Add A Little Lime To That, Please...

I went back and forth over the shelves on the upper right side last night, alternating making them darker and lighter. I want them to be visible, but not assertive; I think the way it is now is right.  Added a lime to the bar counter for color and interest; hope it's not too small. Will be taking occasional looks at this one today to see if it needs anything else.

Tending Bar, Mt. Washington, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Coming Down The Home Stretch

Well, Saturday is the big event. I dropped off 3 more paintings today, but still have 2 more to finish, and it looks like Le Diplomate is not going to make the cut. Nearly done:

He Knew Better Than To Keep Her Waiting, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Having changed the angle of the dominant leg, I also had to adjust the shadows on the skin. I added some highlights to the hat and tightened up some of the wine bottles, too. This just needs a bit of tweaking and a nice protective layer of varnish.

Tending Bar, Mt. Washington, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The labels on the right have worked pretty well but I see a couple of areas that either need highlighting or darkening. And I think the mixing cup and martini glasses need reflections on the bar counter.

TV Painters, Photorealism, and Me

When I'm painting down in the Dungeon Studio, I usually have the television on in the background. When the news is interesting, I'll have that on, but mostly I've been listening to the Create Channel through Maryland Public Television. It has programs that feature woodworking, crafts, cooking, home renovation, travel, knitting and crocheting, and (of course) painting.

Now, the 3 or 4 painter guys that have shows employ techniques different from mine, and frankly I think the end results look manufactured, though they have a certain pleasant appeal. I listen to them anyway (when I'm painting, I'm looking at the canvas or panel) and lately have picked up a couple of good ideas.

Here is the start of a new commissioned piece. It's a 16" x 20"w reproduction of a photograph taken by a DC area art aficionado.

I hesitate to publish his original image in this blog without getting his permission, but here's the working brief: make the painting as close as possible to the photo. I'm a long way from being a photorealist, but I like a challenge. And it seems to me that for this particular image I need to think in new ways to solve the problem of some very subtly graduated, shadowed walls. That far left side in beige: I used a small house paint roller to apply the paint. It's currently taped off because it's a wall edge and I applied a second coat this afternoon.

Back to the TV painters: a couple of them were using liner brushes for their tree branches. (A liner brush has long, narrow, soft hairs.) I have a couple of liners, but have never used them for tree branches but now I'm thinking, what's wrong with me that I never saw how perfect they'd be? And one of the guys had masked off an oval area for a painting that took him 20 minutes to complete. Last week at the art supply store I was pricing frisket and wondering if it had enough tack to sufficiently mask off areas on the painting; the TV art guy said he was using Contact paper! Cheaper than frisket, he said, and more staying power. And he was right— the roll I got from the home improvement store will work great to separate the figures in the piece from the wall behind them.

My takeaway from all this is: being an art snob can keep you from learning. Those other painters on TV might have a different mindset about painting, but they have some useful tips.

A Fresh Start

So, with the show in the bag (or, almost) I can start thinking about finishing old work and starting new work.

Here's a shot of the back wall of the studio, with some pieces that I had to stop working on in preparation for the show, and a couple of new blank panels. That's Evening Star Café on the easel, gridded up and the beginnings of some charcoal pencil to define the left side of the building. I really can't wait to get to those floaty clouds on Narmada Winery, in the background. I think I'll try a touch of Lemon Yellow Pale in the lighter areas. And the recent custom order from Ampersand included some more panels for the street scenes.

Pershing Square: Finished!

I've now got 5 more paintings almost ready to be delivered to the gallery. A couple of them have to dry (I put a satin varnish on Rita's) and then I've got to wire them for hanging, but that leaves only 3 others to finish: Le Diplomate, He Knew Better, and Tending Bar. Here's Pershing Square:

Pershing Square, © 2017 (click on image for larger view)

Light And Shadow

It was time to deal with the skin tones, so I gathered every bit of reference material for this one together and studied them.  Made some changes in both shadow areas and drawing; will let it dry and then finish.

He Knew Better Than To Keep Her Waiting, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Making Changes

It's always been helpful for me to place a work in progress across the room in one of the living areas. The more I encounter it as I walk through, or just study it as I rest in a chair, the better I can see its flaws.

I realized that I could amplify the sense of light washing in a diagonal across Tending Bar if I changed the bottles on the right side shelf. By painting bottles with white labels, and hitting them directly with an arc of light, I could bring that side of the painting to life, and persuade the viewer's eye to carry across the picture plane instead of being trapped, as it had been, on the left.

