If I wasn't committed to making these twelve pieces available to you before Christmas, I would definitely be keeping this one for myself. I was in love with this market stand of flowers when I saw it, and I am still in love with every bit of it even in a painting. I took the photograph for this painting in a little, beautiful shop in a small town in Victoria, Australia. (It was one of my favorite days that we spent in Australia too!) I walked in and was overwhelmed by the floral station set up in the back corner. It had the most marvelous light casting onto the wild, bursts of colors. I (bravely, because she was busy and strikingly intimidating) asked the shop owner if I could snap a photo. She said yes, and I took about 10. . . that was about 9 more photos than I planned to take. Little embarrassed, but I lived. Someday, my dream is to have a flower patch that I can harvest each year to look just like this. My painting collection would be extra happy because of it, don't you think?

This painting will be available in my shop by 5pm CST, 12.4.15. Check back tomorrow, as always, for another painting! :)

And don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! for your chance to win an original watercolor of mine. Ends Dec. 12th! Good luck!

Today is third day of my painting series. I'm feeling so grateful for the response so far!! This painting of the oak trees was one that I absolutely was itching to paint. That seems to be the case with every painting in this series. I love that morning light and messy dew-dropped grass. I wanted to be right there frolicking in it as I was painting.

Hope you have been enjoying this series, too!

Both of these paintings are available in my shop as of 6pm CST, 12.3.15. And as always, check back tomorrow for another! :)

And don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! for your chance to win an original watercolor of mine. Good luck!

Day two of my twelve days of painting was wonderful to work on. I'm not sure what the sudden draw to watercolors for me has been, but there's is an iridescent, over-all lighted touch to the finished paintings that I am simply adoring. I did a study from life of these pomegranates (if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen it!), but this finished painting is one that I have long been wanting to create. It may be the nostalgia of home that seeing and picking (and painting, I should say) fruit fresh from the tree, but these pomegranates really sang to me when I saw them. Moments like that come and it's no longer a "want" to paint something but a "need." 

This painting is available in my shop. Check back tomorrow for the second painting! :)

And don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! for your chance to win an original watercolor of mine. Good luck!

The first painting for the 12 days of Paintings and Christmas means so much to me. It's of the most beautiful iris flower farm near my home where I grew up. Every year they have a "paint out" where artists flood their farm and gardens to paint the scenery. I would go there and participate, and it was always so magical. I started my art career around that age and time, and I still gain momentum thinking of those experiences.

I had a photo tucked away in my files of the iris farm in the early morning, and over the years I've been wanting to paint it. When I was gathering my images and places to paint these next twelve days, this image came to mind immediately! It's always special to finally paint a piece that has been in my mind for years, even more special when it holds so much significance.

This painting is available in my shop. Check back tomorrow for the second painting! :)

And don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! for your chance to win an original watercolor of mine. Good luck!

There are so many post I am preparing to post soon. Everything from still life paintings, landscapes and plein air studies from my trip to AUSTRALIA!!! But until then, what could be a better time than now?! Because it’s time for a GIVEAWAY! Win this original watercolor/gouache painting, 6x6in., by yours truly. I haven’t done a giveaway for nearly two years, and I’m beyond excited for it! In addition to the giveaway, for the next 12 days, I will be posting a petite oil or watercolor painting for sale, just in time for Christmas. Details to follow. Good luck!

In order to be entered to win you must follow the rules on either Facebook, Instagram, or both! There is one more way to enter, exclusive to my blog, and that is to PIN this image to Pinterest! Comment anywhere (here, Instagram, Facebook) on one of my posts that you've pinned, and you'll be good to go!

