A Cissy Bride Doll Oil Painting, all original, one of a kind

For you doll collectors, I painted this lovely oil painting of a 1950's Cissy doll in the impressionist style. It is lending toward realism, but I had to add some broken strokes of color to create a sense of light and atmosphere as the impressionists do. It is titled, "Cissy Bride", it is oil on board, size is 6"W X 6"H. Sorry, in my earlier post I referred it as being 5"W X 5"H. So it is a bit larger as I measured it this morning. It is unframed at this point. Since it is on a stiff art board, it can be mounted on a 6X8 board covered in a black felt material and framed within a 6X8 store bought frame. Or you can take it to your local framer and have one custom made. Or just buy a mini easel (sold at Aaron Brothers) and display it that way.
This is my first painting of the Cissy doll as I collected them for years and she was in my case until I sold her last year. I missed her and decided to paint her pretty little head. The dolls stand about 21" tall so this is a little larger than the actual life size head of the Cissy. I have painted the vintage Barbie for several years. They have all sold and are in private collections. I rarely paint the vintage dolls as I am so busy entering landscapes and seascapes into art exhibitions. My ability to paint portraits has to include dolls, they are the perfect relaxed subjects. Although I have painted plenty of real people figures.
This Cissy is a bride of course with red hair pulled up above her ears and some lovely red hair trails to her shoulders. She is wearing a millinery flower crown with tulle draping down from it. Her gown has tulle shoulders, there's just a hint of it. Cissy's face is round like a doll should be and she has the rosy cheeks and full red lips with just a dainty little nose. Her eyes sparkle as it appears as if she is glancing off into her future as a young bride. She is a classy doll with such elegance. I did her justice in that sense of eternal beauty she exudes. I simply signed it EJW in the lower right corner to blend into the shadows and not overtake the painting. This will be up for auction on eBay. Click here to bid!

1950s Bride Doll, Cissy - an original oil painting

This is on my easel right now as I speak, it's a 5"W x 5"H oil on gesso board painting. Just to let you know this doll is still being manufactured but is different looking now. I collected them for years and this was a Cissy doll in my personal collection. I am not affiliated with the Madame Alexander Doll Company and will not be offering prints of this in any way. There are trademark and copyright laws protecting this doll. I am offering only the original and as an artists I have that right to paint a single use. I have done original oil paintings of the Barbie and they are in private collections. That's where this one will wind up. So, please do not try to reproduce this or you may face legal actions from the mother company, not I. It makes me very nervous to post an image of a famous doll, I do not want repercussions by the head company. But I can't resist my drive to paint in admiration for the beauty, the essence, the reminder of an era in these vintage dolls. My feelings certainly show in this painting. I am working on the application of the colors today, I wanted the underpainting to set dry. I used a hand blended mix of cadmium yellow, cadmium red and a tiny of blue, then grey to make the color you see. I washed in down with Linseed oil and Gamsol to apply thinly and sculpt the head and face using more diluted paint to show lighter values. I almost want to leave it like it is, it's very vintage looking like an old Rembrandt, DaVinci or Michelangelo sketch. But this is a preliminary drawing to pave the way for color and have it down in the right values. I will post the finished image tomorrow.

Fishing Boats at Dana Wharf, seascape oil painting

"Fishing Boats at Dana Wharf", oil on Belgian Linen, 14"W x 11"H x .75"D. $300.00. You will need to purchase a frame. I have a great framer in Costa Mesa. Contact me if you are interested in this piece. Here are several more images of how the painting was begun on location at the Dan Wharf.














I worked en plein air on two separate days to capture the essence of this location and it's atmosphere. It was a challenge in being it was a complicated scene. That's what a good artist should do, try harder compositions to force ourself to evolve and accomplish higher aspirations. After two days of trying to paint with my sweet Chihuahua by my side, she was not allowing me long enough to work without wanting to get out of her doggie bin. I finished it at my studio on Thanksgiving Day in the morning.

Laguna Beach, Heisler Park Plein Air Oil Painting

Laguna Heisler Waves - 16"WX12"H, oil on Belgian linen over board. Painted en plein air. This is on eBay right now for a starting bid of $99.00. Great Christmas gift it will make to anyone, including yourself! Bid here
The Crystal Cove Cottage oil painting below is also available on eBay, bid here.

