Past Portrait

I have been busy so far this week and no chance to start a new project. However, the well of ideas are not far off. I have a list of ideas I want to try! So, in the meantime, I'll look into my harddrive to post something. Here is a portrait that I did over three years ago. I was taking a portrait class where we worked from live models. This class was taught by G. Nicholaides, the son of Kimon Nicholaides who wrote the book "The Natural Way to Draw". After taking this class a few times I noticed a marked improvement in my portraits. He would begin the session with several fast full figure sketches on newsprint ranging from five minutes to thirty seconds. It might seem strange to do that at the beginning of a portrait class, but I found that it helped me to warm up and be in the "groove" by the time we started working on the portrait. Then, we would work the remainder of the morning on the models upper torso and face with a critique at the end. The models would often wear costumes or have props. On this model I struggled with the angle of her face, but I did well with the hands and the reflective light was fun to do.
I did this piece in pastels 18x24 on brown wrapping paper. I really took to pastels, because you could draw or "paint" with them allowing for a lot of freedom in how you approach a subject. What put a stop to that was the cost of building and maintaining a decent palette of colors, cost of good paper, and the necessity of framing each piece to preserve it. Oils are not cheap either, but I can mix thoroughly giving me more colors out of fewer pigments and canvases can wait to be framed. Regardless, it was my introduction to color before I took up oils and made the transition to paint quite easy.

Autumn Scene Complete

I took this to openstudio this morning and put the finishing touches to it. 16x20 on stretched canvas. I don't have a title for it, so I'll have to think about that while it dries for a year.

Openshow Reception

This past Saturday, I attended the Openshow gallery talk (awards ceremony) and reception. My painting got a generous critique by the juror who liked my handling of the paint, but it was suggested that it had slight perspective issues. I did see a lot of friends receive awards that I was quite expecting, so that was a treat. There was one aspect of the show that I and a few others found to be a disappointment, that there were pieces we spied on before the selection process that we thought had a lot of promise, yet did not make the show. Some that I saw made me feel like I had no chance and despite the critique I received, I got in. Such as it is with shows. One photographer who won an honorable mention, commented to us in a chat that "shows are a crapshoot." I had to agree, you don't know what the juror will or will not like and you simply take a chance. I took my time and read all the other critiques relating to the pieces that were on display and learned a lot.

A majority of the pieces were conceptual ideas that were very clever. Two years into painting and I am woefully inadequate when it comes to being clever or soulful(?) All the work I have done, none of it bears any sense of thought or concept. When I see a challenge I like, I simply try to paint it. When I wrote my statement on the entryform, I mentioned it was the character and not the aesthetic quality that appealed to me in some way. Perhaps should I ever sell it (and I have a feeling I will find a home for it someday), it will evoke a memory or indulge someone's interest in old fishing craft. Truly that is not such a bad thing. We get busy with our lives and don't often realize the details that are around us...stopping to smell the roses, I guess. Since I started painting, I had to train myself to stop taking things for granted which is terribly easy to do! I had to slow down and look closer at each seasonal change, features of someone's face, or the way light behaves on a surface of, say...a piece of fruit. I get a kick out of it when someone says, "yeah! I seen it look that way before too" or "That reminds me of...". I feel like I can communicate without words when I get those responses. When that doesn't happen, it's up to me to keep learning to communicate what I see with the medium that I'm using. So, it's back to the easel!

More Work Done

Well, it is not "work" exactly :) but a lot of concentration and effort that is fun(?) In anycase, for a painter who prefers alla-prima style of painting (which means in one sitting) I'm probably very slow. I wonder what term we would use for alla-prima in multiple sittings! This is not quite done and will require possibly one more day. I added more color and tone to build up areas of the tree and worked in details into the tomestones to catch that antique look they have. Somewhat somber, but interesting. I think the color overall lifts the mood of the subject considerably. I'll be taking this to openstudio at the artcenter on Friday, (tomorrow as I write) and will see whether I might complete this...if I don't chat too much!

So Long Summer!

Well, I'm off to a reasonably good start of my autumn landscape and since it looks too much like the previous post, I'll show you a quick doodle in oil. It is on a 12x16 canvasboard, the background toned in a compliment of french ultramarine blue and a dallop of orange. The black lines, I use a three way mix of viridian, french ultramarine blue, and burnt sienna for a warm black. To cool it, I would substitute the sienna for burnt umber. Not sure what this is other than being playful while I let some of my landscape dry before adding more color. While my mind is on a seasonal landscape, maybe I'm paying tribute to the passing of warmer weather! In anycase, I have to think about color in relation to tonal value and how it would be applied. The main idea is to have fun with the process of painting and try new things.

Second Try, Autumn in Oil

Here's another attempt on a canvasboard of the same dimension of an autumn scene I picked up from the Wetcanvas reference library. I think it has much more possibilities than the previous scene, far more appealing too. Maybe I'm not working hard to find the right green! I don't kid myself, the palette for this is easier, more straight forward. In anycase, what really interest me with this particular scene is the way the light changes. Leaves are translucent allowing some light to pass through and creating an illuminating color. This reference has a lot of that and I have seen many trees in East Tennessee look this way on a clear day, so the effect is very recognizable to me.

I'll stop here and will begin the scene again on a stretched canvas for a complete painting. Working these things out on canvasboards frees me up to not feel obligated to finish something I may not be doing well on. When I do something that seems to click, I have no problems finding enthusiasm to start fresh. It won't be an immediate start. I have other pending business this week and will find time to fit some drawing in.

Landscaping Again

With all that is going on lately, I'm still trying out landscapes. It's hard to avoid pretty scenery here in East Tennessee and I would be a fool to not give it a shot...at least. Here's a 16x20 on canvasboard attempt at a landscape of a local scene. We have an aboretum a few miles from home that does botanical research and is open to the public. There are a lot of nice trails and a portion of the place is manicured, like the scene that I painted. This time around I relied on a photograph to hone my skills at depicting foliage and work out a reasonable palette of colors, so I won't struggle when I try to paint on location. Once I'm satisfied that I can do a halfway decent job, I can put more energy into observation than struggling with the process itself.

Based on my reference, you can tell there is some work to do. I found that french ultramarine blue and yellow ochre does pretty well creating a nice natural green that can be tweaked in many different directions in value and temperature. However, I'll need a little more practice in applying the various qualities of colors to a scene. My strokes are not defined enough in some areas, making some of the foliage look like a fog of color. Getting a thicker rigger or smaller round (I think) should help with my brushstrokes in creating leaf textures. Its a start and I look forward to trying more.

It's Official

The painting that I posted on Wednesday of the fishboat is accepted into the local openshow. Just barely, I was told. First it was selected to be returned to me today, but the judge changed her mind. "Phew". Mary, thankyou for your encouraging comment! :) I suppose once all the pieces reserved for the show are finalized and hung for the openshow itself, the critiquing will begin and I'll have to wait for the results of that. Based on how close a call it was getting in, I really don't expect it to win anything at this point. The fact that my painting caused a second guess (to me) is an achievement in itself. It will be interesting to see the critique. I'm posting a link to the artcenter in my list of links to give you all an idea where I meet each week for openstudio and classes and the current show's prospectus.