Acrylic paintings and Family photos

Blog-post Saturday is finally here! I have much to write about this week.

First of all, Sunday I went with my Grandma +Dixie Koch to a church that we were invited to for a book signing. They hosted an event just for us! My grandma sold and signed books, and I displayed some of my artwork. I sold this charcoal drawing as well (reference photo: Alice Loder Photography):

Right before the event, during the service, was when we had to speak in front of everyone there. I was beyond scared! I have many talents, one of them not being public speaking! Everything turned out all right though and the speech actually went well. I had a great time afterward talking to people and overall it was a wonderful time! And, the nacho tacos were delicious!

I've had a wonderful opportunity given to me! I have not shared this on facebook, but I have been chosen to illustrate a children's book! It's a book about cats. Although I haven't drawn cats since I was a kid, I practiced and these are just a couple rough sketches of what they will look like (created digitally):

This week I started working with a photographer who resides in the UK. She posted in an Equine Artists group on facebook that her photos can be used to create works of art under a few conditions. I will be doing a few more paintings and drawings from her wonderful photographs. Like her page on facebook!

On Wednesday I started following an artist named Elise Genest, who does lifesize acrylic paintings of horses. I fell in love with her style. You should like her page on facebook too! Here are a couple of her paintings:

I wanted to experiment with her style and how she does her backgrounds. So Wednesday on a whim I decided to paint this Pintabian (reference photo: Alice Loder Photography, UK):

I love just being free playing with the background. On this piece I also put in some paint that has little beads in it, so the ground the horse is running on is raised and has a sandy texture. I love how this turned out.

Yesterday I decided instead of doing homework, to do another painting (So that means I have to  do my homework today! Ugh.). I used a free reference photo, by an equine photographer named Janina Suuronen. Again, I experimented with the background:

I think this one turned out even better than the one above! This painting took approximately 5 hours to complete and it was a little harder, because when the horse is closer, the detail increases. I think I have a new favorite medium!

After posting these two paintings on facebook, I got more likes on my page and more people interested in paintings. I wish I could do a painting every day, BUT college life is so demanding! But hey, I'm making time to do them anyway.


And now for photography, I reached 100 likes on my photography facebook page (www.facebook.com/AndreaPhotos) in just a few days! I have been busy editing the Hager family session and I thought I would share them:

That is all for now. Thank you for reading and be sure to read my next post next Saturday!
Have a wonderful day!

~Andrea J. Anderson

Introduction: Artist and Photographer

Welcome to my blog! Every Saturday I will have a new blog post. I will be posting about my artwork and my photography. A little bit about me... I am in college at a community college earning my Associate's degree and will then move on to major in Art Education. Art has always been my hobby until a few years ago when I started selling my artwork. I specialize in horses (I'm a horse nerd, and a proud owner of two Half-Arabians that I am training myself), but can do just about anything. I can use a variety of mediums, my favorites being charcoal, oils, and pyrography (wood-burning). I am still exploring different mediums and finding new favorites. The covers I illustrated for my grandma's books.

Photography is another hobby I have had for a long time. When I was a kid I would always take my point-and-shoot or my parents' canon and just go for a stroll around the farm, looking for things to take pictures of. I have entered both my artwork and photography in the county fair through 4-H. 2014 will be my last year of 4-H. During the last few years people have paid me to take photos of them. I never considered myself a professional, though. It was just my hobby, and if people wanted to pay me to take photos of them, then great! I was much too critical of myself to consider myself as a professional. I thought I would never be good enough. Truth is, when it comes to art and photography, you can never be good enough. You are always learning and trying to improve. This spring I decided to invest in a canon 60D. I have researched and read many articles on the internet about photography. I gained experience through my relatives being my models. I have bought books and incorporated the knowledge from them into my practice. Now I can say that I am a professional photographer. It is a journey, and I learn from every photo shoot just as I learn from every drawing or painting I create. A bit about my photography... I love all types of photography. Wildlife, landscape, people, pets, etc. My dream is to do wildlife and mustang photography, but the equipment is very expensive. I doubt it will happen, but who knows? I thought I would never become a pro photographer, either.

My biggest obstacle now is to reach people. The hardest part about having an art and/or photography business, is getting your name out there. Please do me a favor if you like my work, please share it with your friends! I do believe that God has given me the gift to see, and the passion to create. And, what God has given me, I will put to use for His glory.

I have a facebook page as well. If you would like to check it out or like it, visit www.facebook.com/AndreaEquineArt. If you are interested in a custom piece of artwork, photography, or a photoshoot, please email aj95anderson@gmail.com. Thank you for reading!