Branches And Stones

When I look at the photos of this place, it astounds me how rough in shape the stones are that were used to build the inn. I simplified them in my work on the flat wall on the right, but the originals are smaller and more organically shaped.  The tree branches are always a tough paint for me, but I'm blundering along in my attempts to represent them.

And I repainted the French tricolor.

L'Auberge Provencale, February, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Painting at 2 A.M.

Once in a while I can't seem to fall asleep. Instead of lying there in the dark last night, I decided to do a little painting. I paid special attention to the planes of the waitress's face, but knew I'll have to smooth out the transitions next time around.

Tuesday, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Ripples

This is an exhausting painting to work on. I'm trying to balance a fairly accurate placement of the watery lines with a looser brush stroke. The ultimate aim is to make the painting believable and aesthetically pleasing at the same time. If that makes sense?

Coming Of Age In The Year 2018, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

More Wig Work

I think that upper right-hand corner mannequin is nearly done now. The "skin" color is pretty close to what's in the reference photo, and I painted the glitter on the sun glass frames.Also smudged some color onto the orange wig and feathers.

Wigs And Shades, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Fun In Wine Country

I know— it doesn't look like fun, does it? A dreary winter day; vines sleeping, waiting for warmer weather; an overcast. leaden grey sky. But sometimes you just have to get out of the house and away from the easel; inside the winery we met up with friends and had a wine tasting, followed by good conversation and shared cheese plates and truffle popcorn. Learned about an interesting book called "The Evolution Of Everything" and discussed the techniques of Impressionism.

Out of respect for my friends' privacy, I won't post a photo of them but here is Breaux Vineyard in Purcellville, VA.

A Repaint

Sometimes, after I think a piece is finished, I look at it over the next few days and see things that bother me... like the clouds here; or the darkness of the sheep; or the fact that I really meant the sky to be more graduated and include some pale yellow near the horizon... or the color of the grass...

Sheep In The Meadow, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

 

So, here's the revised version. (And I'm still not happy about the clouds.)

Getting Back To The Curtains

Here's the latest work on the curtains. Their color is a curious combination of orange, blue, and grey, and when I mix Winsor Orange (which is somewhat transparent relative to the cadmiums) with white it goes pink. Mixed with blue, purple. So I'm leaning a little more on the cads.

The Promise Of Evening, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Foreground

The grassy area in front of the old stone inn is a winter shade of green; that is, very dull and washed-out. The color of the open sky is a deep blue, and some of that blue light is reflected on the grass, but so are the sunset colors of coral and yellow. So there's a lot going on. I might have made it too vivid; will have to put it aside and take a look later.

L'Auberge Provencale, February, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Meanwhile, a little more work on this one:

Tuesday, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

A Little Diversion

It's cold outside, but the strong sunshine makes it seem like a day in early spring. I feel more cheerful than yesterday, when the news really had me down, and wanted to work on something fun this morning.

Blue Vase With Irises, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

One More For Today

I'm getting fatigued, though I might get back to this one later— I want to define the color/value and the drawing of the curtains at top right— anyway; here's the latest on:

The Promise Of Evening, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Mannequins In The Window

Neatened up a few areas in different parts of the picture plane; time to let it dry now.

The Gauntlet, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Murky Waters

There's a reason this painting has the title it has.

Coming Of Age In The Year 2018, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Feathering The Feathers

Painted the red feathers as best I could, then used a soft brush to blur the edges between them a bit, as they were looking too harsh.

Wigs And Shades, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

"Tuesday" On Wednesday

I decided (for now) on the name"Tuesday" for this painting. Tuesday is the most anonymous day of the week; Monday is Back to Work, Wednesday is Hump Day, Friday is TGIF, etc. But  nobody takes much notice of Tuesday: it's just another day. And for this waitress, it's just another day at work.

Tuesday, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Emerging Figure

Here's the start of that new painting I penciled in a few days ago.

Untitled, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Moving Some Pieces Forward

I started this morning with some extremely tedious details, using tiny brushes. Then that morphed into a couple of larger things, and now I need a break. But first— two that I worked on yesterday:

A Farm At Dusk, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The farm painting still doesn't have the mood of the original scene. I added some warm tones to the right side, closer to where the sunset is, but some of them are not working. And I'm worried about the heaviness of the clouds, though maybe that will sort itself out when I put in the rest of the cloud detail in the upper left.

On to Craig: I worked on the skin tones on the arms, a bit on the face, and some of the foundation color on his tool bag. The tool bag is really the only thing left to finish. 

Craig, America Series, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Then, this morning's work. On Daniel the waiter, I spent about an hour working and reworking the facial features, trying to get everything right: the drawing, the planes of the face, the lighting, the skin color, and mainly, the eyes.

