Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Sneak Peak!

Original Painting: "A Tasty Slice of Cantaloupe":
 8"x10"- Pastel on Illustration Board,  $75 USD
Can you believe it? The SamDoum Art Newsletter's list of subscribers has grown by more than 75% in the past week! Thanks so much to all of you who have subscribed to our mailing list. If you haven't signed up as of yet, please do. You can sign up here. We really appreciate it!

That said, if you've signed up for our newsletter, you will be one of the first to receive a sneak peak into my new children's picture book titled "Snowflakes." The sneak peak will be in video format and will be narrated by yours truly. So don't miss it and be sure to subscribe to our mailing list!

Here is the second pastel painting that I've painted in my new still life series: A nice tasty piece of cantaloupe!  I'm getting a 'lil hungry. How about you?   :)

I hope you enjoy!
-SamDoum

Monday, April 28, 2014

Onward with Still Lifes!

Original Painting: "Wine Glass, Grapes, and Flowers": 8"x10"
Pastel on Illustration Board $75 USD



As discussed in my last blog posts, I have a few children's book projects that I've been working on. But I wanted to take a break from discussing those projects, today, and instead wanted to discuss something new.

A few weeks ago, I realized that I hadn't done a still life painting in over ten years! Wow!

So I decided to take on new (well renewed anyway) terrain by getting back into the swing of things when it comes to still lifes.

So for the next month or more, I will be setting up my studio, arranging various objects in the best light, and painting from them. I will also use some images from a site called "Paint my photo" which allows artists to paint from photographers photos without any copyright worries. And then, I should, hopefully, have a new collection of still lifes to add to the SamDoumArt.com store!

So stay tuned to see what else I create! The painting above is the 1st in my still life series. This painting was painted in pastels, of course-- my most favorite medium to work with. I love how the dark background makes the objects (wine glass, grapes, and flowers) "pop" into the foreground. How do you like it?

I hope you enjoy!

Til later fellow art lovers!
-SamDoum

Saturday, April 26, 2014

The mystery revealed!


"Take a look at Yourself" 8"x10" Original Not for Sale, but PRINTS available
Surprise! You know all those pastel animal paintings I painted a little while ago during one of those 30 paintings in 30 days painting challenges? Well, all those pastel art images and the art image that I discussed in my last blog post (see here), will all be apart of a new book  project that I'm working on. Yep, another children's book. This new children's book will be titled "Grab My Hand"- "But shhhhh, anything else about it is top secret, other than that it should be released sometime next month.

Oh, okay, I'll tell you one more thing: The top painting shown above is an illustration in my new upcoming picture book, as well! As you can see, I used Miriam, one our the twins, for this illustration -- but I will not disclose any more info for now. But when I do, if you keep following The Blog of SamDoum Art, you will be one of the first to see what this new picture book is all about!

Enjoy!

'Til later fellow art lovers!
-SamDoum

To Buy a Print of the painting "Take a Look At Yourself," click HERE.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Can you guess what this is for?

"Grab  My Hand" 8"x10" Original Not For Sale
Hey . . . What's this? This pastel painting looks like a hand coming down from the clouds wrapped around another hand. But who does the hand belong to? And is the rainbow hand grasping a child's hand? Looks like a small hand. Who does this painting represent? Perhaps God and a small child. And the rainbow hand might be rainbow because God has no color and is therefore all colors. :)

So we know who this painting represents. But what will this image/ art be used for? Well, the purpose of this pastel painting is kind of a surprise: More about that in my next blog post. Enjoy and 'til then fellow art lovers!
-SamDoum

Click HERE in order to buy a Print of the painting "Grab My HAND"

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

My Brand New Children's Picture Book!


"Snowflakes" Written and Illustrated by Samara Doumnande ($2.99 eBook & $11.59 paperback)







Hello everyone! And hope you're having a fantastic day. I sure am. And I've got great news!

So far I've done two of Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days painting challenges (and I hope to do a few more in the future!) It's always pretty cool for me to see what I can create and how much I can create in just such a short time frame! I always do a theme for the challenges and over time I come up with quite a few interesting collections. My first collection created were my Kaleidoscopic Snowflakes (You can learn more about them here) and my second collection was themed after animals and other kinds of wild-life.

Now, during one of the painting challenges, Joan Princing, a fellow artist and blogger, like me, suggested that I use my collections as illustrations in children's books. I just marveled at the idea and felt so inspired. Joan always comes with the best art ideas and is also a highly creative person, like me.  And then, I began to set to work writing and illustrating my second children's book. (Bible Tales was the first, [though Bible Tales does not have any illustrations]: You can find out more about Bible Tales here).

My new picture book, now available on Amazon in kindle and e-book formats, is titled "Snowflakes" and it teaches little ones how to count from 1 to 10. You can learn more about "Snowflakes" here.

I had a lot of fun creating it and I hope you and your little ones will love it too, should you purchase it. My kids sure do (even though they are older than the age group the book is meant for). They think it's so cool to have a mommy whose an artist as well as author. In the weeks ahead, my second eldest, one of the twins, Faith, will be bringing the book in to show her classmates. Pretty cool!

