Susan, Painting: July 2019

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Two More

Since it's been over a month since I painted this one, and I had a similar palette on hand, I tackled those elusive clouds again. I think it looks better.

And I got to work on Katie. Nearly finished!

There's another show coming up that I want to enter this one in, but the work I had planned on it for today isn't possible. I used Indigo for the darker areas, and colorwise, it's working out very well. What's not working is the fact that it takes over a week to dry! The last time I painted it was the 22nd, and here it is the 31st! There are some places where I want to overpaint the indigo with a light blue, and it's just mixing and smearing around instead. Bah. Now I have to wait another few days, at least...

Cruising

I did finally get my act together this morning and settled down to work early. Now time for a lunch break.

Re-doing this painting is going to take a while, as I keep finding areas that need to be lightened or darkened or just plain refined. I have a show in mind for it, though, sometime in the next couple of months, so I'd better pay more attention to it.

Last week, I sent a copy of this next one to a trusted friend and asked for his advice about the multi-pebbled sidewalk. He thought it was too distracting (so did I) and since that reinforced my concern I painted it back today. It does need some scuffing up; it is a New York City sidewalk, after all... but I'll get to that the next time around. I also evened out some of the horizontal lines on the window frame.

And finally, I adjusted the halo around the moon. But it might be too subtle now!

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Banana Cream Pie

I like this one. The banana slice is a bit too subtle, though. And this is from the same visit to the outdoor restaurant with the strange red lighting.

Weird Outdoor Lighting

The place where we had dessert after a movie had outdoor tables, and because it was a nice evening we chose to sit at one. And that's why the shadow is so strangely reddish on this painting.

Also worked on this, this morning:

Monday, July 29, 2019

A Change Of Pace, and More Desserts

I haven't worked on this in ages, but this afternoon it begged to be picked up. The clouds are still too dark— I'll lighten them up the next time.

Moved on to this; worked on the spoon and some of the tablecloth.

And finally, more spoon work as well as tinkering with the shifting colors on the plates. I can see that the shape is off on the plate on the left, will fix that after the paint dries.

Three Views of Today's Work

I'm not finished for the day— I hope!— though I got a late start; but this is the progression of work on the fire extinguisher painting. I had to sandpaper off some built-up paint, then lightened some of the background areas that needed more contrast.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Not Much To Show For Today

I feel like the week kind of fizzled out. Worked on the area behind the woman's head, but not much else. Will try to get back into a rhythm on Monday.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Agitated

The Mueller hearing yesterday was disappointing. This morning I've been plagued with all manner of domestic interruptions while trying to paint; not the least of which was my cat pooping on my studio rug RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME WHILE I WAS WORKING. Is this some sort of commentary on my paintings?

Anyway, I worked on two more spoons, but am throwing in the towel for a while. I don't feel very creative.

Hot Fudge Sundae II,

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Three (or Four) More Spoons

Continued with the spoon theme and palette this afternoon:

Spoons, and More "Selfies"

Everything that's wet from the last two days of work needs to dry so I don't smear it all over the place. In the meantime, I thought I'd put together a palette of metallic colors and methodically work on the spoons in the dessert series:

Selfies needs a whole lot of work, so I thought it best to do a little more on it. I kept to the right so I wouldn't mess up the wet paint I put on the left side yesterday.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Moving On To"Selfies"

The final work for today: I'm trying now to finish off the areas at the top of the canvas where you see reflections of the trees outside the restaurant in the window glass, and make the hanging light fixtures more subtle.

A Little Less Panicked

I realized that not only do I have several already finished paintings that I can show at Artomatic, I have several series of paintings ready to hang. There's the Atlantic Ocean series; the Northern Skies pastels; the Virginia Vineyards; the Winter Skaters; and of course, the America series. But I still want to finish the ones I mentioned in the last posting.

Went down to the Basement Dungeon studio to root around in my alternate set of paints, and came upstairs with two tubes of rose-colored oils, but neither of them begins to approach the

hyper-pink color in the light tower. I may have to settle for what's on there now.

Freaking Out In Anticipation Of Artomatic

This morning a message came in from the folks at Artomatic, that sprawling, 9-floors-of-unjuried-art-show that takes place in the Metro DC area every so often. I've participated in it several times, and it's exhilarating to see the wide spectrum of creative work displayed in such a huge venue.

