Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Clouds

Worked for a while on the clouds today; started with some warm neutrals that did not look right, so I had to cool them off with some Payne's Gray. Still much painting and repainting to do.

I think there should be some sunlit spots on the ground in the far distance, where the light breaks through the clouds. That'll be fun to work on later today; right now I have the urge to go throw some mulch around in the back yard.

Clouds Over The Sudbury River, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Banding

There are bands of color; value, actually; on the cylinder. This is because of reflected light on the glass. I'm trying to paint them in preparation for the next step, which will be glazing. That'll make the cylinder look truly 3-dimensional.

In Case Of Emergency, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Monday, March 30, 2020

Last Night And This Morning

I had a burst of energy last night and concentrated on the two picture frames on the back walls, then this morning added the start of a print design on the woman patron's dress on the right side. Also changed the contour of the waiter's pants.

Specials Of The Day, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Faces

I'm taking a photo of this before I screw it up:

The Chair, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
Here's a close up view of the face that I FINALLY got to work:
 
The Chair,  detail, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
I've been advised by my husband to JUST LEAVE IT ALONE. Seems like good advice. 

Moving on, since I had a flesh-toned palette at the ready, I decided to warm up the ghostly white face of the woman looking at the waiter:

Specials Of The Day, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 

 

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Back to Tuesday

Another painting I've been avoiding for a while, due to the tedious tiny brushstrokes required to make that tower made of wine bottles look real. I tightened up a bunch of areas today; am working my way down from the top left part of the tower. Still very unhappy with the face of the woman.

  Tuesday, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

It Seems Unfair

People who lived through World War II faced a lot of hardships and grief and they made a lot of sacrifices. What we're asked to do here in the States is to stay home. Not much of a sacrifice for me, I'm afraid; staying home and working is what I do on a normal day. I'm not bothered by not being able to go to the mall or the movie theaters and can get my art supplies delivered these days. So I feel somewhat guilty. The best I can do is work hard, pay attention to what's going on and be a good citizen. So this morning I'm trying to keep at my craft while I wait for Governor Cuomo's press briefing.

I wonder what it's like for people and especially artists elsewhere.

Mocha Treat, Guilty Pleasures Series, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Friday, March 27, 2020

Last One For The Night

I had a chance to go back to the jacket after dinner. Also added some detail to the right side.


Specials Of The Day, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Slow And Steady

How did Vermeer do it? How did he get such realistic-looking folds on the garments his models wore in his paintings? Did he soften the line breaks, those transitional areas where the plane changes? I should go back with a soft, clean dry brush and see if that works before the paint dries. Anyway; all work was on half of the waiter's jacket today, and it was incremental, millimeter by millimeter of observing the changes in value and color. I hope it "reads" correctly.

Specials Of The Day, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Fleurs!

It's a nice break when you get to work on something with joyous color. Last one for today.

Blue Vase With Irises, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Blowing The Dust Off This One

I don't even remember when I worked on this last; it got to that tedious, seven-eighths-finished spot where I just didn't want to do the hard work anymore. But I've been promising myself to get back to it for the last week, and today was the day. Tightened up a lot of the lines on the actual gadget.

In Case Of Emergency, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Cleaning Up That Right Side

I continue to take out the side wall of the cafe that was so distracting on the right side. I'm adding a car on the street and another shop in the wall of windows. Also added a little more detail to the trees on the hill— if it ends up looking like too much detail, I'll drybrush over that whole area to soften it.

For Rent, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

How Much Detail Is Too Much?

I got wrapped up in the distant hills on this one this afternoon, and mixed a lot of greens and blues to bring out the detail in the trees. They had been looking too soft and formless to me. Going to see how this looks in the morning.

For Rent, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

A Somewhat Better Sky

The idea for this painting came from a beautiful semi-abstract I saw in Vermont. This looks nothing like it; that painting was masterful, confident, and had an inventive use of color. I'll try making a few changes in a couple of days, but at least it's not the unreadable mess it was last time.

Clouds Over The Sudbury River, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Trying To Look More Closely

Of course it would be great to be able to paint from live models, but I haven't had much luck with that over the years for various reasons. Anyway, it's the charm of images like this one, caught on the fly, so to speak, that really appeal to me. The color in the reference photo can be elusive; for example, the forehead of the third girl from left, in the original reference, has a violet cast that I can't seem to reproduce correctly with paint.

I spent a  lot of time on her, since she's key to the image as a whole, and tried to be faithful to what I saw in the photo rather than interpreting it according to my own biases about what should be there. Maybe some progress?

The Chair, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Up And At It Early

The weather forecast says it's going to rain until 7 p.m., so yard work is going to be limited today. I was eager to get to the two patrons on the right side of the panel anyway, so I went at it even before finishing a cup of coffee. Now preparing to give the skin tones of The Chair another try.

