Glazing

The skin shadows are dark enough that I felt the need to darken the architectural elements of the room Andi is sitting in to balance things out. Glazed over them with a mixture of Raw Sienna and Sap Green; not sure the earthy tones were the best idea, may have to go over them again with a grey glaze. Meanwhile, I wiped back some of it. You can see the finished product in the second photo.

Using an adaptation of Alex B.'s "pick out" technique.

Coffee With Andi, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Also today: work on the little bartender painting.

Bartender, Mt. Washington, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

And some sunlight on the distant grapevines, and some bluish details on the far tree line:

Narmada, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Skin Tones On A Grey Day

After the last session on this painting, I realized the shadows on the face were too grey, so I livened them up this morning. Now taking a break; not sure what to work on this afternoon.

Coffee With Andi, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

That Nasty Upper Right-hand Corner

Painting is all about problem solving, and many times the reason I stop working on a painting is because I need to figure out how to take the next step.

The upper right-hand corner of the dance floor painting has been bugging me for a while, as I couldn't quite conceive of how to handle the figures and the shadows on the floor. But the break from painting has allowed me to approach things from a fresh perspective, and this morning I was able to just dive right in, so to speak.

Everyone Is On The Dance Floor, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

I still need to tweak a few details there and then once it's all dry come back in with a wash of deeper brown so the figures recede into the background. But I'm pleased with this morning's work.

Do those napkins still need refining?

So— then I moved on to other things:

 The Last Rose of Summer, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Did some work on the bottle, and a lot of careful crafting on the flower head. Time to start painting the table top.

And:

Bluemont, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

That smudge in the right-hand corner is a spot on the camera lens. Worked on the grapevines and the trees in the middle plane. Now breathing a sigh of relief; it's always good to have a productive day after some time away from the easel.

A Break For The Holidays

Family is arriving soon, and there's still much to do in the way of preparation, so I'm probably not going to be doing any painting until some time next week. Happy Holidays to everyone, everywhere!

Everyone Is On The Dance Floor, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Yesterday's Rose

Here's the photo I neglected to take in time yesterday:

The Last Rose of Summer, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

I've noticed that the shadow of the rose on the wall actually has a tinge of the coral color. Once the paint dries, I'll add it in. Looking forward to working on the glass and the stem.

Not So Fast

Every time I looked at Coffee With Andi, the skin tones looked too light, so I went back to it today. But it still isn't right.

Coffee With Andi, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Plus, I think the cheeks need to be warmer. More pinkish.

I did work on the background of The Last Rose, but ran off to do some Christmas shopping without taking a photo of it, and now it's too dark. But tomorrow (according to the almanac) is only going to be one second shorter than today. So we're at the turning point.

Face and Hands

Coffee With Andi, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

I think the face is done. Maybe one or two tweaks left. This one is fun to work on.

Disappearing Cars

When Dennis and I had lunch together on Tuesday, I asked him if he thought I should get rid of the car on the left; was it too distracting, did it make the scene too busy? He said yes, which pretty much aligned with what I was thinking too, so this afternoon the car disappeared. I think it's better this way. Can always paint it back in.

Coffee With Andi, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Also this afternoon, I brought the lighter areas of the grapevines back over the now dry shadows.

Bluemont, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Pershing Square, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

And I did a little work on the overhang and the red bands.

Further

The latest version:

Protective Coloration, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Tapeless

I decided not to use tape on the tiles today, and just painted them freehand. I got a little sloppy with the areas on the right, but using a good brush that holds its edge makes the job easier. Currently I'm finding that the short, red handled Winsor & Newton 233s— I think they're from the University series— are lasting a lot longer than anything else over the last couple of years.

Protective Coloration, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Actually, I got a little further on this one today than the photo indicates; by the time I finished up though it was too late to get a decent photo so I've used the earlier pic.

