Sunday, November 3, 2013

{Cherry Blossom Triptych painting on canvas}

I painted this cherry blossom branch a couple weeks ago. It's now hanging up for sale at my Aunt Bonnie's shop, Vintage & Violets in Barstow, California. 

Triptych acrylic hand--painted pink cherry blossom branch with chickadee bird on canvas.
Each canvas is 5inX5in and 1in deep. 
5inX15in total



Cherise Larue Davies 

{Nursery Wall Mural: White tree with purple flowers}

Last month I did this nursery wall mural for my newest niece!
Bethany showed me a couple pictures of the kind of branches she wanted and the flowers she wanted on it and I went to work! 

I SO I wish I had taken some close ups of the flowers and branches. I'll have to get some next time I'm up that way.



{A painting of a painting}

I've been trying to use up the canvases that are taking up room in our second bedroom so one day it can be used for a baby's room. 
I found a painting by another artist that I really admired so I tried to do one like his. 

I used acrylic instead of watercolor and it's not as beautiful as the original but I was happy with how it turned out and happy to have done a painting so quickly. I often think way too much and for way too long before starting a painting so it was really nice to just do it. 



Cherise Larue Davies

{Art Lessons: Painting}

This last week during our weekly art lesson (<-- a="" and="" for="" grandma.="" her="" i="" info="" nbsp="" on="" p="" painting="" pricing="" sheridyn="" small="" worked="">
She said her grandma loved purple blossoms so we sat down and I helped her come up with a plan for a scene that included purple blossoms. 

She wanted a path and a tree and a sunset and birds. 




One thing I LOVE about teaching art lessons is teaching small tricks. Younger kids especially, like Sheridyn, don't know how to use paint brushes or pencils to their advantage yet. A large part of that is that they don't have the dexterity for it. But often all they need is for you to show them an example of how to hold the brush or the pencil to create the kind of stroke or line they want. Then they try it themselves. Then, as the teacher, I'll hold her hand that it holding the brush or pencil and do the stroke with her. For Sheridyn, this makes a HUGE difference. As soon as we do each of those things she gets it and can do it herself.
One of her favorite tricks I've taught her about painting is when you have a lot of paint in your brush but its gobbed up near the top and you want to get as much out of the paintbrush as you can, you turn it on it's side and twirl the brush against the pallet or even against your canvas. This pulls the gob of paint out of the brush and makes it available for use.
I love it when she realizes while painting that she can do this. She'll stop and look at me and then look back and do it on her own while telling me that she remembers what to do.

I love teaching. :)

Cherise Larue Davies 

{Hand Painted Headboards/Wood Panel Signs}

Recently my dear friend Danielle asked me to paint two sports team wood signs for her boys' rooms for above their beds. She wanted to hang them to take the place of their headboards. 

She did the hard work of collecting the wood panels and nailing them all together how she wanted and even delivered them to my house. Oh man, she's making my life easy. :)

So she wanted the Texas Ranger's 'T' and the BYU Cougars 'Y'.

She gave me a couple of pictures she found online of how another person had done the BYU sign. I would give them credit but don't know the link! 

So I went to work looking at pictures on Google of their logos and made my own stencils and transferred them onto the wood. 


These were really fun and different for me to do and I really enjoyed it! I love trying new things!


After finishing them and delivering them to her, she sent me pics of them hung on their walls:



If you're interested in something like this, it's not in my pricing list but you can e-mail me at artlarue@gmail.com and I'll get you the info you need. 

Thanks for looking!

Cherise Larue Davies 

Thursday, October 17, 2013

{PRICING}

Single-face Hand-Drawn Portrait from photo: 
Other sizes available upon request.
8x10:      $140
11x14:    $175
20x24:    $230

Single Canvas Acrylic Painting:
Other sizes available upon request.
4x6:        $30
5x5:        $30
5x7:        $55
8x10:      $100
10x10:    $115
11x14:    $150
14x14:    $180
16x20:    $220
18x24:    $250

Triptych Canvas Acrylic Painting: 
Other sizes available upon request.
5x5:        $90
10x10:    $140
14x14:    $200

Wall Murals:
Because of the wide variety of murals that can be done, please e-mail me with a description--OR even better, a picture of something like what you want and I will send you the estimate or set cost. 

