Gallery Feature: “Northern Leopard Frog”

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Art, commission, Feathered Fauna, northern leopard frog, Painting, wildlife artist, wildlife painting

I’ve been a commission artist now for 12 years. Right out of high school, I jumped head-long into the art world, and haven’t looked back since.

When you make a career out of creating art that people ask for (as opposed to an artist who paints pieces and then offers them for sale — “if you see something you like, please buy it”), you try to be proficient in everything. You also have to learn how to anticipate, observe, and gather information.

Made-to-order paintings are both exciting and nerve-wracking. As the artist, I enjoy the surprise of each new commission (what will I be asked to paint this time?), but I also worry that the client won’t share in my vision for the finished piece. Even when clients say they don’t know what they want, that’s usually not the case. You may not even be aware that you already have an image in your head, but trust me, it’s there, and part of my job is to coax it out of you.

Gallery Feature: Feathered Fauna “Baltimore Oriole”

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apple blossoms, Art, artist, Baltimore Oriole, birds, Glen Loates, Painting

From the time I was old enough to understand what a paint brush was for, I loved the work of Glen Loates. This famous Canadian wildlife painter has a talent for creating animals that are so lifelike you can almost touch them, and yet, his work still manages to retain that “painted” feel.

My favourite pieces were always the ones devoid of backgrounds. There’s something so striking about a beautifully rendered bird, moose or beaver depicted with just enough flora to ground the painting — without burying it in a shallow, two-dimensional grave.

Glen Loates

As a kid pouring over my Glen Loates books, I thought, “I wish I could paint like that.”

The Making of a Monster: My Bride of Frankenstein Painting

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Art, artist, Bride of Frankenstein, Elsa Lanchester, Halloween, Mary Shelley, Painting

Last year marked the 80th anniversary of Universal Pictures’ Frankenstein sequel, “The Bride of Frankenstein”.

The film stars Elsa Lanchester as Mary Shelley in the opening sequence, and as the Monster’s mate — the Bride — at the end.

As the Bride, Lanchester is seen onscreen for a mere 4 minutes of a 75 minute film, but with such a memorable, show-stopping look, she was forever immortalized as the Queen of Monsters in those few 240 seconds.

As an artist, I’ve spent years painting still-life, portraits, and wildlife. One thing I had never painted was anything pop culture related. How crazy is that? I’m constantly mooning over the monster art of artists like Basil Gogos and Jason Edmiston, yet I’d never done any of that myself. So last October, I set out to create a Bride of Frankenstein-inspired piece to commemorate the film’s 80th anniversary. I featured the finished painting in my Halloween night blog post, “A Toast to Gods and Monsters“.

In that post, I said that I would do a follow-up that chronicled the progression of the painting. So here’s your one and only warning: A whole slew of geeky, potentially boring art-speak follows. If you’re not keen on listening to me wax poetic about the who, what, when, where, why and hows of painting, then feel free to skip over the art jargon and scroll ahead to look at the pretty pictures. I won’t judge you. Much.

Gallery Feature: “Self-Portrait of the Artist at Twenty-Five”

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Art, artist, christianity, death, Dracula, Edgar Allan Poe, explanation, Literature, Painting, Portrait, self-portrait, symbolism

Wendy Brydge – “Self-Portrait of the Artist at Twenty-Five” – 2014

Every painting begins with an idea.

Rod Serling once said, “The instinct of creativity must be followed by the act, the physical act of putting it down for a sense of permanence. Once you get that prod, that emotional jar, that “I have witnessed something.” Or “I have felt something.” Or “I have seen something.” Or, through observation, “I have been moved by an event.” I think the answer is, “Get it down. Get it down quickly. Write it down.”

That right there is the best advice any artist — be they writer or painter — will ever receive. When you get that magical *spark* in your mind, that little glimmer of inspiration? You grab it, hold tight, and run with it as far as it will take you.

Ideas build on ideas. But inspiration can be fleeting. Maybe you see an image in your head as you’re drifting off to sleep at night. Or perhaps you read something interesting, or hear something unusual, and it makes you want to process and use that information somehow. When that happens, I urge you to do as the talented Mr. Serling said: GET IT DOWN. Any and all of it. Before it’s gone.

Depictions of Christ in Art

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Art, artist, Bible, Caravaggio, Christ of Saint John of the Cross, christianity, Compassion, cross, crucifixion, death, God, Jesus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Painting, religion, Salvador Dali, Salvator Mundi, The Flagellation of Christ, The Head of Christ, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Warner Sallman, William Adolphe Bouguereau

All of my fellow Seekers of Truth know that my interests are broad and far-reaching. My blog is made up of, dare I say, an incredible variety of topics.

Today is the two-year anniversary of “Seeker of Truth”. That’s right. On April 28, 2012, I introduced myself, pulled up a chair, and started writing. And I’ve spent the last two years blogging about many of my favourite things. But in 45 posts, I’ve never once covered my two favourite topics at the same time: Art and Jesus.

