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Showing posts with label sue betanzos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sue betanzos. Show all posts

St. Francis Pet Portrait Reverse Glass Painting

New custom pet portrait reverse glass painting in the St. Francis series, finished! I love painting these colorful highly detailed glass paintings. This is St. Francis in Fair Oaks.

Each reverse glass painting in the St. Francis series is painted backwards, in reverse, with richly colored glass enamel paints. Gold and silver metallic highlight swirling stars, whiskers, leaves and more for a soft magical feel.

All of the paintings in this series are commissions with loved companions and animals. Regional flora and fauna are part of the paintings. They are personal custom mementos created especially for each client.

In this most recent painting Snuggles, Buggles, Mocha and Pepper are with St. Francis and friends in a magical forest on a starry night.
Snuggles is hanging out in the tree, Mocha is cuddled in St. Francis arms and kitty Buggles with Pepper are resting at St. Francis feet.

Squirrels, an owl, raccoon, deer, tiny bluebird, bright cardinal with nest, poppies and wild chickens are all part of the charm of this painting.

Below are progress photos, starting with the finished painting.
What a pleasure it is to paint these very personal portraits. St. Francis is an iconic figure who is also one of the original environmentalists!

St. Francis in Fair Oaks, 11" x 14" reverse glass painting,  SueBetanzos.com



St. Francis reverse glass painting. BACK side with one layer of sky painted in.


St. Francis reverse glass painting. FRONT side with one layer of sky painted in.

St. Francis reverse glass painting. FRONT side detail of Buggles and Pepper.


St. Francis reverse glass painting. BACK side detail. Second sky layer.


St. Francis reverse glass painting detail. BACK side. Second layer of leaves.

St. Francis reverse glass painting. FRONT side - Detail of Mocha.


St. Francis reverse glass painting. FRONT side in progress.



Rainbow Afternoon

New Year's countdown!

Rainbows have a magical quality, shimmering, winking with amazing colors so briefly. Sometimes in moments, they are gone, leaving a happy memory of a wondrous sight.

Wanting a break from the studio, I decided to get outside, go to a nearby park, take my binoculars and little camera, see what I could see. Cool and blustery weather from rain - perfect.

As I was going to the park I saw this shimmering, iridescent, wonder. I captured what I could, got to the park and took another photo of the rainbow, then a few of the amazing cloud sky. The light made me want to somehow, paint it, even though I am not a landscape artist.

Magic Rainbow in my little neighborhood!


Same magic Rainbow, the other arc side in the park.


The cliche of the rainbow after the storm is usually relevant for me, it's what I choose to believe and feel. How can you truly appreciate good without ever experiencing not so good? There is no contrast to compare with.
Since everyone has had both good and bad times, I want to share this rainbow and remind that:

"Something Good Is Just About To Happen!" 

Optimistic, sure. Beats cranky, pessimistic, depressed for sure, at least for me :)
Better design a 'think print' with this quote to put out there!

Add caption








St. Francis and Friends is Coming into Being

Almost New Year's Eve!
This St. Francis painting on glass is in the last stages of completion. Bottom darker colors and star trails are left to add before the final stage - the sky. Once layers of the sky are started, there are no corrections. Actually, at this advanced stage of the painting, corrections are not possible because of the 5 - 6 layers of paint for each leaf, animal, branch has been painted many times for depth.


St. Francis painting on glass from the front, before the bottom and sky added.



St. Francis painting on glass from the back. Additional foliage depth has been added.


St. Francis glass painting from the back showing the translucency of the layers in areas. 


The blue paper is inserted behind the painting frequently to evaluate details. It is an important sky preview of darker blue to evaluate light and dark areas, elements (values).

The dogwood flowers are not white, but a light blue to be secondary to the dogs and cats in importance. The white against the blue would have made them come forward too much.
Composition concepts apply to all my paintings: rule of thirds, values, hue, intensity, tone, overall balance.

