Tag Archives: Original Artwork

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My Original Artwork ~ Universe #3

Here’s my 3rd painting in the Universe Series, and the 5th in the Colorful Contemporary Series of paintings that I’ve been experimenting with, titled ‘My Original Artwork ~ Universe #3 (16″ x 20″).’  I changed up the color palette a bit for this composition, using two shades of blue, green and white to make this colorful splash of an impression of the universe.

I’m enjoying this new direction of colorful discovery and creativity in my artwork, and one never knows what’s around the next corner ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

My Original Artwork ~ Universe #3 (16″ x 20″)

(Copyright 2017, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

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My Original Artwork ~ Universe #1

I’ve finished my most recent painting titled ‘My Original Artwork ~ Universe #1 (16″ x 20″)’ which is the third in my colorful contemporary series of paintings.  I’ve always wanted to paint something like this, and I’m amazed at the colors and details when viewing this painting closely.

I’ve only used the three primary colors of red, blue and yellow, along with white, as the basis for this painting, and all the many colors on this canvas stem from these three colors blending with each other and with white.  Many of the circles of paint in this composition are the blended colors of many hues, and the canvas is littered with smaller dots of ‘stars’ the closer you look.  I’ll continue this type of painting now that I know the technique, and try to control the size and distribution of colors in a second colorful portrayal of the universe ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

My Original Artwork ~ Universe #1 (16″ x 20″)

(Copyright 2017, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

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My Original Artwork ~ St. Michael’s Mount

I’ve completed my latest acrylic on canvas painting that I call ‘My Original Artwork ~ St. Michael’s Mount (18″ x 36″)’ – a foggy oceanside view of the famous island castle off the shore of Cornwall, U.K.  The level of detail in this composition was a challenge to complete, but I’m satisfied with the outcome and it was worth the effort ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

My Original Artwork ~ St. Michael’s Mount (18″ x 36″)

(Copyright 2017, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

St. Michael’s Mount (18″ x 36″) ~ (Copyright 2017, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

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My Original Artwork ~ Wildflower Sunset

I’ve finished my most recent painting that I call ‘Wildflower Sunset’ (18″ x 24″), and enjoy the fact that I’m taking my painting in new directions.  This piece was a joy to paint with its happy colors and flowers, and I’m sure I’ll be attempting more flower paintings in the future! 🙂 The tall blue flowers are Wild Blue Chicory (Cichorium intybus), along with Daisies, a single Fire Pink Silene virginica, Dandelions and at the bottom False Rue Anemone (Enomion biternatum) as ground cover.

My next painting is going to be of a night sky with a full moon and the Milky Way Galaxy.  I like the concept of painting whatever comes to mind ~ especially themes I haven’t painted before ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

My Original Artwork ~ Wildflower Sunset (18″ x 24″)

(Copyright 2017, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

Wildflower Sunset (18

Wildflower Sunset (18″ x 24″) ~ (Copyright 2017, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

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My Original Artwork-In-Progress (Update 4) ~ A Medieval Fair

This is the fourth update of my Original Artwork-In-Progress ~ A Medieval Fair (18″ x 24″), and all that’s left to finish now are the jousting knights and horses! 🙂 I’ve added in all the townspeople and villagers, finding it quite a challenge to paint such little figures ~ but at the same time the process encouraged me to explore painting portraits some time in the future.

My next update will complete this current painting, and I’m pondering what subject to explore in my next painting.  At the moment, I’m considering painting a field of wildflowers using an acrylic watercolor technique ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

'A Medieval Fair' (18" x 24") ~ (Copyright 2017, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

‘A Medieval Fair’ (18″ x 24″) ~ (Copyright 2017, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

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My Original Artwork-in-Progress (Update 2) ~ A Medieval Fair

This is my second update about my Original Artwork-in-Progress ~ A Medieval Fair (18″ x 24″), and I’m happy with how it’s unfolding so far.  I continued the theme of trying to create a softer distance impression in the background from the sky down through the mountains and forests, allowing them to fade into a fog shrouded dreamscape.  My plan is to make the castle and foreground the primary focus of the painting, while letting the background fade into the distance.

I enjoy the fact that paintings take on a life of their own during the process of painting them, as I have little idea at the start as to how the painting will unfold ~ even after sketching it out at the beginning. A good example of this, are the castle’s three giant doors or gates, as they each lead into a different level of the fortress.  In the beginning, I hadn’t even considered creating two visible upper gates, thinking the space was simply part of an elaborate main gate construct.  Now I think of each gate individually as a magic door.

