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Copyright by Dominique Amendola

This painting does not need a frame since the sides are painted and are 1 1/2 inch thick. This is an adventure in impressionism. A night scene is not necessarily colorless. it can be very interesting to paint. In this painting i am focusing more on my emotions and imagination rather than reality.However it correctly represents the bridge and its reflection in the waters.

Copyright by Dominique Amendola

This beautiful work was executed with a live model. The paint is loose and trying to depict the mood of the girl.
There are many ways to approach portrait painting. This painting is not endeavoring to be a portrait, but more a general effect of melancholy. This time I did not even attempt to draw before I painted. I threw myself to the subject wholeheartedly. the result is a loose rendering and a freedom of the brush, a work of art in oil painting with just a touch of colors and a lot of feelings.

Copyright by Dominique Amendola

Yes, i have been gone for a long time. First at all I was busy with more commission work. This time it was a bathroom mural. It took all I had to paint on top of a ladder for days at a time. My clients are always so happy with the results it is worthy in the end. Yes, I do have other commissions on the horizon. So i may not post as often as I'd like. Also i had a set back. My computer had a defective hard drive and I lost a lot of data including my art files.
For today's painting I sort of looked for things that I can get my brush around. This time I went to a nice winery but got struck by this attractive fountain. I like fountains.
I think the main thing that inspires me is the constant and nagging wish to do better. This is what really keeps an artist going.
I'm inspired all the time and am always filling up little art notebooks with ideas for paintings. The inspiration behind a lot of my work comes from wanting to express something within myself and usually associated with the things I love about life or have experienced.
I keep motivated by looking at other people's art or by changing mediums. I just really love all aspects of creating art.

Copyright by Dominique Amendola

This beautiful view of the town of Tiburon was a commissioned piece. This is the piece I was working on for the past couple months. It is quite a process to paint such a large painting.
First I painted a couple plein air color sketches on canvas and also did some studies in conte crayons. I also took some photos, but no photo can give you a sense for the colors. This is why it was so important to paint a few plein air pieces first. Then I went home and prepared a view from a collage of some of my photos, as well as some composition sketches. Composition is all important to me and play a big role in my paintings. However, i was limited by my clients desires to have a certain size. this left me me doing a panoramic piece with a 3 x 4 ratio when i would have wished for a 3 x 2 ratio for a more dynamic panoramic view.
After deciding on the composition I painted a small version (as seen on this blog) of my future painting.
I decided to stretch my canvas myself so that i could choose the best type of canvas without restriction. I have done this in the past. Since it was to be such a large size canvas, it took me a couple hours just to stretch the canvas to my satisfaction.
I started the canvas with the sky and then established the landscape on top of it. The final result of all these steps is what you see. My clients are delighted with the results.
If you would like to commission a painting from me, you can go to my website at:
http://www.artdominiqueamendola.com and see the possibilities in the portrait section. By clicking on "how to order a portrait" you get a price list. This will give you an idea of what I charge. I have done portraits, landscapes and copies of old masters paintings for peoplein this way, actually the sky is the limit. You can email me about your plans and we can discuss what is possible.