It occurred to me that this one needs to be ready for a show by February 1st ; I'd put it aside for a while because the background really bothered me. Setting it up in a space where it could be mulled over for a few days was very helpful. I'm still not sure how to paint the twigs and tertiary branches so that they look real, but the blank space on the right started calling out for more flowers, so I sketched some in this afternoon.
The sky color needs to be the same from left to right, too.
Really, the only paintings I want to work on today are still wet from their last session. I've already made a mess of the dancers this morning, so I'm frustrated. But I did make some incremental progress on the three below.
The right side of the painting was fairly dry, so I took the opportunity to fill in some of the blanks. I wish I could paint from life and not photographs, but a scene like this would be impossible.
I added a new layer of the brick color, which actually changes slightly from one panel to another. In the brighter areas, it's kind of an orangey color, in the darker ones it goes kind of blue-green. Eventually I'm going to have to do a glaze to unify everything. And I might take the air conditioning units out to focus on Joan herself.
This morning I pencilled in some vertical lines using a T-square. I'm going to have to adjust next session.
Starbucks (Homage to Hopper), work in progress (click on image for larger view)
This one is giving me so much trouble that I begin to wonder if it's going into the Failed Painting File. But I'll stick with it a little while longer.
Made some necessary changes here; most of the canvas is now covered. Time to let the paint dry!
Promised myself that I'd put in some time on three pieces today. Here are the first two:
The contrast between light and dark is what's going to make this painting (above). I need to make sure they're balanced.
I Dreamed That I Could Fly, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Everybody I show this one to, smiles. It's nearly done. I have to straighten a few lines, is all.
I simplified the brick wall in the background; the bricks on the upper part of the wall were drawn too wide to match the lower ones. Added the light fixtures.
Decided (today) that the lead doggo needs to be darker.
I should probably work on the little 6" x 6" pieces tonight, but at least I did some solid painting on two more this afternoon. I feel good about both of them.
Dance All Night, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
I'm looking forward to a week with no distractions, and I had better make tracks because the end of December will be busy and I've got 4-5 shows/opportunities to prepare for very early in the new year.
So: Today's work:
I made a mess of things by not carefully measuring the angle of the shadows from the lamplights at the beginning; now they're on different angles and it's going to be a pain in the neck to fix.
Night For Day, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Glad for the fact that this one doesn't have to be perfectly drawn, and I'm even going to let some of the colors bleed into adjacent areas.
Currently preparing for the holiday, but I managed to squeeze in a little time on this to propel it forward.
We finally got some rain, and the whole day has been a grey wash. I've started a new piece and made some progress on a couple of others.
Bowery Graffiti Wall (Revok + Pose), work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Over the weekend, I managed to get a little bit of work done, and then yesterday put in several hours on two or three more paintings.
Another one of Le Diplomate:
On to something I've neglected for far too long:
Jinya, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
It's been a week of hard work, and thanks to the loss of Daylight Saving Time, the light is fading. I might take tomorrow off, unless one of the non-priority paintings beckons. Meanwhile, I think I made some good decisions on this one this afternoon, all in small places like bottle labels and sweaters and facial planes. It's astonishing how much work there is left to do, all of it in detail places.
This is really coming together.
Last night's New York City work:
Today: covering some more white space. Overall, the entire foreground is going to go darker, but right now I'm just establishing shapes.
Jinya, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
In an effort to catch up on the lost time this morning/afternoon, I painted until 5:20. Made a lot of small changes here and there.
The Green Room, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
It's so annoying when you misplace something and spend an hour + looking for it and still can't find it. It weighs on your mind when you try to concentrate on work, instead. I was able to make good progress on this painting today but it's already nearly 3 and I've done nothing else.
Last night's work:
Today I'm trying to fill in some of the blank, irritatingly white areas on the left. Next time I'll try for the right side. The whole interior needs to go darker in order to put the focus on the figure in the center. Right now it's too busy.
Jinya, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
I think I need to do more paintings with daytime lighting. This one is so cheerful and bright, and I've been experimenting with mixing the color on the panel with looser strokes.
The Green Room, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Difficult to see the detail on the male facial features here, but he's finished. And of course the photo makes it look coarser than it is in real life. Next I need to work on the floor tiles; the grout lines are far too wide.
Concentrated on the pinkish areas today, using different proportional mixtures of Quinacridone Magenta and Radiant White.
Again, I am stuck with the problem of trying to get a decent photo of the work, and it ends up looking scratchy and raw in places that really don't look like that. But here's this morning's work.
I Dreamed That I Could Fly, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
I'm hoping I can finish these in a photorealistic style. Since they're only 6" square, they won't test my patience as much as the larger paintings.
