The Mating Game 4

The last thing a woman will consent to discover in a man whom she loves, or on whom she simply depends, is want of courage.

Joseph Conrad

The best paintings in my opinion tell a story and that's what I'm hoping to convey here. Is the little lady in the front beginning to look shy? I hope so. And does it look like the swan on the left is beginning to muster some courage to try to head the other swan off? At any rate I worked all day today getting more shading done. My class is on Thursday and I'm hoping to get some pointers on getting both the swans and the water to look more realistic. I'll have to let this dry until then so I can add some bold brush strokes to create feathers. I know my instructor is going to want me to add some foliage but I kind of like the serenity of the water in contrast to the emotional struggle going on. Ying and yang.

The Mating Game 3

If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another, and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.

Albert Camus

Today I worked solely on the swan on the left. This is the one in this little scenario who is not happy with what's going on between the other two. He wants to be the one that attracts the lady swan in the front but he's waited too long ~ the other one is making his move. I've started doing some of the shading and blending but there's a long way to go to get him three dimensional. The problem with painting something white is that its difficult to give it form ~ a good exercise I learned in school when I first started studying painting was how to paint an egg on a white canvas. Give it a try.

The Public Speaker 2

Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand.

Native American saying

Today I started my art class in Boca and knew right off the bat I had found a great teacher. He looked at my swans and asked me what my plan was. Then he smiled and said "We're going to have a lot of fun with this one". I decided to work on the Public Speaker today, however, simply because I want to get some better photographs of the swans to work from. As you can see I at least got some paint on the entire canvas. Every time the instructor would come by he taught me something new. He gave me some great tips on color mixing and also some pointers on making convincing shadows. He also suggested that next time I use an acrylic underpainting as it is frustrating to have to wait so long for oil to dry between sessions. I have avoided acrylics up until now because I don't think they give the same depth to a painting as oil paint does. Maybe they're worth a try, though. At any rate, it was great to be back in the classroom.

The Public Speaker

Say what you have to say and the first time you come to a sentence with a grammatical ending ~ sit down.

Winston Churchill


This week I am starting a new class at the Boca Raton Museum of Art School. It will be a real treat to be back in a studio with a group of artists and to have a new teacher. For my project I have decided to do an oil of this drawing I found in a book. Since it is black and white I am on my own as far as color. So far I've sketched it in on the canvas, sizing it up 1 1/2 times and have painted in a background. As I was working it occurred to me that he looked as if he was giving a speech so I have placed him on the edge of a stage. My first question to my new teacher ~ how should the background be handled? Second question ~ how do I tone down the yellow a bit and still keep it light so there will be a striking contrast between the background and his dark coat? Stay tuned.

The Mating Game 2

All profoundly original art looks ugly at first.

Clement Greenberg


Here I have placed the swans where they should be on the canvas and have begun to work on the background. Since they were floating about in a fairly shaded area the water had taken on a lovely green hue which works well with the brilliant white feathers. There will be quite a bit of blending to be done in the water to get the shadow lines softened and more depth to the water. Slow and steady it goes.

The Mating Game

The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.

Blaise Pascal

I have decided to go back to my original idea for this blog which is to trace a painting from its very beginning. Last week I went to the Palm Beach Zoo ~ a surprise outing but fortunately I had my camera along. After going through all the photos I decided to use a few of some beautiful swans I had taken. I printed them, cut them up and rearranged them to form a three-way flirting fest. The story will be a little clearer as I get to their facial expressions. For starters I just wanted to get them placed correctly with each other and on the canvas. It wasn't until I had gotten fairly into blocking everything in that I noticed the swan's body on the left is heart shaped ~ perfect symbolism for a love story.

The Steward

Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.

George Burns

Although I've posted this one before and kind of even sort of put in in a frame I knew it wasn't really done. I put in maybe four or five more hours just tightening up some edges and loosening up others. My quote really doesn't have much to do with the work that I did only that maybe what one thinks is finished in Washington really isn't. ANYWAY, this is an art blog and I'll stick to the subject. I really enjoyed working on this one getting the different shades of gray to reflect where the light was coming from and also to give a three dimensional effect. My favorite critic told me I "nailed it" so this time I am done.