St. Francis painting on glass, almost finished. Blue paper behind to preview details.
Stay tuned for the last, finishing stages! Then off to the photographer for the professional photos :)





St. Francis Glass Painting Progress


As this sweet painting has evolved, I will keep posting to document the journey of this painting on glass. When finished, the painting is photographed by Wilson Graham, who does the best job, knowing how to capture all of the metallics and color.

A tiny golden Barn Owl in the Pine tree

A happy singing Prothonotary Warbler
St. Francis in East Texas with Gus, Swiffer, Pepper, KC, Sassy. Almost there!

St. Francis and friends with blue paper preview.

St. Francis glass painting, back side. Side that is painted on.


For now, I have almost all the details of the animals finished. On to St. Francis's robe and the leaves above his head!

I fine tune the details with a very sharp Xacto knife and razor blades. Oh, and a large magnifying glass. Very Carefully scraping paint to refine edges. I will go over the painting many times doing this and adding more layers of paint.

The FolkArt glass enamel paints are somewhat translucent, depending on the color. This means that each leaf, flower, blade of grass, animals, everything, requires 4 - 5 layers of paint.
It allows for layering of different glazes of color to create depth, shadows.  I love using silver and gold metallic in my glass paintings. The metallics require 1 - 3 layers, depending on the effect I want.

Often, just before adding the final element of the sky I will back some areas with white. So the dark blue of the sky will not shadow through in the lighter colors.

In the cool winter these paints take about two days to cure onto the glass. In the hot summer, about a day. I love the bright colors, ease of use and permanence of the paints. They are fairly UV and fade resistant, but as with any fine art painting, no direct sunlight.

The sky is crucial and is carefully layered in blues, violet blues, white (stars). A large filbert is used to leave softer edges. Star trails are scraped back with a razor blade in areas. Almost impossible to correct, a one time deal.

Blue and white paper is used constantly to gauge where the details are at, depending on the detail.
That is what you see in the photo, blue or white paper slipped behind the painting.


St.Francis in Texas painting progress

I have my basic color scheme and am ready to paint.
A baby owl is tucked in the branches above Sassy's perch!
Yesterday I had fun buying paints, playing with colors.

Time for glass buying!





St. Francis is in East Texas :)

I love starting new St. Francis paintings. Reverse glass painting requires a lot of planning and designing due to the nature of so much detail painting on glass - backwards, details first. My designs for this series invites repeated viewings with all the little details.

This new painting has Five pet subjects; 3 dogs, two kitties.
Plus the supporting cast of local flora and critters. The main subject of the large white dog will be painted in subtle white tones so he does not come forward too much, dominating the rest of the darker values of the painting.  The smaller dog leaning on St. Francis, black/white will also be painted similarly.
White reflects the surrounding colors, which is why white in any painting is a combination of many colors. It's the surrounding values that can make it come forward :)

Hello Gus, KC, Swiffer, Sassy, Pepper!
A small red fox shyly peeks through the azaleas and foliage.
My favorite part of painting is the research of the subjects, animals and nature. There is always something new to learn about an area, animal/s and then translate that into a drawing that captures the essence in a very different style than my realistic style.
Oh, and the coloring, once the design is finalized!

It's good mental exercise for my brain, to think differently in design. Pare information down to a few lines. The composition may change a few times as I try out different elements.
Subjects and background should blend harmoniously, inviting repeated viewings with the details without being overwhelming.

The details should have a rhythm of repeated patterns and a limited palette. This creates continuity for the eye, mind, so although the details are many, due to the palette and pattern they are not overwhelming.

I like the composition to subtly lead the eye to the main subjects with color value, hue, and surrounding elements. Usually this means half dozen thumbnails to arrive at the initial layout. Then selecting my palette and doing a couple of studies to warm up and decide on the values, colors, highlights.