Specials Of The Day, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Back To The Tighter Brushwork

It's been fun working on the loose stuff, but it's time for me to get back to the more serious paintings, and my familiar style. This afternoon, in between planting basil and larkspur seeds, I attended to the ceiling on the painting below, which is an odd combination of pink and greyish-blue.

Specials Of The Day, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Also, I sanded down the raised texture on the waiter's jacket. Sometime last week I got the idea that I wanted it to look like it was part of a painting by Vermeer, who really knew his way around painting fabric...and the texture was just going to get in the way.


I Still Don't Have A Handle On This

This experimental piece has given me a new respect for folks who can work in the Impressionist style. I've always thought it was easy, but it's not— same as abstract painting. You've got to think ahead and know what you're doing. I'm going to keep at it, though.

The county I live in currently has 40 or so cases of Covid-19. We are hunkered down like everyone else, and trying to do our part to be responsible and not make things worse for someone else down the road. I am lucky in that I've got my creative pursuits to keep me mentally healthy, but I fear for us all, as there seems to be a lack of leadership at the top.

Light And Shadow, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Monday, March 23, 2020

More Tiny Skies

I tried really hard to match the natural color in the photo to what I was mixing on the palette. Maybe an improvement?

Tiny Sunset, Old Town Leesburg , © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The Everchanging Sky

The clouds in the previous iteration of this painting were just too bland, too tame; didn't want to pass up the opportunity to do something with more pizazz (and a better composition as well).

After Eaton, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Yet Another New Name For This One

A couple of weeks ago, suspecting things might depart from normal in a lot of ways, I transferred the images I use as painting reference to Dropbox, and when my computer told me it was giving up the ghost I went to open the foreground image for this painting on my iPad. Alas— it was one of a few that I hadn't transferred.

Since then, my dead computer (now renamed Lazarus) sprang back into total usability mode when I plugged it in one last time yesterday before consigning it to the trash heap. Like nothing had ever gone wrong! Like the final message it had given me that the disk "cannot be repaired" before the screen went black was just an illusion! Like the many fixes I found online for resetting PRAM and SMC and Safe Boot mode and Disk Utility which did nothing were just a dream.

Anyway, it's acting completely normal now, and I've been able to not only find the foreground file but also ID its origin, which is on Rt 2 in Concord, Mass, just as one drives over the Sudbury River.

So here is:

Clouds Over The Sudbury River, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

I should mention that there are no mountains in the actual vicinity of the reference photo.

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Zydeco Music Makes Me Crazy

I love my husband SO MUCH, but when he plays zydeco music I feel like I'm getting homicidal. So when he played it this afternoon, it chased me into the studio where I worked— yet again— on this one. All of the painting was done on the boy's head and neck, and it looks okay. Maybe that's what I should do from now on, paint people from behind instead of wrecking their faces.

The Chair, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 

Friday, March 20, 2020

Consumed With Yard Work

Right now there’s an enormous amount of work to do in the yard, and it needs to be done before the bugs come out. I don’t feel particularly like painting anyway, but I did put a few minutes’ time in on this oldie, which still baffles me. Will I ever get skin tones right, or should I just give up?

The Chair, work in progress

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Moving The Clouds Around

I need to get a better handle on cloud structure. This is a mess right now. And the photo reference is on the dead computer. Apparently I forgot to transfer it over to Dropbox.

 Clouds Over The Valley, work in progress

Also: Changing the title. I decided that though flowering trees would look pretty, the overall effect would be too busy.

Dead Computer

Of course my computer decided to die during a time of crisis. I’ve got a new one on order and am typing this on my iPad; hopefully I’ll figure out a way to upload the photos of the new work.

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Redrawing The Plate

If you scroll down to the March 7th entry, you can see how distorted the plate looks on the Pot de Crème painting. Sometimes I don't notice things like that right away, but once I do see them I like to take care of them. So this morning I set about fixing that lower-right edge on the plate, as well as working on the tablecloth. I was doing a decent job until the president came on TV. Taking a break until I can focus again.

 Pot de Crème, Guilty Pleasures Series, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Monday, March 16, 2020

More Slapdash Color

I'm still trying to feel my way around the tonalist and impressionist pieces. I feel like a duck out of water, though. Here are the experimental works from this afternoon:

After Eaton, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
 
Light And Shadow, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
Leesburg Sunset, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 

Watery Progress

I dithered around on the boy's back this morning but ultimately wiped off what I'd painted. However, the work on the water went very well. The right side is beginning to fill in the way it should. It's tedious, though!

