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ACEO Valentine Themed Oil Paintings by George De Chiara

I Heart You

It's time for Valentine's Day again! I actually find myself oddly excited to paint conversation hearts and chocolate candies and to surround my studio in flowers. Painting for Valentine's seems to be a new tradition that I have developed over the last few years. People always seem to like them, and I really enjoy painting these sweet little works. I recently dropped off six Valentine themed paintings to the Dutch Gallery in Dallas. They are all available now for that special one-of-a-kind gift for your loved one. Each one is beautifully framed from the gallery. Make this a Valentine's she'll never forget by giving a gift that will last a life time. For more information or to purchase any of these please contact Pam at the Dutch Gallery. You can call her at (214) 348-7350 or if you're in Dallas stop on by. Their address is 10233 E Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75238.

Chocolate Heart©        2.5x3.5 inches         Oil  

Pink Rose ©       2.5x3.5 inches               Oil

Yellow Rose ©      2.5x3.5 inches      Oil

I Heart You©       2.5x3.5 inches          Oil

Light Pink Rose©    2.5x3.5 inches     Oil

Here's an example of the framing!

      Red Rose©    2.5x3.5 inches     Oil

Chocolate Heart - A New Original ACEO Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Chocolate Heart

 Is it too soon for Valentine hearts? I hope not, because as soon as my 3 year daughter found out I had chocolate in the studio, she quickly made it a point to come visit me as much as possible. On each visit, she would "sneak" another chocolate heart out of the studio and run off to eat it. Over the course of the last few days, she's gone through my whole supply of them! Well...that's not exactly they truth. She did have some help with them, but I'm not naming any names on who helped her.

 This painting is available through the Dutch Art Gallery in Dallas, if you're interested in getting it for yourself or as a wonderful one-of- a-kind Valentine gift for that someone special. They do an amazing job framing these into a 5x7 inch frame and they look great. Contact Pam at (214) 348-7350 for further details.

Chocolate Heart©

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 2.5x3.5 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: Yes, contact Gallery at  (214) 348-7350 for details.
Availability: Available through the Dutch Art Gallery

Initialed lower right corner.

Valentine Roses - A New Original 6x8 Still Life Oil Painting George De Chiara

Valentine Roses

 Recently my wife and I went shopping at our local grocery store. On the way in, she asks if I've ever noticed that the floral section has a little area where they sell the older flowers at a heavy discount. What?!? I had no idea that existed until that moment. Since then, every time I go into the store I make it a point to pass by this section and take a look...just in case, you know. There may be something that I just can't pass up...like these roses. I couldn't believe it when I found a dozen of these pink roses for five bucks! I scooped them up and put them in the cart and away they came with me. I couldn't get a chance to paint them for a couple of days, and at their age, their beauty is fleeting. Some didn't make it very long, but I will do my best to preserve them in paint. There are a few that may make it another day or two, but that might be it. Hopefully they do, since I'd like to try at least one more painting with them if they hold up.

Valentine Roses © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Strawberries and Chocolate - An original oil painting by George De Chiara

Strawberries and Chocolate

 In my last blog post, I mentioned going to a church garage sale. This white heart is another one of the items I picked up at it. I think this one cost me a quarter. I liked the contrast between it and the dark background almost immediately. Now, what to put with it to finish off my arrangement? After a bit a digging around the house, I finally settled on using some strawberries, and, what goes better with a strawberry than some chocolate? It surprised me how quickly and easily this still life arrangement came together. Now all I needed to do was paint it.

Here's how the painting came about:

First, here's an image of what I'm looking at while painting. As hard as I tried I just couldn't get a good image of the set up. I can't even see the highlights on the white heart in this image. This is one of the reasons I prefer to paint from life when ever it's possible. 

Here's my really rough block-in of the basic shapes. I toned the canvas with a very thinned mixture of Cadium Red and Terra Rosa. To draw the outlines, I used the same color mixture with less turpentine and a paper towel dipped in turpentine to wipe out some of the light areas. At this point, I'm not really concerned with anything more than making sure everything will fit on the canvas and that I have a composition I'm happy with.

It seems like it's rare to be able to start with the thing that represents the lightest light and darkest dark right off the bat, but I lucked out with this one. Usually, it seems like I need to paint a little more of the painting before establishing these values. I have to admit that kind of luck is nice. 

