in Maine.
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