DAILY PAINTING: "Eclipse 2" The paint is still wet on Eclipse 1, so here's a value study of "Eclipse 2", done with my graphite sticks. The line texture is meant to show the areas where I intend to build a similar texture as I have done in E1. I like this composition and think it has alot of potential.

DAILY PAINTING: "Eclipse 1" The painting is really beginning to take shape! There're lots of work yet to do, but if it looks good at this point, I know it'll only get better. It's like cooking dinner: if it smells good, you know it's going to taste good! I'm working with fairly thin paint, mixed with cold wax, so that I can manipulate the surface. Gotta let this dry so that we can take it to the next level.

DAILY PAINTING: I have transferred the simple line drawing to the actual canvas, which I had already prepared with a multi-colored underpainting. So you can see the composition and proportions. Also, on the right side of the composition, you can see that I've applied some line texture that will later--to an extent--be overpainted, but some of the underpainting will show through.

DAILY PAINTING: Yesterday, I started to make a few thumbnail sketches with the intention of creating a painting based on an abstract view of the recent Solar Eclipse (sometime in August). This is a value study, done in graphite, drawn to half scale. The canvas I have prepared for it is 16" wide by 28" tall. But I wanted to think on paper about scale and proportion. I wanted a simple, yet bold and dynamic image, and I'm happy with this. Now I can start to think about col

"Fiesta" is complete, a 14" x 17" original oil on collage, all mounted on a solid birch wood panel. If you'd like to purchase the original (or prints), please go to my online Saatchi art site (at Gina Valenti-Lazarchik).

I'm calling this painting "Fiesta" for obvious reasons. The colors in the collage suggested this palette of yellow / hot pink / yellow green, with just a dash of a muted purple (as contrast). You can still see parts of the pastel drawing peaking through the paint in places (just as I had hoped). Maybe some small adjustments still.

DAILY PAINTING: I got the idea of drawing (in graphite and oil pastel) on top of the collage I had completed. My intention is to paint on top of this collage / drawing. Let's see how it'll turn out!

DAILY PAINTING: I've created a collage, cut from painted fragments of watercolor paper (kinda like quilting), but no sewing machine required!

The is the completed painting, "Stepping Stones" which you can purchase on my Saatchi site online (at Gina Valenti-Lazarchik). It is 14" x 17", done in oil on a solid birch wood panel, with a "keyhole" routed in the reverse side so that no hanging hardware is needed.

DAILY PAINTING: "Stepping Stones" The concept has really taken shape. Whenever we face problems--whether as individuals or as a nation--we want to work hard to address it and make progress. We often feel frustrated if our progress is not as quick as we'd like it to be, but this artwork is meant to remind us that--even if we can't leap ahead in a straight line--we can move forward by indirect means: stepping stones!