I'm going to break with my usual method and paint this in broad, flat strokes. The color is pretty intense right now, but so is the reference photo, so I'll have to figure out how to tone it down a little to avoid that straight-from-the-tube look and yet keep the awesome color.
I pulled this one out from the shadows, since everything else needs a little more drying time.
Yesterday I concentrated on a few more folks in the America series, and slavishly tried to get the lines straight on the window molding in Dance All Night.
I actually sanded off the previous paint on Tam's face; it just.wasn't. working. It's better now but it photographs horribly.
I wanted the stretchy smocked top she's wearing to be identifiable as something from the modern world, not the draped togas of mythology, so I worked on that today, along with some detail on the face and ear.
While watching TV last night I tried to get the orange jacket to look fully dimensional, then moved on to the pavement. The brush strokes aren't so assertive in real life, I guess the slanted lighting really makes them look bolder than they are.
So happy to have this one finished!
The image of the woman at left in the reference photo for this painting was very unattractive; I had caught her at an inopportune moment... so while we had a practiced photographer here over the holidays, I posed for the figure. Made a few rough changes late this afternoon:
We had a nice time over Christmas with family and friends, and now it's the lull time between Christmas and New Year's. I really just want to relax and chill out but the knowledge that Artomatic will be running again as well as a two-artist show at Calloway makes me think I need to get back to work ASAP.
Over the last week I've snuck in some work time here and there:
I love the sunny green-ness of that one. Next:
This looks better and better to me each time I finish a session; I know it's hard to see where the progress is, but it's coming along nicely.
And the Times Square painting:
Finally:
Jinya, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Stopped working on this one a little while ago, but quite pleased with the developing sense of atmosphere on the left side.
Still haven't gotten into the studio today and there is vacuuming that needs to take priority. But here's yesterday's work:
Much work on the face and hair. Not too shabby but still needs some adjustments, plus I want to bring more of the warm golden yellows into the background.
And late last night I straightened out some verticals that were wonky and changed some of the color on the brick areas.
Now off to find the vacuum.
Pushed this a little further—
And I am hard pressed to find time to get any painting done. But I worked on the clothes of the two figures this afternoon, and changed the sweater to a more greenish-blue color.
I do not like the edges of the glasses on the right.
It's scary to think this needs to be finished by February.
One of the things that holds up the process of completing a painting is the details. For example; the window molding on the painting below is a set of narrow, perfectly straight lines. So in order to fulfill the "perfectly straight" part, I have to tape off an area and then apply the paint with a small, pointed brush.
Then I have to wait, because I can't tape off the adjacent perfectly straight line while the paint from the first line is still wet. So an area might require four or five different painting sessions to finish, and with a 3-day wait time for the paint to dry between each of those sessions, you're talkin' about three weeks.
Nevertheless— I tackled the main window and a couple of other spots today—
She stood still while I took eight or so reference shots of the dining room. And I especially love her mirthful attitude, as though she knew she was going to be immortalized and was happy to be.
I've painted and repainted the tiny face so many times, just today alone. I'm tired of trying to get it right; the highlights and color on the cheeks, the eyes, the shadow under the nose... It's not bad, but I'll give it another couple of days and then make more adjustments. Eventually I'll get it right.
Last night I added some paint to three of the little 6x6s. The camera really picks up the texture of the brushstrokes, and it looks too thick. I am going to have to use thinner applications in the future.
Vroom (New York Short Stories), work in progress (click on image for larger view)
It was time to take the plunge and make some decisions about color here; in the past— the distant past, actually— I've stuck with a combination of Ultramarine Blue and Alizarin Crimson for the shirt. Today I tried something a little different, adding Thalo Blue into the mix; it softens the purple and gives it a little more dimension. I had to use a house paint brush to apply the paint evenly across large areas. It's not quite right yet but at least I've got a base color to work with.
(Note the reference photo attached at upper right.)
I had planned to do more work on this than just the leafy plants at the upper left, but working on foliage always scares me. So I stopped after a little while to assess what I'd done, and then decided to just leave it alone for a couple of days. It actually looks okay! I just didn't want to overdo it.
Just did some fine tuning here and there on this one this morning. It is coming along pretty well, though. I might be finished by New Year's!
Today I tried to make some progress on the right side shelving, where there are bottles and glasses that needed to be cleaned up. Next, I'm going to soften the features of the man on the left and finish his resting hand.
There was some running around this morning with errands to do and holiday preparations. Once I got home it was back to work!
One of the most tedious parts of working on these paintings is trying to get all of the elements in the right places. Over the years I've found that I have to do very careful measurements or I'll mess things up; grids work nicely, but sometimes I get confused about whether I'm 15 inches in from the left or is it 16?
Anyway, I lightened up the very dark left side of this piece today in Photoshop so I could see exactly where lines converge or walls begin and end, that sort of thing. It takes forever and leads to some blunt painting strokes. But eventually I get to where I want to be.
Taking shape:
