about carol may the painting artist

It's time to pass it on!

The internet reaches the world. So, I figured it was worth the plunge. I jumped in and built a website.

Wherever you live, you can become the creative artist of your dreams.

If you are brand-new to painting, visit How to Get into Painting.

Painting is lots of fun and we learn best by actually painting!

The tutorials are a great way to begin painting.

Here's a Guide to the Tutorials. 

One of my early paintings.

Later I minored in art and majored in horticulture at the University of California. 

After college my art was set aside until my mother retired and she took up painting.

One of her teachers was Bill Alexander who was Bob Ross's mentor and teacher.

She became a certified teacher just like Bob Ross.

She started teaching art classes and gave me private painting lessons.

My first paintings were mountains and landscapes.

The joy of learning to paint.

So, I kept practicing my mother's lessons:

• The essential painting materials to start.
• How do we create a pleasing composition?
• Using a focal point for an attention getter.
• The basics of how to mix colors.

These are all on How to Get into Painting.

My art supplies were kept in a fishing tackle box and I painted on a portable easel in the living room.

Walter Foster books gave me ideas for paintings, like the one in the photo.

A pelican posing for his portrait

In Florida, my paintings changed from mountains to the local plants and animals.

Artists paint best what we see around us.

The flora and fauna of Florida put me in awe!

The pelicans and all the other birds and flowers amazed me.

I did so many pelican paintings that after a while I vowed, "No more pelican paintings!"

Well, that lasted for a while.

Where can we get more Ideas for Painting?

Small paintings are faster.

Painting regular puts our learning curve into warp speed.

Large paintings may be our ultimate goal, but when we are first learning to paint, painting smaller is a valuable key.

Small paintings are quicker to complete.

Plus, it's encouraging to finish a painting.

One time, I did a series of small 8x8" paintings, like "Calico Kitty".

Find more tips about how to jump start your learning on the Painting Daily page.

"Country Barns"

Since my mom and I now lived in different states, I rarely got to paint with her any more.

But one time she flew to Florida and we drove up to New England and painted on location for two weeks.

It was the first time I had ever seen the beautiful fall colors of New England.

That was awesome!

"Country Barns" was honored to win a best of show award, in two shows.

The Principles of Art page explains some things that made this an award-winning painting.

My favorite Florida painting

When the paintings started running out of the spare bedroom, Art by Carol May was born.

In the beginning I put my paintings in galleries.

Then I joined a wonderful art co-op, Island Arts in Cedar Key, Florida. It was fun working with the other artists.

My husband suggested we do some of the street festivals.  We did the fine art festivals for a few years in Florida.

It's such a joy meeting people and sharing art with them.

"Born Free" Dolphins

I taught the Bill Alexander (Bob Ross) method of oil painting to students in Florida.

The How to Oil Paint page include a quick 3-step demo on the two basic rules of oil painting.

When I started painting with watercolor, people started asking me to teach watercolor.

We painted things like sea turtles and the Florida bottlenose dolphins.

The How to Paint Watercolor page includes a demo of the basic steps of painting watercolor.

We paint what we love.

I have always had a love for nature that reflects in my paintings.

My first artwork was landscape paintings.

Then some of my favorite subjects were birds, butterflies, hummingbirds and other critters like giraffes and dolphins.

The flower paintings will often include a butterfly or a hummingbird.

The flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds that make wonderful subjects for a painting.

You may want to include different types of butterflies or hummingbirds in your paintings.

More of my artwork is on the GALLERY tab on the menu.