Art Supplies - Golden Artists Colors GAC 100 & Williamsburg Handmade Oils and Ground

I've got some new products to try out!

Thank you to Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors and Golden Artist Colors for sponsoring my award win at the 30th Annual Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition.

I'm particularly excited about the Titanium Oil Ground, as I've heard great things. - Patrick Saunders

© Patrick and Kimberly Saunders, Saunders Fine Arts, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors/owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Patrick Saunders for painted works, or to Kimberly Saunders for photographs and/or videos, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Patrick Saunders Fine Arts Still Life Painting "Pumpkins & Pothos" - Olmsted Gallery

For #throwbackthursday, here's a painting that gets me into the spirit of fall.

This piece is now available at the Olmsted Gallery. My thanks to Lillian Kirbo Ansley and Mary Ferguson for inviting me to be in their new online gallery. - Patrick Saunders

"Pumpkins & Pothos" • Oil on Linen • 12" x 16"
• Available at https://www.olmstedgallery.com/paintings/patrick-saunders

Painting photo by Saunders Fine Arts.

© Patrick and Kimberly Saunders, Saunders Fine Arts, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors/owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Patrick Saunders for painted works, or to Kimberly Saunders for photographs and/or videos, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Patrick Saunders Fine Arts - Art Review - "Mrs. Fechin and Daughter" by Nicolai Fechin

Today's #MuseumTourTuesday features a painting in a private collection, and I consider it such an amazing piece that I feel the need to share my admiration. It's a painting by Nicolai Fechin. Yes, I know, I post a lot of Fechin's work, but it's always for good reason.

This piece is so intriguing to me, first and foremost for its cross-genre appeal. Is it a portrait, or a still life? By its title, it's a portrait, but nothing stands out more in this painting than the foreground still life. The figures are subdued in value contrast, and the child especially recedes into the background. The foreground still life is sharp and dominant in both value contrast and color saturation. 

 

My own take is that it is definitely a portrait. Despite the title, it is not simply a dual portrait of Fechin's wife and child, but a family portrait. The artist himself is included in the reflected metal of the tea urn, although abstracted to the point of illegibility. I see the still life as representative of Nicolai himself. A way to include himself in the family composition and still be the one capturing the scene. 

 

Regardless of my own read on the image, the painting is an undeniably bold composition. I love it when a painting transcends the categories we so often attempt to push art into. - Patrick Saunders

"Mrs. Fechin and Daughter" • Nicolai Fechin • Oil on Canvas • 1925 • 34 1/2" x 31 1/2"

 

 

© Patrick and Kimberly Saunders, Saunders Fine Arts, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors/owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Patrick Saunders for painted works, or to Kimberly Saunders for photographs and/or videos, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Patrick Saunders Fine Arts Floral Painting - In Progress

Here's a detail of a larger piece currently on the easel. I'm slowly finding my way through all of these shapes. - Patrick Saunders


In Progress • Oil on Linen • Crop of a 24"x30"

© Patrick and Kimberly Saunders, Saunders Fine Arts, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors/owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Patrick Saunders for painted works, or to Kimberly Saunders for photographs and/or videos, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Patrick Saunders Fine Arts Dog Portait Painting - "Jilly"

Jilly just couldn't wait to pose. Every time we turned around, she had positioned herself for a perfectly composed photo. What a smile she has. She's a natural model.

We particularly loved the way she lounged on the welcome mat of her home. Everything about Jilly conveys the warmth that we felt during this visit. She and her sister Leche, whose portrait I previously shared, were excited to meet us, and made us feel welcome from the moment we arrived.

Kimberly and I were actually only there to photograph Leche for a portrait commission, but Jilly was not about to let us leave without getting in on the action and attention. So, her humans decided they better get a portrait of Jilly too. - Patrick Saunders

"Jilly" • Oil on Linen • 9" x 12" • Private Collection

Reference and painting photos by Kimberly at Saunders Fine Arts.

© Patrick and Kimberly Saunders, Saunders Fine Arts. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors/owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Patrick Saunders for painted works, or to Kimberly Saunders for photographs and/or videos, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.