Saturday, May 31, 2008

The Backward Glance 3




One of the many painting secrets Kevin Raines, my first painting instructor, shared with me is that if you want a painting to sell put some red in it. Ever since Kevin told me this I have looked for that dash of red in every painting I see. It's almost always there. Furthermore, to my amazement, even elephants are aware of this fact. If you don't believe me google You Tube and search for "elephant painting self-portrait" ~ sure enough, the big guy sells it with a red flower. He's got a pretty good handle on perspective as well which is more than I can say for myself. My critic says my floor adds a touch of surrealism to my painting. I say its still off. No matter, at this point, I'm just hoping to sell it with the red!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Sunflowers 3




In Thomas Moore's book The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life he
discusses cultivating the practice of trying to discern the "presence of an invisible personality" in order to bring enchantment to everyday places or things. Brush strokes visible on a canvas, according to Moore, provide a supreme model of the painter's imprint on his work. At a distance a painting is seen as one complete whole ~ only upon close examination do all the thousands of strokes made by the artist become apparent ~ the unique hand work of the artist becomes evident. Such thinking reminds me that although I am trying to become much more free with my painting that each time the brush hits the canvas both the color and the movement are important in conveying my interpretation of the composition.

The latest session with the Sunflowers was spent getting another transparent coat on the whole canvas with a little more attention paid to the upper left corner. While it is still fairly loose, I am also beginning to tighten up some edges. This painting is definitely going to take a lot of time but it is definitely one I am enjoying.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Russian Girl 3


Today I revisited the Russian Girl to finally give her some hair. The Strathmore charcoal paper I'm working on has some lovely grooves in it that work well for getting a realistic look. I also worked on her dress, particularly the elaborate collar. Charcoal drawing is one of my favorite mediums to work with. Once the basic lines are put down drawing becomes a song and dance of putting down and taking off color. I love that "aha moment" when lifting just a little color off the page produces dimension in the picture. That's why I've saved the best for last. The next time she and I meet again, I will hopefully give this little lady the cherub face she has in her photograph ~ little round pudgy cheeks, a button nose, and slightly pouty lips.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Key West Rooster 3


I subscribe to a bi-weekly e-mail newsletter from the Canadian artist Robert Genn. His letters are always both insightful and informative. This past week he introduced his readers to the term Shibui. It's a Japanese term that can mean irregularity of form, openess to nature, roughness of texture, and naturalness of daily life. These ideas seemed to fit perfectly with what I am hoping to achieve with the Key West Rooster. The idea here is not to convey realism but rather to convey the perfection of undisciplined lines that are so often found in nature.

Keeping Genn's belief that "perfection is boring" in mind, I tackled both the hen house walls and the hay. But then just to keep the ying and yang going I did go back and tighten up the edges of the waddle and the feet. And to keep my critic happy, I yellowed the nails!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

White Tulips 3


Today I worked on the White Tulips. The dots on the green fabric were a bit of a disappointment. After removing the Miskit I thought a light blue wash would suffice. Unfortunately, it didn't so I went back and painted all the dots on one by one. I'm still not happy with them and will go back later and make each one more distinct.

Once there were six pieces of fabric blocked in it seemed like a good time to try to add some dimension. After several hours of work some of the folds are coming along nicely. But there is definitely still a need for a lot more shading and definition. It probably also wouldn't hurt to look at some examples of drapery paintings before I go much further.

Because watercolor is such a difficult medium to work with I'm very hesitant to add dark shadows so this is going to be a very long and tedious project. Even with my new tube of Chinese white and the Miskit, the possibility of muddying up things is really slowing the process. And, I'm also wavering on my technique ~ soft, transparent washes or straight-from-the-tube opaque color?

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The Backward Glance 2



Oops! The floor again!




















After finally sketching in the composition on the canvas, it was time to choose colors. The original picture I'm working from is in black and white with no background so the options were unlimited. Red velvet for the drapery was the first decision I made. I then decided to place them on a balcony looking over a late evening sky. I had first thought about putting them at the entrance to an elaborate room full of people but thought better of it. In order to keep the viewer's attention on the woman's face, it seemed important to keep the background as simple as possible. "Busyness" is good in its place but I'm hoping to convey serenity all around the "busyness" going on in the woman's mind.