Crystal Cove Cottage - "Faded Memories" - Impressionist Oil Painting

This is a 10"W x 8"H, oil on linen over board painting just completed. It is on eBay for auction right now for 10 days, click here to bid. I will add more pics later. I need to go cook a turkey today!

High Sierra Winter Creek Oil Painting by Esther J. Williams

"High Sierra Winter Creek" 10"W x 8"H, oil on stretched linen. I have been traveling to the High Sierras for over 20 years with my husband and kids. We stay up there several times a year. We used to just camp in Bishop Creek, then we would stay at a local motel and go up to the peaks, finally we met a friend who owned a cabin in Aspendell and we stay there off & on. It allows me to walk right out the door and hike along the creek. I have painted up here for years. There are so many special places I know that I like to keep them secret. This is one of them, I can visit this place and find fresh deer or bear tracks on the the thick ice leading up to the creek water. This was in January, there is a pond that fisherman wade into and fish, the foreground of this oil painting is the ice of that pond, the creek stays thawed as the snow melts from the high peaks and makes a continuous flow down to Bishop. The focal point of this scene is the larger, more detailed bush on the other side of the creek with the light pouring through either side of it and casting it's reflection on the water. I must add that I had just read a book about the painting process on one of Manet's impressionist paintings before I painted this. Manet painted a Paris street scene in glaring light which looked like a winter scene although it wasn't, he used light hues of white mixed with either blue, yellow-orange or gray, he slowly built up the painting by mixing his oils with mineral spirits to make a oil wash, then he layered on top some thicker brush strokes, not all of the painting was thick paint, in fact, there was many translucent areas of thinned paint. I liked how his street scene captivated me with it's dreamy atmosphere and light hues. I knew that was what I had to try for this snow scene. In my painting there are many thin areas where you can see paint glossed over the canvas grain, then in the focal area, the paint is piled on thicker. Nice effect, my whites are not pure white for my snow, in fact I add at the very last some white tinted with a small bit of the sky blue color for the final highlights. I also used a palette knife that had a mixture of the sky blue mixed with white to add that reflected sky appearance in the end. Edgar Payne often painted up here and I like to study his works, he used color combinations of blues, grays and yellow-oranges for his snow covered mountain peaks, a color combination I borrowed from to paint this scene. There is not any black in this for I did not want to make too dark shadows. The blues, mauve and blue-violet shadows was all that was needed and keeps this vibrant in color. This oil painting is available for purchase. Comes framed.

Bommer Canyon Oaks and Sycamores, Landscape Oil Painting

Just off the easel, "Bommer Canyon Oaks and Sycamores, 18"W X14"H, on stretched linen, 3/4"D. Another Irvine Ranch wilderness landscape oil painting that was just finished after starting this on location in the secluded Bommer Canyon. I was in attendance there on a limited open access day on Halloween, October 31st. What attracted me to this scene was the gigantic form of the oak tree as it sprawled out and over the slope. The fact that it was a part of a cascading line of oaks made it even more appealing, the smaller oaks lead to and told the size of the magnificence of the larger oak. This is fall and the sycamore trees are a vibrant array of gold greens, yellow orange and burnt reds. But they are supporting actors to the star of the show, the mother oak. The unique form of the giant oak sent chills through me as I could sense it's strength and natural energy. Here was a tree, a truly wild oak that was allowed to it's maximum growth, unhindered by man in developed communities. Here is nature in it's purest form, that excites me and I must capture this unique organic beauty in the autumn light, using my artistic abilities.
I used the color wheel for making different complimentary values, hues and chroma utilizing a tetrad that was organized beforehand on my palette after studying the special colors in this setting on location. I noticed a distinct tetrad of blue-violet, yellow-orange, green and red while analyzing the setting. The yellow orange light passing through the oak and lighting up the sycamores was balanced with the blue-violet shadows beneath the trees and shrubbery, also in the background in a hazing out into the distance. The deep shadow of the oak tree's form gave it vivid dimension. To paint this, I gradually built up the form of the tree using my creative processes and working from shadow families to light families to build a strong composition. I have learned much from a modern master, Kevin Macpherson by reading his books, "Landscape Painting, Inside & Out" and "Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light & Color". I have practiced what he preaches for 2 years now and he is a great influence on my work.
The painting is signed in the lower right corner, it will be framed and is presently being submitted to the Points of View Landscape exhibition through Southern Calif. Artist's Association. Price is $500 and will be available soon wether or not it gets into the show. It is a modern landscape exhibition and I am just not sure if they will consider it contemporary enough.