Just about done now. I have to paint the chocolate hearts still and adjust a few of the edges. Edges are one of those things I really want to work on this year, so if you're a regular reader of this blog your going to hear me talk lot about them. Right now I'm experimenting with soften the edges more than I normally do, trying to give the eye places to rest and giving it a clue that it should move on from the spot it's in. To soften, I'm using a very soft clean brush and I'll just lightly swipe it across the edge.

The finished painting:

Strawberries and Chocolate © 

 Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Love Bird - An original oil painting by George De Chiara

Love Bird

I love finding new things to paint, which is what inspired this painting. I had that little ceramic bird for less than an hour when I painted him. He was a score from a local church garage sale for a whopping dollar! How could I pass that up? Plus, I had already had the chocolates which I bought for some Valentine-themed paintings anyway. The two just seemed to fit together so well. Below are a few step-by-step photographs of how this image came to life.

First off, here's an image of what I'm looking at while painting. The rose is made from crêpe paper that my niece folded into a rose. I've used them a few times to stand in for real roses and they work great. Never wilt and never change shape!

This image is taken after about 30 minutes of painting. I stained the canvas with a mixture of Cadium Red and Cadium Scarlet thinned with a lot of turpentine. Then I used them same mixture with a lot less turns to drawn in the basic shapes and a paper towel dipped in turpentine to wipe out a few lighter colors. I give this a few minutes to dry and then started blocking in the larger color masses of the bird. 

I continued working on the bird until I was happy with his appearance, which, naturally, lead to the surrounding areas in order to get the edges that I want. 

Just about done now. Everything is blocked-in and I just need to bring rest of the painting up to the level of completeness that I want. I generally try to soften the edges and to let more of the underpainting show through as I get closer the edges of the canvas. I do this for two reasons. First, I just like the look of the incompleted painting, and, second, I feel it helps move the eye back towards the more complete areas of the painting, which is the center of interest. 

Love Bird © 

 Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Valentine Memories - Original Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Valentine Memories

 When I set up this still life, I made sure to give myself plenty of time to get things the way I wanted. It's amazing how much of a difference that makes for me. I feel more relaxed when painting and generally don't run into as many surprises half way through the painting. I also did a fairly detailed under painting for this one before laying in any color. I don't always do this; sometimes I just make some general marks about where things will go. I'm not sure which method I prefer. The truth is I use which ever one I feel is the best choice at the time.  If you would like to see complete step by step pictures of this painting in progress with complete explanations, sign up for my free newsletter at http://georgedechiara.com/email-newsletter. The next issue will come out at the end of the week.

Valentine Memories

 
Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 11 inches x 14 inches on canvas panel. 
Medium: Original Oil Painting
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD
Initialed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Sweet Hearts - Original Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Sweet Hearts

 Here is another painting I did using those small candy hearts. This time I thought I'd do more with the hearts themselves, so I took out the plate and box that I used yesterday. There's a little piece of glass under the candy that gives just a slight reflection. I like to do this from time to time. The reflections give an interesting little hint of color to the piece of paper under the glass. 

 My wife is clamoring for a painting like this for Valentine's Day, so I think I am on to something here.

Sweet Hearts

 
Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 3 inches x 5 inches on canvas panel. 
Medium: Original Oil Painting
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to go to eBay auction.
Initialed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Be Mine - Original Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Be Mine

 Here's another one in my Valentine series. This time it's those hard little hearts with the little sayings on them. I haven't had these since I was a kid and I have to say the flavor has improved a lot since then. The little sayings, however, have not. I seem to remember almost all of them saying be mine, but I had to look through almost the whole box to find one that actually said it. Of course I found a few defective ones that I needed to eat to get rid of. I don't want those defects messing up my arrangements.

Be Mine

 
Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 5 inches x 7 inches on canvas panel. 
Medium: Original Oil Painting
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to go to eBay auction.
Initialed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Chocolate Hearts - Original Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Chocolate Hearts

 It seems like we just get done with Christmas and the New Year when Valentine's day comes around. I guess it doesn't help that the store have had Valentine's Day gifts out now since right after Christmas. Well, today I finally went down the "seasonal" aisle at the grocery store and picked up a few things to try painting. I bought a bag of chocolates, a box of those candy conversational hearts, and a nice little heart shaped plate. I hope over the next few days to do several small paintings with these objects and maybe one larger piece with some of these things in it. If you're looking for a unique, one of a kind Valentine's gift this year, why not give the gift of an original piece of art? No calories and your loved one can enjoy it for years to come.

Chocolate Hearts

 
Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 3 inches x 5 inches on canvas panel. 
Medium: Original Oil Painting
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD
Initialed on front. Signed and dated on back.