Progress end of day 7

Day 7 – Today I worked mostly on the water. In particular, I continue building the shallow water and foam patterns. I also added lighter sand color and started the skin tone (I am not done). Worked on her top and I think I will make it red.


My fiancé said I should let her hair down and make her topless like my other ladies. I am considering getting rid of the Wilma Flintstone hairdo and let the hair flow in front of the body and to her side. I don’t want the hair to cover her back. I will wait for the water to dry before I change her hair style.

I still need to work on the flesh this will take some time and I’ll save it for the weekend.

I worked about 2 hours today.


Do you remember the Flintstones? 

Day 6 Painting - Time for R and R (working on foam patterns)

Progress end of Day 6

 Progress end of Day 6

Day 6 - I had class last night with six adults. We were wrapping up a painting so they could take it home before the holidays. I worked overtime to get it done. Teaching is one of the best jobs. People come to class because they want to be there. And as a teacher, it is rewarding to see their development. The art studio is a place my students feel they can have fun and relax after a stressful day of work.  Creating art is good therapy!

After class I return home. It is late. I think to myself, I don’t have time to work on my big painting today. But I need to make the time. I turn on the news to catch up on events. I only have time to work on the lower half of the water. I focus on the foam patterns. I still need to work this area further to develop it better. However, I love the results thus far. I will continue working on the water another day.


I love water. It has always been my desire to learn to paint the ocean in it’s many forms. I particularly love the transparent clean waters of the South Pacific and Hawaii region. I’m drawn to paint calm waters. It took many, many years of trial and error and tons of practice to finally capture the ocean on canvas. And to be honest, I’m still learning, albeit at a much more rapid rate. It didn’t start out this way in my early development as an artist; there was a time when I felt like a slow learner. And honestly, I was too busy to practice let a lone breath. But that has changed (another story) and now I am pursuing my passion with gusto!


Today I painted for about an hour. I’ll get busy this weekend!

Day 5 Painting - Time for R and R

Progress Day 5

Day 5 - I continue to work on shaping the girl by bringing out more contrasting light and dark values. I will be adding flesh tone to her soon after the gray paint dries. I will have to wait a few days. As I continue to work on her I fin

d myself shrinking the arm and reshaping the face. I added another layer of color to the hula skirt and more design to it. I begin coloring in the flower head lei and lavender top and belt. I like to start with darker hues first and slowly bring out more light as I continue.

I darkened my water at the top of the canvas and brought this color down about the top quarter of my ocean. This is the second day on the ocean. I spent most of the time on the girl today.

I had a lot of fun tonight painting and singing. I listened to some good music while painting the Beach Boys and Beatles. I highly recommend playing music while you paint, doubles the enjoyment. I spent 2 hours creating.

Below are links to some great music

Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4 Painting - Time for R and R

 Progress End of Day 2

Progress end of Day 3

Progress end of Day 4

Day 2 - My first day of painting (the sky) is still wet. I like that, it makes painting the clouds easier for me. As I paint the clouds in with white and a touch of burnt sienna I melt the edges into the surrounding blue sky. This also tints the white down further. The edges of my clouds become soft and wispy when the colors blend. This is the beauty of oil. I let some of the orange canvas show through the clouds so there is a warm color and glow. Today I spent about 45 minutues.

Day 3 - I paint in the foundation of my sand with a mixture of white, burnt sienna, alizarin crimson, and yellow ochre. I use more white than the other colors mentioned until I get the sand color I desire (I will lighten the sand even more so later). The ocean is a mixture of phthalo blue, phthalo green and manganese blue and some alizarin crimson. I make the upper part of the ocean very dark and as I progress down the canvas I go lighter blue / green towards the sand. I melt the sand with the water. I start adding white caps in the distant water and shape water patterns in the shallow water with light purple shadows and I use more sand color to force the sand to show through the water around my shadows. I remove the tape and paint this part of the ocean the darkest. I take my time here to keep the horizon line straight. This takes a steady hand. I painted another 2 hours. The bigger the canvas the longer it takes to paint there is much more to cover.

Day 4 - I now start painting in the girl with Ivory black and white. I create different shades of gray. The paint is still wet so I can melt the colors of my original line drawing with the new paint. I am sculpting the figure to look more three dimensional with values of light, medium, and dark. I am focusing on blending the hard lines and colors together. As I am painting the figure I am redrawing the girl. The original drawing was a bit off. I add the first layer of paint to the hula skirt (I always start darker than what I see in the photo).

In case you are wondering I don’t always prime my canvas a color I sometimes paint my picture on a white canvas directly. And when I paint people or animals I don’t always start them out in gray. I sometimes go straight in with color.

I stop for the evening. I paint almost 2 hours.

