becky kelly artist blog

Nov 11, 2012

Christmas Cards!

I'll be posting the cards selected soon!

Thank you for your help,

sure is a difficult choice.

Thanks for all your input.

Nov 8, 2012

Christmas Cards - I Need Your Help!

Trying to figure out which card to print for Christmas is HARD.

Only one or two cards can be printed each year.
Help me choose a favorite.
I will only keep these up a very short time.
Can you tell me which is your favorite card?
One or two will be chosen to go into my card line this Season.
Which one do you like? Please leave a message below! Thank you for your assistance.

2) 2 versions of skaters

A. Have A Merry Merry Christmas
or
B. Merry Christmas
c. Seasons Greetings

3) the little house

Merry Christmas

inside

Happy New Year

4) Kids Christmas morning

5) Sugar Plum Dreams

6) Santa Card

Have a Merry Merry Christmas!

or
May your days be Merry and Bright

7) Santa and Apples Deer

6) Fresh repaint with polar animals, no kids...maybe next years?

Nov 3, 2012

HaPpy HaLLoWeEN

Halloween!

I love Halloween.

Pumpkins, spice, fall air, berries and candles,

soft warmth of lanterns in the windows.

Halloween Lanterns

One year, some of my lanterns went missing.

I ended up buying new orange paper lanterns, and simple lights.

Then I opened the lanterns and drew faces with markers.

...each year I like to change and add new ones

the purple/pink on was purchased at Trapps years ago.

"Trick or Treat" by my house to see our Pumpkin Lanterns.

Oct 29, 2012

Halloween Freebie for October DIY Craft!!

Trick or Treat!

(*mostly treat)

FREE ! DIY craft

A Free Mini Zine for Halloween!

for a limited time only

On the download page of my website

www.beckykelly.com

Use code
BKHALLOWEEN
in the code box near the bottom of the page
(Scroll all the way to the bottom - downloads will show up near the bottom of this page)
You will receive DIY
DOWNLOADS
3 pages- 2 pages of art and 1 instruction page

1) download
2) print (follow instructions) print on both sides of paper
3) fold as directed and staple sides
4) trim edges (young kids need help cutting)

Fun craft to make with Kids,
free book and give it to your friends

easy to make

Let me know what you think below.

Free Shipping on US orders over 65.00 at the shop

Free Shipping

- details below

www.beckykelly.com/shop

**Free Shipping on Orders over 65.oo * in the USA**

use coupon code

fall2013

*Limited time on Free Shipping

Oct 10, 2012

Growing up in West Virginia

Becky

People sometimes ask me about my childhood.

Envision a romantic cobblestone path leading to a sweet,

charming ivy covered cottage next to a brook....

sound wonderful?

Maybe so, but my home was much different than one might imagine...

It was a place filled with imagination, intellectual pursuits, creativity

and interesting things to see and do.

...not exactly sweet and charming.

My father was an architect and designed our home.
Built in mid-century modern architectural style, it was designed utilizing natural stone, slate, wood and glass. My father purposely designed our home with a lodge like look and feel. As the family grew, he wanted a nice place for family and friends to come together.

Becky reading in the living room

Outdoors and indoors meet through large expanses of glass, creating rooms with high ceilings and views of beautiful woodland surroundings. Eames chairs and electric blue Bertoia chairs mixed creatively with antiques. It was, and is, an interesting mix of furniture. Somehow it worked well.

A home filled with beauty and style.

Even more, my favorite memories are of around the kitchen table, talking and laughing with friends and family. Delightful smells of home cooked meals and freshly baked breads filled our home. My mother made sure people always felt welcome with her generous Southern Hospitality. I've longed to have a home overflowing with friends and family, but am not quite as extroverted as my mother.

Christmas Card Photos of siblings Nancy, Becky and Chuck Wilson

Christmas Photo Becky Chuck and Nancy (The Night Before Christmas)

At the Kitchen table.
Note the woodland trees outside the windows.
Becky's father's art studio is in the distance, to the far right.

Becky, in Pj's

Our family was well known in the area as the family that cared for stray animals.

People dropped off stray dogs, cats and kittens, rabbits and guinea pigs,

knowing they would be well cared for until a good home was found.

Many lost or orphaned woodland animals and birds, some with broken wings from hitting the glass windows found their way to our home. We nursed them back to health and found homes, or let the wild animals go, carefully, using gloves to not leave a human scent on the little ones.

This was the beginning of my life long fascination with animals.

I dreamed of having a home filled with animals- like a zoo.

But, life has a way of taking care of those dreams...
no Elephant poo in the living room for me.
Instead, I like to draw and paint animals.