Tending Bar, Mt. Washington, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Of course, while I believe that this will make a better painting, it does extend the amount of time I need to finish the piece. That whole repainted area has to dry before I can work the details.

Bottles On Shelves

That's what I worked on today. The hands and mixing cups need some attention, but really most of what's left is that underdeveloped shelf on the middle right side. The bottles are really tedious! Why do I pick these complicated settings?

Tending Bar, Mt. Washington, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Le Diplomate Moves Along

Moving along on this one; still plenty of painting left to do on it, but I like the way the atmosphere is shaping up.

Le Diplomate, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)


The yellow backlit wall really does look that yellow, but it needs to be both lightened and darkened in places.

Pershing Square, which is in drying mode right now, has about ten minutes of painting left on it. I'll have 3 paintings ready to deliver by Saturday, or Monday at the latest if the varnish takes a long time to dry. That leaves 3 more: He Knew Better, also nearly done; Tending Bar, Mt. Washington, and the above. Those last two are iffy.

Restoring Balance

Yesterday I delivered 17 paintings to the gallery; one of them I discovered needed a bit of touch-up in the upper left-hand corner, so I brought it home. The rest of the paintings for the show will go in later this week or early next week. I saw a few of Albert Shvilly's work, too, while I was there; he's the other artist in the show, and they are marvelous! He has done layered pieces with cutouts over the background paintings.

Today I worked on several things: touching up the background on Rita's, finishing a 6" square area on Fashion Forward that I just plain missed, finishing Coffee With Andi, tightening up the figures on the right on Pershing Square. It feels good to be getting a break from the constant work: I made pasta with zucchini sauce for lunch, for example. The recently arrived custom panels from Ampersand are still in the foyer, so maybe now that the rest of the living areas have been cleaned of paintings I can bring them downstairs and start to plan how to proceed.

I'm also moving forward on a recent and exciting commission.

Here are Pershing Square and Andi:

Pershing Square, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Coffee With Andi, © 2017  (click on image for larger view)
Maybe tonight I'll get back to Le Diplomate.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

I took yesterday off and went out of the house into the wilds of Northern Virginia, where I had a very good time and came home in a happy mood that lasted until the end of the evening. Today, it's back to work, but mostly preparation of the paintings for delivery on Monday. I think I'll have 17 ready to go, and will spend next week putting the finishing touches on the rest.

But meanwhile, the custom panel order from Ampersand arrived, and I can't wait to get started on the new pieces.

Drying Time

Practically all of the last 6 paintings need to just rest and dry. I'll work on Protective Coloration tonight, but will leave everything alone tomorrow. Over the weekend I'll clean the edges of the panels going into the show, attach wires where they're needed, and paint the edges of the linen-based paintings.

Here's the one I got such a bad shot of yesterday—

He Knew Better Than To Keep Her Waiting, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

I didn't take a photo of Coffee With Andi, since you wouldn't see much difference; the places I worked on were very small. But here are the other two from today's time in the studio:

Pershing Square, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

All that's left is the three faces on the right and a little more attention to the architectural columns also on the right. Oh, and those darn rivets!

Bartending, Mt. Washington, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Still plenty to do on this one.Those bottles are driving me crazy. The upper-right hand corner took me almost an hour this morning.

An Extra Week!

My gallery director called up today and said I can bring in the paintings that are ready to show on the 22nd, and the rest the following week. That is great news! She needs to get an idea of where to hang things, and how to group the ones I'll bring in, and I need a little extra time to finish up. So I am breathing a sigh of relief. (And I'll get a chance to paint those 400 tiny rivets on the Pershing Square underpass!)

I did get back to those dapples on the street in Coffee With Andi, and feel like that part of the painting is done. Now to let it dry and then re-work the storefronts just above the street. It's close to being finished. I also painted in the steps on the post office building on the right; that part had been vague for a long time.

Coffee With Andi, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Also worked on He Knew Better but the photo I took of it isn't working. Will post it tomorrow.

Recalculating

It's time to take a break— last night I stopped painting after 10pm— and figure out what to work on in the next few days. I just came upstairs after taking a photo of some tree shadows on the lawn, because I've never been happy with the way the dappled light appears on the street in Coffee With Andi. Hopefully, it'll help me do a better job, but in the mean time I'm suffering from painting fatigue and just need to blank out for a while.