Rainy Day Painting Day 1

Day 1 – Dec 1st, 2010


It is the biggest canvas I have ever worked on. It is a wrap around canvas and has a 1.5" thick border. I'll paint the edges last. This canvas measures 48"x48.” It is a big square. First I have to decide what to paint, this part takes some time. There is so much I want to create! I go through my collection of pictures and clippings of inspiration to form my visual idea. I begin by coloring the white canvas a warm orange. I could have used oil paint for my base, but I used acrylic paint it covers and dries faster than oil. The rest of this painting will be done in oil paint my favorite medium. After 15 minutes, the acrylic paint dries. I do a light pencil sketch or outline of the girl on the beach. I place a piece of tape on my horizon line to separate the sky from the water. This helps keep the line as straight as possible.
Now I paint in the sky and with oil paint. I stop for the day. I have spent about an hour to get started.

Rainy cold day, I say it is time to start a new painting of a warm faraway place

Aloha from Northern California! It has been a cold November and December thus far. I don't mind the change of seasons and I do love stormy weather, especially if I'm cozy indoors. Due to the economy I have been painting smaller pictures 8"x10", 11"x14", and 16"x20." However, at least once a year, I do feel compelled to create one large scale painting. When it is winter time here, I like to escape somewhere tropical and warm. Painting keeps me out of trouble and fills the time nicely. I’m not the kind of girl to bake cookies on a rainy day, I much rather be painting. Like I said, it keeps me out of trouble and helps maintain the weight! If you are trying to break any bad habit, I recommend you keep your hands and mind busy with a hobby such as painting.

Painting is a journey, and as you develop your skill, it does become more and more enjoyable. It is a nice challenge to paint a picture. Never boring, always interesting! I work with many beginner students and most feel a little intimidated to start their first, second, third painting etc. However, you need to push yourself beyond the fear and doubt. Never compare yourself to another artist. Measure your personal growth by comparing yourself to your own past work. See the improvement. Remember we all need to start somewhere. Most people are not born at the top; they had to earn their way there. You didn’t come out of the womb walking so remember to be patient with yourself. You will get there one step at a time, one brush stroke at a time, and one painting at a time.

Catching up on old news we moved our gallery!

Aloha my friends!

I was going to write about my recent hula show and reveal pictures of my almost complete paintings from this event. However, I was reading back through my blog and something in the past history did change that I should clarify now. Art on The Lane next to the Wild Vine - Wine and Bistro did not work out. The landlord was very challenging and unfair (I’m being delicate here and holding back on words) so both parties in the painful end decided to part ways. There is a crazy story behind that fall through, but I better not say more in this public forum.

The negotiating of our old space took several months of back and forth dealings and many artists’ hopes besides mine were raised and then crushed unfortunately. It is strange and yet funny in a sick way how one person can have so much control over many people’s lives in that brief moment of time and space. This also put my book project on hold further.

However, as I was walking away and feeling so done from having any art gallery, Barbara Davies and Joanne Robinson my original gallery partners decided to take the new space that I had found earlier but I had let got of due to all the confusion with our old land lord (she wanted us back at one point). This new space is very beautiful compared to our old space. And again it is just back to us three artists. Simple this way, no managing on my part. Our new home is in a beautiful renovated building that is reminiscent of other historical homes built in this area in the late 1800s. Down town Danville is very charming this way. A place that feels rich in beauty surrounded by rolling hills populated with wild oak trees and other native greenery and brush. I realize how luck I am to live here today. Sometimes I forget when I’m busy running around from one appointment to the next. However, when I slow down I soak it all in.

We have been at our new home since June 2010. I love our new gallery it feels and looks bright, vibrant, classy, and cheerful, our former location was old and run down and our new address is a short walk from the previous space.

Art on The Lane
178 East Prospect Avenue
Danville, CA.

We are located on the corner of Front Street and Prospect. We are more visible than our old location. We share the same building as Modi Mi clothes store. There is a Chocolate store just across the street with the best treats. I’m developing a sweet tooth for gourmet delicacies! And on the other side of our art gallery is Father Nature’s Restaurant. I love the food there as well and the historic atmosphere and the decor.

It is November 2010 and I did finally finish my first draft of my book! It is now in the hands of my editor friend for evaluation. I hope to have this book complete and ready for print and sale by March or April 2011. I have more paintings to do for this book.

Now that I am a creative artist full-time, the genie has been let out of the bottle and I have this insatiable need to create and bring forth new ideas that had been buried and untapped. I have a goal to write and illustrate a few more books including a series of children books as well as instructional how to art books.

I also caved in and set up a new Face Book Business page please check it out and "like" me:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/McCartney-Fine-Art/106690719394749?v=app_4949752878&ref=ts

My next blog will be about the hula show I exhibited at early November and I will post two completed paintings that I started live at this event. I’m almost done with the paintings. I am hoping Bob and Bonnie Hoffman who I exhibited with will send me some pictures to post from the event. I did not have fresh batteries in my camera and no time to get any.

A hui hou (Until we meet again)