Due to the complexity and nature of the glass paintings, I make several color references before painting to get the values and color intensity right.
But the foundation of all my artwork is the initial composition. When I get that right, everything else will follow :)




Hello Florida! Magical Sun Glass Mosaic

Happy Sunday!
I wanted to share photos of a glass mosaic art piece that sold last week. The Magical Sun was purchased by a dear friend and collector of my glass painting.
She has supported my work with kind words and more - her friendship means the world to me!

Here is the mosaic art and where it now lives, in a sweet guest house in Florida. I love the way the light dances on it, catching the beads, mirror and gold highlights in the painted face.
The Magical Sun cheerfully greets everyone in the state of sun and palm trees -
Hello Florida :)











Happy Thanksgiving!




I like to refer to this as Gratitude Day. Reflecting on all I have to be grateful for. Writing it down. This has been such a good year for me. Yay!!

Has anyone accomplished, done anything that they wouldn't have thought of this year?
I know I have and it feels Amazing! Why?

Well here's a few things I want to share about my upcoming Reflections Of Nature Show:

1. All of the art that is being created for this show is of Arizona wildlife   Some of the paintings are my signature Reverse Glass Paintings. Other paintings are traditional acrylic paintings on canvas or board. The glass mosaics are made with hundreds of hand cut stained glass pieces.

2. I learned how to draw with my left hand.  I got a lot done, despite a recent wrist injury. I learned how to draw with my left hand. Teaching my brain to work with my left hand was a lot of work, but it makes me so very grateful to have my right hand back for the mosaics. Gratitude x ∞.

3. My scholarship awards this year from Skillshare and LinkedIn allowed me to upgrade my design skills. Thanks to the awards from these online class platform sites, I was able to learn new techniques in digital design, stay motivated with classes in social media tips (@ohn_mar_win).
Try new looser drawing and painting styles while my wrist healed :)  Some of this new artwork will be in my show this January.

Keeping frustration away, learning empowering skills, making my dreams come true - what an exciting way to enter the holiday season!

I'm really working to get more paintings finished and will post them here and on my:
 Facebook,   Instagram,   Pinterest.
There will be a pre-show sale for paintings I'll announce right before the installation Jan. 12.
Happy Holidays!










Reflections Of Nature Solo Exhibit

A very nice solo show was awarded to me this year at the Ranch House Gallery in Agua Caliente Park, Tucson AZ.   Yay!! I am so excited!

Available artwork will be added HERE.
Set in the northeast part of Tucson, Agua Caliente Park is a little water oasis that draws a variety of animals, a nature habitat.
It's great for picnics and birding. Inside this park is a gallery that hosts 11 artists per year for solo exhibits.

I feel so fortunate that I was one of the artists selected for the date of Jan. 12 - Feb. 13, 2019.
It's been super busy in my studio between the show artwork and new commissions for the holidays.
Plus a bit of teaching.

Reflections of Nature is just that; reflections of my views of the natural world in this area. It's hard to whittle down the subjects because there are so many!

The show is a month long so as items sell, I will replace them with new artwork. A portfolio of the artwork available will be in the gallery to view as well as a separate gallery on my website titled Agua Caliente show HERE.

My artwork updates can also be found  on:

Instagram @artgirlsue
Facebook SueBetanzosDesigns
Pintrest SueBetanzosDesign


More work will be posted in the coming 8 weeks. Yep, 8 short weeks until Christmas, 9 weeks until installation for this show - counting down the days!





I See You Dog Portrait, Graphite

This Aussie dog portrait is almost finished. I love working in graphite pencils on a favorite dog breed, the Australian Shepherd.

This girlie's eyes say "I see you, you are loved" to me :) It is the message that shines from our companion's eyes whenever they look at us.




The Faber Castell 9000 pencils are awesome and I'll finish the darkest areas soon for contrast.

Starry Owl

Getting started on another owl.
Starry owl in a night sky filled with glittering stars!
Away from light pollution, the Milky Way is beautiful to behold and puts life in perspective.





Pre-dawn sky.



