This one had me scared for a while; I needed to add some color and depth to the dark parts of the pond, and was afraid I'd screw it up. I know the photo doesn't show the subtleties of the color changes, but there's some transparent red in one spot, and some bluish greens in others. The places that reflect the sky were easier to paint, but I might need to amp up the pinkish tinge in the clouds.
There's so much going on in the sky that it's hard to try to keep my focus on what color/value/shape I should be painting. Hopefully it will all come together in the next few sessions. Right now it still looks chaotic to me.
The closer I get to finishing a piece, the more I find little places that need work. Case in point: the Banana Cream Pie painting, which needed me to go over the plate with more graduated color, and some of the background. And it's drying now, but it still needs highlights.
And I did glaze over the wooden tabletop with Alizarin, and it did look very rich and deep, but when it dried a bit I realized it was too dark. So I've wiped away some of the glaze.
Two Spoons, Guilty Pleasures Series, © 2020, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Today I'm working on a large personal piece, so I won't get to post until tomorrow at the earliest.
Moving along slowly on the clouds; added some midtone greens to the vines.
Some of the areas on the lower right side just need to be cleaned up, so I've started working on them.
I put some more highlights on the face, as it was hard to separate from the background, but I might have gone too far. There are several places (mostly on the window panes) that need work on the edges, and I think I should pull out some highlights on the hair strands. The hair, right now, is just a big dark blob. Some auburn highlights would be nice, and would work well with the pale peach of the sky.
Meanwhile: since I had the green/ochre palette ready, I made a few changes to the foreground.
I love these initial sessions where I get to just slap the paint on the underlayers. There are so many different greens in this one, it'll be fun to pull it all together.
I find that the landscapes are more relaxing to work on these days. Added a lot of color to this, mostly ochres and shades of green. The water will eventually have a lot more color, too; the river is shallow in the foreground and there are some rich reds and violets in it.
Mostly painted the clouds; added some greens to the vines and grass but not sure the color's not too bright. It's starting to take shape, though.
Finished the wood grain this morning (I think); it'll probably look better once the finishing coat of varnish is applied. In the meantime, I need to work on the plate and its contents.
Well, I shouldn't really say "lazy," as I've spent the bulk of the day on technical issues; moving files between computers, removing files to create space as my old computer's hard drive is completely full and it's acting cranky... no matter what I do though there seem to be mysterious files somewhere that keep clogging it up. But I did get some work done on the marble tabletop in the painting below:
Might be done at the end of the week.
I'd love to be out in the country right now. But I can work on the vineyard series in the meantime, and it's very soothing.
This piece is drying now— I brightened up the face after realizing it should stand out more from the background, and it is, after all, the focal point of the painting. Also worked on the window frames. I think there's only about three more sessions worth of work, mostly on the windows and the sheer curtains.
Yessir, painting these stupid rings is no fun, no fun at all. God help me if I ever photograph another dessert that's so beautiful I have to paint it, rings and all.
Thankfully, these are close to being done. A few more sessions and they'll be finished. As I look around the studio, I realize it's possible I might finish 9 more pieces before the end of the year.
Moving on, I painted many many lines on this one earlier today; in the photo the wood has a sort of cherry color, so I've got to remember to float a glaze of Alizarin over it at some point.
And the highlight is done on this one:
I'm trying to concentrate on a few of the series that are pretty far along. I think the vineyard series still needs a few more paintings, but what with the pandemic and all, I can't get out to any wineries to take photos, so I'll apply myself to this one and the 868 Estate painting.
This image is from a trip last autumn. Overall, it needs to be a bit warmer, but this is the initial paint application.
Working from left to right on the sky; added some more color to what's below the horizon line.
With the change of every season comes a list of new tasks that's as long as my arm. I've been getting a lot done, and even answered 7 or 8 outstanding email messages this morning. All of it cuts into painting time, but I've worked on at least 3 pieces a day for the last week; however, something had to give, and in this case it's been blogging. So I'm just going to post a quick catch-up and post some of the paintings below.