Coming Of Age In The Year 2018, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Thursday, March 12, 2020

Color Therapy

Wanted to work with beautiful color today as a way to soothe my anxiety.

Light And Shadow, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
Blue Vase with Irises, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Of Spoons And Faces

Concentrated on the face of the bartender today, since it retained an ashen quality from the last time I sanded it down. Tried to get a sense of light coming in from the left side.

Tuesday, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
And paid a lot of attention to the spoon details, below:
 
Mocha Treat, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 

Changing The Stance

The stance of the waiter has always struck me as awkward; in art school we were instructed to pay attention to such things. Does it look like the feet are in a position to be able to support the weight of the body? Are they squarely placed under the center of gravity? Anyway, I redrew the pants contours and also darkened the shadows on the carpet. It's looking better.

Specials Of The Day, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

More Cream Pie

I got back to this early today, because the rim of the plate really bothered me. Added some paint to the marbled tabletop as well. Of course there's much more to do, but it's coming along well.

Banana Cream Pie, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

A Slightly Wonky Ellipse

After I post this image, I'm going to go back in with some Gamsol and wipe out the upper left part of the deep green outer ring on the dish. But the rings do make a difference in the way the painting looks.

Banana Cream Pie, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Not Feeling Motivated

The coronavirus news is ubiquitous, and very unnerving. Fear, it turns out, is not conducive to creativity. All I've been able to work on today is a repaint of a tiny, 4" square sunset, using a palette knife as an experiment.

Sunset, Leesburg, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Monday, March 9, 2020

I Would Like To Have One Of These Right Now

But I am watching my weight. Worked mostly on the lower half of this today, also the cone, which never seems to look real.

Hot Fudge Sundae II, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Saturday, March 7, 2020

A Productive Day

While yard work is starting to claim some of my time again, I managed to work on several paintings today.

Tuesday, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
It finally feels like the light and glass tower is pulling together.
 
Next, some progress on the restaurant painting, though I have to question whether the blue ceilings are working:
 
Specials Of The Day, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
Moving on, one of the dessert series:
 
 Pot de Crème, Guilty Pleasures Series, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
And I changed a lot on this one, but am still unhappy with the composition:
 

After Eaton, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
 
 

A Quandary

What to do now? The sky looks pretty good to me, maybe I should simplify a few spots but it's mostly working. I had to knock back some brownish-greenish areas by over painting them with some French Ultramarine and white—  French Ultramarine always seems to look violet to me when mixed with white— and now the cloud color looks much more balanced. But I had planned to paint some large, waving-in-the-wind birch trees in the foreground... and I'm not sure that wouldn't be a mistake.

As yet unnamed, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Friday, March 6, 2020

Caribbean Blue

Every time I look at the reference photo, I'm reminded that the light blue in the actual pool water is much brighter than what I've painted on the panel.  So since I was already correcting for the water ripples today, I decided to add some Emerald Green to the usual mixes of Manganese Blue and Blue Azul with white. It has livened up the color—surprising, considering how brilliant Manganese is, usually.

 
Coming Of Age In The Year 2018, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Building And Deconstructing

Discovered that the Light And Shadow painting was dry this morning, and felt instantly energized. It's a fun painting to work on, and it allows me to experiment with layers of color dabs.I'm envisioning many more tiny strokes of color, particularly pale blue.

Light And Shadow, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
Used the alcohol technique I described yesterday to great success on the painting below; I'm letting it dry now and plan to get back to it this afternoon.

Coming Of Age In The Year 2018, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)


Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Some Risky Erasing With Alcohol

No, I'm not talking about going on a bender with booze in an effort to erase one's sorrows; I'm passing along a hint I received from that visiting art collector a couple of weeks ago. He claimed that alcohol (of the rubbing kind) can be used to remove oil paint from a surface. I knew it could work with acrylic, but that's the first time I heard of using an alcohol solution for oil paint.

Well, I've been annoyed at the fact that I had taken a short cut on the water ripples on the right side of this painting several months back, so I decided to do a test trial on a small spot in the lower right hand corner, using a cotton swab. It worked! So now I'm going to redraw the lines and make the swirls larger, rather than just faking it with so many parallel lateral lines, as you can see in the previous iteration if you scroll down in this blog. Of course it will set my timetable back, but I'll be a happier painter.

Coming Of Age In The Year 2018, © 2020, detail, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 
Meanwhile: some work on Two Spoons this morning: 

Two Spoons, Guilty Pleasures Series, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)


Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Refining The Jacket

I'm trying to determine what the color components are that will create the exact right color for the waiter's jacket. The shadowy folds get tricky in that regard. Also enjoying creating the subtle gradation of light on the back wall painting.

Specials Of The Day, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)