Background

I've been itching to get to the background on this one. Here's this morning's work, but the background will still need another layer of paint to smooth out the inconsistencies and define a few shadowy areas.

The Last Rose of Summer, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

A Day Off, With Visits to Three Shows

So, yesterday I took a day off from the madness of renovation going on around here and went into Alexandria to see my friend Dennis Crayon's solo show, "That Which Once Was Whole," at the Torpedo Factory. The show was wonderful, and it was great to be able to talk shop with another realist. I feel isolated working daily in my dungeon of a studio, so seeing someone else's work and his approach to realist painting was refreshing.

Afterwards, we had a nice lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant and then took in the sights at the Principle Gallery, just across the street.  Again— glorious realist work, which gave me ideas about different directions I could take with my own art. (All I need is more time!)

But the day wasn't over— I dropped in on the "Bridging East and West" show at the Hermitage Gallery on my way home. Twenty Korean artists from across the DC metro area were featured, and there was some amazing stuff. In particular, someone had solved the challenges of painting on layers of glass and sandwiching them together to form a unified whole with visual depth. This is something I tried to do on plexiglass many years ago with no success; I couldn't control the paint on the slick surface of the plexi.

Today I'm back to painting, but upstairs and away from the chaos.

440 Gallery Small Works Show

Brooklyn, New York: That's my little painting, "A Cup of Soup," on the wall behind the two guys.

Here it is displayed on the wall, upper left.

Art lovers outside the gallery at the reception.

Back To Work

All of December is going to be iffy, but I hit the ground running this morning. Here's what I got done:

A Quiet Evening in Cambridge, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

I'm still finding that blue sweater to be problematical. May have to tone it down a bit by mixing some of that rust wall color into the blue. Took out the distracting plastic bag in the foreground next to Bearded Guy.

The Last Rose of Summer, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Did not like what I did on the rose in the last session. Used Holbein's transparent colors (vermilion and two of the yellows) to glaze over the petals. Reasonably happy with it now; have to bring in some violet reflections here and there.

Coffee With Andi, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Worked very carefully on the skin tones on the hands and arms. Oh, and deepened the shadows on parts of the face.

Away From The Easel

The past couple of days have been busy, and it's been almost impossible to get any real work done. It's December.

This morning I worked on the Blue Sweater Girl. The sweater's a delicious shade of blue, but it requires a lot of concentration to shift between the lights and the darks and the ribbing on the sweater. A message came in on my cell phone and it broke my concentration. I started to make mistakes, so I put the brush down.

A Quiet Evening in Cambridge, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

And, more work on the napkin in the foreground. Taking a break now. Maybe will get some painting done later, but it's been a spectacularly unproductive week, and very disappointing.

Everyone Is On The Dance Floor, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Napkins!

I finally got to the napkins this morning, though most of the work has been on the one further back on the picture plane on the right side.

Everyone Is On The Dance Floor, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Maybe I'll show this one and Endangered Species at Artomatic.

Trying To Keep On Track

December.

It's always difficult to carve out painting time in December... Have to set up the decorations, select and purchase and wrap gifts, figure out a menu plan for the holidays, spend multiple hours cleaning, write out cards,spend multiple hours cooking; the list goes on and on. So many interruptions. Too many! And what gets put on the back burner? Painting!

And this year it's even worse: we're having some work done in the room adjacent to my dungeon of a studio, so half of the furniture and paintings that are stored there had to be moved this morning. The place is a wreck. Now it appears we're having the roof replaced. It's going to be even crazier around here than usual.

I did work on 3 paintings this morning but only got photos of two.

Coffee With Andi, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Reception From 5-9, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Artomatic is Coming in Spring 2017

I got this news last week, but was so busy with other stuff that I didn't really think about it much. Now, however, it's time to figure out what to show.

Time to get down to the studio and start the week.

It's The Little Successes That Keep You Going

So, last Thursday, I think it was, I was notified that my painting "Eric" had won an Honorable Mention in a show I'm in. It's a national show, so that made it even better.

