Daub du Jour

My name is Marianne Plumridge. I am an artist of mythic fantasy works and fine art images. More of which can be seen at my website, 'MariannePlumridgeart.com', and also my Writing Blog, 'Muse du Jour'. These sites are in the links section of this page. This site began life as a painting a day blog in 2007. However that project has now passed, but I still find myself painting in that way. So this site will now be the showcase my new paintings as inspired by those previous efforts.

My Photo
Name:
Location: New England, United States

Monday, November 25, 2024

Four more for Illuxcon...

 "Gold Ring Interchange"
(8x10", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $420.00  SOLD
Not the greatest photos of these latest four rocket doodles, so sorry about that. I wanted to revisit the 'space station beneath the rings' theme from a couple of previous paintings, in particular, 'Gossmere - Gossamer - Base'. Different concept idea with a more glowing colour and light. Originally called 'Shimmer Rings' as a working title during the design phase, I decided to change it after I'd finished the painting. It was way more golden orange than anticipated and I liked it a lot more. Below, is the design drawing from my teeny sketchbook.


 
"Fire Moon City"
(6x8", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $300.00
I had fun with this painting. I drew it up directly onto the canvas using an atmospheric sun as a reference while the space station is an extrapolation of a design from a painting from some years back. Whenever I went to look at the painting or hang it up, I kind of have to stop myself from hanging it the wrong way up. The station is SUPPOSED to look like that, but my brain wants it the other way. LOL The photo does not do the original justice in any way shape or form. It glows in the right light. 


"Black Opal Fire Base"
(5x7", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $ 270.00
Another 'real' rocket doodle. I drew this idea directly onto canvas as well. I always like the contrariness of red against blue or black for 'pop' effects. And yes, this one reminds me of opals from where I was born. 


"Edge of Elysium"
(5x7", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $280.00  SOLD
With this rocket doodle, I just wanted to play around with colour, a distant sun viewed through a glorious nebula...and a rocket off to look at what's on the other side. I had a lot of fun with this one. And it is also a true rocket doodle in the respect that I drew the ship and the sun placement directly onto canvas and then went to town.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. I'll post more soon.
Cheers,
Marianne


 
 

Friday, November 8, 2024

Coloring outside the usual cosmos...

 "Arch City"
(Size: 8.5x11", Oils on Linen, Framed)  PRICE: $ 480.00
The inspiration for this painting came from image research for something completely different. I was flipping through thumbnails of some of Frank Frazetta's barbarian images for color palette ideas for one of my figurative pieces that I had drawn up. The idea hadn't fully jelled, yet, though, so I just mindlessly looked at gorgeous art. I thought I saw one of Frank's space pieces with a giant blue planet in it...and his are very distinctive planets in ANY painting. I didn't save it off, thinking I could come back to it when I'd finished looking at something else. Three days later and I failed to ever find the image of that painting ever again. And still no luck to this date. I'm not sure that it wasn't a figment of my imagination. After awhile, I said bugger it and just started painting my own versions of a retro blue planet and the now requisite pointy rocket ship and space city. I did two nearly identical thumbnail drawings in my teeny, tiny sketchbook and in the end combined the two to make a whole. I wanted the planet off-center as it felt a better composition. These are the two tiny sketches, below.


 
 
"Last Rocket Out"
 (Size: 8.5x11", Oils on Linen, Framed)  PRICE: $ 480.00
Not sure what inspired me to think about painting a black hole, or black sun as they are also referred to as. But the shape and pure array of light was extremely appealing, especially since I've watched my hubby paint them so extraordinarily well over the last 25 years in his signature blazing array of spectacular colors. I thought I'd give it a go. I doodled a design in my miniature sketchbook and off I went. I even added the blues and purples of other spectrum light being draw in along with the space station which has gotten to close to danger and is breaking up. The rocket is speeding away while it still can. Well, I finished the painting and posted the results on Facebook and up popped author, Patrick Chiles with a question. "Is that my next book cover from BAEN? It's absolutely perfect...and rather eerie that you captured the opening of it so well." I answered hesitantly, "Er, no. But I'll send it along to the publisher if you like in case they need something." So, I did so and then promptly forgot about it. While I was at Illuxcon for the week, I didn't get around to looking at my emails, and painted my days away at the show, instead (more on that in a later post) so when I got home and downloaded them, a message from Toni at BAEN was there along with an offer to license the image for Patrick's new book. I was both elated and gobsmacked as it had been a lean year. So, 'Last Rocket Out' is set to be the cover of Patrick's next book, THE LONG WAY HOME. Not sure of the release date, yet. Sometimes, the inspiration and timing are everything. Meanwhile, here is the tiny design sketch for it...
 
