This is a blog about painting: specifically, representational fine art, generally, using oil paint. I think a lot about what I'm doing, and those thoughts about subject matter, technique, influences, frustrations and delights all show up here. It's all about the journey.
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Happiness
Left the studio for a bit, and when I came back in and caught a glimpse of the painting on the easel, the sunflowers were so cheerful they made me smile, not an easy task in these days of gloom.
Bluemont Vineyard With Sunflowers, Virginia Vineyard Series, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Changing The Wall Color
Friday, August 21, 2020
Something New
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Foliage
Reworking And Renaming
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
One Step Closer
Here's the first of the day: it was time to start placing the details on the door:
Then I tightened up the detail on the spoon handle below and repainted the outer rim of the bowl. There's very little left to do; I think I need to pay some attention to the inner rim of the bowl, and clean up the bowl edges.
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Adding A Head
Blossoms
Monday, August 17, 2020
Carried Away With Blue
At the same time, I've been admiring the work of some landscape painters recently, and studying how they paint foreground weeds and grasses. The ones in my painting looked too light in tone to me, so I set about making them darker...but that eliminated a lot of the carefully drawn detail, so I'll have to go back and redo it. But it does give the piece a more unified look!
And I dabbed some of the sky color on the foliage. Not sure that's working, either.
Bluemont Vineyard With Sunflowers, Virginia Vineyard Series, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Softening The Shadows
Also changed the color of the shoes.
Sunday, August 16, 2020
Fretting Over Unresolved Areas
Working The Foreground
Saturday, August 15, 2020
Another Dessert To Finish The Week
I'm still trying to make up for lost time. Enjoyed cleaning up some areas and clarifying others on this one today, but I have not been careful about brush washing lately and as a result I'm having trouble finding one that holds a point.
Friday, August 14, 2020
Making Up For Lost Time
Added two more tonight to the day's work. This one has a blue cast, since I took the photo late in the day.
Bluemont Vineyard With Sunflowers, Virginia Vineyard Series, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
And this:
Interruptions
The refrigerator conked out again; it does this every so often, but lately it's happened every month. It causes huge problems, as I'm sure you can imagine. So most of the morning was wasted with trucking food around.
Here's what I did on the big painting: clearly the guy's head is too small right now, so I'll fix that next time. But I sketched in the bottles, and am experimenting with the color of the back wall.
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Another Repaint
This is one of the last of the Postcards series; I never liked the way it looked and am trying to bring it p to par. But I think I need to work on the atmospheric perspective; darker greens in the foreground, lighter in the distance.
Adding Some Structure to The Trees
I'll end up covering much of the sketchy branches I just put in, but at least there's more of a sense of the tree structure.
Clouds Too Dark?
Worked on the clouds and the car interior on the right; the clouds might be a bit heavy.
It Would Be Nice To Finish Something
I'm going to concentrate on this one for the next week or so. I brushed in the irregular ripples of the tabletop this morning. The edge of the spoon needs a little work, as does the plate; then it'll be done.
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Afternoon Delight
I Zoomed with one of my favorite artist friends this morning, then went back to sleep for two hours. This afternoon I forced myself to work on the painting below, even after it got tedious; I've got to apply myself and not be so self indulgent. Watched the remarks by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris while I worked. The "battle for the soul of the nation" is not hyperbole, and I'm wondering what role I can play to help with their election. No doubt there are stormy days ahead.
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
A Tuesday Dessert
Maybe I will get to work on one of these a day during this week. All this one needs to finish it is some work on the plate and the background, both should be easy to do.
More Attention To The Figure
I added a few touches of color to the woman in the painting. The bag on her right arm is going to feature butterflies, and I'm wondering if the red shoes are working or should be toned down.
Back To Bluemont
Is that sky too dark? It's pretty close to what I see in the photo, but maybe it's too strong a blue. I've been looking at the work of some landscape painters who have a nice atmospheric touch, am trying to figure out how to do that successfully.
Monday, August 10, 2020
Dessert
Yesterday I thought I would just concentrate on the Dessert series this week, but aside from the one below, which I worked on this morning, I no longer find that thought appetizing, haha.
Sharpened up the detail in the upper left dessert.
Saturday, August 8, 2020
Blocking In Some Color
At this early stage, I'm just trying to get a sense of what colors go where. It's a big canvas to cover. And this was the only thing I felt like working on today.
Night Work 2
Also: I'm trying to figure out what color the side of the building on the right should be. Tried something greyish last night. I might brush some dabs of color over it after it dries.
Some Night Work
The Postcard #14 painting has been bothering me. I'd put it aside in a low-traffic area, and every time I looked at it, I became more certain that I needed to amplify the contrast on the grassy areas. So last night I did, and now I'm happy with it (I think).
Here's the reworked version:
Friday, August 7, 2020
Working Those Faces
I'm trying to consolidate all of the information I've gotten from the two classes I took in the last 9 months and apply it to this painting. So far, the success has been limited, but I'll keep working it.
Sent in an application for a virtual show this morning.
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
The Desert Painting
An Oldie, Resurrected: #2
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
An Oldie, Resurrected: #1
Monday, August 3, 2020
The Frustration Of Working Wet-In-Wet
The wet sky color, which is mainly Thalo Blue and Indigo, smooshes into the white and yellow of the cloud highlights, and that Thalo is a pretty intense color anyway. So I can't get the form or the precision that I want, because the edges are all discolored. I've put it aside to dry, and will go back to it later, but it sure feels like a disappointment right now.
Sunday, August 2, 2020
After Mulready
Trying Some New Stuff
What Is The Color Of Shadow On Whipped Cream?
There's a peachy orange light source somewhere to the upper left of the little still life, and there's also some blue light bouncing around from somewhere. Whipped cream is intrinsically slightly yellowish; think of the butterfat content. But when we try to darken yellow paint with black, it turns greenish! So I struggle with mixing in some Portland Gray or one of the umbers.