Jesus + Art = Me

If people could be broken down into a mere equation, that’s me right there. I have always loved paintings that depict Bible stories, Bible symbolism, and anything to do with Christ our Lord.

So what better way to celebrate the start of my third blogging year than by highlighting and discussing some of my favourite paintings of Jesus.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

~ 1 Peter 3:18

***

The painting that absolutely tops my list is Caravaggio’s “The Incredulity of Saint Thomas”.

This painting speaks to me like no other. It is the most beautiful painting I’ve ever seen. The work was completed in 1602 and now hangs in the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, Germany. It’s my favourite painting in the entire world and the only one I must see in person before I die.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman

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Abraham and Isaac, Armageddon, Art, artist, Bible, christianity, Daniel in the Lions' Den, God, Jesus, Painting, religion, Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, symbolism

Preliminary sketch for self portrait, 2008

When I was younger, pencil was my preferred medium. I liked to sketch. And I wasn’t all that interested in painting. In fact, let me be honest – I abhorred the idea of being a “painter”.

One day during my early years in high school, I decided to stop at the local art shop and make a few inquiries about how to get my work sold there in the future. I left extremely discouraged because the owner basically told me that pencil sketches weren’t really a saleable medium. That most people wanted colour on their walls.

This was quite the predicament. I had painted a few things before, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to sketch. In pencil.

So what’s a 15-year-old girl to do when all of her carefully thought out career plans seemingly evaporate before her eyes?

The Artist’s Studio

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Art, artist, Bible, Edgar Allan Poe, explanation, Painting, portfolio, quotes, studio

♦     ♦     ♦     ♦     ♦     ♦     ♦

Every artist needs a space. A space to call their own. A place that inspires creativity and is conducive to productivity. Every artist needs a studio.

Gather and hoard your inspirations as you live, then recapture them as needed in the studio.

~ Nita Engle

Armageddon: The Making of an Objet d’Art: Part 3

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Armageddon, Art, artist, Bible, christianity, explanation, God, Hell, Jesus, Painting, portfolio, religion, symbolism

Part 3: Pause, Particulars, Push

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This painting was nearly three years in the making. But that doesn’t mean it is the ONLY painting I created in that period. I always have two or more paintings underway at any given time. I’m not a person who gets bored easily, but working exclusively on the same painting for too long can become monotonous and tedious. Eventually, you want nothing more to do with it.

Working on a painting that you’ve lost interest in will lead to poor quality work and outright mistakes, which could effectively ruin it. The last thing you want is to screw up something you’ve invested hundreds of hours in. So you take a break, and move onto something else. Because of this painting’s size and irregular dimensions, it was very difficult and time-consuming to work on. Needless to say, I took quite a few breaks.

Armageddon: The Making of an Objet d’Art: Part 2

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Armageddon, Art, artist, Bible, christianity, explanation, God, Jesus, Painting, portfolio, religion, symbolism

Part 2: A Work in Progress…

Armageddon, Wendy Brydge, 2012

At over 4 feet long, this is the largest piece I’ve done. The painting measures 20” H x 54.5” W. It weighs about 15 pounds. Not the easiest canvas to maneuver, let me tell you. I actually had to bring another table into my studio to work on this, as it was too big to fit on my desk.

When you are painting, it’s easiest to work from back to front. This means, you paint the objects that are farthest away in the scene first, and paint whatever is in the foreground last. This eliminates the need for excessive re-painting (touching up an area that you’ve already completed, often more than once). So the first thing I painted on this piece was the black background. I knew there would be a significant amount of green for the top of the tree, and that I would need to paint it in layers; a layer of leaves behind the branches, as well as a layer of leaves in front of them. So when I free-handed the tree onto the board, I left the branches bare. Then I painted the black of the background around the branches.

Armageddon: The Making of an Objet d’Art: Part 1

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Armageddon, Art, artist, Bible, christianity, explanation, God, Hell, Jesus, Painting, portfolio, religion, symbolism

Armageddon, Wendy Brydge, 2012

Part 1: Planning, Prep and Polish

Sometimes a picture pops into your head, right out of the blue. Maybe it’s an object, or a scene, or an abstract thought, rather than an actual image. As an artist, this can happen to me multiple times, and on a daily basis. Some ideas rate jotting down, others you just let slip back into the ether.

In the fall of 2009, the image of a big tree, with enormous roots, and lush green leaves suddenly appeared in my head. It had deeply grooved bark, and immediately I thought, “how amazing would a big ol’ tree like that look with a symbol carved in it?” Then one after the other, the ideas came: Tree of Life, alive, green and growing, with roots spreading out to anchor it to the ground and branches that form a canopy over God’s people, and the symbol of the Messiah (Jesus), who is the Tree of Life…and it just continued on from there.