 
Anyway, thanks for stopping by. I'll be posting more rockets soon, including the three very different paintings I created as demo pieces at Illuxcon.
Cheers,
Marianne


 

Saturday, October 19, 2024

Our Other Sarah...

 "Selene Unbound"
(Size: 9x12", Oils on Linen, Framed)   Price: $ 1100.00  SOLD

Well, I hadn't planned on not posting for this long, but time kind of sped past while life got in the way. This small portrait is of our other Sarah, Sarah Perez, fellow artist and willing model back when Illuxcon hosted the Costume Salon and Sketch Lab. I wanted a finite chroma while trying to find my way back into portraiture...my way. I had this idea of painting Sarah in a simple, unfussy array to concentrate on her features and demeanor. This pose came along at the end of the session and was by far the most striking. Taking photographs of models is like making drawing after drawing of a subject until you get in a groove and connect. So, while my initial idea was good, this got better along the way. I call this painting 'Selene Unbound' because it spoke to the cosmos I've continued to paint in my little rocket doodles. Her hands are pulling apart the vibrant hood and stars are releasing like fireflies from it, and questing tendrils gently wrap her forearms. The necklace and bodice of the dress bear moon symbols and the neckband itself, the colours of the Earth, the Moon's companion. Sarah, as my Selene, expresses challenge, expectancy, and promise within her gaze which is more than I could have hoped to create when I first started painting this. Some of the turquoise green has washed out of the vibrant blues in this photo and some of the luminosity out of the skin tones, but it still looks good and I'm rather proud of it. When I was choosing the clothing for Sarah to model for this photoshoot, someone asked me why I added a floor length evening dress to the mix when all I really needed was the featured cape. My answer was: "If Sarah feels beautiful and powerful in these clothes, then that will shine out of her in the photos, and hopefully the subsequent paintings of her."  Personally, I think it has.

Thanks for stopping by. 
Cheers,
Marianne

Friday, May 31, 2024

The Indomitable Ashley...

 

"Conviction"
(Size: 16x20", Oils on canvas, Framed) $1400.00   SOLD

It's taken me some years to make this post about this particular painting. Admittedly it is the best portrait I have done to date, and the subject has a story behind it...as many of the most meaningful paintings do. Reaching back to the years I produced the Costume Salon and Sketch Lab at Illuxcon, Ashley accompanied his beloved wife Jen, also an artist, to the convention. I was waiting in the foyer of the venue for one reason or another during set up and spotted Ashley standing just inside the door. Ruthlessly shoving aside my chronically non-confrontational introvert nature, I was smitten with 'Oh, man, this is someone I REALLY want to paint' and walked over to say hi. I asked him if he was an attending artist and he said no, that he was here supporting his wife who was. Then I said: "Okay, I was wondering if you or both of you would be interested in modelling at our costume salon upstairs during the show? He looked a bit askance at that, a bit wary, until I followed through with "Because I can really see you as a medieval knight or king. Ashley seemed to straighten and you could literally see him think an internal "Wow, really?"  I gave him the information for he and Jen for the orientation class the next morning. Sure enough, he and Jen turned up, worked through the class with a dozen other people and had a blast. Swords, armor, that orange shirt, among other things were like catnip to a bunch of artists over the weekend, including me. He was soooo photogenic, amenable to pose and attitude suggestions, and he was really into the whole process, almost seeming to spend most of the days up in the salon. By the end of the weekend, Ashley was on the floor with his own camera, taking his own photos of costumed models for he and Jen. And I will be ever grateful that of the 1500+ photos I took that Illuxcon, I have many reference action and portrait photos of Ashley to inspire paintings for years to come. Medieval scenarios, sword play, even a little Game of Thrones with another artist who modeled that weekend...but that is a subject and painting (or ten) for another day.