  Quilts:
  Please contact me for pricing and other info. 

Art Lessons:
Costs as seen below but if you come to me with more than one student for lessons, I will reduce cost by $5 for each student, each lesson. 
1-hour lesson
     Ages 6-11:   $20
     Ages 12-16: $30
     Ages 17+:    $25
1/2-hour lesson
     Ages 6-11:   $15

     Ages 12-16: $20
     Ages 17+:    $18


Frequently Asked Questions:
If your question(s) are not answered below, please please please don't hesitate to e-mail me! I love answering questions to help you get beautiful art for your home!

I see you've done a painting of pink colored blossoms or a certain kind of birds but I want something different; can you do that for me and how can I find out?
-Yes Yes Yes!!! I LOVE doing custom paintings! All of the blossom paintings (in particular) were done based on my client's requests for color, size and type of bird. 
Just shoot me an email with your specifications and I will respond, usually within a few hours. If not, within a day. 
-Maybe you do want something different but you don't know what would look good etc. Again, I LOVE helping with this! If you just give me a couple things to go on...For Example: what room do you plan to hang it in? what are the decor colors?
*I will do everything I can to come up with a painting that will work with what you already have OR come up with a painting that will really stand out and be a focal point for a room.
Do you do portrait paintings?
-No, I don't. I know what things I am talented at and, unfortunately, I've never mastered painting people. Maybe one day but not for now! Sorry!
Do you do gallery wrapped paintings?
-Yes, I do! That is my favorite way to finish off a painting because it gives my customers options. They can have it framed or, if money is an issue, it is ready to hang as-is and does not require framing! This saves a lot of money! 
The standard frames I use are 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick. If you want a deeper canvas, it may require an extra fee for me to be able to purchase a deeper more expensive canvas but again, this will be a fraction of what framing would cost you!

Will you do a multiple face portrait?
-This depends on two things. How many are we talking about? and How good is your original photo?
I usually will not do more than two faces per portrait. Yes, I have done drawings with three before but they are few and far between.
Why not? There are several factors. On my end, if I get through the first/second/third face and then the final face just won't turn out right or something goes wrong anywhere along the line, it ruins the entire thing. Portrait drawings take hours of time and in order to keep my costs reasonable, I set boundaries.
If you really want multiple faces drawn, I suggest getting separate drawings done and you can have them framed into a large multi-opening mat in a large frame. It's a lovely way to display children/family portraits! I will give a discount if multiple drawings are commissioned.

How do payments work? 
-Any order over $100 requires a $50 deposit at the time of order (in other words, I cannot start your artwork until I receive this deposit). 
-The total amount is due at the time you approve the artwork (I will e-mail you a photo of the completed piece). If a deposit was made, that amount goes toward your final cost. Once the money has come through, I will mail or give you your completed artwork! 
-I take personal checks (must be given or mailed to me and cleared before I will release/mail the artwork.) cash (if in person. -I don't want cash getting lost in the mail!) or PayPal.
Do you ever do discounts?
-YES!!! If you order 2+ pieces of artwork at one time. The more you order, the more I'll discount.
-Occasionally I'll have already finished paintings and I will sell them at a discounted rate since they are not custom to the buyer. 