However, of the 6 paintings that I'd hoped to show there if the show got off the ground this year, not one of them is ready to hang. And with Artomatic beginning to ramp up, I figure I've got a mere what, 8 weeks? So I am in full panic mode.

Immediately went into the studio and started working on:

The painting's actually a little further along than this (I evened out that raw area at upper left) but there is much to do.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Slipping In One More

I like to work on 3 paintings a day, but whenever possible I try for one or two more. The wood grain on these little dessert paintings is proving to be a challenge, but if I keep plugging away at it, eventually they'll get done. I worked too at heightening the contrast on the glass and its contents today.

Going Green

Well, the storm never materialized, having taken a left turn and gone north. So I went back to work; the tiles appealed to me and I covered the entire back wall with various shades of transparent green. After it dries I'll paint in the vertical grout lines and outline the tiles with darker color.Oh; and add some highlights/reflections.

Posting This Before The Storm

The sky has darkened in the space of a few minutes, and there's the rumble of thunder off to the west. The birds are in a tizzy, trying to feed themselves before the storm breaks, and I am in a rush to get this posted, as we often lose power.

I'm adding the decorations on the building on the right side, as I think it's been kind of weightless in relation to all the rest of the activity in the painting. Also trying to finish adding all the pebbles on the sidewalk.

Cooling Off

It's been incredibly, scarily hot here for the last few days. I wish I were in this swimming pool right now. Morning work was all about neatening up the hairy stroke edges from the first layer of paint, and adding darker spots to the foreground.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Out To Lunch

It's always great to get together with another artist friend, particularly when said friend is also a realist painter who knows EXACTLY what I mean when I talk about some paint-related issue. We had decided in advance that we'd paint all week from Monday to Thursday, and then take Friday off and treat ourselves to a nice meal.

When I got home, I picked up the brushes and attacked the background area on Emergency, in the hopes of getting all of the shadows to work together. Not sure that happened; will have to wait until the paint dries down.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Cambridge

Every year I resurrect this painting and try to get it done by November, in the hopes that I can show it somewhere before the Christmas season. And every year, it's more than I can handle, and I put it away thinking I'll pick up on it again next July. Well, it's July.

Decisions, Decisions

Whether putting the pebbles on the sidewalk into the foreground was a good idea. Whether or not to add the decorative detail on the pillar on the right side. Whether it was a good/bad idea to add a pattern to the woman's skirt. Etc.
Today's work, so far:

Also went back to this one, to sharpen up the detail on what I now understand to be a bottle rack, at the top of the light tower:

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Wednesday, So Far

I spent a lot of time trying to make adjustments to the central area of Selfies, since I took out that distracting crossbar. I wish I could say it went well— maybe it did— it'll take a break from the painting and a new look at it to see if what I did today makes a difference.

Then this:

Just some minor improvements on the face, the light pillar, and the background.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

The Remains Of The Day

Spent the afternoon working, after running errands this morning. There was some frustration, especially with the Le Diplomate painting (Is it overworked? Is it salvageable? Should I sand down the visible paint strokes?), but I haven't given up yet.

Here's today's work:

Wood Grain, Aaaarghhh

Wood grain. Sigh.

Monday, July 15, 2019

More Stuff

Graduating The Night Sky

The graduation of the night sky is finally working well, and soon (after I get to the halo around the moon) I'll be able to put the stars into the picture.

This is the fifth painting in a series I began in the 1990s; it was meant to have six images. They all feature an elongated arch.

One more to go after this.

Two To Start The Week

Friday, July 12, 2019

Friday Night Special

Last one for the week. Started to put in some wood grain.

Blending Gradients

It seemed like the next logical step on this one was to finish the shadowy areas on the back of the box, then I could start to work on the parts in front of it (the black hose, for example). But it took forever to do just a small part, and I had to constantly go to fresh brushes for the blending process. So now I have about 18 brushes to clean, and believe me, that is not my forte.

Plus, some disappointment: will this ever be finished?

Took another shot at the likeness on the figure in Promise; looks better to me now, but by tomorrow I might change my mind again.

The Two I Didn't Do Last Night

A blissful morning of painting without interruptions; I had intended to work on these last night but got lazy.