The Painting: There were two very nearly identical photos that I used for reference for this painting...but the whole attitude was so different between the two, that I had a long time deciding what I wanted to actually paint. In one shot, the whole gaze was almost adoring, reverential, so I called that one 'Benediction'. The second shot had a harder, firmer glimmer of resolve, and I called that one 'Conviction'. As you can see by the expression of the figure in the painting, and title, Conviction was the one I chose to proceed with. It was a tough call, though. I'd done my design drawings for Ashley in June of 2018, finishing them just before I broke my painting arm. You can read about that in my previous post called 'The Long Silence'. In spite of panic at the loss of time, a knock to my self confidence, and of course, getting over the actual injury, I knuckled down and got it done while trying not to rush and bugger it up. I'm rather proud of how it turned out. And of course, the photo doesn't do the original painting justice at all. Photography never does. But it is close enough.  My love of dramatic light and shade shows clearly in this work, and I just adore the contrariness of the bright orange shirt and the teal cloak against the cool, shiny, reflectiveness of the breastplate. However, they pale beneath the shining conviction of the figure's face. One thing that I hadn't noticed when painting but has grown in significance as time goes on is how Ashley's wedding ring becomes an emotional focus of the overall feeling of the painting and its deeper intent. Someone told me that it lends symbolism and gravitas to the whole 'conviction of protecting king, family, loved ones, a single beloved person, that he is resolved to defend to the end'.
 
Below, is a selection of the drawings and easel shot. Silly me forgot to take progress photos during painting, but I think I was panicking due to the time crunch of the rapidly approaching Illuxcon and needing to finish up. Sigh.


The base portrait sketch and a couple of Ashley photos from the costume salon. We have Joleen to thank for loaning the armor, various medieval clothing from her copious costume closet and enthusiasm for the salon itself.
 
Anyway, thanks for stopping by. Hopefully there won't be such a long time between posting the 'big' paintings anymore. There are more to come, so I'll hope you visit again, soon.
Cheers,
Marianne
 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Two New Rockets for the New Year...

 "Scarlet Base"
(Size: 8x10", Oils on Linen, Framed)   Price: $420.00

Happy New Year! Well, I took the proverbial bull by the horns early in January and started laying paint on a small portrait (more about that in the next post) that has been a long time coming. It involved several luscious blues which I had plenty of left over on my palette, along with a hefty amount of my usual black mix of Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine. I added Cadmium Red Light, Cadmium Orange Hue, and Cadmium Yellow Light to make up the warms of 'Scarlet Base'. I had sooooo much fun smooshing the clouds and blending the warms and blues. The addition of the almost 3D rocks in the foreground absolutely make the composition pop. They were a latish contribution because this concept just needed 'something' to make the visual interesting. The red sun is almost cradled by the gentle curve of the asteroid ring. Ahead of the rocketship, you'll notice a couple of red and blue streaks. My husband, whose art was initially grounded in space art picked up on them instantly and declared that my painting was a lovely close up of the red end of a bolo star system. In layman's terms, that is a solar system with two suns that feed off of each other. In this case, the smaller, denser blue sun off camera to the right is pulling substance away from the giant, but more flimsy red sun and it leaves a visible streak in space while doing so. The space station is a mining platform pulling cooling rare minerals from the surrounding space as they feed along unseen courses from the red to the blue. 


"Firefly Mist"
(Size: 5x7", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $240.00 SOLD
This little painting was created using the same leftover paint as 'Scarlet Base'. I kind of like the cools against the warms contrariness of both colour schemes. 'Firefly Mist' is more or less just a smooshing/blending cloud thing going on. Both paintings are a product of 'on the fly' non-design creation. Neither of them were sketched up on paper first, instead were just quickly, loosely laid down elements directly onto the canvas. Colours were mixed up on the fly and were added to or taken away from the canvas as the idea developed. Blending brushes might have been wielded...

