Susan, Painting: March 2018

Friday, March 30, 2018

Fun With Metal

It's slow going on this painting (as it is on most of them) but at least there aren't a lot of color decisions to be made. It simplifies things somewhat.

This is a large painting (36" x 48") that I started years ago, I think somewhere around 2003; we had gone out to a wine festival in the country and were stalled in traffic when I snapped the photo of the pond. I wanted to paint it, and to get a sense of the heat of a summer afternoon in Virginia, but needed some focal point for the image.

I looked around at a lot of pictures of steers and put this one together from various components. The idea of the longhorn came about because I wanted to utilize that horizontal space. I've never been happy with the painting on he body of the animal, though, and am trying to make some improvements. It needs some lighter tones high on the back, and then I've got to repaint the fence wire.

Thursday, March 29, 2018

You Know How It Is When You Look At Something Too Long?

I think Jeff's shorts were better before I started to repaint them this morning. I thought the contrast between the light and the shadow areas needed to be more obvious; this is the result of a lot of hand-wringing as the result of viewing the work of Max Ginsburg, who certainly knows his way around form and value. I just can't seem to get my dark values right, and it's enormously frustrating. The Chair is a good example of this: the flesh colors might be correct, but the values in the shadow areas are really too light.

Anyway. I think I need to take a step back from this for a few hours; the fold lines on the shorts look too artificially placed to me now but maybe later I'll think they're okay. At least the likenesses are working a bit better.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Completed! Study After A Maid Asleep, (Johannes Vermeer)

It feels good to have something done. When pieces hang around the studio, begging for some work time, I feel like a stressed mom with too many kids.

Yet Again, Painting Though The Gloom

I can't remember a Spring as dreary and sad as this one. Luckily I have lamps with natural light that permit me to see the colors on the palette fairly accurately.

Heard from a painter friend, and we are planning an excursion to a local gallery show, so that'll be fun. Also, the cherry blossoms should be in bloom soon. The sun can't hide forever.

This afternoon's work:

Recently I was excited to pick up a tube of Alizarin Permanent. Back in my undergrad days, I was under the influence of a couple of my instructors, who were abstract expressionists, as well as a friend who did really amazing non-objective works. My Senior year thesis paintings were almost entirely abstract, and one large one called "Jupiter" featured a huge circle on a rounded corner rectangular shape. It had layer upon layer upon layer of Alizarin Crimson. That color was like crushed rubies, but the one I used this morning on The Gauntlet is more of a purpley red. You can see how it goes violet when mixed with white up near the top of the window. It's disappointing.

Since this was on the easel when I came downstairs and its palette was still viable, I spent some time on it also adding detail in the space on and above the table.

Too Much Going On

I need to simplify this painting; right now the process involves painting in certain areas, then going back over them with a lighter or bluer or greyer layer, then picking out areas that need more detail, then repeating the process again. So it looks quite busy now but eventually it will soften and blend.

Here's the Chrysler Building painting with a first coat of dark paint where the buildings march down the avenue:

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Trying To Catch Up

Three more today:

I think it's starting to take shape, now that the scene outside the window is filling in.

All I did was work on the framed painting in the upper right-hand corner. You can't imagine how hard it is to get those abstract shapes and colors correct. And they're not done yet.

And last, but not least:

Mostly I tried to correct the contrast between the light and dark planes on the big buildings in the background, but I did put in a little detail in the midground and also worked on the brownstones.

A Couple Of Days Off

On Friday, I had a long-standing date with a couple of art friends. We met for lunch, and as both of them had important life events they wanted to talk about, we spent a long time together. Once home, I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to sit down and work. Weekends are usually filled with mundane tasks, and then yesterday, Monday, I had to follow up on a few things.

So today I'm back to painting.The plan was to get a lot done on Selfies, but this is one of the pieces that requires me to stand on a hard floor, so I didn't end up getting as much done as I wanted to. Resting my lower back for a bit, and then will pick up the brushes again.

Mostly worked on the ceiling area.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

John Bolton

John Bolton? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Reds

I like working on these two at the same time; it saves on paint, since they have a similar palette.

I'm starting to develop the reflections of the building across the street. There are windows and pillars. It's important to keep a sense of transparency about them, and I'll have to do that with glazes. Right now they're painted in rather sloppily— architectural details need to be precise— but I'm just trying to work out the placement.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Selfies, Later In The Day

I really want to see this one move along, so I went back to it this afternoon.

What I love about this image is the tiny faces of customers in the restaurant/coffee shop in the background. And the reflected feet in the lower middle panel. And the waif-like image in a skinny area on the left of center that might be a poster. There's so much going on. Life is complicated, especially in the 21st century; this is in some small way representative of that fact.

Snow! And Selfies

So now that it's spring, we finally got some snow. I live for snow in the winter, but we had less than 3" all season long. There's easily 3" outside right now, and it's supposed to continue until 6pm. The birds are panicky, as they always are, so I've fed them half a dozen times since waking up this morning.

I tried to make some progress on Selfies:

And added some paint to For Rent.

Meanwhile, the little veggie plants wait for warmer weather.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Two More Today

Precipitation outside of one wintry sort or another. I really look forward to Spring. Meanwhile:

I painted a few more details on this one:

But it's a slow week... I just don't feel motivated to do anything.

One More Session

It's a rainy, cold, grey morning; good for oatmeal.

I worked various areas all over this little study until I started getting my hand into the wet spots, so reluctantly, had to stop. I say reluctantly because this is really close to the finish line, and I'd love to have another painting out of the way.

