Painting 64

I have a slew of wonderful photos from various vacations and decided since I've been in an uninspired mood, I'd make use of some for my painting. I'm not sure what drew me to this scene, but this is from a week spent in Santiago, during a walk in an old part of the city. I think it was the strong vertical lines and the blocks of color. It also had some nice play of light on the trees. I like this painting, but I don't feel it was that successful and I think it has to do with a lack of focal point. The eye doesn't have a place to rest. It wants to rest on the figure, but I don't think it's painted in a way that holds the eye's attention. As I study it, I think I should have put her in a color that stands out from the surrounding, like a red. Also, I could have hit her with some light. Perhaps moving her in to the light. My nature is to paint what is there, and I'm tentative when it comes to adding something that isn't in a photograph. Not sure why, but at this stage, I'm comfortable with only the known. As my confidence grows, I hope I can take bigger risk. I was happy with the leaves of the trees though. They look leafy and not solid like my trees from earlier paintings.

Painting 63

Still in the uninspired stage, so why not throw some paint on the canvas. Decided to do an abstracted city/landscape. Looks part skyline, part fall trees, but it all came from my minds eye. I'd rather rely on a reference when I do my art, but sometimes it's best to stretch a little. Played with the palette knife somewhat on this and it's an addictive tool. My follow studio mate, Linda, loves to paint with palette knives. I don't think she owns a brush, but it doesn't seem to hinder her because she does amazing art. One of the basic rules I learned was not to cut your canvas in half, and that is exactly what I did. Not literally, but you can see the "horizon line" is right smack dab in the middle. Abstracts are interesting because they can be just about anything, but it does help when you follow basic rules of painting. Abstracts are not as easy as they look. Oh, I could do that!, is what you hear so often in a museum or galleries. Well, my advice to those who say that is to try it and maybe then they'll have a better appreciation the abstract. A good abstract is planned and considered, just like any other type of painting. Still a little scared of the paint at this point though. Not brave enough to really goop the paint on the canvas, even though an abstract is perfect for a heavier application. The texture of the paint can add a nice element. I did sell this one and was pleased that my boss was the one who purchased it. She saw it in my trunk. So that's a trunk show. I had no idea. She's a good boss to support me that way. She see trees, by the way.

Painting 62

My sweet tooth has been satisfied and painting candy no longer fulfills my cravings. Not sure what to tackle next, so I thought I'd just do an Alla Prima paintings and quickly knock something out. Since I found myself ill-prepared for a night in front of the easel with nothing to paint, I rummaged through the studio and came across a pickle jar. Why not? I supposed something sour is a logical choice. Painting glass is a good challenge and the lettering from all the candy paintings will come in handy for this exercise. I had been painting in layers for awhile, allowing each layer to dry before the next round of painting. That works well for me since I paint so sporadically. Since I wanted to finish this in one night, I had to contend with painting wet on wet which has always presented issues for me, like trying to get crisp, clean edges on my letters. Not going to happen. However, I like the loose feel of the brush work and if I let go, I even like the roughness of the lettering. The composition is a bit uninspired and the drawing could be improved, but overall, for a quick painting, I was pleased. 

Painting 61

This will be my last candy painting for awhile. Ok, it's technically gum. I was asked to donate a painting for a fundraiser and if I did so, I was allowed to hang another painting to sell for myself. I didn't want to donate the Dots or Good 'n Plenty, but I did want to see if I could sell one of them. I decided to paint another painting to donate to accompany the others and this is the result. My second attempt at bubble gum. The painting sold, so it did the job to raise money and that's wonderful. If you read my posts, you know I like to critique my work, but I hate to do that to a work that sold. If I purchased a painting and then came across a posting of the artist trashing the work, I'd be very unhappy about it, so I'm not going to chance that happening. But I will point out that during the "candy period" my attention to rendering even and consistent coverage of paint really stands out. It was definitely intentional because I was going for realism with a pop art feel. I love realism in painting, especially with non-traditional still life. The marriage of traditional technique and modern subject matter and composition is very exciting to me. I also love a loosely rendered painting where you can see the paint mixed on the canvas and the brush strokes are evident. Not sure what I like more, so I’ll just continue to explore until my own style emerges. Perhaps at painting 100.

