I'd say this one is a complete success!!! I LOVE IT!!! I'd say the results of my experiment, regarding if this is a technique that I like and excel, are in.... and it's a keeper!!! 

Honestly, this is the way that I have desired to paint portraits my whole art career.... and I have finally found it! It feels like a true gift from the divine for me.. I am overjoyed and sooo excited about my artistic discovery!

An added BIG Bonus is that I am seeming to ZOOM with these. So far my previous experimentations using this technique has me completing the project in less than 24 hrs... and that is amazing to me... usually have taken a month to get the image to my satisfaction...

Following are some process pics of my process as I created this portrait of my lovely daughter Zara...
​Enjoy!

Oh this one is going to be so fun! My beautiful daughter Zara... She's a young beauty inside & out! 

This is my first abstract portrait of my father, Butch and I really really like it... Of course there will be more to come. Basically, I toned the canvas with a vibrant flow of color which I was inspired to do from studying one of my well-known local artists Jonas Gerard when I visited his art gallery/workshop at Riverview Station in Asheville, NC.
Below are some of the process photos of the piece.
​I hope you enjoy... I know I certainly enjoyed creating this.

This is my newest artwork acrylic painting on stretched canvas of my families, over 100 yr old!!, barn which is right out in my backyard on 418 Stone Cottage Rd, Mars Hill, NC!

In Madison County, NC we have a barn alliance and May is officially the Madison County Barn Alliances "Barn Month". 
Mr. Taylor Barnhill, from the Madison Co. Barn Alliance, had just visited me about our (over 100 yr old) Phillips family barn in April and he had mentioned that artworks related to our local barns would be exhibited at the Madison Co. Art Associations gallery all during the month of May... 
That got me excited and inspired to do a portrait of our family barn to be included in the "Barn Month" art exhibit... 

Alas, this particular project took me much longer than anticipated... I know that I put in over 40 hours on this painting and it's because of the detail and I wanted it to look just right as I am sure this will be a treasure for our family for generations.. hopefully outlasting the barn itself!
Next year... I am going to make sure this Barn Portrait gets exhibited for sure.

I am very impressed with myself for the hand drawn rendering that I did at the start.. as I usually use transfer paper with a sketch or image of the subject I am going to render... and this technique is to save precious TIME... But, it's really good to practice the drawing skills every once and a while and realize... I STILL GOT IT!
Below are images of my creation process starting with the finished artwork and going back through the major steps on this piece.
I used a glazing technique and started with solely black and white and moved on to layer over with color. I am beginning to see one of my signature elements.. is having some part of the artwork leave the confines of the identified boundary of the artwork... thus creating added interest and movement... I really love it and seem to naturally do this over and over again... I have never really planned out to do that... but seems like its what wants to be.
​
I hope that you take a look and enjoy my little art process show..
Enjoy! 

Hello Everyone, Hope you all are doing awesome!

I have been running an ART PROMO GAME on my Facebook page "Chris Bell Art Page" 
I hope that you will decide to join me over there and play!

The following images are today's (4/15/16) painting, "Violet Dreams", #7 in the 30 painting series! Plus some process photos from my work earlier this morning. A little surrealistic flair on this one. Enjoy!