Anyway, that's all for now from SamDoum Art!

Take care and God bless!

'Til later fellow art lovers!
-SamDoum


Thursday, January 30, 2014

Day 30 of 30 in 30 Painting Challenge: Animals: "Elephant Paintings"

Original 8x10 Pastel Painting For Sale - "Elephant Paintings" : $50.00+ $6.95 Shipping and  Handling
Hello Everyone!

It's January 30th, 2014 and Day 30 of the January Leslie Saeta 30 Paintings in 30 Days Painting Challenge, and you know what that means . . . Yup! It's the last and final Day of Leslie Saeta's January, 2014 Painting Challenge! Yaaaaaaaaaay! Hoooooooraaaaay! And Yipppppppeeeee! I did it! 30 entire paintings in 30 days! But I have to be honest with you, although it's been a lot of fun, it's also been so difficult! I'm amazed that I was able to find the time to create 30 Paintings!: In between the laundy, the dishes, cleaning my little girls bedrooms, helping my little girls with their homework, cooking, and still having family time, I still managed to find some time to paint! Amazing! Balancing family life with my art life has been the most difficult part of the challenge. There just never seemed to be enough time. But whew! The challenge is finally over and I can finally take a break, relax, and enjoy my family! Yay!

Today's painting is titled "Elephant Paintings." This painting was inspired by an email sent to me by a fellow artist named Joan Princing who purchased one of my paintings. In the email she sent me, she expressed how much she loved the painting when it arrived, and also why she loved it so much. The painting that she purchased was of a baby and mother elephant whose trunks interlocked, both holding a leaf in between them. She explained that when her daughter was younger, the two of them would often go to the zoo. During one of their visits Joan purchased a t-shirt which featured an elephant's painting (that is, a t-shirt painted by an elephant). When Joan got home from the zoo with her daughter, she affixed that particular t-shirt to a peice of cardboard and framed it as art. The painting that she purchased from me, "Baby and Mother Elephant", now hangs beside that particular elephant's painting.

When I read Joan's story I was fascinated by it in many ways. I wondered "Wow! An elephant painting? That is amazing! I would love to see it!" So I went online and ran a search on it,and pulled up images, video clips and articles about and of elephants painting. And I saw elephants painting flowers, and trees . . . And some elephants in the photos I saw, actually even painted elephants!--That is, paintings of themselves! So cool!

But how do they do it? Well according to the articles that I read, elephants don't actually know what they are painting. They just take cues from their trainers who stand closely and nearby to the elephant, pulling on his ear. If the trainer wants the elephant to paint up, the trainer gently tugs the elephants ear upward, if down, then downward, if left, then leftward . . . you get the idea, right? Also the trainer assists in changing and cleaning the brushes. The elephant has no part in it. So that's the mystery solved. But elephants are still amazing!

If you look closely in today's painting, you can see the trainer, tugging on the little elephants ear, as the elephant takes direction from his trainer, which type of stroke to make next. Pretty cool 'eh?

Well, my friends, that's all for now from SamDoum Art! Thanks so much to all of you who continue to visit my blog! I really appreciate it! Take care and God bless!

'Til later fellow art lovers!
-SamDoum

A Look Back on the 30 Day Painting Challenge: Animals

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Day 29 of 30 in 30 Painting Challenge: Animals: "Elegant Horse"

Original 8x10 Pastel Painting For Sale - "Elegant Horse" : $50.00+ $6.95 Shipping and  Handling
Hello everyone!

Its Day 29 of the Leslie Saeta January 30 Paintings in 30 Days Painting Challenge and I have my new 29th animal painting for you today! This one is of a tanish-brown elegant horse whose photo I found online. She's such a beautiful little horse, so I just had to paint her picture!

Tomorrow will  be the last day of the challenge! Can you believe it? After tomorrow, I, and all of the something of about maybe 400 other artist who've participated, will have completed 30 paintings in 30 days non stop! So exciting! We did it again!

This is only my second Leslie Saeta Challenge, but I do plan to keep doing them because the more I paint, the  better I continue to grow, as and artist. My father was telling me the day before yesterday that he could see that my painting skills have grown, and I owe that to Leslie Saeta because painting everyday has allowed me to develop my skills even more. And as they say, practice makes perfect!

Anyway, that said, I just wanted to thank all of you who have supported SamDoum Art. Whether you continue to visit my blog just to check up on whats going on with SamDoum Art, whether you leave comments in the comments section of this blog or Facebook, or whether you have "liked" any of my paintings on Facebook, I just want to let you know how much I appreciate you! Thanks so much for helping me to get the word out about SamDoum Art! Please continue to "like", "share", and "comment"! Thanks so much!

Well, that's all for now from SamDoum Art! Take care and God bless!

'Til later fellow art lovers!
-SamDoum

A Look Back on the 30 Day Painting Challenge: Animals
 
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