Painting 60

Still on the Candy kick. This painting came together very quickly for me. I really enjoyed painting the folds of the paper and getting the colors right. The white on the paper is cool with a tinge of gray and the stick is warm. I also added a hint of the background color into the wrapper for a reflective quality. Paying attention to those tiny details is one of the reason I find painting fun. Painting teaches you to look at things in a new way. Our brains love to fill in the blanks and make decisions for our eyes. Training yourself to actually see what is there and not what you expect to be is a difficult journey, especially with warm and cool colors. Color is a beast to master, so I take pride when I purposely use color principles in a painting as I did with the whites. The background puzzled me greatly. I wanted a colorful, fun contrast in keeping with the other candy paintings, and I painted the background a few different shades before I settled on this orange. I don't care for it.  I think it detracts attention away from the subject. The shadow is also an issue. It's too dark and solid and also detracts from the subject as well. My grasp of color theory obviously didn't hold up through the entire painting process, but I never liked Tootsie Pops anyway.

Painting 59

Kay Wyne gave me a roll of lifesavers at the studio. Kay is a former member of Studio Art and Soul and recently found representation with a gallery in Sante Fe. Being in a gallery on Canyon Road in Sante Fe is like winning the lottery for an artist and everyone at the studio was so proud of her and what she has accomplished. I am fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful talent and it really makes me a better artist because of it. The Lifesavers were a great gift since my last 2 paintings were candy. Lifesavers definitely remind me of my childhood and specifically, my childhood during the holidays. Does anyone remember those Lifesaver books they had during Christmas? It wasn't Christmas until you had your selection of Lifesavers in a book shaped box! I loved painting this and I am very pleased with the results, especially with the candy. It's shiny and sticky and I think I captured them perfectly. The foil of the candy roll was a fun challenge and I am pleased with the overall results. I was even more pleased when someone purchased the painting at our Studio's open house. I paint for myself, but I can't help but feel validated when strangers see fit to spend money on what I create. It's very satisfying and definitely motivates me. 

Painting 58

The journey through the candy aisle continues with this not so delicious treat. Licorice is definitely an acquired taste and not something I was fond of as a child. Never remembered eating a Good & Plenty, but they still are iconic for me. I had a few while I was painting this, and they weren't that bad. Licorice seems like an old person's candy and now that I'm getting older, I'm starting to like it as well. I guess it must be true. The background color was a struggle for me. I didn't know what color to paint it and I'm still not sure about it. Kind of makes me dizzy. If you've by chance found this painting during a search on Google, there's a good chance you're a big Good & Plenty fan. If so, this painting is for sale! 

Painting 57

I love things that trigger those memories of my childhood, and candy was my passion early on. I was a picky eater and very slight of weight, so my mother resorted to feeding me what I demanded and sugar is what I wanted. Honey Buns and coke for breakfast was common. It's a wonder I have any teeth left. Dots are not my favorite, but they are iconic. I have memories of eating them at the movies mostly. To me Dots are movie candy and not something we ever had at home. I'd gobble them down at the start of the movie and then spend the rest of the time picking the goo out of my teeth. My childhood was sweet in so many ways and putting those memories on canvas makes me smile. I enjoyed painting on a large canvas (30x40) and it is almost a billboard sized ad for Dots. Perhaps it's too much of an advertisement than a fine art painting, but I suppose that's the graphic designer part of me shining through. If I had added a bloody tooth or a g-string in the still life, it would have been provocative and museum worthy, but as is, it's just cotton candy fluff. And with my sweet tooth, that's just fine by me.  

