Showing posts with label paintings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paintings. Show all posts

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Mahaprabhu in the Jarikhanda forest, original oil painting on canvas by Dominique Amendola

Mahaprabhu in the Jarikhanda forest, oil painting on linen canvas 36 inches by 48 inches.  (This image is under strict copyright to Dominique Amendola. )

This painting illustrates a pastime of Lord Chaitanya described in the Chaitanya Charitamrita.
After some time Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu again started on His tour towards northern India, and He decided to visit Vṛndāvana and its neighboring places. He passed through the jungles of Jharikhaṇḍa (Madhya Bhārata), and all the wild animals also joined His saṅkīrtana movement. The wild tigers, elephants, bears, and deer all together accompanied the Lord, and the Lord accompanied them in saṅkīrtana. By this, He proved that by the propagation of the saṅkīrtana movement (congregational chanting and glorifying of the name of the Lord) even the wild animals can live in peace and friendship, and what to speak of men who are supposed to be civilized.

This painting is painted in a classical style using the Venitian painters techniques such as Titian, the medieval Renaissance Italian artist. I am here to show you the step by step process to realize it.

In this painting, I have used the scumbling method in the underpainting mostly. The underpainting is executed with acrylics. It helps to establish the foundation for the whole artwork. I have my own way to paint and I am not claiming this is a demo for the Venetian technique of the Renaissance. However, I really think it is close to it, with the difference that for their underpainting, they used tempera, not acrylic.

I have always begun such an elaborate composition with numerous sketches. 

Here is the final sketch ready to be transferred to the canvas:



In this sketch, you can already see how the composition revolves around lord Chaitanya and how the arm and the elephant trump circle high above his head. 

The Steps for the Acrylic layer.

My canvas was toned first with a Venitian red and I started with the black outlines of the painting and the lights are appearing as well as the shadows, painted afterward.



Everything is established from the beginning, the light and dark tones and more. This is the acrylic layer before it was scumbled.



 The scumbling is done with white acrylic paint. You will see how the thin layer of white has created some beautiful grays. That is the whole idea for using that red earth color. Once scrambled, it creates incredible gray tones and you can establish beautiful tones on top of that. In the end, the colors will vibrate with a lot of depths from that technique.


The Steps for the oil layer.


This is the first oil paint layer. I go slowly on colors avoiding strong colors at first. Notice how I treat the figure. It is painted in a gray layer at first, to establish the form and to intensify his luminous body.
The gray layer is applied to the skin colors. All the layers are glazed step by step.



Now more colors and details come. Notice how carefully I treat the figure, using glazed tones.




More colors, more details are applied until I am satisfied with the result. Compare this to the final product above.


Now I am going to show you detail views of the artwork:








Painting is a meditation.

The goal of life is rapture. Art is the way we experience it. 


The original artwork is available.

To purchase the painting click here:

You can get all sorts of prints from me_canvas prints, framed print, art print, metal print, wood print and more for this painting.
To purchase a print of this painting, click here:



TO SEE MORE ART GO TO MY SITE:
Dominique accepts commissions, send me an email.

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Dominique Amendola-California, US, India, France, Classical realism and impressionism figures and landscapes painter
















Thursday, June 1, 2017

Sri Damodara Gifts Sanatana by Dominique Amendola, oil painting, spiritual art from India.



Sri Damodara Gifts Sanatana


If you click on the image, you'll get a larger view.
This image is under strict copyright to Dominique Amendola. 

This painting, (oil on canvas) was commissioned me from a very old, very ancient temple in Vrindavan India, called Radha Damodara. I painted it "on the house" because they are a temple where tens of Thousands of pilgrims will see my art daily.Anyway, they actually only needed a print of it.  Original art would not survive the harsh climate of the region. A print can be reprinted again and again as needed.


The sketch stage is very important for each artwork. 


                                                      Here is the sketch for this painting:


The difficulty in this sketches is that my client insisted on a square composition which is very 
unusual.


More Sketches for this painting:




In this sketch I gave Damodara another crown according to what He was wearing at the temple that day, but ended up changing it in the final sketch, as seen above.


Sketch for Sanatana


This composition is actually very simple. A square composition is unusual. But this composition was requested by my client, so I complied, but personally I would not choose a square canvas. 
However, with all those art commissions, I am rediscovering the imagined painting, with no models to copy from.  Sanatana is completely invented not taken from anything.

Now I am going to show you details of this new painting 
"Sri Damodara Gifts Sanatana":


   Sanatana   


The wish fulfilling cow

                                     
Sri Damodara


The green parrots

  Just click on the images to see a larger view.