I did want to mention how wonderful it was to meet two new really nice art patrons on Sunday. They had seen my work at Artomatic and contacted me about purchasing a painting, so I set up everything that was available in the basement and told them to peruse it at their leisure. It was clear they were the real deal: people who love art and knew what they liked. They ended up purchasing two pieces: "The Illusion of Reality" and "J P Licks," and I am thrilled that the paintings will be going to a home where they will be appreciated and cared for. Artists always feel like their work is like their kids!

So here are the sold pieces:

The Illusion of Reality

J. P. Licks

Rita's: Finished!

Things continue to move along. I'm pleased with the way Rita's turned out— a few months ago it looked to me like it was never going to come together, but it was just a matter of sticking with it, analyzing the areas that were giving me trouble, and then carefully executing them. So. I can breathe a sigh of relief.

Rita's, © 2017 (click on image for larger view)

Meanwhile, I worked on these two last night:

Protective Coloration, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Le Diplomate, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The Poster For The Show

Here it is! It's official—

A Break For A Birthday Celebration

Not mine; the birthday of a friend. Got into the studio early to work on He Knew Better, and then headed out to the birthday lunch, as one does not forget one's friends even in the midst of deadline chaos. All went well, and now I'm back upstairs after working on Pershing Square. More to do upstairs, and it looks like 4 more paintings will be done by the weekend.

He Knew Better Than To Keep Her Waiting, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Pershing Square, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Scrambling

It's now or never— the paintings need to be finished by the end of the week (I'm probably repeating myself). I'm using every available minute to work on them and am taking a short break right now because a gardening task that I've been putting off for weeks has to be done TODAY. There is some very good news to report, but I'll have to do that tonight when things calm down a bit; meanwhile, I finished Fashion Forward and got a little further with a couple of other paintings.

Fashion Forward, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Bartending, Mt. Washington, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Coffee With Andi, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Wet Paint

Getting down to the last few items that need to be checked off. I should be able to finish a few more paintings by the weekend. This one is showing a lot of glare on the wet areas— mostly the bar and the woodwork on the back wall:

He Knew Better Than To Keep Her Waiting, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The wall tiles are getting more refined on this one. Soon I'll be able to paint in the grout lines and the mirror frames. Then it'll just be the sinks and the figure, but those will be a lot quicker than those tiles.

Protective Coloration, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

And this is nearing completion, too. I finished those highlight lines on the wall and refined the figures:

Rita's, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

I can't wait to get everything done for the show so I can start some new pieces.

Afternoon Work

Found a couple of areas on this one that I'd simply forgotten to finish. Still need to get to one or two places that are sticky right now.

Fashion Forward, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

And I got back to this— still enough time to get it done. I'm happier with the skin tones now, but there's still much more to do on the right side.

Bartending, Mt. Washington, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

And More Details

I'm at the point where I've made a list of every detail that has to be taken care of to finish every painting that's going into the show. So it feels a bit more like everything is under control and it will all work out in the time left.

To that end, I checked off a few things on this one today:

Pershing Square, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Not much left to do— some refinement on the windows and a couple of the faces on the pedestrians. I think the bikes might need a few touches here and there, also. And I'm not sure whether or not to add the rivets on the underpass beams.

Reception: Finished

I took the reference photo for this one 3 years ago, at my last show at the gallery. It's occurred to me that if I didn't have this tight deadline, a lot of these paintings wouldn't be done until later in the year. That's not because I'm lazy— it's because there are so many other claims to my time. Over the last few weeks I've had to let the house and the garden fend for themselves. It'll be hard to catch up with the weeding when all this is done, and I'm really tired of seeing dust balls everywhere I go...

But this one is now done!

Reception From 5-9, © 2017 (click on image for larger view)

This painting is going to go right up against the deadline, because places I've worked on today have to dry before I can get back in and take care of some of those sloppy architectural verticals. But I like the overall feel of it, and the vibrancy and energy of the woman across the table from the viewer.

Coffee With Andi, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Sleeping In

We decided to throw caution to the winds last night and stay up until 3 a.m. watching the movie "Secretariat," which was fun, but I ended up sleeping until a quarter to 11 this morning. So it's time to get to work. But here's last night's progress on Le Diplomate:

Saturday Night at Le Diplomate, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

I figure if I work on it a little bit every night it might be finished in time for the show.

Whole Foods: Finished?

No doubt over the next week I will find small areas that need to be touched up, or refine something that I forgot to do... but I think this one is finished!

Whole Foods, © 2017 (click on image for larger view)

This, meanwhile, is where Fashion Forward stands, after this morning's work:

 Fashion Forward, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Details, Details

More work today on a couple of the smaller pieces.

