Susan, Painting: June 2019

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Banana Cream Pie

Here is the very start of the next one in the series, Banana Cream Pie. And I can tell you it was delicious.

Three more desserts will finish out the set.

Friday, June 28, 2019

I get really tense watching the games, and it occurred to me that I could paint and watch at the same time. This little painting is extremely complicated— there are many, many chocolate sprinkles on top, so it's going to be slow. Meanwhile: great game, two well-matched teams, a real hand-wringer. Could have gone either way.

When In Doubt, Dessert

The farm at dusk painting has been on my mind lately; the more I look at it, the more I think the sky needs to be darkened considerably on the left side. And I don't like the heavy clouds. They need to be broken up a little so that some of the sky can come through. So this means I need an unbroken period of time, at least two hours, so I can assess the problems, mix the paint properly, and work wet-in-wet on both the sky and the clouds at the same time.

That is not going to happen today.

I did work on the red parts of the strawberry shortcake painting:

Strawberry Shortcake, Guilty Pleasures Series, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

It's going to be a lot of fun to work on those glazes. Meanwhile, the France/U.S. soccer game is about to start! Until next posting...

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Someday I Will Finish This Painting

A couple of the mannequins need work, I've got to add the red berries above them on the back wall; the sidewalk needs to be spattered, and the right side reflections have to be finished. This all takes forever because I'm trying to do the best work possible and not rush things, not settle for a brushy stroke where I really need a careful gradation. But it's so frustrating. I want to see it DONE.

Watched the World Cup while painting; England over Norway, 3-0. I must say the British team is impressive. Smart players, exceptional passing skills. Tomorrow: France vs. U.S.

Not Meeting The Goal

There's just SO much house/yard work that needs to be done right now that it's hard to get time to sit down at the easel. But here's the last two days' work.

I don't know. Do those even look like clouds?

My attempt to paint in some diagonal wood grain is practically invisible, as it's picking up reflected light from the window.

Somewhat better results on the wood grain on this one; also I worked on the spoon. The spoon is fun! There's a tiny reflection of me in it, holding the camera up in the air.

Last:

The decision to put in sunset colors at the bottom of the sky came about gradually. I had intended for the sky to just get lighter, but then on a whim decided to look at some photos of the sky at dusk online. I still have to create a happy marriage between the lower blue layers.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

4 Of 4

It's early enough in the evening that I might be able to work on one of the desserts, but here's the last of the America series for tonight. But I've said it before and I'll say it again; Grace is much cuter than she appears here.

3 Out Of 4

Because I took yesterday off (more weeding, mulching, trimming, planting, etc.) I have to make up for it. Usually I try to work on 3 paintings a day, so now I have to do 4 a day for the rest of the week.

I picked up again on the America series; it's been too long and I need to get these next 4 out of the way. One more to do tonight.

Friday, June 21, 2019

Putting The Brushes Up For The Week

It has been a spectacularly beautiful day. Tomorrow, there will be chores to do. Tonight I'm washing out the brushes and getting ready to relax; I did manage to make my weekly quota of working on 15 paintings, three a day usually, though I took last Monday off. Things were getting a little sloppy on the fine lines on the last painting, so I know it's time to stop.

Wood Grain

Since the palette I was using for Le Diplomate was full of earth tones, it made sense to work on something that could utilize those colors. I like the fact that wood grain is so forgiving when you paint it, and how easy it is to do with a scruffy brush.

And putting that spoon in was definitely the right idea.

Leveling the Baseline

The line of the yellow-tiled floor has been slanted since forever; this morning I measured it, drew a pendil line, and evened it out across the picture plane. Also worked on the front of the bar cabinet.

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Trying To Make Up For Monday

I'm starting to get a better sense of how to observe the reference photos for the sky paintings, and paint accordingly. Here's this afternoon's work:

Moved on to the right side of Tuesday, but the neon color's working against me. There really is no pigment that will match the super-bright, vivid purples and hot pinks of the light tower. Not sure what to do? Thought Dioxazine Purple and Perm Carmine would do the trick, but they're way too dull.

On this one: worked only on the tiniest branches in the background. It gets tedious real quick, but if I hammer away at it, eventually it'll get done.

I Hate Mosquitoes

There is one right now in the corner of the studio where I paint, hiding out amongst the panels and cardboard dividers, waiting for its next chance to buzz my face and bite me. It's so annoying to be focused on a fine line and feel a tiny sting on my arm. Then the question is: drop the palette and brush, or continue the stroke?

Anyway; I worked on the face and the leaves in the background on this one. I still think the eye is wrong; it might be too far forward. But here's this morning's work:

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Messing Things Up

I stepped away from this one for a short break, and when I came back I noticed that I'd smeared some of the whitish paint onto a red area. So I washed over it with a little Gamsol— but it turned out to be too much, and it ran down the panel. Wiping it just made it worse. Eventually I just gave up; when it dries I'll go back and repaint.

Meanwhile, I worked hard on the shadows at lower left.

Women's World Cup Soccer

The soccer games are a nice distraction from the dearth of good news. I used to play soccer, so I feel like I'm down on the field sometimes when I watch the action. Right now England is dominating Japan, but Japan has a great goalie.

So. I finally dealt with the subtle change in value at the top area of this one:

And also cleaned up some details here and there.