To purchase the original artwork: 

To purchase a print of this painting:


WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE ART? WOULD YOU LIKE TO ORDER ORIGINALS OR PRINTS DIRECTLY FROM THE ARTIST? PLEASE VISIT MY SITE: http://dominiqueamendola.com

Oil paintings executed in nature, with or without people, and beautiful color images, sometimes executed outdoors or in the studio. Some compositions are horizontal or vertical. Some pictures have beautiful skies with sunsets or blue horizons. Some paintings represent flowers, some water, some are green with grass and trees. Some will take you to exotic travel destinations, such as India.This is art. Figurative realism by contemporary artist Dominique Amendola : figures painting, landscapes painting and spiritual art, artwork for sale. Oil paintings for sale online. Virtual Art Gallery realism, figurative, landscape, spiritual art, by contemporary artist Dominique Amendola. Collection of figurative contemporary - Women - canvas oil paintings, acrylic paintings, pastel drawings. Oil painting on canvas, original paintings art. Artwork by Dominique Amendola for sale. Oil painting on canvas. Original paintings art for sale by Dominique Amendola


TO SEE MORE ART GO TO MY SITE:
Dominique Amendola-California, US, India, France, Classical realism and impressionism figures and landscapes painter

Thursday, September 24, 2015

The making of "Here comes the sun" oil painting on linen canvas by Dominique Amendola



Here comes the sun


If you click on the image, you'll get a larger view.
This image is under strict copyright to Dominique Amendola. 

'Here comes the sun', sings George Harrison on a happy tune. When I saw the girl on the porch with her guitar, I had to paint her. Her hair was very thick, golden and curly_just lovely. I painted this piece on quality linen canvas. First I went for sketches. Below, you can see the final sketch. What are sketches good for? First they help solving the problem of composition, light and dark before going on the canvas. Then the shapes get refined to what is needed. A sketch will take just a few days at most, while a painting can take several months. This particular painting took me three months to complete. You can see in the sketch I am solving a lot of problems. This sketch becomes a reference point even when the model is absent.




                                                            If you click on the image, you'll get a larger view.

After the sketches the painting itself starts in earnest. However, in this case, I painted an underpainting of grisaille first. That means that with very few colors, the painting is established. In this case, I used only raw umber and white. Then the final colors are glazed on this underpainting, after it is very dry. It is best to wait several days, depending on the medium used. The advantage of the grisaille technique is that at first, the artist only worries about shapes and values.


                                                             
                                                                   Grisaille layer
                                                             

Then the colors can be applied in layers of glazes.


                                                       Here comes the sun detail view 1


                                                       Here comes the sun detail view 2




To purchase the original artwork: 

To purchase a print of this painting:


WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE ART? WOULD YOU LIKE TO ORDER ORIGINALS OR PRINTS DIRECTLY FROM THE ARTIST? PLEASE VISIT MY SITE: http://dominiqueamendola.com

Oil paintings executed in nature, with or without people, and beautiful color images, sometimes executed outdoors or in the studio. Some compositions are horizontal or vertical. Some pictures have beautiful skies with sunsets or blue horizons. Some paintings represent flowers, some water, some are green with grass and trees. Some will take you to exotic travel destinations, such as India.This is art. Figurative realism by contemporary artist Dominique Amendola : figures painting, landscapes painting and spiritual art, artwork for sale. Oil paintings for sale online. Virtual Art Gallery realism, figurative, landscape, spiritual art, by contemporary artist Dominique Amendola. Collection of figurative contemporary - Women - canvas oil paintings, acrylic paintings, pastel drawings. Oil painting on canvas, original paintings art. Artwork by Dominique Amendola for sale. Oil painting on canvas. Original paintings art for sale by Dominique Amendola


To see more art go to my site:
Dominique Amendola-California, US, India, France, Classical realism and impressionism figures and landscapes painter

Thursday, July 16, 2015

The making of "the street guitarist" Oil painting by Dominique Amendola


The street guitarist



I used to take shots of people in the street and this guitarist was playing in California, trying his best to look and sound like Bob Dylan. That afternoon, he was sitting in front of a wall with his guitar case opened. I decided to make a painting of him. Again, this is a quick painting, executed in a day, spontaneous, Alla Prima. I first created a color sketch. The dominant color was going to be pale yellow akin to the sunlight; a cool morning sun, while the musician's face of a ruddy complexion shows how much time he spends outdoors.
Music is always a winning subject matter and since I had created a previous painting with musicians, this one was also going to keep in the same mood. The style is impressionistic, I gave myself three hours to finish the actual 8" x 10 "painting!




If you click on the image, you'll get a larger view.


You can see that this is executed boldly with thick paint, quickly. 

I paint from the life model once a week, and this is important to understand how to paint from a photo or from imagination. There is the understanding of the different planes and what makes a volume. And there is the understanding of the correct colors applied rapidly without much preparation. Therefore, the painting comes out more spontaneously.



                                                    

I framed this painting in a very classical frame, especially suited for impressionism. At the Orsay museum in Paris, a whole floor is dedicated to the impressionists. The frames used are varied but the above type of frame is the most common. Below you can see one of Renoir's beautiful still life framed in this frame genre. 