What are Art Lessons like?   What if my child is only interested in drawing or only interested in painting etc? 
-I work with students on acrylics, watercolors, chalk, oil pastel, charcoal and pencil. I like to base my lessons on the skill of the student and on their interests. If they are coming as a single student, we will discuss what things they are interested in and I plan accordingly. If they only want to paint, we will only paint. If they don't care, then we'll take a little time with everything. Then, if/when they determine which ones they enjoy most, we will focus more on those mediums. 
-Students must have a basic sketch book, drawing pencil(s) and eraser. The older/more advanced the student is, the more supplies they might need but I do try to supply as much of my own medium as possible. 
-Lessons will be different based on the age of the student(s). Younger children will be doing quicker practices and projects. With older students I will spend longer on each project and lesson. Often, we will talk about a certain principle of art (ie: pattern, line, color etc) and then do a project based on that principle. 
-I teach these lessons out of my home, normally. This is easiest because I have all the supplies necessary there. But in some cases, I will go to the student's home to teach. If the student is only interested in drawing, I can meet the student at a library or other public place if desired.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

{Wall Mural: Jumping horse with girl rider}

I recently started doing wall murals and I'm really enjoying it! I would LOVE to do more so if you or anyone you know is in the Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton/Krum area and you have a spare wall....Please contact me! :)

This one I did on Sheridyn's bedroom wall. She loves horses with all her heart and they just redecorated and hired me to paint this horse! 


Sheridyn is one of my art students and she herself is quite talented! She even got to do some painting with me on the horse. I wish I had pictures of us working together!!

I gave the rider blonde hair and blue eyes just like Sheridyn. 

I got this done in two evenings but could have done it in one without having to leave so early the first night! 

Saturday, August 24, 2013

{Progression of a Painting}

My sister Annette K. Larsen just published her first book last week! 
'Just Ella' by Annette K. Larsen
It's available on Kindle right now and will be available in paperback by next week.

She asked me/I offered....or begged.... :) to do the cover art for it.

It was the hardest painting I've ever attempted. I wanted to give up several times. I'm really grateful for my painter father who when I texted him and said I just couldn't possibly do it and I honestly couldn't keep going just said simply, "Try one more time."

Bless him. 

Since it took so long I have a pretty complete progression of the painting in pictures. 
So I thought I'd share them. 

Just have to say, my process is completely different than what I was taught in my college classes...They tried to beat it out of me, but it just didn't happen. :) 

So here we go!

Started with the sky.
(Don't let the easel fool you. This was the only time I used it during the entire process. :) 
 See? I was back down on the floor again for this one:
Underpainting for the tower.

 This was interesting to paint. You don't do just greys using white and black. It has peaches, pinks, purples and blues.
 I love painting greenery. I love green anyway so I was excited for this phase. 

 Adding the underpainting for the doors...
Then the underpainting for the grass and doors.
 I did the detail on the doors during general conference. They now always remind me of President Monson's talk. :)
 I enjoyed adding this detail and 'cutting' out the circle in the door. And then adding the wood grain is always fun. (Seriously though, I really enjoy painting wood. :)
 Starting Ella's hair

 Trying to figure out her dress and took a break on her hair...
 Lightened up her hair, added arms, hands, sleeves and changed her skirts.

 After a lot of deliberation and a couple converstaions and lots of texting Annette, we found a new skirt style we liked better. 

 The final product: 
I'll do another post to show what the actual book cover looks like!

{Nursery Wall Murals}

Recently I've done a few wall murals. 
My friend Whitney is pregnant with a little girl and getting so so excited for her arrival!
She decided on a monkey theme for the nursery and had all the bedding and everything and she found a vinyl wall design to match. 
Problem was, the site looked not super trustworthy and it would be shipping from overseas. Plus it was kind of pricey. 
So we chatted and I told her I could easily just paint it onto the wall.

We changed it a bit from the original vinyl idea so it would be how Whitney wanted it. 


The monkey even has a little bow!

I wish I had a picture of when we were actually painting it! Whitney didn't want to just sit while I painted so she did a lot of the filling in on the circles. But the poor girl was hugely pregnant and standing on a stool. Oh man did she make me nervous but she's a rockstar. :) It was a super fun project to do and I'd love to do it again! :)

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Frequently Asked Questions: Artwork Orders

If your question(s) are not answered below, please please please don't hesitate to e-mail me! I love answering questions to help you order beautiful art and more for your home!

I see you've done a painting of pink colored blossoms or a certain kind of birds but I want something different; can you do that for me and how can I find out?
-Yes Yes Yes!!! I LOVE doing custom paintings! All of the blossom paintings (in particular) were done based on my client's requests for color, size and type of bird. 
Just shoot me an email with your specifications and I will respond, usually within a few hours. If not, within a day. 
-Maybe you do want something different but you don't know what would look good etc. Again, I LOVE helping with this! If you just give me a couple things to go on...For Example: what room do you plan to hang it in? what are the decor colors?
*I will do everything I can to come up with a painting that will work with what you already have OR come up with a painting that will really stand out and be a focal point for a room.
Do you do portrait paintings?
-No, I don't. I know what things I am talented at and, unfortunately, I've never mastered painting people. Maybe one day but not for now! Sorry!
Do you do gallery wrapped paintings?
-Yes, I do! That is my favorite way to finish off a painting because it gives my customers options. They can have it framed or, if money is an issue, it is ready to hang as-is and does not require framing! This saves a lot of money! 
The standard frames I use are 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick. If you want a deeper canvas, it may require an extra fee for me to be able to purchase a deeper more expensive canvas but again, this will be a fraction of what framing would cost you!

Will you do a multiple face portrait?
-This depends on two things. How many are we talking about? and How good is your original photo?
I usually will not do more than two faces per portrait. Yes, I have done drawings with three before but they are few and far between.
Why not? There are several factors. On my end, if I get through the first/second/third face and then the final face just won't turn out right or something goes wrong anywhere along the line, it ruins the entire thing. Portrait drawings take hours of time and in order to keep my costs reasonable, I set boundaries.
If you really want multiple faces drawn, I suggest getting separate drawings done and you can have them framed into a large multi-opening mat in a large frame. It's a lovely way to display children/family portraits! I will give a discount if multiple drawings are commissioned.

How do payments work? 
-Any order over $100 requires a $50 deposit at the time of order (in other words, I cannot start your artwork until I receive this deposit). 
-The total amount is due at the time you approve the artwork (I will e-mail you a photo of the completed piece). If a deposit was made, that amount goes toward your final cost. Once the money has come through, I will mail or give you your completed artwork! 
-I take personal checks (must be given or mailed to me and cleared before I will release/mail the artwork.) cash (if in person. -I don't want cash getting lost in the mail!) or PayPal.
Do you ever do discounts?
-YES!!! If you order 2+ pieces of artwork at one time. The more you order, the more I'll discount.
-Occasionally I'll have already finished paintings and I will sell them at a discounted rate since they are not custom to the buyer. 

What are Art Lessons like?   What if my child is only interested in drawing or only interested in painting etc? 
-I work with students on acrylics, watercolors, chalk, oil pastel, charcoal and pencil. I like to base my lessons on the skill of the student and on their interests. If they are coming as a single student, we will discuss what things they are interested in and I plan accordingly. If they only want to paint, we will only paint. If they don't care, then we'll take a little time with everything. Then, if/when they determine which ones they enjoy most, we will focus more on those mediums. 
-Students must have a basic sketch book, drawing pencil(s) and eraser. The older/more advanced the student is, the more supplies they might need but I do try to supply as much of my own medium as possible. 
-Lessons will be different based on the age of the student(s). Younger children will be doing quicker practices and projects. With older students I will spend longer on each project and lesson. Often, we will talk about a certain principle of art (ie: pattern, line, color etc) and then do a project based on that principle. 
-I teach these lessons out of my home, normally. This is easiest because I have all the supplies necessary there. But in some cases, I will go to the student's home to teach. If the student is only interested in drawing, I can meet the student at a library or other public place if desired.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

{NEW: Blog and FB only! No more website!! }

I am now working through this Blog and Facebook for now! 
My website is down for the time being. 
So please share this info with anyone who might be interested!!! 

Here's a reminder of some of my past work: 
All drawings are done from professionally taken photographs provided by each client.}