We've entered into a rainy cycle, which is helpful in a couple of ways: I can't spend much time in the garden because everything's wet, and the flower seeds I broadcast out in the large open area might actually take hold. And of course I have a little more time for painting, though the spring cleaning continues to demand attention.
Added some more people crossing the street.
I finally realized there was no way I was going to work on this in the basement, which has gotten darker than ever now that the bushes outside the small window have grown in. And this is one of the few paintings I'm actually excited about working on. So I brought it upstairs, and though it barely fits on the easel, it's a lot easier to work on it now.
There's an astonishing amount of work to do here lately. Now that friends and family have all been vaccinated, we're expecting visitors, and when I look around at the state of the house it's shocking. I did manage to sandwich this very old, very small piece in between scraping a roasting pan and scrubbing the kitchen floor.
Well, the face of the woman listening to the waiter turned out well. It doesn't have the faintly cartoonish look it had previously; I really worked on the transitions between the planes. The woman with her hand on her hair, however, was just a disaster. I used a reference photo that was way too warm, and her skin looked really odd. So I had to wipe out twenty minutes of work. Will use more natural tones next session.
It's never easy to do a portrait, no matter how well you know the person you're painting. Anyway; I made another go at it today, and I am pleased to see that the person looks more human. But still not a true likeness.
While I've got the paint palette set up for skin tones, I think I'll work on a couple of other pieces with faces.
Progress, slow as it is, is being made. This is now done:
Hot Fudge Sundae II, © 2021 (click on image for larger view)
And I worked on its companion piece today as well:
Hot Fudge Sundae I, © 2021, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
And because the palettes were similar, I added a few details to:
Specials Of The Day, © 2021, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Finished. Until I look more closely at it over the next few days.
I haven't been able to get into the studio much lately, but I did make progress on a couple of things.
First, I waited for the disastrous bluish paint to dry, and then went over it with a very pale mix of blue-grey and white. It needs more, of course, but it's a start.
Variations On A Theme 2a, © 2021, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Then I actually finished this one, after bringing a strand of ivy into the house to use as reference:
So, there's hope that I'll complete the entire series, maybe by the end of the calendar year.
Moving along, I made changes to some of the areas that have been bothering me:
And finally, worked on the bar rail and floor, here:
I thought I'd try making the door a light blue instead of the usual white, but it's not working. Will change it back next session.
I think I've learned as much as I can from making this copy. It's difficult to paint the distant foliage without actually being at the scene. I might try to do one more glaze of soft blue at the base of the mountains, but that's all; I'll try to apply what I learned about color and contrast to some of my own scenes.
Worked on the faces and some of the fruit in the background; haven't painted this in months and months, but I want to move the street corner series forward.