Anyway, this is it so far. More on the small portrait next post. Thanks for stopping by.
Cheers,
Marianne



 

Sunday, December 3, 2023

2023 CHRISTMAS SMALL WORKS SALE

  Welcome to my second annual Christmas Small Works Sale. Yep, it's rockets again this year. Twelve brand new paintings. Hope that's good with you. Unfortunately, while I did my absolute best with the photography, each image is lacking in the nuance, luminosity, and detail that real live viewing brings. Please keep that in mind. Also, please see shipping options at the end of this post. To contact me for purchasing a painting, please use FACEBOOK MESSENGER or INSTAGRAM MESSENGER. I'll keep an eye on my email for direct contact as well. First to request purchase will get the painting. If that falls through, then it will be offered to next requestor according to the time stamp of the message. Meanwhile, please enjoy...

"Breaching the Cloud Layer"
(Size: 6x8", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $300.00 SOLD
This is one of my off the cuff rocket doodles to use up paint...a lot of 'made' black in this instance...on my palette. I mix the colour black from French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna and then I can control if it's a warm or cool black for use. I grabbed a panel, drew a quick slant-y line for the cloud layer, used my big circle gauge for the rising moon, and drew a small angled straight line to base the rocket on. Drew in the rocket shape, fixed with Workable Fixative spray and then started laying paint. I also channeled pure nostalgia with this mid-century era colour scheme. Reminds me of one of my fave films, 1954 'War of the Worlds'.
 
"Breakaway"
(Size: 7x10", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $400.00
The concept for this little painting came directly from the pages of my teeny thumbnail sketchbook, so it is one of my 'designed' rocket doodles. And, inherently not the colour scheme my inner brain was aiming for. I will make notes on my thumbnails about colour, title, etc, but they don't always turn out as expected. I thought I had completed the design with a plain, unbroken rising moon above the planet, but my mind kept asking 'why are there so many orbiting rocks?' 'The moon exploded?' was the hesitant answer back. So, in the drawing, I broke up the moon and added lots of debris around it. THEN, the design felt complete, so I painted it. Although, the finished painting is bright, it's not quite this candy coloured.
 
"Debris Window"
(Size: 6x6", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $310.00 SOLD

 This painting is another 'draw a few elements and a rocket on a canvas and just paint' off the cuff effort. I really love framing some scenes from dramatic elements that are mostly 'off camera' so to speak. I had a lot of blue and made black to use up, and the ever present golds and oranges on my palette, so I doodled some wrecked ship/station debris in the foreground and painted it dark and woolly against the bright starscape and inspection rocket. Who knows how often in the far flung future ship debris are found after being lost for so long or new alien things found. All need to be reported and families, no matter how distant they now are in the past, need notification about their lost ones. Also, buoys placed near wreck debris to warn other passing ships to avoid them in case of collision.
 
 
"Firecloud Launch"
(Size: 6x8", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $300.00

 Okay, this design came from the pages of my teeny thumbnail sketchbook, complete with colour scheme notes. AND, it turned out as was expected, heavy in red space and blue highlights. It's a little less contrasty in reality, but still vibrant. 
 
"Oasis Biodome"
(Size: 5x7", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: 300.00 SOLD

 "Oasis Biodome" also comes from the pages of my teeny sketchbook, but it was a design based on inspiration from a vintage SF magazine cover. It doesn't look anything like that cover, but the 'weight' of the design element, ie. the half-cut-off station on the right is placed in almost the same spot as the cartoony space station on the original inspiration. I was experimenting with odd design choices, and this was one of them. I rather like how it turned out.
 