The outer castle gate and door represents ‘earth’ and has the outline of mountains inscribed upon it.  The middle door represents ‘nature’ and has the silhouette of a tree outlined on it.  The upper door represents the ‘sky’ with ornate hinges, tying into the castle’s stained glass windows in the upper level.  In addition, the three castle walls grow lighter in shade with each level, with the white walls of the upper level of the castle representing the Medieval chivalrous notion of ‘truth, purity and light.’  So in essence, each painting develops a story during the process of painting it, never imagined by the artist at the beginning of the process.

Next I turn my attention to the Medieval Fair, with the jousting tournament, colorful tents and people in the foreground ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

'A Medieval Fair' (18" x 24") ~ (Copyright 2017, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

‘A Medieval Fair’ (18″ x 24″) ~ (Copyright 2017, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

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My Original Artwork-in-Progress (Update 3) ~ Castle Hamlet

This is the third update on my Original Artwork-in-Progress ~ Castle Hamlet (18″ x 24″), as I’ve completed much of the background and now it’s time to fill in the details.  Everything’s always in the details…

Much of what I’ve finished to date only serves as backdrop to the details that follow.  The issue at this point is that I don’t know what many of the details are, so they will be as new to me as they are to you once the painting’s done.  I sort of make it up as I go along, which is why I like serializing my paintings, because it allows me to try to grasp the big picture and figure out what will follow.

I considered placing a Medieval Fair in the distant green space in front of the forest, but realized I didn’t have enough room and the details would be too small, so I think that will be the subject of my next painting that I’ll call ‘A Medieval Fair.’  Much of life seems to happen that way, by coincidence, circumstance, and accident ~ as opposed to planning ~ because life’s too complicated to have all the details sorted out ahead of time.

My next goal is to finish the bridge and the fronts of the cottages, and then see how everything develops from there ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

My Original Artwork-in-Progress ~ Castle Hamlet (18″ x 24″)

(Copyright 2016, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

My Original Artwork-in-Progress ~ Castle Hamlet (18" x 24") ~ (Copyright 2016, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

My Original Artwork-in-Progress ~ Castle Hamlet (18″ x 24″) ~ (Copyright 2016, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

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My Original Artwork ~ A Photo Series

The other night I decided to photograph my artwork in my study, and liked the effect the light had in bringing out each of my painting’s details.  It’s been a fun artistic adventure for me over the last two years ~ along with the early beginnings of my painting aspirations, some 37 years ago.  My photo efforts fall short of the clarity I’d like to see in many of these snapshots, and someday I aim to have professional photographs taken of my work to sell as prints ~ but for now, it’s another step down the road towards my artistic dreams ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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My Original Artwork-in-Progress (Update 5) ~ Alpine Hamlet

This is the fifth update of my Artwork-in-Progress ~ Alpine Hamlet (11″ x 14″) acrylic on canvas painting.  I’ve now finished the intermediate forest between the Sonnenspitze mountain and the Alpine Hamlet in the foreground, which I’ll work on next.  I enjoy painting wintertime scenes, especially fir trees covered in snow ~ and this painting’s kept me busy so far! 🙂

As the scene unfolds in front of me, I find it reveals details I’d never considered in my imagination at the beginning of the process.  My first idea, was the intermediate forest would be solid trees between the Sonnenspitze and the hamlet.  As it turned out, there’s a frozen stream down in the valley, and the trees share an open space that I hope gives a sense of depth between the hamlet and the Alpine Peaks ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

Artwork-in-Progress ~ Alpine Hamlet (11″ x 14″)

(Copyright 2016, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

Artwork-in-Progress ~ Alpine Hamlet (11" x 14") ~ (Copyright 2016, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

Artwork-in-Progress ~ Alpine Hamlet (11″ x 14″) ~ (Copyright 2016, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

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My Original Artwork-in-Progress ~ Alpine Hamlet

This is my latest update on my Artwork-in-Progress ~ Alpine Hamlet (11″ x 14″) acrylic on canvas painting.  I like serializing the progress of my paintings, as they slowly come to life over time, and these updates capture each stage along the way.  At this point I’ve completed painting the sky, and wanted a sense and a feeling of an impending change in the Alpine weather.  These are the first real clouds I’ve ever painted, so it was a learning experience for me ~ which is why I like the challenge of trying to paint something new and different in each and every painting.

Another thing that struck me in the process of trying to get the right mix and proportion in my clouds, was that when only the sky is painted, that’s all anyone looks at.  Once the painting’s completed, the sky is probably the last thing noticed, after the buildings and the mountains.  So I’ll let my clouds float by for the moment, and at the end of the painting if I still think they need some more attention I’ll return to them, but for now they’re finished ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

Artwork-in-Progress ~ Alpine Hamlet (11″ x 14″)

(Copyright 2016, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)

Alpine Hamlet (11" x 14") ~ (Copyright 2016, Mark D. Jones, all Rights Reserved)

Alpine Hamlet (11″ x 14″) ~ (Copyright 2016, Mark D. Jones, all Rights Reserved)