Eric, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

When we got to the spot where the painting is hung, there were three beautiful and stylish young ladies hanging out in front of it, and one of them was taking a close-up pic of the work. I was elated. We all chatted for a few minutes and it really made the night for me.

Here's one of the gallery with Eric looming on the back wall.

End of the Painting Week

Two more today:

The Last Rose of Summer, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view) 

Stockton Street, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Three More

And there's still another painting day left in the week.

Rita's, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Smoothed out some of the streakiness on the wall, added the string for the lights and delineated where the vertical wall panels will be.

  

W. 44th Street, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Worked on the two leftmost figures and the head of the guy in the grey t-shirt.

Coffee With Andi, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

This one is such fun to work on. I'm enjoying analyzing the colors and trying to make correct mixtures. 

7 of 9

So far this week I've been able to get to 7 of the paintings I wanted to work on. It helps that the cat is still in love with the faux fur blanket.

Bluemont, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Added a lot of shadow color on the vines; will cover much of it with lighter, sunlit greens.

Narmada, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Pershing Square, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Only worked on the guy in the yellow shirt.

4th Street, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

A Quiet Evening in Cambridge, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Finally made some sense of the bearded fellow.

...And This One Will Probably Take Forever

...because of the taping. I can tape off an area and paint it, but then the paint has to dry enough so that the tape removal won't smear the paint edges. And it's not a big painting either, so there's a limited amount of space to work on at any time. Nevertheless, here's the most recent version:

Protective Coloration, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Whole Foods

Haven't worked on this one for a while. But I spent a lot of time on one of the windows today.

Whole Foods, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The Dark Rose of Summer

I tend to paint light; when I look at the work of some of the painters who went to the same art school as me at roughly the same time, it seems that their work tends toward the lighter side of the value chart, too. It might be that our instructors were still under the influence of the Impressionists (as far as realist painting went) and they told us not to use black in our palettes. I think we all overcompensated by using lots of white in our mixtures. Anyway, I darkened the rose today. Maybe too it reflects my current mood.

The Last Rose of Summer, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Plans For The Week

Before going down to the studio this morning, I looked at what I want to work on this week, and there's a lot. There are places on at least 9 paintings that need attention. Here's what I've done so far today:

Everyone Is On The Dance Floor, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Still haven't gotten to those napkins!

Coffee With Andi, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Two of the paintings that I want to get to this week still have a bit more drying to do— the little rose floral and Rita's.  Then there are individual figures in the street paintings and A Quiet Evening in Cambridge.

Straight Lines

I can do a pretty good job of painting straight lines, but in a piece like this one, "pretty good" isn't good enough. Searched the house, studio, and garage for the Frog Tape with no luck, so had to pick up a new roll at the local paint store. The roll is way too thick for my purposes (it's meant for wall painting) but if I cut the pieces in half, I can get double duty out of them.

Protective Coloration, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

And no, the other brands of painter's tape don't work as well. I find the color leaks underneath them. 

Getting Back To It

Sometimes I reach a point where I can't work on a painting anymore. Either I lose my focus, or it just becomes such a chore to paint that I need a break. Sometimes it takes a few weeks or months to solve a technical problem, or get past a philosophical stumbling block of some sort. Such is the case with the painting below. I just lost interest in working on it, but picked up on it again, and as soon as I can find some of that excellent green Frog tape in the garage, I'll do more work on those hard-edged tiles.

Protective Coloration, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The Painting Is Going Well

Despite the deeply depressed state I've been in for the last two weeks, the painting is going very well. I'm quite happy with everything i've been working on. Here's this morning's work:

Coffee With Andi, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The Last Rose of Summer, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Now that the rose is shaping up--- though next time I'll add some highlights, glaze some deeper color and some blues and violets onto the petals--- I'm looking forward to that white background. It will be interesting to see what color combination works to make the right off-white and shadow color.