Practice Shots - Bird Inks

These are "practice shots" to warm up drawing my skills. With all the spring activity I've been doing more birding to sharpen observation and memory.
Really fun and challenging plus the neighbors have bird feeders - how convenient! 
This practice ink was done from observation and photo reference. 

Brilliant yellow birds, bright rose finches and reds (cardinals & vermilion flycatchers). 

American Goldfinch
 With my binoculars I have spotted:

house finches, goldfinch (many), anna's hummingbirds, broad billed hummingbird, vermilion flycatcher, oriole (hooded), verdin, raven, dove, cooper's hawk, 1 owl, sparrow, woodpecker, phainopepla, cardinal.











Hello Goldie

This is Still in progress. It seems like it's taking forever to finish just because something always comes up and it's been through a few revisions.
There is always one piece that is a struggle to get right for most artists. The problem child :)


Latest and Last version!

Two Paws

Two paws, blue outline

Mural Repair at the airport

Did I mention one of the murals at Tucson International Airport was vandalized? Someone stole the scorpion (pried it off) the mural at the west end. It will be replaced this Monday with a new creepy bug.
Why would someone do that when they can go to Amazon or ebay and get one? Who knows. This one will have a different adhesive, see how long it lasts.
Oh, this bug was "farm raised" - picture that!

New scorpion replacement

Damage, missing bug.

Mural Before damage. 

Tucson Open Studio Tour 2014

The Open Studio Tour is November 8 - 9 and great opportunity to visit talented artists working their mojo in their studio's. Questions about mosaics? Wondering how they are made? I will be at diMosiaco demonstrating mosaic in glass and have mosaics available on display as well as reverse glass paintings.

I will also be demonstrating the technique of reverse glass painting.






Mosaic Class for Garden Flowers

O.k., moving along with the mosaic garden of flowers.
These will look great as individual mini mosaic projects too.

They are four inch squares. Classes for this project are currently available with Me through Mosaic Class at diMosaico.com

I'll demonstrate a different technique for each square such as background patterns, media, application.

Glass Mosaic Flower Garden - SueBetanzos.com

Mosaic Flower Garden - SueBetanzos.com

Mosaic Class Welcome, Bienvenidos, Willkommen!

The only three languages I know and the German is rusty from no practice!

Welcome is universal when done with a smile, the beckoning hand and a lovely mosaic sign on or in the residence (apartment, condo dwellers).

Registration: Mosaic Sign Class with Sue and Carol
There is bound to be at least one admiration of "Ooooh, Pretty" along with the touching.

Create your own piece of beautiful art in this wonderful traditional media while adding beauty to your diggs, house, domicile etc. in this two day mosaic class.
**Gift someone special - or yourself this holiday.

For beginners the smaller size will finish faster.  For experienced mosaic enthusiasts, have a blast choosing handmade tiles to make your personal Welcome or house number.
Solid iron frame, 50.00 worth of handmade tiles, and glass are included in the class.

**Bring wheeled nippers, your snacks, drink and enthusiasm :)
Get Leponitt nippers online or locally. They are the quality ones you will love.

Rock on with Mosaics this holiday!






Day Of The Dead Mosaic Class

Here we are, a fun mosaic class for all levels.  Those that have been introduced to mosaic and are familiar with the tools and materials will enjoy it as much as complete beginners.

diMosaico studio is where I'll be teaching mosaic classes in different techniques so keep checking and get on their email newsletter or my facebook and this blog where I'll announce new classes.

All materials and tools are included for this class. There will be the skull patterns below to choose from  (or combine, like I did) and a Milagro heart.

The key is to come prepared so the actual glass cutting and adhering can get going.
Come prepared by picking colors before class to make the most of your class time - i.e. "hit the ground running"   :)

Bring snacks and your drinks for your breaks!

** Copy and print the patterns below to play with colors. I love good ol' Crayola crayons (box of 64!) but use whatever works best for you.





The skull patterns that will be used for the class.

The patterns can be printed and colored.

You don't have to stick to the exact patterns. Take elements you like and make your own!