Waiting At Le Diplomate, Detail, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Not perfect, but a move in the right direction. At least he looks human now. Since his entire head is only about an inch high, I'm having to use very small brushes and strokes. It's really hard to get a likeness in such a small space.

Next:

L'Auberge Provencale, February, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Trees— well, drawing convincing trees— have always been a problem for me, ever since art school back in the day. I'm trying really hard to observe how the branches twist themselves to gain access to sunlight. The strokes taper, too, from very thin at the outer edges to thicker where the branches meet the bigger limbs and trunks. So that makes for very slow, careful work.

I also got the placement of the French flag wrong in the initial drawing; had to paint most of it out for now and will put it in its correct place once the paint dries. It was both too small and was obscuring the white ball of the sun in the sky, just at the corner of the porch.

The last thing I've done today (so far) is the pool painting:

Coming Of Age In The Year 2018, © 2018, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

That hot pink you see in the lower half of the image is the reflection of the hot pink sweater I'm wearing today.

That Glorious Orange Wig

I indulged my desire to work solely on the orange wig this morning; it's so assertive, like fireworks going off in every direction. I'm letting it dry for now but will get back to some glazing and then some fine detail.

Wigs And Shades, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Some Afternoon Work

Worked on the curtains, the quilt, and the figure.

 

The Promise Of Evening, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Fun With Glazing

I love glazing. Putting down a wash of thin color over a couple of opaque layers adds such depth and richness as the colors combine. The washes I used today were varying red pigments, mostly Winsor Red (which is transparent anyway), Cadmium Red from Grumbacher (used to be Cad Vermilion), and Alizarin Crimson, all mixed with W&N's blending and glazing medium (which, by the way, is packaged in a bottle that is nearly impossible to open).

All of this morning's work has been on the right side. That vertical pillar looks a little too bright; I'll have to knock it back with a subsequent gaze.

The Gauntlet, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Completed! Sheep In The Meadow

Finally done. I breathe a sigh of relief and move on to other work.

Sheep In The Meadow, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Better

After a couple hours' break, I went back to this one, and worked my way across the picture plane. I think it looks better now.

Waiting At Le Diplomate, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Troublesome Tiles, and Working Multiple Pieces

The tile colors are not working out. They're either too artificial a green, or too flat in color (the tiles in the restaurant are glazed, and they have some visual depth), or too dark or yellowy. I'm trying to use a glazing medium and transparent pigments today but that doesn't help if the color is wrong. Not sure what to do.

Also, this photo is picking up a lot of glare from a nearby window.

Waiting At Le Diplomate, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

 

Recently we had friends over for dinner, and the wife (who, like many of my friends) is an artist. She and I got into a conversation about productivity while I was showing her some of my latest stuff, and she mentioned that she usually has about twenty or thirty paintings in progress at any one time. This was reassuring to me, as I have other friends who don't understand why I have anywhere between 16 and 23 paintings in various states of completion. I just don't like to waste time waiting for the paint to dry on one piece' it makes more sense to put things aside when they're wet and work on something else.

A Little Homage To Vermeer

Vermeer did a painting he called "Officer And Laughing Girl," which features a well-dressed man sitting with his back to the viewer, and a smiling young woman across the table from him. I took a bunch of photos at a bar in Manhattan a couple of years ago, and one of them has a composition that's a little reminiscent of the Vermeer. I thought I'd try it, since I'm uninterested in doing much else lately. So this is the initial drawing.

Untitled, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Making Some Adjustments

I thought the sheep painting was almost done, but after looking at it for a week I realized the background needed to be less detailed, more coherent, so this morning I mixed up some greens with slightly earthier tones and brushed over the grass. I think it looks better, but the sheep tails might be too long— I don't know what breed of sheep these are, but their tails seem unusually long to me— and I'd like to put a few darker shadows here and there in the clouds.

Sheep In The Meadow, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

 

Meanwhile, the country inn is moving in the right direction, but I spent an inordinate amount of time this morning searching the photo archives for a better reference photo for the stone wall on the right side. I know I have one somewhere, but couldn't locate it in any of the many many folders I have of this place. So I'm winging it, as they say. And I'm trying very hard not to mess up the tree branches with the rigger brush.

L'Auberge Provencale, February, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

 

 

Balancing Oranges And Blues

There are a couple of places where the shadow color on white (whether it's the blouse or the curtains) is influenced by either the peachy color of the walls or the bluish light coming in the window. So I'm trying to create greys using those colors. The French Ultramarine seems to be working better than the regular ultramarine; meanwhile, that shadowy area to the right f the figure needs to go darker.

The Promise Of Evening, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Snowy Weekend

It was nice to take the weekend off. The snow here measures 9"; I tossed a lot of bird seed around for the ground feeders, refilled the suet, peanut and sunflower feeders, and added more dried worms to the little basket. The bluebird population has been increasing over the last few years, and we now have a happy flock of them downing the worms like candy.

