Brande Arno Art

"Rex" 6 x 6 inches, Oil on Gessoboard $ 65.  Buy on Etsy I use to be so-o-oo into Halloween.  But now, not so much.  However my love for Edger Allen Poe and Hollywood movie giants like...Oh...Boris Karloff has not waned and can throw me back to my teenage infatuation with scary.  So today, I painted "Rex" while listening to Mr. Karloff on YouTube.  This particular series featured audio for about 1.5 hours worth of 10 minute stories.  Perfect for studio work on Halloween!

"Bloomfield View in August" 6 x 6 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Etsy Shop   See the in process pictures  HERE I really enjoyed this painting.  Everything went smoothly and that just is not normal for me.  I wish I could say this is a plein air painting, but it's from one of my pictures.

October's Grey Titmouse, 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Click to Buy The bird feeding station at my house is in full swing.  I'm enjoying lots of activity from a variety of birds and snapping pictures for future paintings.  As I was refilling the feeders today, a little chickadee swooped and almost landed on me.  Maybe next time.  

"Amare" 8 x 8 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Sold - Thank you. Amare is finally finished. Me to Amare's pet mom: "Oh what a beautiful cat!  I've never seen a cat like yours...I just have to paint him" That came right out of my mouth just as I was thinking it. Amare is a beautiful cat, but painting his portrait, even with great photography would not be easy for two reasons: 1.  He's all black and therefore very hard to see and paint enough contrast to show his bone structure. 2.  He has very thick and long fur, which creates the same problem for seeing bone structure. All you artists reading this know just how hard it is to paint "form" when you can't see cast shadows or enough of a value range.  Items look flat.  Deep down inside my artist soul, I was up for a challenge.  I was challenged.  The Amare muse and me wrestled for almost three days to include scraping off  and trying another time more than once.  I think I got

"Amare"  My day started so nicely today.  Maybe yours did also.  In my case, a day dedicated to painting a beautiful, pure-black Persian cat named Amare.  Amare is a real love-bug and I had the pleasure of meeting him a few weeks ago.  A gentle cat with striking eyes.   I always have talk radio playing while I paint.  I was listening to a local program and late in the morning, came the announcement about a shooting in Ottawa, Canada. I tried not to let the news reporting get me down, stop me from having a productive day in the studio, but it did.  I couldn't concentrate, so I had to stop.  I'm posting what I did get done.  I hope that by Friday, I'll have Amare finished.

"Lollybird No. 1"- 2 x 2 x 1/4 inch Canvas with Painted Easel Visit Etsy Shop I was inspired  to create small Holiday gifts for stocking stuffers, or the office secret Santa.  There are seven different whimsical birds with lollipop flowers and all are in my etsy shop. Each one is different and includes a painted easel to match.  Take a peek.

"Monster Owl" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard NFAC - Nibblefest Art Contest for October, 2014  click to bid This is Fritz the owl in costume and he wants to make a few points: 1.  You can be a monster and not look like one. 2.  You can be an owl and not look like one. 3.  You can be both and confuse everyone. Heads up Nibblefest patrons...Fritz, aka: Monster Owl will be up for auction starting at 99 cents very early on October 20.  If you want to give Fritz a good home, click the link  on October 20 or later and keep bidding. Runs through October 27, which gives this freshly painted Fritz plenty of time to dry and pack for his forever home.

"Wide Eye and Stance" 5 x 5 inches- Oil Painting of a Grey Titmouse -Sold What attracted me to paint this bird was the wide stance of those cute little claw feet.  Had to do some editing of the tree branches, although I really wanted to include every single one.  But it's all about the bird, not the branches.

"Emerging Kitty - No.1  2 x 2 inches, Oil on 1/2 inch panel Trying to get tiny paintings ready for my Off-The-Wall Paintings Etsy shop to feature as possible Christmas stocking stuffers.  I know lot's of people (to include me) that love cats and this one has a bit of a 'tude. The camera is not doing this piece justice, but I wanted to post something today.  I'll have to read the camera's manual to see how to shoot real small items without looking like your seeing it through a magnifying glass .

"Winter's Getting Closer" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard $ 55.   Buy with Etsy Boy did it get cold outside and quick.  I really didn't need this little birdie telling me that winter is on the way.

"Bird Talk" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard $ 55.  Click to buy Inspired to paint this little fella by those that visit my bird feeders.  Chickadees are such nice birds.  From what I observe, they pick a seed from the feeder and then fly to a nearby branch to eat it...thus giving another bird a turn.  As pretty as goldfinches are, they're squatters.  Sometimes it takes an eviction notice to get them to share with other birds.

"Right Look Chickadee" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Sold, Thank you What can I say...I love these wonderful little birds.  We have a park close by where in the winter, the Chickadees will eat seeds from your hand.  The leaves are starting to turn and I tried to incorporate a little Autumn in this piece. On another note,  I'll be spending  October 2 - 5 painting plein air in Geneva, New York which is part of the Finger Lake's Wine Trail.   I'm a charter artist of this event and really look forward to painting outdoors with nature all around me. I'll try to post my plein air paintings daily.