It's Sunday, but I did work on a few pieces.
Pushed this one a little further:
I've been very much bothered by the slumped teenager in the crook of the wall, and finally decided to change him. I'm moving the figure to a more interesting spot, and his pose now reflects the one of the girl.
And finally, I did some work on Tam:
Tamara, America Series, work in progress, (click on image for larger view)
There's too much paint on these for me to take them any further, but at least they're a step up.
I'm working hard on trying to get a likeness here; some success today with the structural underpainting but I still need to redraw the mouth and amp up the contrast.
After today's marathon session, I wanted to work on something that didn't require too much meticulous painting. Most of what I did involved the paintings on the wall and thir frames and shadows.
I had to take numerous small breaks while trying to get the building's panels to match in color and tone. I shouldn't work on large canvases, my fastidious technique isn't suited to finishing a piece in less than a year. But I like the drama of the big pieces.
For some artists, it's easy to paint a portrait. Not for me; I struggle with it, and especially on the smaller pieces. For instance, the face on Misti is less than an inch long on its 8" panel. And likewise, with the model in Ivy Alcove; if you're off by a single millimeter, the nose can look enormous. So take thes two, please, with a grain of salt; sometimees I have to paint a face a dozen times before I get it right.
Meanwhile, working on the blue dress is awesome.
I can't wait to see what this looks like when I get the first layer of paint on it. Then I'll be able to make color and value changes, and straighten out a few raw edges.
Mondays are always sluggish, but I've forced myself to sit down and paint today.
Right now, I'm applying the first layer of paint. What most people don't realize is that I have to go over every inch of it once that's done to even out the colors, sharpen up the lines, and make sure the paint doesn't look patchy.
Here is Persephone, having emerged from the Underworld, reacquainting herself with the green world of the living. She is beautiful, which is what got her into trouble in the first place, but should I paint her so she looks a little weary? Should she be smiling slightly; should her eyes be wider in amazement; should she have a healthy flush of color on her cheeks, or look wan and pale after so long underground?
I'm trying to replicate the moody atmosphere I perceived in this scene originally, and that means paying careful attention to subtle changes in color and tone.
The light from the interior washes out onto the pavement, and the yellow-orange glow becomes more subdued further away. I'm trying to capture the soft blue-grey that I see on the parking lot, but yellow has a tendency to go green when mixed with black, and certainly when mixed with blue. I don't want a green hardscape. I'll try a glaze of blue over the dry layer next and see if that works.
I thought I'd just paint the lower left corner of the wall; the white space was bothering me.
Having been completely captured by a book that I can't seem to put down for longer than a half hour, I've had trouble getting very far into any of the paintings today. But I did want to clear up the details on the face. I want her to look excited, engaged as she talks... But that's all in the way the mouth is drawn, and it's too wet now for me to work on. I do like the reflected warmth on the side of the head, though.
All this needs is the sprinkling of chocolate dust over five or six areas on the plate rim. I'll use the toothbrush-and-screen trick for that. I am so tired of working on these dessert pieces; it will be wonderful to have the series done.
I've been fretting about the in-your-face-purple wall. What to do to tone it down? Finally, it occurred to me: the complementary color of violet is yellow, but in the world of oil painting, that encompasses ochres and siennas as well as the more obvious yellows. And one of my favorite colors, but one that I rarely use because it is so transparent, is Raw Sienna. The ochres are a bit too opaque for what I needed here, so I went with a glaze wash of Raw Sienna and then used an ordinary house painter's brush to smooth it out.
I'm down to smaller places on this one, so I'm skipping around. It's a good time to set it aside and see what works and what doesn't.
I guess what I like most about this one is the color, which is surprising in some areas... there are gradients that appear in unexpected places, and mixing the correct color is a challenge.
This is what I did last night:
I tried mixing some very unexpected combinations today in an attempt to break with my usual choices. The results are visible on the figure.
I do think I've got to tone down that violet wall.
Filling in the upper part of the wall, the sidewalk and the street is painless (in more ways than one). I'm using just four colors: White (Gamblin's Radiant White), French Ultramarine, Unbleached Titanium, and Raw Umber. And stroking it on with a big brush. Of course, now it'll have to dry for a few days... too bad, because it's such fun to work on.
I'm somewhat sidelined today due to a pulled major muscle in my right arm, up where it meets the shoulder joint. The only thing I can think of is that I probably strained it yesterday, picking up 3:51 and moving it from the hall into the studio and up onto the easel. The upshot of all this is that I can't raise my right arm, despite having taken a painkiller and applying an analgesic patch. So I'm having to find small projects to work on, like the flat painted areas of the one below.
The sidewalk— in the reference photo— is incredibly beat up, stained, patched, and spotted. So I've been trying to figure out how to make it look more unified rather than the nightmare of different textures it shows. I tried softening some edges where there are obvious breaks in color or value, but what seems to have worked the best is going over everything with a large bristle brush.
This is taking forever. It's the last of the series and I just want it to be done, but it has to be done correctly.
I do think this one will be finished before long. Worked on the standing statue, the lights, and the prominent seated figure. Added a little detail to the booth seats, too.
This is incredibly fun to work on. It has its challenges, to be sure, but mostly it's FUN.
Though the people are giving me trouble, at least I got the guy's shirt right today.
Reworked the lower left corner, where there are dark shadows from the chairs, the front of the bar, and the lower part of the seated patron.
I thought it would be a good idea to get a little further into this series and try to keep going.
I've been cleaning up the studio, and pulled this one out of the stack under the watercolor table. It hasn't seen a brush since before the pandemic, I think. But as I finish up one series, I should move on to another.
I usually try to work a respectable amount of time on three paintings a day. This one has been waiting for a long time, and once it's done, that will wrap up the dessert series.
It happens every year; we get a day like this one where the temperature is just fine, the sun sparkles in the sky, the late daffodils are in ecstatic bloom, and the mosquitoes are still sleeping. And I don't want to do anything but be in the yard.
However. I did carve out enough time to re-work the exterior view (what will I do to find a model for the car that is parked across the street?) and the tabletop on this one:
And I used much of what was on the palette to add to the wall and floor here:
It's Saturday, right? So I can take a "restorative nap." But here's what I did today on this one:
This one has been hiding behind a stack of other paintings; I haven't had time to work on it anyway.
Remodeled the profile, but the nose is still too large. Quitting for this session before I screw it up any further.
Further tightening up the detail on the glasses; not an easy task due to the pebbly surface of the panel. I am afraid I'm going to have to paint this all over again on a piece of Gessobord.
Late day painting. I'm redefining a few areas.
I still have to paint in two distant rows of vines, but otherwise, this is pretty nearly done.
