Flowing Fish

Flowing Fish – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

I completed Flowing Fish yesterday, it’s another painting in the larger format. I’m enjoying painting in this larger size as it’s helping me get looser by enabling me to use broader strokes. I have painted several fish in pairs perhaps because I was born in a pair, with my identical twin sister.  Two fish swimming in opposite directions is also the symbol for Pisces which happens to be our sun sign. With all the rain and flooding we’ve had here in Atlanta, I’ve been feeling quite flowing lately.

In the painting I tried to capture the flowing feeling you have when snorkeling in coral reefs which is such a magical experience. Late winter tends to drag on and I’d like to be down in the tropics swimming about now. Perhaps that’s another reason I chose to do this painting. March begins next week, spring will be here soon!

Mer-Cat

Mer-cat – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Here’s a new painting for my Heni’s Happy Painting Etsy shop.    Earlier in the summer I painted The Brothers of our cats Tuxie and Truffle.  I then thought I’d like to paint our other cat, Tiggy who passed away a few years ago. With the warm summer weather I was also thinking about painting a mermaid in an underwater scene.  I put these two ideas together and created Mer-Cat.

Back in May when I had my show at the Phoenix and Dragon bookstore, Candice, the owner mentioned that they have  an art show in October where they have paintings of cats from various local artists which is another reason why I’ve done these cat paintings.  The bookstore has three cats that live there full time.  When I set up my show, they all came into the gallery to hang out with me.  It was very sweet. There are many pet oriented gifts in the shop and I’ve bought some cat gifts for my daughter there.

My daughter has been in Prague now for just over a week, it’s pretty quiet around here, I think our kitties are missing her and all her loving attention.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Dreaming of the Caribbean again

Red Fish in the Tropics ~ acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

We’ve just had another long week of ice and snow.  I live in the South for a reason, we’ve had quite enough of this cold snowy weather.  I feel for the folks in the North, this winter has been brutal.  I’ve spent the snowy days dreaming of the warm Caribbean while working on a new fish painting, Red Fish in the Tropics.  In this painting I’ve tried to capture the magic one sees while snorkeling along coral reefs.   I love the way sound is muted and yet you see movement everywhere.   The light bounces through the water and brightens the vivid colors of the fish while the schools of fish swim along in the same direction ready at any moment to dart off on a different course.  You usually see one of two larger fish floating along with the current moving a bit slower.   I worked many hours on this painting trying to get that feeling, by layering the light to get the sense of movement and adding lots a bright details to the fish and coral.  The painting still doesn’t capture it fully but I didn’t want it to be too over worked and am fairly pleased.  Let’s hope spring in the Northern hemisphere will come sooner than later.  Until then we can dream…

Orange Fish in Emerald Sea

Orange Fish in Emerald Sea – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Orange Fish in Emerald Sea is another fish painting of mine.  I love painting fish, with their unique shapes, large eyes and gaping mouths. Their eyes and mouths give them  unique character.. It’s a gray day here in Atlanta, I’m on my second cup of coffee and am feeling a bit frustrated.  I started a new tropical fish painting and it’s not coming together so far.  That happens to me a lot, I start the painting and in the middle of the process it is a mess but I know if I stick with it I’ll get it to work.  I decided to take a break and upload a painting that I do like here on my blog.  I hope you like it too.  I just looked outside the sun is out, blue sky.  I think the day is going to get better.

Available here.

Caribbean Dreaming

Ever since I was lucky enough to spend two weeks on a fishing boat in the Caribbean and learned to snorkel, tropical fish have amazed me.  It was  magical to witness these vivid colored and various shaped fish gliding along as if choreographed in a backdrop of coral in light dappled aqua water.

I painted Caribbean Dreaming a couple of winters ago during a cold spell to lift my spirits.  I find it freeing to paint fish  because pretty much any thing goes, you can play by layering colors as the fish starts to appear and the background can also be just as colorful and layered.

This year January has been unseasonably warm but cold weather is sure to come for a bit and I will definitely  take time to paint a new fish.

Available here.