  Pershing Square, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The five figures on the right need attention, as do a couple of the bike tires, but I did a lot to the logo in the window and feel like this one is almost done.

He Knew Better Than To Keep Her Waiting, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Rounded the top of the bar and added some highlights; finished the plant pot and redrew the chair. 

Almost Done

All that's left on this one is a bit of refining on the wine bottles and the glasses on the tray. Oh, and the leg on the shelves needs to be straightened out. Can't wait!

Reception From 5-9, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

A Little Night Work

Since I want the middle section of this painting to be luminous and bright, I decided to make the wall space above it darker, and while that's not a bad idea, it looks very brushy and uneven to me now. I'm hoping another coat of paint will even things out.

Saturday Night at Le Diplomate, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Boards and Bottles

I'm now down to the smaller areas on the following two paintings. On Rita's, I'm painting fine lines on the vertical boards to indicate where light from the signage strikes the edges. Also added very fine black lines on the edges of the letters that spell "Rita's." They're very hard to see, and most viewers won't notice them, but I think they bring something to the sign.

Rita's, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The green areas need to be cleaned up, I've got to paint in a tiny, tiny "Laz-Y-Boy" sign near the one for McDonald's, and the air conditioning unit has to be finished. But this will probably be done on time.

Picked out a few details on the right side of this one:

He Knew Better Than To Keep Her Waiting, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Still not happy with the figure or the plant container. But this should make it to the finish line as well.

A Possible Reprieve

Feeling totally out of sorts today; still half asleep, and it's noon. And there wasn't any partying over the weekend, either. Feeling overwhelmed by the amount of painting I still have to do, though my gallery director called on Saturday to say that we might have to push the show dates off a couple of weeks. There are some areas on Coffee With Andi that I can't make any sense of, and the thought of doing the window details on the shops across the street depresses me.

Coffee With Andi, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

A week ago I forgot to pick up J.P. Licks from the Bethesda show! First time I've ever forgotten to pick up a piece. Luckily, the folks at the Maryland Federation of Art are tolerant, but they did need to take it out to the Circle Gallery in Annapolis, which is where we had to go on Saturday to retrieve it. We have good friends in Annapolis, though, so we met them for lunch and then visited The Green Phoenix 2, where I have a bunch of ocean and cityscapes. So all in all it was a pleasant afternoon despite some rain.

On Sunday morning, we headed out for Artomatic, signed in, and took the show down. A couple of other artist guys stopped by to say hello and tell me how much they liked my work, which was very nice. Nearly all of my couple of hundred business cards were gone; there were about ten of them left in the box. This is great because I want to order some new ones. The buyer for Endangered Species came by and happily took the piece away in her Mini Cooper, saying she promised it was going to a good home, which also makes me happy.

So, goodbye to a piece that I spent 3 years (off and on) working on:

Endangered Species, © 2016 (click on image for larger view)

Sunday afternoon I was feeling relaxed enough to go and get a long overdue haircut and do a little shopping. So many of the paintings were in various stages of drying that it seemed okay to take a break, especially with a possible reprieve on the show dates.

Also this morning I finished that 6th panel on Whole Foods. All that's left is a little cleanup here and there and making sure the bicycles are done.

Whole Foods, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Time now for a nap, then I might get back to a few of the smaller paintings upstairs.

Something New

I've been working on this one for a while in the evenings, as it's not color critical. Initially, I'd planned to do it in acrylic, but the paint wasn't cooperating. Apparently it's best to build up the color using very thin, watery layers. Switched to oil (you can put oil over acrylic, but not acrylic over oil) but it's still been a challenge because of the tiny details. Nevertheless, I persist.

Saturday Night at Le Diplomate, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Just Not Into The Booze Today

This painting might not make it into the show. I've been struggling with it for a couple of years now, and I still don't feel like it's going in the right direction. The bartender doesn't look real to me; I think that's a problem with the lighting, and frankly, it's time to buy a decent camera so I have more accurate reference. Anyway, this morning I started in on the bottles at upper left, but I just ran out of steam.

Bartending, Mt. Washington, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

And while listening to a travelogue about Naples and Pompeii, I worked on this:

Fashion Forward, © 2017, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

That right side requires a lot of time and effort. It's tricky. The reflections change value as well as color as they move across the picture plane, and they merge and blend together in some spots, requiring glazing. So the under layer has to be dry or the glaze layer will just meld into it. 

Tonight I'm going to work on a couple of smaller pieces, and try to do some organizing for the show.