"Polukhromos"
(Size: 6x6", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $280.00 SOLD

This is one of my off the cuff paintings that started out as a 'it was a good idea at the time' design. I wanted something colourful and Christmasy and I drew up the space station and used the circle gauge for the moons. The supernova in the background got very woolly, very quickly and I thought I'd all but ruined it for a few days, until my husband was walking past my studio table and loved it. That encouraged me to keep going in trying to save it. The space station was originally shaped like one of those elongated Christmas tree ornaments and had a 'ribbon' wrapped around it from top to bottom. I didn't end up liking it. It was too 'straight up and down' and not at all interesting. Too static. So, I started doodling on the canvas and adding things. Well, it looks just as woolly as the supernova nebula behind it, but I ended up liking it after all. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but someone out there will love it, I'm sure. Also, in looking at names for this painting, I finally chose 'Polukhromos' which is the Greek translation of 'polychrome' in the dictionary. I think it is very apt. 


"Red Run Shortcut"
(Size: 5x7", Oils on Linen, Framed) Price: $280.00  SOLD

This is another off the cuff, draw up directly on the canvas little painting. I was aiming for a 'big planet' look and also loved the colour of Mars, so Mars it became. A simple 'flypast' design that I could have fun smooshing my oil paints around. And yes, to use up some of the usual 'more than I need' made black.  
 
"Runnin' for It"
(Size: 6x8", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $300.00 SOLD

"Runnin' for It" is another off the cuff, draw up directly onto the canvas painting. I drew in a line for the planet edge, circle gauge for the moon, line for the rocket, drew the rocket. Then I completely went to town with the exploding surface and flying rocks. And I absolutely love the blue/red contrariness.

"Sirius Crucible"
(Size: 6x8", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $300.00 SOLD

 "Sirius Crucible" is an 'in-between' design. As in, I needed to use up a bunch of paint fast and wasn't quite sure what to paint. I have a bunch of used sketches and ideas piled up around my painting table, so I sifted through those, looking for inspiration. I found the space station I had used on another past painting and squinted at it and thought that it might make a nice centrepiece to cloud frame in space/nebula 'thang'. So, I drew it down and went at it with the paint, but somehow, I just ran out of inspirational puff and ended up putting it aside for several months. When I was grasping for ideas to draw just recently, I pulled out the half finished canvas again and looked at it. Squinting at the left over paint on my palette, I thought I could experiment with it a bit more. Well, I loved the amber back light and the soft multi-coloured clouds up front and so finished it with a sense of accomplishment. I hate wasting things, even canvases that haven't worked out. However, in adding the rocket and it's tail-fire trail, it also became something unexpected. Some of us see it as a simple space painting, others took one look at it and said they saw a shabby puppy or lion in the gold, with the off sized moons as eyes, and the space station and fire trail as the nose. Admittedly, it took me a while to see it as I was fully focused on the space theme, but when I did, I now can't unsee it. So, the title became 'Sirius Crucible' after the dog-star.

"Starbreak Station"
(Size: 6x8", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $300.00 SOLD

 I found a pretty, blue supernova in colours that I love and painted this off the cuff rocket doodle using some of it. All of my space scenes are painted loosely in an impressionist style, so I had a lot of fun daubing and blending blues and purples amidst the black of space on this one. Very serene and luminous in real life.

"Teeny Sputnik 1"
(size: 4x6", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $ 120.00  SOLD

I painted a Sputnik 1 for a friend last year as a commission. I still had some references lying around for it and a bunch of 4x6" frames and canvasses. I also had a lot of blue left on my palette as well. SO, I noodled an Earth horizon and and rising Moon in the distance, along with a bit of 'Milky Way' in the distance and created a teeny Sputnik 1.  Just for the heck of it. 
 
"Tumbling Stone Outpost"
(Size: 4x6", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $120.00 SOLD

Yep, lots of made black, and cadmium yellow light, and cadmium orange left on the palette. So, I drew up directly onto the canvas a bunch of positive and negative shapes, and a space station in the lower right corner. Even with the tumbling rocks, the design didn't feel complete, so I added the tiny rocket and its fire trail to tie the two 'halves' of the painting together into a whole. As strange as a design as it is, it now actually works. Pulp space paintings from last century were full of this kind of dramatic and dynamic design work, as the art adorning books and magazines had to draw the eye to sell the product. It's why we have so much gorgeous vintage art that 'thinks outside the box' and inspires, even if the laws of physics have been broken or even twisted and bent into something truly awe-inspiring and challenging. Suspension of disbelief is key, and I hope my little space fantasies can reach even a tiny bit of that inspiring achievement of pulp space artists past.