The color of the balcony is the exact color of my house in Florida. Its a lovely, soft yellow color and works well as a backdrop for the bright flowers that seem to bloom here year round. If I keep the red to muted tones I think these three colors ~ the drapes, sky, and balcony ~ will work well as a frame for the lady's dress. The gentleman's uniform will be black and gray and should contrast nicely with the light tones I've planned for her outfit.

After all this planning, I was excited to get started! This is a huge canvas and I took it outside to work on a big table on my porch. After a few hours of blocking in the sky ~ getting a little shading in to serve as a backdrop for the clouds to be added later ~ I started in on the balcony. The architectural detail on the balcony is going to remain relatively simple. Its the woman, her glance, that is going to be the focal point. Everything else, though important to the entire painting, serves only to either draw one's eye to her face or to enhance it by softly framing it.

As mentioned above, however, this is a big canvas so after about three hours of dancing around it, I was ready to quit. Satisfied with my work so far, I snapped a few pictures and downloaded them to my computer. Only then, did I realize that my floor is still askew! Its like I can't draw a straight line! And I'm using a ruler! At any rate I think I know what the problem is and will (try) to fix it next time I catch up with The Backward Glance.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Sunflowers 2



Well, I have spent a considerable amount of time getting the canvas covered on the sunflower painting. There's quite a few components in this painting and I wanted to make sure everything was in its place before I began adding detail. Right now the poor guys look a little flat. Its going to be quite a job to go back over the painting ~ tightening up some edges, adding highlights and shadows ~ and I'm sure I'm going to have to go over it many, many times. I'm planning on also using lots of glazes ~ trying to give each pedal extra depth and luminosity. This painting is also going to be a challenge because I think it does require a certain looseness in style combined with a clear concentration on specific detail ~ should be fun!

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Russian Girl 2


I spent a lovely few hours this morning on the porch working on the Russian girl. We are becoming very close. As I worked I was thinking a lot about Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now. Although there are many things in there that I either don't understand or don't agree with, his premise that we all have an "indestructible essence of our Being" is right on with what I believe. And so, I started thinking about where my Russian girl is now. She's probably in her late 60's and living somewhere in Germany. I hope she continued to live a pampered life that her bow and dress seem to indicate she was enjoying and that she is a happy person now. I wonder if she remained as melancholy as she looks in her photograph. One thing I do know, though, is that her presence goes on and it is an honor for me to get to know her.

I worked today on getting more of the fancy collar sketched in and then began modeling her features. While she has a little girl's face, I think her eyes give the impression that she has experienced much in her young life. There is a harshness there ~ a sense of "I have been touched by adult reality and been forever changed by it" ~ a baby's face with a disturbing hint of innocence lost.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Key West Rooster 2



This latest session with the Key West Rooster shows the steps now angled out giving more of a three dimensional effect. The top of the steps and the back of the steps are also now closer in color giving them more uniformity. Adding more texture to the exterior of the hen house ties it a bit better to the interior. Also lightening the top and gradually darkening it as it comes closer to the ground works to make it seem more stable and solid . I'm still not happy with it though ~ not quite sure if the color works or if it needs more weathering or if it needs some architectural interest. Next session I'll check out some pictures of old barns on the web before I start. As I was finishing up today my husband (and best critic) came into the studio and immediately commented on the rooster's feet ~ to quote "what a great French pedicure" ~ guess I need to tone the nails down a bit!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

White Tulips 2


Today seemed like the perfect day to revisit White Tulips. I was anxious to try out my new tube of Chinese white watercolor. Although I probably should have masked in the tulips and got to them after I did the background, I couldn't resist starting with them. I justified this decision by telling myself that one always starts watercolors with the light colors first. Anyway, I think they'll be fine. I then masked in the small patterns on the blue and green fabrics with some Grumbacher Miskit. Although its difficult to see at this point I finished up by painting the white fabric to the right of the tulips. Using some Payne's grey and yellow ochre mixed in the the Chinese white I was able to start to define some of the shadows in the drapery. Since there are such distinct sections to this painting its easy to work on one section at a time rather than approaching the painting as a whole. It helps a lot, though, to have the photograph to work from just to keep the composition in mind.