Painting 56

 

This is my cousin's little girl Claire. I painted this from a photo I took during a family reunion trip to the coast. My second portrait that I have attempted and I am pleased with the results. After a long string of so so paintings, it's nice to step back and appreciate one every once in awhile. There wouldn't be the motivation to paint if I didn't find the good and be able to celebrate the successes of what I do as a hobby. So in that spirit, I applaud my effort and refrain from saying anything negative about this portrait. Claire is in possession of her painting and I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed painting her. 

Painting 55

 

This painting is odd, yes. It was done for an online painting challenge. Karen Jurick, a really great artist, has a blog called Different Strokes from Different Folks where she hosts a painting challenge. She posts a photo for anyone to paint and then she posts the submissions. It's a lot of fun to see all the different styles and interpretations of the same subject matter, in this case wigs. Here's the link to see the different wig paintings. 

http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/2009/02/week-23-24-challenge-wigs.html

For a subject matter, this isn't what I would have preferred to spend my time painting, but I was anxious to participate in the challenge. I prefer the wig heads in the background over the featured wigs. The two on the left are my least favorite basically because I didn't do a very good job on the faces. I slipped out of my comfort zone on the colors and tried to be a little crazy instead of painting what was there. In the end, I do think the exaggerated colors work better, especially when you look at all the different paintings on Karen's blog. I don't care much for the orange in my painting. It's one of my favorite colors, but can be a challenge. Karen's use of color with the red is, in my opinion, the most successful of the bunch. My painting is destined for a second hand-store where it'll sit collecting dust, waiting for a buyer to come along and pay the $2.00 price to take it home. 

Thanks for visiting!

Painting 54

 

Another small study and my last for awhile. Glass is a scary subject matter for me, but it's not going to get any easier unless I actual attempt to paint it. A glass of wine is usually not hard to find at the studio, so it was an easy still life to set up. Only problem was I kept moving it every few minutes. The drawing is off, but for my first attempt at cut class, it wasn't too bad, especially since it was done in a short session. Now with all these quick studies out of the way, I'm ready to get started on a larger painting.

Painting 53

 

After the workshop, I returned to the studio and continued to concentrate on the small paintings. I wanted to do one that I could spend more time on and not do it in just one sitting. So as you can see, the blending is back. The quality that I liked so much with the lemon is gone. I didn't see how I could capture all the details of the plate and tablecloth design and be loose at the same time. I like the tomatoes and the plate, but I think the pattern of the tablecloth competes with the focal point. I also don't like the vantage point. Looking directly down on the subject matter seems a little unconventional to me, or maybe I'm just over-thinking it. Overall, there are things I like about this painting, but there's something that just doesn't feel right. Did I get more value by spending more time on it? Not sure that I did.

Painting 52

 

My last painting of the workshop. Fake strawberries! Regressed somewhat on this attempt, probably because I was tired and over it. The bowl was a challenge because the sides flared out toward the top and I struggled with the perspective. It doesn't help the painting that I cut off the bowl right at the corner, which draws to much attention to that area. I do like how I painted the strawberries, but the background is too vibrant for me. Overall, it was a great workshop and I found Carol Marine to be an excellent instructor and a great deal of fun. Just spending a big chunk of time painting and being around other great artist was very fulfilling and quite inspirational. Fortunately, I have a studio to go to where I can always be surrounded by great inspiration.

Painting 51

 

Carol presented a new challenge with our next painting and I found the exercise extremely valuable because it forced me to paint much more looser, and more deliberate than what I normally feel comfortable doing.  She had us paint an object with a one-stroke technique. We could only make one stroke on the canvas after applying paint to the brush. We had to mix our color each time we applied paint and we were instructed not to work the paint on the canvas, but to just apply it and move on. It forced me to choose my colors and values very carefully and the result was a nicely rendered lemon.  I love the way the lemon and background looks in the painting. This is what would have made the jalapeños a better painting instead of the flat red. The obvious brushwork and lack of blending creates more excitement to me. The composition isn't all that great with the lemon smack dab in the middle of the canvas, but  it was fun to explore a technique outside my comfort zone. If you haven't painted this way before, I encourage you to try it.

