Art-Devine-Slasher

Step by step painting demonstrations, FREE painting tips and tutorials.

Archive for category Acrylic paintings

Painting of African Drummers: Step 2

Jan 5

Posted by Nkolika in Acrylic paintings, Oil paintings | No Comments


Today’s going to be a great day. Found out there were things I should have put in motion some time ago but have waited till the dying minute to start it off!!!! Dunno why I always seem to get stuck in dilemmas like this. But like I said earlier, today’s a great day…………….I expect it to be and it will be. I am not willing to let anything weigh me down especially something I can’t have a control over. Woke up early………..said ma prayers and put everything in God’s hands. Also asked for my Holy Mother’s intercession. I know for sure every thing will turn out well.

Painting of African Drummers: Step 2

Today I have built up on my sketch. I am using acrylic as a base for the background so I applied lemon yellow and cadmium yellow. For the textured impasto area I am using ultramarine blue. I intend to build up the colors in layers. Thus I’ll be applying several layers of paint in a slow but steady manner. Thankfully acrylic paint doesn’t take time to dry so it’s a quick medium to work with.

Acrylic Painting of African Drummers: Step 2

For the skin tones I am using oil paint and have started building it up with burnt sienna, cadmium orange, titanium white and a bit of burnt umber. I oft times do not like the way my works look in the begin but they always turn out differently at the end. Slowly but surely I’ll get there.

The painting has a life of its own

Jackson Pollock

Tags: , , ,

Acrylic on canvas painting: Expectations

Jan 1

Posted by Nkolika in Acrylic paintings, Inspirational | No Comments

Expectations-acrylic on canvas painting

Expectations

Acrylic on canvas

19″ x 36″

Date painted: 2005

copyright Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)

Finally 2009 is here…..and it’s here to stay. 2008 was a year that many found extremely difficult and many more found very good. 2008 was not what I hoped it would be (was it for you?). As I sat patiently waiting for 2009 to make its entrance, I contemplated on a lot of things.

  • Am I where I would have wanted to be? No.
  • Have I done all I would have wanted to do before the year ended? No.
  • Did I have a list of things I wanted done before the year ended? No.
  • Am I grateful for the way things turned out? Yes.
  • Do I feel sad that somehow the year brought a lot of pain? Yes (and No)
  • If given the same choice of choosing between the benefit of a presidential job at the cost of separation from my husband and the benefit of building a happy home; would I choose family? Yes
  • When I kneel to pray, do I ask God a string of whys or do I say thank you for everything? Yes.
  • Do I have any regrets? No

There are lots of questions that usually go through our minds whenever the year comes to an end and we find ourselves staring a new year in the face. No matter how hard you try not to reflect on the passing year…………..somehow nature always makes sure the year flashes through your mind. Many of us decide to make resolutions (which I gave up on after several failed attempts at keeping to them. Sometimes I even forgot what my resolutions were!!!). Many, like me, choose to sit in a quiet corner and reflect on the journey so far.
As I waited for the right moment to call family and friends to wish them a happy New Year; my hubby opted to go to bed. Hard as I tried to get him to stay awake with me, he saw no reason to stay awake making a statement that got me thinking all over again. He said “It’s just another day”. Is it really? I wonder…..

There’s a song I learnt 15 years ago while in high school when we were preparing for a send-forth party for the graduating class. Somehow the depth and wisdom of the song sunk in and has been my prayer since then. The song goes thus:

O I oft sit and ponder

When the sun is sinking low

Where shall yonder future find me?

Does but God in Heaven know.

Shall I be among the living?

Shall I mingle with the free?

Wheresoever my path be leading, Saviour keep my heart with thee.

(The Chorus…………my best part)
Oh the future lies before me and I know not where I’ll be
Wheresoever my path be leading, Saviour keep my heart with thee.

As I hummed it again last night close to 12am I was sure of one thing and one thing only as I was faced with a new year…….and that was I was filled with a lot of expectation. Yeah Expectations!!!! Lots of it!! I expect the best and I believe I will get the best.
It is a well known fact that we are what we think about every day. Our thoughts go a very long way to shaping who we are. As you entered this New Year did you have any expectations? Were they expectations that things will go well and better or that they will get worse? As you read this, what do you expect this year to be like? For you, your plans, your family, your dreams, and life in general. Unfortunately you alone can answer.

