Dogs Done, More marketing for commissions, A values concept, Chicken

The Puppy painting is done.

It was a lot of fun. I used this image to make a poster for dog portraits which I will send out to Vets around North Central Florida. Hopefully they will hang it on their bulletin board so their clients will see it. I'm thinking that I could send them out to breeders and dog show fanciers too. There are not a lot of dog portrait artists in this area. Mostly horse painters because of the horse industry in Marion County, just south of us. There are tons of horse artists, but I'm not interested in that, thank God. Since no one could beat Sharon Crute, I definitely have no interest in learning to paint equines. I do love to paint cattle though. People do love animals and especially their dogs and cats. I think there is a huge niche market out there for Canine art, so I'm on the hunt.

Again, I am trying to stave off starvation in the future if this economy doesn't turn around. I have managed to survive so far, but I'm one of those artists who tries to hedge my bets in case things go sour. Since I am known for my landscape work, I can become known for something else which is even more marketable. Pet portraits seem to be a good market. I've always loved dogs and always owned a dog since my childhood, so it seems logical to me to go in that direction, searching for a new market for my work. I've always believed we should paint what we know and love, what speaks to us. That is the real test of authenticity. It's not about being the best canine painter or the best landscape painter out there. Some of us simply are not that talented. It is about painting from the heart and soul and I believe that will mean something to patrons who love the land and love their dogs. I don't have to be the best, I have to believe in what I do with my whole being.


I was looking at a painting today by a woman who said she was using a full palette range of color for her paintings but using the same values for all the colors to create the harmony. I must confess I was befuddled by this concept and I need to explore it. What befuddled me was the fact that the painting she showed had quite a contrast between light and dark, so I really don't understand what she was trying to do. My idea of a full palette range with very similar values in the painting would have very little contrast and the value range would only go about three steps apart. Of course, she could have been using the first stage Notan value of the light/mid/dark which would explain the strong contrast in her painting while still using simple values, but the values in that Notan exercise are not at all close or similar. So I think her definition of same values must mean something other than close values like a mid tone ange or dark or light range.

I do think I would like to try this idea with close value and a broad palette. The idea as I get it is to use values for harmony,not color. I am intrigued. She stated that the color could range from bold to subdued and still make it work. I think I am going to do a couple of paintings to test this concept. One will be with a split primary palette and bold and the other will be with my 5 color single primary palette. I think I will do them both with a mid value range so that the values will be nearly identical, only the color will be different from the first to the second. This sounds like a cool concept and I am anxious to try it.


Today's Recipe

From Rachel Ray's Show

Chicken

2 cups water
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt, eyeball it
1 rounded cup white rice
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds, toasted white sesame seeds may be substituted
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Vegetable oil, for drizzling
Salt and pepper
1 cup chicken broth or water
1-inch ginger root, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 ripe pineapple


Preheat a grill pan or large griddle over medium high heat.
Bring water to a boil in a small covered pot. Add butter, salt and rice to the pot. Return the water to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and replace cover. Simmer 18 minutes and remove rice from heat. Take the lid off the pot to cool rice a bit. Scoop rice into balls with an ice cream scoop and your hands. Dampen hands with water to work with rice if it is very sticky. Set rice balls on a plate and sprinkle with black sesame seeds.

While your rice is cooking, lightly coat chicken with oil, salt and pepper. Place chicken on hot grill and cook 6 minutes on the first side.

While chicken is cooking, bring chicken broth and ginger to a boil. Stir in honey. When honey has dissolved into broth, add teriyaki sauce and sesame oil and reduce heat to simmer.

Turn chicken and coat liberally with honey teriyaki sauce using a basting brush. Cook chicken 4 minutes, turn again and baste liberally again with sauce, then cook 2 minutes longer. Remove chicken to a plate. Garnish chicken with sliced scallions.

While chicken cooks on the second side, peel and cut a ripe pineapple into 8 spears. Cut off top and bottom of pineapple. Set pineapple upright and trim away skin in strips from top to bottom. Halve pineapple lengthwise and quarter each 1/2, lengthwise. The core is edible, but may be trimmed if you wish. Pineapple can be very acidic. Spears set in cold water for just 1 minute will keep the fruit from stinging your lips when it is eaten. Serve with chicken and rice balls