Artists Of Texas Contemporary Paintings and Art

  Barbara Jones Fine Art http://www.BarbaraJonesFineArt.com Click Here to View my Video   Click here to see my Fine Art Prints http://barbarajonesfineart.com/workshops http://barbarajonesfineart.com/email-newsletter   I had the privilege of doing a demo for the Hideaway Art League in East Texas.  Had a wonderful time with a great group of ladies.  I especially want to thank Jean Clark for inviting me and Joyce Wilson who helped me on my arrival.  Below is a photo of my setup and my unfinished demo artwork.  The finished piece will be in a future blog update. I love to use the chiaroscuro method of painting. Rembrandt created his distinctive portraits with a small palette of colors dominated by dark earth tones and golden highlights. He was a master of chiaroscuro , an Italian term for a style using strong lights and heavy shadows to create depth in a painting and a center of interest.  The colors I used in this ...

New Work!   The Rose Within                                      Oil                                          12x16   One of my favorite colors to paint is Red.  This is a beautiful little Indian pot I bought in Oklahoma.  I picked a white rose to add to this painting to bring in a lightest light.  The subject matter and the use of color was kept as simple as possible.   Barbara Jones Fine Art http://www.BarbaraJonesFineArt.com Click Here to View my Video   Click here to see my Fine Art Prints http://barbarajonesfineart.com/workshops http://...

    New Work!   The Gift of Lilacs                           Oil                               18x24     This is my attempt of painting flowers again.  It ended up being a lot of fun but challenging for me.  I added the warm copper pot to the composition to compliment the purples and grays.  It was kept in the background so I could highlight the lilacs and creamer.   Close Up View         Barbara Jones Fine Art http://www.BarbaraJonesFineArt.com Click Here to View my Video   Click here to see my Fine Art Prints http://barbarajonesfineart.com/workshops http://barbarajonesfineart.com/email-newsletter   ...

Beautiful Goodbye oil on linen 6" x 6" It's been awhile since I painted the figure, but I made up for it this week, painting 4 small figurative pieces. The inspiration for this one came from a vintage photo I found from around the early 1950s. I loved how the light came from behind her, throwing her face into shadow. I wanted emotion to rule in this painting and so I made my brushstrokes very expressive. Now I can't get the song "Beautiful Goodbye" by Maroon 5 out of my head! I love to share my art and inspiration. Click HERE to sign up for my email newsletter and receive a free gift of postcards. Follow me on Facebook

  Creating Dramatic Lighting   Creating bold and dramatic lighting is what chiaroscuro painting is all about.   Caravaggio began to use deep, dark backgrounds for many of his paintings, and seemed to almost turn a spotlight on his figures. The high contrast in those paintings made for intensely powerful and dramatic works of art. Because of Caravaggio, Chiaroscuro became very popular, and today the word is most often used to mean “high contrast” more than anything else.   Sometimes the source of the intense illumination in a painting (whether by Caravaggio or other artists) was actually IN the painting—you can see examples in religious works, where an angel or other holy figure actually illuminates the entire scene. Other times the light source is simply a candle, or a fire.     When using candlelight or torch, try adding highlights that have a bit of the color from the light source. For example, if the light sourc...