FACEBOOK:

1. Like my page Sarah Croft Nightingale Art AND the Facebook post!

2. Tag at least TWO friends in the comments on the Facebook post (each additional comment with a tag counts as an entry)

* Bonus Entry – Share this giveaway photo on your page. Comment with “Shared” if you choose to complete the bonus entry

INSTAGRAM:

1. Follow my Instagram account @sarahcnightingale

2. Tag at least TWO friends in the comments (each additional comment with a tag counts as an entry) * Bonus Entry – Share this giveaway photo on your page. Comment with “Shared” if you choose to complete the bonus entry AND #NightingaleGiveaway *Additional ways to enter on Facebook

Some restrictions apply:
– Must be over 13 to win.
– Must live in the USA (or be willing to pay for shipping).
– Giveaway closes Saturday, December 12th at 9pm CST.

You may have seen on my Instagram of Facebook page if you follow me there, but the day I painted this meadow tree was just as nostalgic-like as the day I encountered it. Here is what I said of it:

I know that it is technically Autumn as of today, but these peonies are nothing but midsummer in my mind. When I took the photo reference for them a couple of years ago, in the middle of summer, it was while I was staying at my sister's home a few states away. She had the most gorgeous vase of these flowers grown in her sister in law's back yard. Is that what we love so much about flowers? That they resemble the giving done in summer?

Below is my progress shot of this piece. I love it just as much in progress as I do completed, and I photographed it just as the sun was going down so those whites are really glowing! I have a special person and place in mind for this piece, and I am so excited to give it to said person. Now that it's Autumn, I have a hankering to paint more landscapes and portraits. It seems to be this way every year, but I can't wait to get started!

I hope you've enjoyed my recent posts featuring my newest work. Don't forget that this Thursday, June 25th, I will be adding new originals to my online gallery and shop! Links, details, and more information coming soon. Be sure to follow me on my Facebook page or Instagram . . . and my new Twitter account just for my art!!! YAY! I try to add different content to each, but updates for the new originals coming to my shop will be on all social media platforms.

Lastly, I'm hoping to post more guides and tutorials on my blog this next month. What do YOU want to see? Leave a comment below! I would love to hear!

The painting shown above is titled Sunflowers & Eucalyptus. 12x12in. Oil on clay board.

My kitty, Mr. Kitty Bleu, is the best studio buddy. He named himself just by being his mischievous self and dipping his white paws in the blue paint on my palette. Such a stinker! He's learning how to be a good studio cat now though, and since the move he has LOVED the new studio; mostly because he loves looking out the many bright windows while I paint. He loves it so much, that when I shut him out of the studio for a moment today while I prepared a large canvas on the floor (because I didn't want him to walk on wet paint--again! he was SO sad. Two little white paws came straight out from under the door accompanied by a big, sad, "meow." Anyway, I love having him in my studio, as unhelpful as he is sometimes (he also ate a bit of my still life.. bleh!)


If you follow me on social media, you've probably seen peeks of this new painting, and I am so thrilled to finally be posting it today! This is one of those paintings that is in my head long before I get started on it. It's always a treat when that happens. That's not to say that it comes easily, because I definitely sketched it out, wiped it off, started over, at least three times. There's a phrase I love to tell myself when I need to wipe something off, "I did it once, I can do it again." If I see an error in my sketch, composition, and even final painting, it is HANDS DOWN always worth it to scrape it off, erase it, and start again. With this painting, however, I found that "final" sketch so beautiful with some under sketch showing through that I wanted to share that too. I don't share my sketches often, but it's been kind of a fun thing to do lately!




New paintings are coming to my online shop June 25th! Mark your calendars! I haven't decided if I really can let this one go though because I have a great spot in my dining room for it, but it will most likely be in the shop. ;)

-Sarah

About eight years ago, for a show I was in (The 50-50 Show, if you've followed me for a while,) I took a bunch of photographs for the portraits I would paint. Well, I came across that file of photos the other day and just fell in love with this little smirk all over again. I had painted her portrait before, but I don't think I had ever painted this one specifically. Honestly, I don't remember much from this shoot, but I do remember this cute little girl.


Every time I go back to painting a portrait, I fall in love it with all over again. I definitely love painting florals, and landscapes, but something about the challenge of a portrait is so exciting to me. It will always be my love. For this piece particularly, I wanted to stay very loose with my brush. I really love the work of Mary Cassatt, and I just love her crazy edges sometimes. I was thrilled with this piece in the end after studying Cassatt's work in the process.



I included photos of the preliminary sketch in this post because I really love how it compliments the painting. I think if I ever let this piece go to someone else, I may have to include that sketch. It was a quick, and simple sketch, but it's not often that they look that pretty if I'm honest with you haha. I definitely think I create more beautifully with a brush than with a pen or pencil, but I'm ok with that. I can't wait to see this little lady framed and on a wall. A portrait can go anywhere!

First of all, that entire title Farmers Market Peonies sounds completely cliché to me, but sometime you just have to keep it simple. And Farmers Market Peonies is exactly what this post is all about! I went to my first Chicago Farmer's Market today with some friends. It was exceeded all expectations! I planned to not buy anything (hehe, right,) but we caught the floral vendor right as he was wrapping up his booth and his perfect peonies could not be passed up. Also, the grilled cheese with ham and pear marmalade was out of this world!


I went right home after the market and started painting these beauties in my new studio!! If you missed my Instagram post yesterday, I'll fill you in: we moved! We are still in Chicago, but we just switched neighborhoods. My studio is so sunny and bright now (North light, too!) It is such a change from a tiny, dark studio I worked from all of last year. I feel so undeserving and grateful to be able to paint in there now, but I also feel so motivated and inspired. I have to paint well and work even harder in order to do this studio justice, isn't that how it should be? Anyway, This painting is the very first in the new place, and I'm so thrilled. I think it's going to be a great place to create.




I'm still unpacking boxes from the move (it's only been 4 days!) so I have yet to locate my brushes. I did find this one brush and small palette knife in my "go bag," so they were the only two tools used for this painting. It's always fun to give yourself a little challenge like limiting tools or colors; I need to do it more! I love what I was able to create with just those two. Also, the black board is just a foam board I taped a small unstretched canvas square to. I wish I could keep it together with the painting! What do you think? -Thanks for reading and following along!

 I always love looking back on old work. Painting can be such a reflective medium for me. When I see old work from ten years and even a year ago (like the painting shown above,) I am flooded with memories; I feel the emotions I felt while creating a piece. I remember the words of the book I listened to while painting it. I smell the shared student studio I worked in on campus. I feel the urgency I felt to complete my work for the show. And that's just the beginning. From start to finish, from a photoshoot for a painting to the end of an exhibit of painting, those memories are all intertwined in the brushwork of my paintings.




One of my favorite candid photographs (ever!) from my photoshoots for painting reference was from the set of photos for this painting. These girls were just so wonderful to work with. They absolutely exceeded my expectations. I had six of them there that day to help, and you know we had fun doing it! I love that this picture captures that. (Thanks again, girls!) You'll see them appear again in paintings throughout my future posts, but the painting above features two of them, sisters, second from the left and far right.

I love putting these inspirations posts together! It's an open journal of sorts, and although "gatherings" usually happen daily, it's good for me to really sit and think–what has really been my inspiration lately? If you missed the first post, or don't really know what this post is all about, go have a quick read of the first paragraph (or all of it) of this post, Inspiration Gatherings No. 1!


I wish I knew so much more about this artist. I can't seem to find a lot of information on him, but I can find a few high-res photographs of his work–that's like finding gold to me!! I've mentioned him briefly just recently here.  His work has been inspiring me so much since I found it. It's not so much that I would love to paint exactly like him, but something about the color harmonies and the way that his paintings seem to have a fluidness throughout the entire piece that is so uniquely Monsted just stuns me. Also, the subject matter he paints is what my dreams are made of: little beautiful, windy, country scenes. Click the image below to see his painting larger, and watch his brushwork come to life! I especially love the birds and the clouds up in the top middle area, and those little laundry lines! Oh, and I have to mention the tree branches just above the little cottages. Zoom in on those!