Animals are much easier to care for in art and book form.

Oct 1, 2012

Enchanted Year Calendar 2013


New 2013 Enchanted Year!

Becky Kelly's enchanting scenes are based on the real world,

with a sprinkling of stardust to add a bit of magic.

This calendar is filled with beautiful watercolors

that capture the

simple pleasures of the heart and soul.

12X12

Congratulations Phyllis, winner of the September Give Away!

Congratulations Phyllis!

You are the winner of the Sept drawing

Sep 8, 2012

September Give A Way at Becky Kelly's Online Shop

Fairy Reading in Greens

Septembers Give Away

5 post card set

here's a link to the inside scoop on how this

fairy painting was conceived!

learn about how to paint fairy wings in watercolor

Comment below to enter the Sept. Give A Way!

what would you like to read/see most on this blog?

~ multiple entries accepted! ~

be sure to write a new comment for each new entry.

(tell a friend for a double entry- just let me know!)

Sep 5, 2012

About Fairy Reading in Greens

Recently, I was asked to post more about painting and my artwork.
I've chosen to write about

Fairy Reading in Greens

This image is of a tiny fairy reading, surrounded by white star flowers.

A fairy sits quietly reading, lost in a good book. Sunlight reflects on her diaphanous wings.

Ladybug friends read as they relax on leaves in the morning sun.

This scene allows us to steal a glimpse of a fairy reading a book.

Imagine... quietly parting branches to observe this tiny Fairy

engrossed in reading

(one of those rare moments

of spotting a fairy without her knowledge.)

Gossamer Wings

In this image I wanted to paint gossamer wings. Not only because I love the sound of the word "gossamer" but because the meaning of this word captures the delicate nature of fairy wings. Lace-like wings similar to those of a dragonfly. Fairies have glistening wings painted to look delicate, reflecting light, with an iridescent, opalescent quality. Her wings reflect all that surrounds. I've added dots of white with a bleed proof paint (with a tiny brush) to give the appearance of sparkles.

Her wings reflect leaves of green and white star flowers against the hazy morning sky. Originally, I wanted to paint her dress with the same iridescent quality as her wings. Instead, to create a fresh look, I used a clean simple cotton dress to contrast with her iridescent wings. This simple dress creates the image of a fairy enjoying the sweet, simple pleasures of reading. She is dressed in white (I make most of my fairy's and children's clothing white...someday, I will tell you why) I've added a warm glow to her dress, using a thin water based glaze of color, to show the sun's reflection on her clothing.

Her blonde bob reflects the coloration of her wings and dress. I like how the nape of a child's neck looks when a child is reading, chin down. The back of her hair is slightly higher while the front of her hair falls toward the face, to show the movement in the hair.

I chose to make the sky a misty light chartreuse, can you can feel the cool morning air? A hazy sky creates a glowing backdrop against darker foliage, so the eye is directed to where the child is sitting. Purposely, the hazy sky dips to where the fairy sits. ( to the act of reading.) The pages of the book are light.
The light of the child's wings contrast with surrounding darker foliage,
to create a chiaroscuro effect, to draw the eye in to the main focal point.
I use the darker foliage to contrast with the lighter peach color of awkward toes turned inward.
The line quality isn't perfect, but creates a feel of simpler times.

Red Ladybugs are a compliment to
a green background.

The painting color is a split complementary triad,

with yellow greens, chartruse, greens and blue greens -
colors opposite of the red in the ladybugs.

The complementary color (red in this case) was added to greens to give the green a fresh zing.
I used cool blues and purples in the shadows of the leaves.

(**watercolor tip** consider color like flavor in cooking - much like adding sugar to make the salt/flavor pop)
red ladybugs in the green leaves pop, stand out.

Note the red of the bug reflects in the shadows of the green leaves- see Ladybug above.

(** watercolor tip** using red in the green or next to green can enliven your green. Green looks better if other colors-(red in this case) are added to make the color less of a "bright crayon green" primary color, to a more subtle shade. This will make the green stand out. This is how I think of it...A example is in the way most people dress. Many women wouldn't want to wear all the same shade of green (example-green top, green jacket, green scarf and belt, green pants, green stockings, green shoes and green hat - you'd look like a leprechaun!). But, you can pair your greens with another more subtle color to help it look richer )

**watercolor tips**

Allow parts of your water color paper to show to add shimmer and sparkles of dew on a leaf.

I paint from light to dark, starting with light glazes of watercolor,
then building layers until the effect is what I want.

Once the image has the look I want, I take more liberties with the background.
adding in pools of larger areas of color and adding drops of warmth to edges to create interest.