This morning I picked up the brushes again and worked on the aluminum panel, adding more watery detail and some stronger color to the figure.

Coming Of Age In The Year 2018, © 2018, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

NYT/FBI

I am following last night's New York Times revelation of the FBI's suspicions that our president may be a foreign asset with great interest.

Meanwhile, I wandered into the upstairs studio last night and placed a few more waves of color on:

Coming Of Age In The Year 2018, © 2018, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

 

Ouch

So, coming up the driveway yesterday afternoon, my knee started to hurt, and with every step the pain got worse. I hobbled into the house and barely made it upstairs. No painting got done, and by bedtime I was concerned about a possible need for surgery, but after sleeping all night and resting for much of today I can put weight on it again.

I spent the afternoon working on the commissioned piece, moving from one area to another and avoiding the red areas I'd painted on Tuesday. They're still not dry, so that limited what I could work on.

Wigs And Shades, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Draperies

The curtains around the window are layered— there are white raw silk ones on the outside, and lacy ones on the inside. The silk ones are lined with thin cotton, but they still allow some of the wall color to show through, and certainly the light. The lacy ones are more transparent, and I'm wondering if the overall image would be better served if I left off the lace pattern and just treated them as sheers. Anyway: this morning's work, left side curtains—

The Promise Of Evening, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

A Farm, and More Craig

Trying to put the various cloud forms in the correct places in relation to each other is, well, trying. I'm not sure I should be using white for those tiny white clouds, maybe a soft, pale yellow would be better. The sky color should be a really intense, dark blue in the upper left corner, fading down to pink at the horizon, so I need to work on that.

A Farm At Dusk, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

I wanted to finish the shorts on Craig today, but now I think those tiny white lines have to go.

 

Craig, America Series, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Subtle Changes In Shadows

 Finally— after not working on this for a couple of months— I did some sustained work on the right side of this one. It's not bad! Of course, I'll probably decide it needs another coat or more blending, but at least I got back to it. It won't be so hard to pick up on it next time.

In Case Of Emergency, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

 

A Red Shirt

I think the shirt is done! The shorts need work.

Craig, America Series, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

That Left Side Is Looking Pretty Good

I tried a black glaze over part of the left side, and it seems to have created some visual depth, so that makes me happy. Added some reds in some places, worked on the face of the walking woman, skipped around a bit. Time to move on to something else.

The Gauntlet, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Annoyed

Something came up and I have to run out of the house on a stupid errand. It's so hard to get into a painting groove and then have to ditch it; I JUST WANT TO PAINT.

Wigs And Shades, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Sorry for the rant. I worked on three of the red areas on this, but there was more to do. Maybe when I get back.

Greens Today, Reds Tomorrow

This is the last of the green palette work for the day. Tomorrow I'm going to move on to the paintings that feature red.

Variations On A Theme #5, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The Big Push: Greens

Rumors have been abounding about the possibility of an Artomatic event in the DMV sometime this year, and a recent email from the top brass has confirmed that fact. So I had better get ready!

I mixed a palette of greens this morning (greens are my weak spot) and got straight to it. I've worked on five paintings that utilize greens, and will get back to yet another after a break.

Farm At Dusk, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

 

Mostly foreground work on this farm painting.

Sheep In The Meadow, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

 

L'Auberge Provencale, February, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

 

Added the bench on the right; darkened the foreground greens.

 

Waiting At Le Diplomate, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

 

Feeling much better about the green tiles. They're beginning to work.

 

The Promise Of Evening, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

 

It's time to pay attention to those marshy greens outside the window.

 

 

Once More, Unto The Breach

If I keep hacking away at it, day after day, sometime it'll be finished. The winter light is working against me for getting an accurate photograph— the color's way off— but today's work was on the hair of the orange, blue, and yellow mannequins.

Wigs And Shades, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Sunset At The Inn

Trying to get in a few hours of painting before tonight's dinner:

L'Auberge Provencale, February, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Out To Lunch

It's the time of year when I try to catch up with friends I haven't seen for a while, so I've had to put the brushes away for a couple of days. Had lunch with an artist friend today; it was a good chance to see her after a lapse of about 16 months, as I had to drop off a painting for a show in the Clarendon area, which was easy for her to get to on the Metro. We had a nice time and covered a lot of ground regarding art marketing.

Tomorrow, another art friend (actually a former painting teacher) and her husband are coming over for dinner, so there's a lot of cleaning and cooking going on. Buy I do worry about finishing the commissioned piece, so have been concentrating on it whenever I get a chance.

Wigs And Shades, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

There's an undeniable satisfaction in being able to use loose, expressionistic strokes on the fuzzy-haired mannequin, though if the paint gets too thick it defeats the purpose of trying to make the work look real.