The Backward Glance 5

Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Well, if the above quote has any truth to it, this young couple is in deep trouble. She obviously is not interested in what he's looking at, and he doesn't appear as if he's even noticed he's lost her. At any rate, I've started darkening up the curtains while still allowing the red tones to come through. I also darkened the top of the sky while keeping the bottom lighter to make it appear as if light is being reflected up from below. My critic suggested a dark green for the dress and while I'm happy with the bottom velvet skirt I'm thinking of making the top a much paler green the next time. And then, there's still the floor! I think it just needs one tiny adjustment to be in alignment but I'm not going to correct it until I'm absolutely sure. By the way, working on this huge canvas has turned into quite a challenge. Today I took it out on the porch and worked kneeling in front of it. I had all my tubes of paint spread around me and unfortunately knelt on an open tube of green. I didn't realize it until my toe slid into something squishy ~ a half of tube of paint smeared on my drop cloth. By the time I got what little I could save into a baggy I looked like a leprechaun. Maybe it's time for a bigger easel.

Sunflowers 5

Hasten slowly.
Augustus Caesar

My goodness there are a lot of pedals and leaves in this painting! I have gone over the entire painting twice now cleaning up lines, adding shadows and highlights. Each time I get close to finishing a "go-through" I start to speed up, resulting in work that I'm not happy with. It's going to take a lot of tightening up so each time I start again, I'm going to start in a new place. At the top is a detail of the corner that's gotten a little more attention than the rest ~ still a long, long way to go.

Russian Girl Finished

Do not show your wounded finger, for everything will knock up against it.
Baltasar Gracian


From the moment I saw this little girl's picture I knew she had seen things she wasn't meant to see. Although her clothes lead me to believe she was from a well-to-do family, living her early years in a war torn country clearly left its mark on her face. As I mentioned when I started this drawing, I have no idea who she is or where she is now. She just looks, though, that she learned early on to hide her wounded finger. Beneath the fancy dress and shiny ribbon, I think beat the heart of a strong and courageous little lady. I'm going to miss working on her.

Key West Rooster ~ Finished

Painting, n: the art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic.

Ambrose Bierce



Here's the original photograph of the the Key West Rooster that I worked from. I really enjoyed working on this painting as it brought back memories of visiting my Grandmother's house on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. My Mom often spoke of being sent out into the backyard when she was a little girl to catch a chicken and kill it for dinner. Aren't we all thankful to Frank Purdue?

At any rate, I'm going to set this aside for about six months and then come back and give it a coat of varnish. Although the composition makes the painting appear rectangular it is actually 24" x 24". Hope you enjoyed seeing the progress. I'll be coming up with a new project to take its place.

White Tulips 5

The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure is occupation.
George Bernard Shaw


Today I was very happily occupied working on this watercolor. However, it will be a long time before I attempt another one like this. Usually not until the third or fourth session does it become necessary to really start tackling fine detail. Due to the unforgiving nature of watercolor, however, these miniature prints needed to be outlined pretty carefully the very first time.

I was getting a little concerned that the tulips were disappearing into the print, but now I've decided that that's exactly what I want to happen. When I set up the still-life in my studio they got lost in all the fabric and became part of the overall composition. The title of the painting is misleading ~ I should have called it something else. Well, let's be honest here. You've probably noticed the outline of the red (!) apple. Maybe I'll change the title to Adam's Downfall.

The Backward Glance 4

Today I decided to work on the soldier's uniform so I squeezed out some black, grey, and white paint. All I wanted to do was paint a dark outfit. Not as easy as one might think.

"One of the most difficult things to do is to paint darkness which nonetheless has light in it."
Vincent van Gogh

Anyway, I've made a start and am actually not that unhappy with it. I couldn't resist adding the red pom-pom to the hat. That's the red I'm hoping to sell it with ~ not the curtains which I intend to tone way down at a later point.

There's also the question of what color to make the dress since I'm working from a black and white picture ~ something to contrast nicely with the black uniform but also something that's not going to fade into the balcony wall. Right now not just the curtains but the sky and the white in the floor are way too bright. Hopefully, after they're all toned down a bit, a lighter color for the dress will work. This is definitely a special night and a special place so the dress has to be especially fancy even if she's not happy to be there. What is she looking at?

This past weekend I came across a very interesting website that claims, among other things, that every painting should tell a story. If you are a big fan of modern art don't go near this site ~ if you're not this one is for you ~ http://www.artrenewal.org

Sunflowers 4

I've always wanted to paint portraits. To me the human face is the most beautiful thing in the world. However, I've always been intimidated by the complexity involved ~ not just the physical form but the emotional component that's a part of every face. While I was working on the sunflowers today I came to realize that they are faces as well ~ each one with it's own unique personality, each manifesting it's individuality. Henry Ward Beecher says it better than I can ~ "Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile, some have a sad expression, some are pensive and diffident, others again are plain honest and upright." I'm still a long way from getting all the facial expressions even close on these beautiful flowers but I do feel I'm getting to know each one a little better.

Russian Girl 4

If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses.
Goethe




I spent the better part of today staring at this little girl's face. She has such depth to her eyes. This kid knows things! Anyway, while I think I'm just about finished with the ribbon, hair, and dress I want to come back and put some finishing touches on the face. It needs a little more modeling to give it more dimension. That's the problem I've found with drawing children ~ no wrinkles or facial hills and valleys to give the drawing depth. Of course it could be I'm just not ready to tell her good-bye.

Key West Rooster 4

Slow down. Take long looks at everything. Single many things out for grateful consideration.
Marcina Wiederkehr

If you could understand a single grain of wheat you would die of wonder.
Martin Luther

I have reached the point now with this painting where I am checking details. They are, of course, countless. But the more I fuss with it, the more little dabs I put here and there, the more alive not just the rooster, but the whole composition, becomes. Its why I love to paint ~ it makes me slow down and see. When I walked out of my first painting class, I literally stood in the parking lot and looked at the world around me like I had never seen it before. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was right on when he claimed "God is in the details." I will probably only visit this painting a couple of more times but it would be just as easy to come back to it a thousand times.
I like "seeing" that much.

White Tulips 4

Victor Martinez is one of my favorite watercolor artists. Born in Peru he now lives and works in Arizona. Whenever I get discouraged painting with watercolors, which is practically every time I attempt to work with them, I visit his website at http://www.victormartinez.com. His website alone is a work of art and well worth taking a look. Anyway, today I added the striped fabric and the small piece of maroon velvet. This is truly tedious work because of the intricacy of the prints. But maybe the prints are why I am so drawn to Martinez' s work ~ his work depicting Peruvian native costumes is magnificent. Look at his stuff today ~ not mine.