 
Shipping:
Currently, I have medium Priority Mail flat rate shipping boxes for single sales that will run about $25.00 with insurance. If you buy more than one and want to ship Fedex, we can get that done, too. 
 
Thanks for stopping by,
Cheers,
Marianne 
 
#pointyrocketships, #retrorockets, #pulpspace, #pulpspaceart, #spaceart, #smallpaintings, #oilpainting, #rockets, #rocketships, #1950sspaceart



Thursday, November 30, 2023

Designed Rocket Doodles...

 "Gossmere 'Gossamer' Base"
 (10x10", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $600.00  SOLD

This is one of the designs from my teeny sketchbook that I doodled awhile back. It's the first time I've painted, let alone drawn such a spindly space station. It was kind of inspired by the spider-like air traffic control 'tower' at LAX airport, in shape. And since the design is light and airy compared to many of my other clunky space stations, this one fit the almost pristine delicacy of the concept of the whitish rings and planet cloudscape below it. Lots of nuance and golden highlights have been  lost in photography, but I'm rather proud of fulfilling my vision for this idea. Below, is the page from my sketchbook...fully designed in a 3.5 x 3.5" space. The entries that I draw between the covers of this little book are more complete and 'deliberate' ideas that come to mind and need a little more effort than the 'off the cuff' ones that are more like 'insta-rockets'. Besides, with drawing up designs before hand, I can just scan to canvas size, print out and draw them down, ready to begin adding paint. They also often require more than just one sitting to complete.


 
"Jagged Edges"
(6x7", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $ 350.00  SOLD
 
I kind of like viewing space through 'broken windows' kind of debris. You may have noticed this. It provides the viewer with a narrative and possible story than just 'rocket flying through space' does. Yeah, I like painting those simple ideas, too. But, sometimes the urge to tell a bigger story takes over and I get to doodling in my teeny sketchbook again for a more finite design. The actual paint is another story. I'm never really fully invested in a colour scheme when I'm designing a rocket doodle...with the exception of, perhaps, "Gossmere 'Gossamer' Base" above which come to mind fully formed in paint as well as pencil. A couple of others where I am using a space photo from one of the NASA telescopes as a starting point may have a base colour-idea as well, but this doesn't happen often. The old pulp cover artists of the Golden Age and Silver Age of science fiction quite regularly used lurid colours when representing 'space' that defy the laws of physics and the universe when getting their ideas across. I'm more in line with their way of creating as it feeds fully into the 'what if' principle that is currently driving my science fiction/science fantasy space art and rocket doodles. "Jagged Edges" colour ideas were inspired by the top right hand corner of one of my previous paintings, "Moon Hopper". Nostalgic rust-coloured space with cool-tinted shadows was the basis for the premise going forward. I'm rather pleased with how it turned out. It brings 1950s space opera and pulp magazine covers to mind. Below is the design drawing from my little sketchbook.

 
"Lightship"
(6x6", Oils on Linen, Framed)  Price: $280.00  SOLD

"Lightship" is something of a 'ringer'...somewhere between an 'off the cuff' rocket doodle and a 'designed' one. I had a square frame that I wanted to paint something for and an idea started to form. I ended up using a 'saturn-like-planet' sketch from a previous painting and a previous style of space station I've painted to inspire the drawing of a new one. Below is the drawing/doodle of said space station/lightship on a page of its own in my teeny thumbnail sketchbook. Yeah, I know a lot of my space station designs reflect similar elements, but that's just my creative quirks at play. I like them to look organically grown technology of 'let's just add on a piece here' development over a long time frame...so bits stick out everywhere, appearing 'tacked on'. The final colour scheme of the painting wasn't quite what I was expecting it to be, but it was an adventure to paint.


Anyway, here ends the current crop of rocket doodles until I post up my annual CHRISTMAS SMALL WORKS SALE 2023 on Sunday 3rd December at 4pm. Come back and take a look. Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by.
Cheers, 

Marianne