As for me, I expect the best in all my endeavours. I expect to finally get a grip on what “blogging” is all about. I expect to derive more joy and happiness from painting. I expect to spread joy and an appreciation of God’s creative power through my paintings and artworks. I expect to smile always, no matter the circumstance or situation. I expect to face more challenges and to overcome them. I expect to broaden my knowledge and learn more about art. I expect to walk more closely with God and to abandon myself without reservations at His feet. I expect to reach closer to my dreams.

Happy New Year!!!! 2009

Tags: , , , , , ,

Challenges

Dec 30

Posted by Nkolika in Acrylic paintings, Inspirational | 9 Comments

Tomatoes-acrylic on paper painting

Tomatoes on a table

Acrylic on paper

13.5cm x 21.5cm

Date painted: 2008

copyright Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)

For Sale

Still trying to get a hang on this new adventure of mine called “Blogging“. So many things to learn and to do all at the same time. I don’t know why everything in life has to entail a lot of hard work.

When I was setting up my art website from scratch…….I was excited when I discovered I didn’t need to pay anyone to do it for me since I could do it myself. The excitement soon wore off when I discovered it involved a lot of work. And getting used to all those web designing jargon (like html, cms, tags, css, wysiwyg) was not an easy feat at all. Then when I finally got it off the ground after weeks of sweating and frustration; I realized there was even more work ahead…………..getting it out there for everyone to see and getting people to visit.

At the end of the day I ask myself; is it really worth the while doing things by oneself or is it better paying someone else to do it? But yet again I can’t deny that there’s always a tremendous feeling of fulfillment that goes with learning things from scratch and challenging oneself. I think for me that is more important than saving the money that could have been used to pay someone else to do it (not that saving money is not important!!!). There’s nothing like looking at what you did with your hands and knowing that you did it YOURSELF…..no matter how it turned out.

When I tell people about my website I always feel a sense of pride when they tell me they liked it. I find it hard holding back the urge to tell them that I did it from scratch (of course with a free template)…………it somehow means more to me that they know that I did it myself. Is it being arrogant?

Each new challenge I willingly take up reminds me of other previous challenges which I took up and came out feeling accomplished. As the years go by the previous challenges seem little compared to what may be facing me now…….but are we not all quick to forget that back then the challenge seemed insurmountable as at now.

The greatest challenge I have ever taken up (and which I still battle with) is PAINTING. I remember those days in high school; it was never easy sitting in a class filled with only boys (whom we were made to believe as children…………were the only born artists!!!). But lo and behold I came out as the best fine art student. My fine art teacher used to call me a “photographer with a pencil”. All it took was hard work and confidence.

Then came University days, making out time to pursue my dreams on canvas even when I had tons of medical books to go through was something whenever I am asked how I did it…I am never able to answer. The secret I can say was just taking things easy. I painted when I could and when I couldn’t I wouldn’t force it. The most important thing was that the dream to be a good painter was there and I knew it was not going to go anywhere.

Today, as I go through other artists’ blogs I feel the same palpitations I used to feel in school during the fine art classes. It’s a feeling I know all too well. Whenever I make my way from one blog to the other; I am always struck by the beauty of their art and what they have achieved.

Though I am still a youngster in a lot of ways I can’t help but feel I still have a lot of grounds to cover and a lot more challenges to face. Someone might say that’s being greedy especially when you consider the fact that I’ve achieved what many of my peers haven’t (see my resume). But there are many of my peers who have achieved a lot more…….so either way you choose to look at it; there should never be an end to one’s hunger to reach further and higher than he/she has reached before. After all, is that not why we are here?

As we all face our own individual challenges may we continue to dream more and aim higher. And most importantly enjoy yourself every step of the way. Slowly but surely I will learn to blog better.

I am currently offering the painting above for free at the facebook marketplace .

Creativity takes courage.

Henri Matisse

Tags: , , , ,