Painting 50

 

My first painting on day two of the Carol Marine workshop. I choose grapes as my subject matter because I admired the way Carol handles grapes in her painting and I wanted to paint some myself with her help. I purposely chose a limited palette for harmony, probably as a result of my last attempt with the peppers and the jarring red background. I like the composition and the rendering of the subject matter. I thought the grapes turned out well. I think another object, such as a utensil of some sort, would have been a nice addition, but for a quick study, I was pleased with the results.

One momentous thing to note about this painting is the number. My halfway point! I wish it had been something painted over a few days, and not just under an hour since it's the midpoint of my goal. So in my mind it's not as significant a marker as it could have been. But even though my 50th painting was an exercise in a workshop it still feels great to get this far.  In the beginning this painting would have taken me days to get this result, so if nothing else, I'm faster with the brush!

Painting 49

 

This one is making me happier. I painted this in the evening after the first class and perhaps the wine helped loosen me up. Overall, I was way more pleased with this effort than with my previous attempts. I like the peppers although I struggled with the highlight. The white must go on thick so the paint underneath doesn't blend and I just couldn't seem to get a good white. Carol warned us about making our highlights too big. Mine just don't seem to pop that well. That red background is vibrant and solid and somewhat overpowers the painting but it plays well against the green. Nice to end the day on a good note add confidence for day 2 of the workshop.

Painting 48

 

My second attempt during the workshop and with some improvement. I like the rendering of the vase for the most part, although it is a strange grouping and the background color is ugly. Perhaps if the background was in the orange family I would have achieved more harmony. I like the looser brushwork and seeing the brushstrokes. The small improvement is encouraging even if it wasn't any more successful than the other quick studies. But I definitely started to relax and I believe it helped overall.

Painting 47

 

This painting is my first still life during the Carol Marine workshop. There's a lot off pressure painting in a group setting where you feel everyone is watching your work, judging it. There's definitely a tightness that came through the brush on this one. Another painting that I don't have much good to say. A very fun group during my workshop and Carol was very informative and entertaining. I admire her work, her confidence and success at marketing herself. She created a nice niche for herself that has worked very well for her. I hope to find my niche.

Painting 46

 

Tuesdays are my official painting days. I love having a studio, but the call of TV, naps and drinking seems to pull me away on most days, however, I usually manage getting to the studio on Tuesday evening. Sometimes my body is there, but my creative spirit is nowhere to be found. I was in a mood to do anything else but paint and I had nothing on the night I created this painting. I just grabbed the first thing I found while on my way to the studio and it became my subject matter. Another monochromatic painting done in an hour or so. Another reason to hate painting. Wet on wet painting is difficult because I spend a lot of time spreading paint around. Crisp lines are impossible. Getting good dark values are difficult once you have paint down on the canvas. These quick paintings are valuable but tricky. I thought I was unhappy with the apples, but now they don't seem so bad in comparison. I hope that once I reach my goal of 100 paintings that I don't feel as frustrated as I seem to feel on a constant basis. I'm almost half way through my goal, but where is the progress?

Painting 45

 

Back to Posting after a long absence. I've set a new process up for my postings so you should see more on a regular basis. Another still life painted quickly. Apples on this attempt. The painting is monochromatic which was intentional, but I'm not sure it was the best move. I was copying Carol's composition and subject matter, but she's so much more successful at it. I don't really care for what I did. The apples or something doesn't read correctly. I'm not sure if the apples are too flat or what. Maybe the apples are too close in size so it lacks depth. I like the apple to the left with the dark near the stem, but the apple in the foreground is missing that element and appears too one- dimensional. The apple in the back appears more stuck to the apple instead of sitting behind. The shadow on the front apple looks off as well. With such a harsh shadow you'd think there would be more highlight. Let's see if this gets any better when Carol steps in.