The Fine Art Cafe

Two Golden Retreivers

2008-07-16T11:10:00.006-04:00

The two Golden Retrievers is a gift from a loving mom to her son and his family for Christmas. The son and his family’s Golden on the right side of the painting live a very long life and crossed over the rainbow bridge. From the stories told, you never saw this girl without a ball. The Beautiful young Golden on the right is the families’ new furbaby.

This pet portrait is about half way completed. There is still work to be done on the chest of the dog on the left. At this point the background hasn’t been worked out yet. It is a watercolor, pet portrait on Arches 300 lb. Paper. This painting is being done by JLHackett.

The Fine Art Cafe offers pet portraits in colored pencil art as well as watercolor.

Rice Paper Batik

2008-07-02T17:11:00.007-04:00

Rice Paper Batik

Dee Cochran's rice paper batiks are done with watercolor paint and permanent ink on rice paper. The paintings are done buy layering wax and paint done in a wax resist style of batik. Once satisfied with a painting, you gently crinkle the rice paper into a ball, pinching it in certain areas where you may want cracks to occur. The complete surface, as a final step, is covered with wax and then ironed to remove the wax. The resulting painting is similar to a stained glass window. When the painting is finally completed, float it on a sheet of mat board to reveal the deckle edges. This is only a synopsis of the process of the creation of a rice paper batik.

In Memory of Keegan

2008-06-30T16:44:00.013-04:00

Keegan was a beautiful doodle that was hit by a car. He was loved by his human family and will be miss terribly.

In Memory of Keegan.

If you click on the link above it will show you a video of the steps in making this wonderful watercolor pet portrait

This is a watercolor painting, pet portrait done by JLHackett, it was done on Arches 300 lb watercolor paper.

The Fine Art Cafe also offers pet portraits done in colored pencil art.

Rice paper batik are also very popular, The Fine Art Cafe has a large selection of batiks.

History of Colored Pencils

2008-06-26T09:22:00.004-04:00

Colored Pencils

The majority of graphite pencils made in the United States are painted yellow. According to Henry Petroski, this tradition began in 1890 when the L. & C. Hardtmuth Company of Austria-Hungary introduced their Koh-I-Noor brand, named after the famous diamond. It was intended to be the world's best and most expensive pencil, and at a time when most pencils were either painted in dark color or not at all, the Koh-I-Noor was yellow. As well as simply being distinctive, the color may have been inspired by the Austro-Hungarian flag; it was also suggestive of the Orient, at a time when the best-quality graphite came from Siberia. Other companies then copied the yellow color so that their pencils would be associated with this high-quality brand, and chose brand names with explicit Oriental references, such as Mikado (renamed Mirado) and Mongol. Not all countries use yellow pencils; however, German pencils, for example, are often green, based on the trademark colors of Faber-Castell, a major German stationery company. Pencils are commonly rounded, hexagonal or sometimes triangular in section.

Coloring pencils (i.e., those with a colored lead) are generally the same color as the lead.
Unlike wax-based colored pencils, these can be easily erased. Their main use is in sketching, where the objective is to create an outline using the same color that other media (such as wax pencils, or watercolor paints) would fill or when the objective is to scan the color sketch. Some animators prefer col-erase to graphite pencils because they don't smudge as easily, and the different colors allow for better separation of objects in the sketch. Copy-editors find them useful too, as their markings stand out more than graphite but can be erased.

BKemp and The Fine Art Cafe

2008-06-25T10:41:00.003-04:00

Betty Kemp is a native Ohioan, residing in Oak Harbor since 1991. She has devoted the past six years to sharpening her artistic abilities by attending various classes and seminars, locally and nationally.

Betty’s colored pencil work has been accepted into numerous juried shows including the Colored Pencil Society of America’s Annual International Exhibitions, the St Louis Artist’s Guild National Exhibition and various other national exhibitions. She has also exhibited her art at the Toledo Artists’ Club’s art shows where she has captured a Best of Show, a First Place and an Honorable Mention over the past few years. Betty has also exhibited and sold her colored pencil art at Lakeside’s Kathryn Crampton Memorial Art Show. Currently, a selection of Betty’s art is on display at the Split Winds Gallery on Perry Street in downtown Port Clinton.
Betty is a member of the Colored Pencil Society of America (Signature status),the Ohio Colored Pencil Alliance, the Toledo Artists’ Club, the Great Lakes Pastel Society and it past president of the Port Clinton Artists’ Club. Some of her art is inprivate collections in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida and California.

DCochran and The Fine Art Cafe

2008-06-25T10:36:00.006-04:00

The Fine Art Cafe would like to introduce our new artist Dee Cochran

Original Rice Paper Batik Created by DCochran and Presented by The Fine Art Cafe. Original Rice Paper Batik created by Dee Cochran. For 12 years Dee has develops her own patterns and creation on Rice Paper. The Batik watercolor paintings are first inked and waxed on Rice Paper. Dee's Rice Paper Batik watercolor paintings have a whimsical but elegant feeling that would be great in a child's room to your dining room. If you are looking for a art gift and you love the outdoors, give them a one-of-kind original art piece by Dee Cochran.