{Adding some shading to the yellow gerberas on Keri's Bridal Bouquet}

Don't you just get lost in that middle gerbera? I do. I love how the light hits some of the petals and how the shading creates a depth to it. 

This is my view when I paint. I sit on my chair, indian style and with my face only a foot away from the canvas. Sometimes when I'm doing very detailed work my nose almost touches the painting!

{I've shared photos of the final painting and a few from early on in the process. Here's some more mid-way through of this happy bridal bouquet painting.}

After getting to a comfortable point with the bouquet, I started adding the background color. I had emailed back and forth with Keri and knew she wanted her wedding color as the background color. I had some great photos to go by and think I nailed it (you got to celebrate when you can!).

As you can see from the above photo, I added a darker outline to the bouquet in a different shade of blue. After I added the darker detail, I went back with the lighter paint to get a good balance of the two and until the darker color easily blended into the lighter layer. The darker details are only visable when you view it up-close, and from a far, you only see a darker shadow hinting around the bouquet which creates a nice depth to the painting. Both of the light blue and darker blue colors are mixes of several different colors to get the right match. 

Believe it or not, this little extra detail took me several hours to do. Luckily I was catching up on Once Upon A time on Hulu.com. Any fans out there?

Once the background was complete, I added a nice clean border to all the flower petals. I do this to all the petals, not just the ones close to the background color. It's very tedious, as you can imagine.

It's amazing how many different shades of the main colors created this painting. Love this palette. 

Check out the final photos of this painting and others here, and check out the bridal bouquet section if you'd like information on how to order a commission. 

xo,
e. 

The marvelous Lisa Ashinoff who showed her city scapes in Richmond. She's won several awards for her large water scenes and she does shows up and down the East Coast pretty much all year around. She rocks and you can follow her on facebook to see if she'll be in your area soon.

Gene Gregorio is such a funny character and absolutely crazy. He is one of those artists who could paint 20 hours straight, which I'm extremely jealous of. He'll do shows all over the East Coast this summer and fall so be sure to follow him on facebook if you're interested.

David Oleski is a wonderful artists who has a lot of experience in the business. When I have questions or need advice, he's one of my go-to peeps. He has a lot of experience and can share tips on how he has reached success in the art show world. My next art show is a show he is running in the Hampton's July 5-7. Sooo excited! Find him on facebook.

I met Virginia Sorsby Fergus in Richmond at one of the first shows I ever did and I found her so impressive. To me, she just looked like what I pictured an artist would look like. She is such a nice woman and I really enjoy doing shows with her. 

Kenneth Lecky goes way back with my husband, as far as to middle school. He does a few shows a year and recently won a couple of awards for his work! Check out his recent photos of the cherry blossoms in DC and follow him on facebook if you please.

Itty Bitty Press is just so cool. It's a husband (Jay) and wife (Bri) team of designers and screen printers. They do posters and t-shirts and are very popular among the musicians in Richmond and Fredericksburg, VA, as they do a lot of show posters. Bri is also Kenneth Lecky's sister-in-law! Small world. Follow their adventures on facebook.

Kris Taylor was my neighbor for my first two years at Arts in the Park and we always had a nice time. Having nice neighbors at a show is key because you're stuck with them and their energy for two days straight. It gets very intense sometimes. Kris is a darling and her copperplate etchings are equally so. 

What is etching? Etching is when you carve a detailed drawing on a metal plate, usually zinc, but Kris uses copper. You carve by corroding its surface with nitric acid. When the design is complete, the plate is inked and run through a hand press. Each eaching is an original print because no two prints are exactly alike. 

Where do I start with this adorable couple? Mary Lou Hess and her husband Joe were also my neighbors for the first two years at Arts in the Park. They have been cheering me on ever sense. I love her etchings and came home with two of them this past show, and I still want "To Meet and Be Met." Mary Lou and Joe drives all the way from New Albany, Indiana, to participate in the Arts in the Park. I'm very fond of them and hope to see them again.

I hope you enjoyed reading about some of my favorite artists friends and found some new art that you love!

xo,
e. 

{Frisky, the Kitty - Original pet portrait by Erica Eriksdotter}

"I just received my pet portrait of Frisky today...it's even more gorgeous in person. The depth, clarity and subtle traits that you captured are truly outstanding (and not an easy thing to do when a cat has so much white as Frisky does!) I absolutely adore it. You are first-class all the way!" - Patti

What a wonderful testimonial to receive from your client. It doesn't get much better than that. 

"Frisky, the Kitty" is an original 10x10 painting on 1.5 inch deep gallery wrapped canvas. One of his favorite places to lay is on a turquoise/blue-ish blanket so we incorporated that into the painting. His beautiful white fur really pop against the background and his eyes takes on a slight lavendar tone, which I adore.

It was wonderful to work on this beautiful cat. A pet portrait is such a great gift to yourself or to a loved one for their birthday or Christmas. Send me an email if you want to inquire about sizes and prices, or check if my schedule is free if you have a certain date in mind.

xo,
e.