I put in some time on the plate and the marble tabletop. The shape of the plate continues to bother me.
Six Layer Indulgence, © 2021, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Time for a break. I am putting the brushes down.
I am actually pretty excited about this one. And it's nearly finished, too; mostly it needs a few highlights on the plate's rim and on the scattered chocolate "marbles."
If I play my cards right, that is, if I keep to the same sort of painting schedule that I'm working now, I can have between 25-30 pieces done by the end of the year. But I have to stick with it!
Today I got a late start but did some significant work on the two below:
Cherry Cobbler, © 2021, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Time to stop painting for today. I'm very happy with the two vellum pieces, one of which is below, and the surrealist piece is also moving towards completion.
I truly can't think of anything else to do to this; it's getting overworked. Time to stop. The good news is that this is the last of the Postcards Series, which means I've actually completed one of several series that need to be finished.
Sometimes I get into an area on a painting and if I slow down, I can figure out the best way to work on it. This morning things were going well until a mosquito in the studio bit me twice in five minutes; that's the kind of thing that completely breaks my concentration. I ended up messing up the color of the water and finally just had to stop.
I stopped working on this one so late it was impossible to get a decent photo of it. I'm still dithering around with the faces; made that head that was too small larger, but it needs to go darker.
A Quiet Evening In Cambridge, © 2021, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
I finally have a name for this one. But I need to write a note to self for the future: don't stretch small canvases in an effort to use up random leftover pieces of linen unless you stick to conventional sizes. This one is 10" x 12", and it's going to cost me a pretty penny to order a frame in that size.
I am fascinated with the effects of light, and this is my third try at capturing its mystery in this particular image. The vellum base is interesting to work with, and the layers of color are doing what I need them to do.
The plan for today was to work on the three sky paintings below, so I'm happy to have met that goal. The second and third need more work, but not a lot; tomorrow I'll move on to other stuff and let these dry. The upcoming festival hangs heavy overhead, as there is much to do in preparation. But I'm satisfied with what I did today.
Painting the sky is hard. The clouds in this image are backlit in a glorious salmon color, which I need to enhance next time around, and the various ins and outs of the cloud forms are tricky as hell. It's hard to capture the way their ephemeral form undulates.
This is New Sky #3; I've reworked it and am mulling over whether or not to call it finished. I tried something different on this one— since my sunset sky paintings always look garish to me, I thought I'd try a different mix of paints. So I chose three that mimic the colors used in the printing process (cyan, magenta, and yellow), namely, Sennelier's Azure Blue, Winsor and Newton's Quinacridone Magenta, and my old favorite from Grumbacher, Cadmium Yellow Pale. They created some subtle mixes that I like a lot; very toned down and poetic.
Here's the result:
Afternoon progress.
