After extensive online reading, I decided to try mixing some sky colors differently and then apply them to three pieces I have that I've never felt looked natural. I started with this one, and while the colors are better, I think, the cloud structure is too undefined. So I'll try it again after it dries, and also get to those other two.
I am consumed lately with the idea of creating atmosphere, and tried hard to at least get it started today in the window frame on the left side. I had a lot of warm browns left over on the palette from "Baby Needs Shoes" this morning, so added that into the shapes inside the window. This is a fun painting to work on, but after splicing in my own hands, I can see that the figure needs to be redrawn so the balance doesn't look awkward.
I do love the colors.
I've been losing track of what day of the week it is. But it's Friday, and I'm going to try to ge a lot accomplished.
Baby Needs Shoes, © 2021, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Also— the folds of the skirt still bothered me, so I added more contrast. I hope this is the final:
I'm taking a looser approach here, wiping some paint on and off.
I may have mentioned that I've been looking very hard at the work of other artists in the hopes of learning something. The painting below has been bothering me for quite a while; it's not far from being finished, but I've just felt stuck. Now I think I need to do a major overhaul. The sky's too dark and unnatural; the clouds that are lit up by the setting sun shouldn't be white, they should be a warmer, creamier color. The dark grey cloud bank could be a more interesting grey; maybe a violet grey. I think the ground color is working pretty well, but the distant trees need attention and more detail. So here's the last view of this one before I make major changes...
It seems to be Thursday already. I've worked on three paintings today, and am considering whether to keep going on the tall one or migrate to something else. Coffee will be arriving in the studio before long.
I really want this piece to be finished, but not as much as I want it to be done right. The wood grain is taking forever, and it's tedious to work on.
Just have some cleanup to do on this, and make a few small adjustments.
I got back to this today, mostly left side work and Cargo Pants Guy.
For the better part of the last year I've been struggling with some slides I took many years ago of some very tall trees at a park in Annandale. It was fall at the time, and the leaves were a bright yellow. When my artist friend Sharon gave me two unusually long and narrow panels, I thought for sure I'd use one of them for the tree idea. (The other one became the "Chrysler Building, Dusk" painting, which has since sold.)
So, like I said, it's been a struggle because I just couldn't make the composition work. Then last night I was going trough a bunch of old photos and found one of a small waterfall. A waterfall! Surely that would work in that vertical space! But it didn't work when I cropped it down to size, so I started looking elsewhere. Then I found one of a pond in one of my favorite places, and it will fit beautifully. In a later post I'll mention the story about an artist whose work I will keep in mind as I paint this.
Above: the reference photo. Below, my start:
I worked all afternoon on trying to get a likeness; that continues to elude me but I'll keep refining things as I go along. Added some information about the hands, the sweater and scarf, and the background.
I just feel lazy lately. But I did work on this over the last few days.
I decided two things: the smile was not working. The woman needs to project more of an air of mystery, and should look more pensive, lost in her thoughts. Two; the hands were not communicating that kind of self-composure. So I posed for the hands part today but the angle was all wrong. Will try again later in the day. Meanwhile, I did a preliminary change on the facial expression.
Struggling with this colossus today; trying to staple the canvas to the stretchers tightly enough that there are no slack parts. 52"h x 32"w. Excited by the prospect of starting to paint.
Tail belongs to my cat friend.
At last. Though I think the mouth is a bit off. I worked hard on the eyes and the color variations in the fur look better now.
Sometimes design technology is a big help in creating fine art, and today I dug my old T-square out of its nook and used it to fix some wonky lines.
My little stylized tree doesn't need a lot more, but it feels like it needs something.
I've been painting several pieces that I can't sel for one reason or another; pieces for family members, repaints of paintings wish I hadn't sold years ago, copies of other artists' work in an effort to learn something. These are two of the latter category that I worked on this morning:
...at least, until sometime next week when I decide some dab f color is wrong, or something needs to be redrawn...
I am still irked by some of the finished paintings. I took the reference photo for this one into Photoshop this morning and heightened the contrast on the woman so I could see what the folds of her skirt really looked like. Then I did a lot of repainting, on the skirt, and on the legs, too; I really didn't think the blue cast on her skin was believable.
Once I heard a story about an artist who was asked when he knew a piece was finished. He replied, "When somebody buys it and I take it down off the wall." That's pretty much how I feel. I took a look around the studio at the recently finished paintings, and there's not a single one of them that I don't feel could use a little redrawing, or a slight color change, or a straighter line somewhere.
So, the one below has been bothering me. The right side of the tree just didn't look right, so I added some branches and leaves; I also painted some warmer leaves on the vines, hoping to amplify the sense of late afternoon sunlight:
I added some more color to the buildings in the background, in between shifts at the computer to work on the new commercial website. It's taking a lot of time and the app I'm using is not the most user-friendly one for me; still, it's moving forward.
Darkening the wood floor has resulted in some messy overpainting, but I'll clean it up next time.
Meanwhile, I put in some time on:
If I hadn't screwed this one up with the deep red wash I applied to the tabletop a while ago, I'd be finished now. I did a lot of refining work on the wood grain today but need to wait for the paint to dry and then finish up the upper-right hand corner. After that, it'll just be fixing a few details here and there.
After feeding the birds and the cat and taking care of a few other morning tasks I slipped back into bed and slept for two more hours, so am behind on the day's work. I received a message from an artist friend who lives west of here, and she is also feeding what she describes as "an army of birds." This makes me laugh.
So I sat down at the easel and have blocked in a few more areas of color on:
More work from today's session:
I found additional reference photos for this guy, and was able to compare multiple facial planes as well as variations in coloring. Now he looks much better to me.
Completed! After much dithering around on small areas, I can now call this one finished! As an experimental piece, it didn't go quite the way I envisioned it, but this is the end result.
I realized I had a little more time to work today, and the paint on the green palette was still viable, so here is this afternoon's effort:
Time to place another art supply order, as I'm running low on Cad Red Light. This painting should go quickly, and I'm enjoying working on it.