Monday, March 19, 2018

Completed! Rose Bowl

When did I start this painting? 2008? Anyway, I'm happy to report that it's done.

Tonality

After finishing the skyline last week, I wanted to sharpen those building edges where they meet the sky. There's a lot of contrast on the buildings from the sunlight hitting on the right sides of the buildings, and the shadows on the left. I really have to pay attention now to mixing the shadow tones so that they match the lighter elements.

Picking Up Where I Left Off

I added a few refinements to place on Evening Star this morning; probably hard to see where they are (the hanging lamp on left, the trim below the windows, the posters in the window on left side, interior details on walls and waitress, etc.) but I made a little more progress since Friday. The painting's too wet in multiple small places now so I have to stop and let it all dry.

I intend to finish something this week!

Friday, March 16, 2018

Successful? Or Not?

I want the back wall of the restaurant to have a glowing warmth, and while the color's working, I'm not sure the paint application is. It looks too blotchy to me in some places, too flat in others. Because I'm working from an image on my computer screen, the wall color's made up of all kinds of pixels: yellow ones, burnt orange ones, green ones, red ones, and they all make a beautiful optical mix that I can't duplicate with paint. Still, it looks alright from a few feet away.

I have one more painting to work on that's actually a personal project; it's a copy of a painting I sold years ago that I miss. Maybe I'll save that one for the weekends.

Winding Down: One More To Go

Taking a break from an exhausting morning session; I may or may not get to the last painting for the week, Evening Star. The Gauntlet has so many layers of color, so much glazing to do, I'll end up covering the whole surface with paint two times. But I want those rich, deep reds to look dimensional.

Next— since I already had a lot of red on the palette (and which I'm transferring onto the couch from the sleeve of my bathrobe, which somehow got dragged into it) I moved on to the fire extinguisher project. It's very tedious and slow going there.

And then for something more pleasurable:

Last night I worked on Eddie and Jeff, and was quite pleased with the progress. I thought it looked like them, hooray! Now today I'm not so sure.

I'm going to stare out the window now and try to relax.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

On Track For The Week

Along with Protective Coloration, I've been busy working day and night on a few other things.

This one, yesterday; I'm done with the crystal, just need to decide if the flower petals need to be darkened in a few places. I think it would help the sense of light washing across from left to right.

Last night I decided to bite the bullet and paint over the pattern work on the right side, below. The placement was just plain wrong; I hate to have to re-do things but there was no other way around it, and even more than repainting, I hate a job that's badly done. So it will be a few more sessions before this one is finished.

This one needed a long period of undivided attention this morning, and since the window light was soft and accommodating, I went at it. I think the water's finally starting to come together.

And:

There's still an absurd amount of detail left to do on the tablecloths, but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Protective Coloration, Finished!

Good grief, I've actually managed to finish something...

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Back To Selfies

An art patron is planning a studio visit later in the month, and I'd like to have a couple of the new paintings a little further along for him to see. So I've been concentrating on Selfies, For Rent, and The Gauntlet lately. Selfies is starting to shape up.

While down in the basement studio, I also put in some time on:

And this one:

I redrew the shoulder and backbone areas, but now the color's off. Also, the stomach should be rounder. Searched for the old reference files and amazingly, found them in a box of slides. They'll be useful in reworking the thistle and the fence post on the right; I think the thistle needs more color contrast, and the fence post should e a little darker.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Some Progress On The Big Giant Hand

I painted, re-painted, and re-drew some areas on this one today. Maybe I'll get back to it later since I've got the paint on the palette; taking a break now. There's plenty left to do, but it's fun to work on this one.

And I worked on the clothes on three of the girls this morning:

Monday, March 12, 2018

Painting The Sky

It was time to finish the sky; it would be difficult to try to paint it in around the edges of the buildings once they're completed. This way I can overpaint their edges, establish the sky, and then come back later and define the colors and contours of the buildings. So— working from back to front, so to speak.

I might add some more definition in the clouds later on.

Heigh-Ho, HeighHo; It's Off To Work We Go

That song from the 1939 Snow White movie is stuck in my head this morning. I attacked three canvases/panels and feel pretty good about the work. And I found the missing Ieva; I had taken her down to the basement when we had the windstorm in anticipation of doing some easy pattern work on the tunic. She was on a shelf in the rec room and that's why I couldn't find her in the upstairs studio.

So, here's what I did this morning:

Selfies is coming along pretty well, and soon it will start to make some visual sense.

Also happy with this; I evened out the back wall, dropped the offendingly high shoulder on the guy, and added a bit of window trim. The panel is bowed in this picture, so the right side looks wonky.

I'm going to have to do the sky in multiple layers, and with a very soft, wide brush.

Friday, March 9, 2018

Hard At Work; End Of Week

There are still 3 or 4 paintings I need to get to, and Ieva from the America Series is inexplicably missing; but the paint was flying fast and furious in the studio today.

I do think this will be done soon. It needs some detail on the tablecloth near the girl's hand, and the jug isn't dimensional yet.

This one has me flummoxed. It still lacks the cohesion of the original photo.

I lightened the house color again, and made it slightly bluer.

Filled in some of the unpainted areas. I do need to bring that shoulder down.

Made a number of value changes, and am happy with them, but I need to better integrate them.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Red

The cat sauntered into the studio around 5pm and told me it was time to quit for the day. I think he just wanted his dinner but I was pretty well spent anyhow. I've used a lot of red paint on this one; time to place another order for art supplies.