Susan, Painting

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

And A Little Lace

Last one for the day: finished the lacy doily.

Third of three paintings today. Just moving forward, albeit slowly.

Back in the day, I used frisket for various projects: it's an adhesive-backed film that you can cut any way you like to protect a surface while you spray an adjacent area. When you're done, you just peel it off. I might resurrect my old frisket pad to cover the plate in the painting below in an effort to brush on a transparent pale blue haze over the table surface. I already muted the reddish color with a glaze of Sap Green, but it looks flat, and I think the haze would give it atmosphere, dimension.

Much fine detail today on the wiggly-lined surface, and some more on the napkin. Pleased with it so far.

Still Flailing Around

I just can't seem to get a handle on this painting. Part of the problem is the color of the house in the background; it seems like everything I try looks too somber. This morning I changed it from dull blue to what I hoped was a nice neutral beige, but it's dreadful.

I also worked on the foliage, brushing in a dark green as the foundation beneath the middle and lighter leaves as they develop. And added more shadow color to the picket fence.

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Slow But Steady Wins The Race

One of the most useful things my mother taught me was that if you break down a big, difficult task into smaller ones, you have a better chance of finishing than if you try to do it all at once. I don't know if she thought she was actually teaching me this; she just used to say (cheerfully) while working on something, "Oh, little by little we get things done."

And so it is with painting. Because of the nature of the paint— it dries slowly— I can't get the detail I want when trying to paint one color against a different one unless the first color is dry. So I have to wait a few days before getting back to it. This is one of the reasons why my paintings can take as long as a year to complete.

So here's this afternoon's work: I painted small areas here and there, but someday they'll be finished.

(tablecloth on right)

(marble table top)

(details on spoon and sundae bowl)

(mirror frame, chair, and rug)

Luminosity

When I put my brush down late yesterday, I didn't feel like I had gotten as far on the trees as I'd wanted to, so this morning I went straight back to them. I want a sense of luminosity up at the top of the picture plane, and in order to do that will have to build layers, starting with the lightest and brightest yellows.

Monday, June 14, 2021

Exhausted

Time to stop painting for the day, however, here's what I worked on all afternoon:

Mostly I worked on the buildings and the distant shapes.

It's Monday

I spent the weekend doing housekeeping on the computer, though there's still a lot left. I need to organize things, get rid of old files, and plan the path for future shows. But I did get an important app to work on the new computer, which will make a big difference in terms of the amount of time I spend updating files.

On Sunday, I took a good hard look at the form of the blossoming branches in the reference photo for the cherry blossom "postcard" painting and made some progress. I just did some more work on it, and am posting the results. Meanwhile, time for a break, and then to get on to other stuff. I'm hoping this week will be as productive as the last one.

Friday, June 11, 2021

Getting Back In The Game

I took the Rising Stars painting to my local gallery today. It feels like it's been a dog's age since I showed anything new, anywhere. Tonight I plan to enter a couple of competitions and update my website, so I'm beginning to feel like the groundhog emerging from his winter nap. It's time to get visible again!

So, I worked on three more paintings this afternoon:

We'll see what the weekend brings. Right now I have no plans, so perhaps I'll be able to do some more work.