                                                                          Renoir, Onions, 1881

To purchase the original artwork: 

To purchase a print of this painting:


WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE ART? WOULD YOU LIKE TO ORDER ORIGINALS OR PRINTS DIRECTLY FROM THE ARTIST? PLEASE VISIT MY SITE: http://dominiqueamendola.com

Oil paintings executed in nature, with or without people, and beautiful color images, sometimes executed outdoors or in the studio. Some compositions are horizontal or vertical. Some pictures have beautiful skies with sunsets or blue horizons. Some paintings represent flowers, some water, some are green with grass and trees. Some will take you to exotic travel destinations, such as India.This is art. Figurative realism by contemporary artist Dominique Amendola : figures painting, landscapes painting and spiritual art, artwork for sale. Oil paintings for sale online. Virtual Art Gallery realism, figurative, landscape, spiritual art, by contemporary artist Dominique Amendola. Collection of figurative contemporary - Women - canvas oil paintings, acrylic paintings, pastel drawings. Oil painting on canvas, original paintings art. Artwork by Dominique Amendola for sale. Oil painting on canvas. Original paintings art for sale by Dominique Amendola


To see more art go to my site:
Dominique Amendola-California, US, India, France, Classical realism and impressionism figures and landscapes painter

Thursday, July 9, 2015

The making of 'Musicians practicing on the doorstep' oil painting by Dominique Amendola


Musicians practicing on the doorstep




'Musicians practicing on the doorstepis a small painting painted on canvas. I was inspired to paint those two musicians by hearing their music. The beauty of the instruments was particularly inspiring. The cello especially is beautiful and noble.




If you click on the image, you'll get a larger view.


Having a physical space to create paintings is very important. The place should be big enough not to collapse into different easels. I like to work on several paintings side by side_up to three. And a high ceiling is conducive to higher thinking. When I started my small paintings, I already had many years of painting large compositions on canvas, in a very classical fashion. 
I wanted to produce some more affordable art in a quick style, mostly called 'Alla prima' which is painting in one jet, one coat and no glazes. I was used to underpainting and many preparatory sketches. Here I am just painting quickly, trying to finishing a piece in a day or two. 

'Musicians practicing on the doorstep'  focuses more on the instruments than the figures. But again, here I pay particular attention to the composition:


                                                    



Lots of vertical and horizontal lines giving a sense of stability. A sense of depth created by the steps and the dark door opening. Barely any colors except in the instruments and the blue shadows. 

The above mentioned painting is framed in black:






To purchase the original artwork: 

To purchase a print of this painting:


WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE ART? WOULD YOU LIKE TO ORDER ORIGINALS OR PRINTS DIRECTLY FROM THE ARTIST? PLEASE VISIT MY SITE: http://dominiqueamendola.com

Oil paintings executed in nature, with or without people, and beautiful color images, sometimes executed outdoors or in the studio. Some compositions are horizontal or vertical. Some pictures have beautiful skies with sunsets or blue horizons. Some paintings represent flowers, some water, some are green with grass and trees. Some will take you to exotic travel destinations, such as India.This is art. Figurative realism by contemporary artist Dominique Amendola : figures painting, landscapes painting and spiritual art, artwork for sale. Oil paintings for sale online. Virtual Art Gallery realism, figurative, landscape, spiritual art, by contemporary artist Dominique Amendola. Collection of figurative contemporary - Women - canvas oil paintings, acrylic paintings, pastel drawings. Oil painting on canvas, original paintings art. Artwork by Dominique Amendola for sale. Oil painting on canvas. Original paintings art for sale by Dominique Amendola


To see more art go to my site:
Dominique Amendola-California, US, India, France, Classical realism and impressionism figures and landscapes painter


Friday, December 5, 2008

The fountain


Copyright by Dominique Amendola


Painting A Day: Original oil on gallery wrap canvas with painted sides. this painting does not need a frame.
Size: 8"x8"- unframed
Price: $99.00
Status:Sold

Yes, i have been gone for a long time. First at all I was busy with more commission work. This time it was a bathroom mural. It took all I had to paint on top of a ladder for days at a time. My clients are always so happy with the results it is worthy in the end. Yes, I do have other commissions on the horizon. So i may not post as often as I'd like. Also i had a set back. My computer had a defective hard drive and I lost a lot of data including my art files.
For today's painting I sort of looked for things that I can get my brush around. This time I went to a nice winery but got struck by this attractive fountain. I like fountains.
I think the main thing that inspires me is the constant and nagging wish to do better. This is what really keeps an artist going.
I'm inspired all the time and am always filling up little art notebooks with ideas for paintings. The inspiration behind a lot of my work comes from wanting to express something within myself and usually associated with the things I love about life or have experienced.
I keep motivated by looking at other people's art or by changing mediums. I just really love all aspects of creating art.