The surface of this one is great fun to work on, since it's kind of marble-y. I'm trying to get the color of the paper napkin right; it's somewhere between a grey and a brown.

And, more darkening of the sky. It's hard to get the color right of the post-sunset sky at the horizon.

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Trying To Get Back In Gear

After taking the weekend off and then extending the break through Monday, I'm having a hard time getting motivated and buckling down to work. Again, the little dessert paintings feel more accessible than anything else, so I'm starting the week with three of them.

Mocha Treat, Guilty Pleasures Series, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Now, the paper tablecloth on this next one has fine diagonal lines and some wrinkles. Its white surface reflects some of the ambient color in the restaurant. I had a ratty brush handy 9one I misused by allowing paint to dry in it) and it did a perfect job of creating the lined texture when dragged through the wet paint. Must remember to use that technique in the future.

Friday, June 14, 2019

Last Dessert

That's it for today, I think. The background on this one is much darker right now than it will be when it's done, but I needed to establish the shadowy areas to work up from.

...And Some Good News

Two of my paintings have been accepted into the Maryland Federation of Art's "MFA @ Gallery B" show in Bethesda!

Dessert Day

I still have one more painting to work on, but am taking a break for a couple of hours. It's been a reasonably productive day, though sometimes it felt like a hit-or-miss kind of operation, with wild strokes and not too much attention paid to smoothing things out or being careful about edges.

Here are today's desserts:

Thursday, June 13, 2019

And Some More Glazing

With each progressive layer of glaze, the night sky color intensifies. I want to have a subtle glow of sunset color at the bottom; that's why there's that line of peachy pink. Eventually I'll marry it to the blue. Then the real fun will begin.

Trying To Keep All The Balls In The Air

There are several pieces that I've put aside for a while. I haven't worked on this painting for a couple of months now, but it's time to pick up on it again. So this morning I did a lot of brushwork on those tiny branches in the background. I'm trying to get as much warm light into the trees as possible, and also sharpen up some of the details on the porch.

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Dissatisfaction Gets The Best Of Me

I'm determined to repaint parts of this painting that I've never felt happy with. This mostly includes the top third, the center back wall, and some of the reflections on the right. Today I darkened the upper left corner and added some misty glaze. Also worked the little poster image of the newsboy.

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Sweating The Details

It's hard to believe that the work I just did on this little face took 25 minutes. But it looks better than it has in the past, and yes, I have been sweating while trying to get the very tiny details exactly right. Time for a break.

Tiny Type

Decided to face my fear of the little letters on the inspection label. So far, so good, though there will need to be a second session defining the edges of the letters painted this afternoon, and an extension of the label on the right side. And of course to finish the lettering not yet painted.

Morning Session: Red + Black

Not sure I didn't get carried away with the red this morning; let's see how it looks once it dries down.

Monday, June 10, 2019

Layers of Darkness

The two of these needed to go darker in places; the Variations one might need a little more brushing out as it dries.

They fit my mood right now, going darker.

Choose One

Haven't worked on this one in a while. I like the way the meringue edges go from burnt black to brown.

The Swimmer

Still working on those skin tones.

Truth

Yep. I am tracing the tiny words on the pink inspection label. There's no other way to do this; if I rely on my eye/hand skills, I'm going to mess this up and it will take forever to fix my mistakes. I'll make mistakes anyway when painting these tiny words, but better to start from a place where I at least have an idea of the baselines and word spacing.

Taking a rest stop from this now; just the tracing part alone was exhausting.

Saturday, June 8, 2019

Wood Grain

Working the wood grain on this one today.

Adding A Spoon

There was an empty area in this painting that was just begging for some sort of design element. I toyed with the idea of putting a highlight on the wooden table surface, but then it occurred to me that I could use a spoon from the same photo session. This is a good reminder to shoot lots of photos from different angles.

I found a suitable spoon, though the angle was incorrect; reversed the angle and cloned it in to the reference photo, then drew it in with a brush.

The artist friend I was having lunch with when I took the photo for the painting below suggested I remove the spoon. "The spoon's the best part!" I said. Well, maybe not the *best,* but certainly the spoons are adding to the composition and bringing some interest; the one below reflects the greenhouse-type ceiling of the dining room we were in, complete with clouds and pigeons. The casual observer will miss these little details, but they're there for the discerning.

There is a tiny image of me holding the camera in one of the spoons. I'm not that enamored of my own image, but I think it adds a little humor to the piece.

Friday, June 7, 2019

Trying to Mend

One of the minor side issues related to yesterday's traumatic experiences was that the plantar fasciitis in my left foot became markedly worse, so I've spent the day trying to stay off my feet. But I feel useless and non-productive. Watching the news and working on genealogy have both proved to be profoundly depressing, so tonight I turned to the dessert series.

I probably should have worked on finishing some of the earlier panels, but wanted to start developing these two. The Jerry's Artarama order arrived two days ago and now I've got all but one panel to complete the set.

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Trauma

It's been a horrible day; I'm trying to deal with the yin and yang of life.This is what I've worked on to try to keep myself sane.

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

This Looks Better On The Easel

After a session of work on a painting, I'm usually encouraged by whatever progress I've made. Then I photograph the work and upload it to my blog, where it looks PERFECTLY AWFUL.

Last one for the day: