Kaitlyn Frady Art

A couple of progress photos. Both before are from the very early stages, also pre-baby. Art is EXTREMELY slow these days. It's usually a couple minutes here and there. The tiny human seems to have a sixth sense while he naps that tells him when I sit down to draw or paint. Next on the sunflower are the petals. I plan to do a different drawing on each petal. It is basically a relaxation project. As for my grand Teton painting, I'm redoing the closest mountain for maybe the third or fourth time. Portraying the sheer size of these mountains is tricky. My trees that climb up the face of the closest one were too big this last time, making the mountain look smaller. We'll see if it turns out better this time.

These two beauties are displayed at the Kingsport Renaissance Center in the KAG Member's Show along with many other local artists. The Tetons won second place! If you're in the area stop by and take a peek. It's open through December 19. There is a vast array of techniques and mediums this year. Special thanks to my SIL for letting me have these back for the show.

These two are being entered into a local art show. Yosemite from Inspiration Point and Grand Tetons from Schwabacher's Landing. Help me give them official names...annnnd go!

I've got some new vinyl stickers available!

https://kaitlynfradyart.square.site/shop/vinyl-stickers/29?page=1&limit=60&sort_by=created_date&sort_order=desc

My take on the Grand Canyon. Our trip here was brief and consisted of a hike down Bright Angel Trail and back. We didn’t go all the way to the bottom, though we probably could have. The miles of switchbacks that make up this trail are a killer though. This is the view from Plateau Point looking down at the Colorado River.

New archival print available!

Reverie: a state of being pleasantly lost in one's own thoughts; a daydream.

Reverie is one of my favorite paintings I have done. The original painting is only a 5x7 oil painting. It was a real challenge to get the colors in the dandelion just right in order to show the sun shining through and the separation of light.

Reverie | Kaitlyn Frady Art Reverie: a state of being pleasantly lost in one's thoughts; a daydreamThe original painting to this print was done in oils from one of my own photos for reference. Reverie won an award of excellence at a local art show.Archival Giclee Print, Archival Heavyweight Paper*Cropping may differ slightly w...

https://kaitlynfradyfineart.etsy.com

This is perhaps my favorite national park drawing I have done so far. It's hard to choose between this one, Yosemite, and Mormon Row. I've titled this one Spellbound, because Yellowstone is simply magical and mesmerizing. The original ink drawing also won an honorable mention at a local art show.

I start off every drawing by doing the base with pigment ink or by drawing the black and white version on my iPad. I then use the iPad to color the image and produce the final product. Each base drawing takes a significant amount of time and attention to detail. The patterns in the steam are my favorite part of Spellbound and remind me of just how diverse this park is. If you haven't seen it in person it should definitely be at the top of your bucket list!

All Spellbound products can be found on my website. See the link on my profile!

New archival print available! 8x10, 11x14, and 16x20.

Dogwood | Kaitlyn Frady Art Originally painted in gouache. One of my favorite signs that summer is on the way, the dogwood trees! **All sizes include a .5 inch white border**Printed by Giclee Today. Fully archival. These are printed to order. Please allow extra time for processing and shipping. It will be shipped directly to y...

It's hard to do art while juggling a newborn, but I've got some new National Park paraphernalia added to my site!
Giclee Prints, Vinyl Stickers, Standard Coffee Mugs, Puzzles, and Laptop sleeves.

https://kaitlynfradyart.square.site/shop/national-park-artwork/9

New National Park paraphernalia has been added to my site!
Giclee Prints, Vinyl Stickers, Standard Coffee Mugs, Puzzles, and Laptop sleeves.

https://kaitlynfradyart.square.site/shop/national-park-artwork/9

My sticker samples have arrived!

Working on some product ideas for my national park series. Decals/stickers are first on the list. In the meantime, enjoy the current drawings in the series. Grand Canyon, Arches, Zion, and Capitol Reef coming soon.

Last one for the night. I think I posted the black and white drawing of this one a while ago, but not the starry night version. This is Mt. Leconte shelter in the Smokies along the Appalachian Trail. There are many shelters like this in GSMNP, but Mt. LeConte is a favorite and after a very strenuous climb, one of the most rewarding to reach.

Trying to finish up some of my national park drawings that have been sitting on my iPad for a while. This one actually was “finished”, but I wasn’t happy with the colors so I changed it up a bit. I’m not sure I ever posted the first version to begin with. This is one of my favorite parts of the Smoky Mountains, Cades Cove, a beautiful part of the park best for wildlife viewing. Something about a super bright and sunny day in the Smokies.

Found a little bit of time to finish this drawing today. Lost in the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park, towering above you as you wander through them. Bryce Canyon is a truly unique place and possibly my favorite Utah park.

Every painting goes through the same process.

Sketch: "Okay, I think I got the idea down."

Underpainting: "Yeah, this is going to look alright."

Everything between underpainting and finished (blocking in, color, details, etc.): alternate between "this looks awful" and "this might turn out okay"

Finished: "Yeah, this is alright I guess. Not perfect, but okay."

This one is currently in the "this looks awful" stage. It's at this stage that many paintings get tossed out. It is the hardest one to get through. I have a stack of paintings stuck in this stage in the corner that will probably never get picked up again unless it's to be painted over. If you can push through to the next "this might turn out okay" then eventually you end up with a piece that satisfies you. I'm determined to push through on this one.

I've been working small for so long I'm feeling the need to paint something substantial. So, today begins the process of painting this 22x28 inch piece. This is a view of the Cascade Canyon in Grand Teton National Park, looking back through the North Fork. The original photos I'm working from were taken during our very first trip to the park in 2019. It was a gorgeous day with clear, sunny skies. The stream that will be in the foreground was one we had to cross as it tumbled down the side of the mountain. The rest of the foreground will be taken up by the gorgeous wildflowers that line this part of the trail. I actually took the time to do a fixed sketch and brief toned underpainting. It is destined for a special place on our wall, whenever I can manage to get it finished. Stay tuned for updates as I go along!

My rose obsession continues with some random pink roses. I've been working on this little 6x8 painting the past couple of days. The lights are throwing the colors off a touch. I think it's finished, but we'll see how I feel about it tomorrow.

Invested in a scanner to begin making some of my own prints. I'll post the final products soon!

Painting poppies. Had some fun with micron pens on this one too.

I was on a roll so I went ahead and spent the rest of my evening having a bit of fun painting a dogwood.

Taking this rainy day to paint some redbuds with my gouache travel kit. Maybe I'll get my studio unpacked eventually.

Second painting of the year finished. I started this one last summer as a plein air painting and never got back around to it until now. I decided to stick with the loose style of plein air instead of getting too finicky with details. The setting is a little spot on the greenbelt in Kingsport, next to the holston river. I found a small pool next to the main current. A foot bridge crosses the river from a park over to an island. It is one of my favorite areas along the greenbelt.

First painting of the year finished! I dug around my photos for this reference, taken on the trail to Cathedral Lakes in Yosemite National Park several years ago. Part of the trail goes through this meadow area over streams and has a very "hobbit" like feel that I've always wanted to paint. Just a fun and quick intermission from a more involved piece that's taken a while.

8''x10'' Oil on Canvas

Starting 2023 with my beloved oil paints. Gouache has been fun, but these are calling me back to them.

Back to my first love ✏️. Drawing up a few things to test out on various bee paraphernalia for our honey business (). Hopefully the finished product works out 😬!

A snippet of a current work in progress! I'm testing a medium I've never used before, gouache. I'm painting from a photo I took on a hike in The Grand Tetons. This will be Lake Solitude, viewed from Paintbrush Divide. So far, I love it. I think it is an awesome "blend" of watercolor and acrylic. I can do all the things with gouache that I can with watercolor with the addition of layering lights over darks. I can reactivate dried portions to blend or lift, unlike acrylics. It also doesn't aggravate my lungs like my beloved oil paints tend to do. We shall see how the rest of the painting goes!

The newest drawing in my national park series. We’ll call it Yellowstone #1 for now until I figure out a better name. Geysers and bison are likely two of the first things you will see when you enter Yellowstone. I wanted to do something with both of those things in it, so here we are. There are many more subjects from Yellowstone I want to draw. Bears, wolves, prairies, and hot springs just to name a few. I foresee other Yellowstone drawings in the future.

I had a hard time choosing a color theme for this one. Yellowstone is so full of color naturally, it was hard to choose whether to go with a more realistic color palette or something a bit more imaginative. Obviously, I ended up on the “imaginative” spectrum, and falling right in line with the other drawings in my national park collection. My first attempt was basically the opposite of what you see here. Reds, pinks, and oranges made up the hot geysers while everything else was in cooler tones. I wasn’t thrilled with the hell-ish vibe it was giving off, so I switched it up to this. Ultimately a sunsetesque theme emerged, leaning towards the fantasy land I feel like I’ve stepped into when I’m in Yellowstone. Prints will be available soon in sizes 6”x8” and larger. Stay tuned for that announcement as well as the next national park in the series, the Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon!

Super fast tiny painting from the deck this evening. The pressure was on to catch the light. I tried to keep to fast, deliberate brush strokes with a minimal color palette to keep me from spending too much time figuring out exact colors. It was a good little exercise to end the day with.