Moving Along

 Here is the latest work on Standing Room. 

                                                  Standing Room, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 

Working Title

 Until I can come up with a more meaningful title, I'm going with The Red Room. Uninspired, I know. Today I attempted to understand how the floor works; it'll take some time before I figure out how to create order from chaos.

                                                  The Red Room, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

A Rather Dark Base Layer

I got carried away with the red on the walls. In the past, most of my paintings have skewed towards blue as the main color but at some point in time it all changed and now there is a marked preference for red walls, flowers, store windows, store fronts, shirts, etc. I will have to tone this down with the next layer, but it will provide some richness and depth.

                                                  Untitled, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 

The Visit

 Added a little more color:

                                                  The Visit, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The Day Was Not Wasted After All

 Last one for the day:

                                                  Untitled, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Not So Bad

 I gritted my teeth all through today's work session on this one; it's given me nothing but trouble and yet it should have been finished long ago. The curtains are fine; I just don't like the contrast between them and the table surface, which has an oversized wood grain on the right side of the vase. And the blossoms have presented more problems than anything else.

But today I discovered that my expressionist approach to the flowers is what's been holding me back: as much as I admire artists whose expertise with a palette knife is breathtaking, expressionism is not my friend. When I finally started paying close attention to the color variations in the petals, the painting began to work!

                                                 Rose Bouquet, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 

Tonight I will pencil in the shapes on another small museum painting.

Friedland

 It was time to work on the painting-within-the-painting; Meissonier's "1807, Friedland." It shows Napoleon waving to his troops from his secure position on a hill while the army races to its battle. I hate the painting. I think of the terrified horses, who have no wish to be there. I think of the men slaughtered. I think of the wars my country has been involved in since shortly after I was born and my friends from high school who died in one of them.

                                         A Quiet Moment At The Met, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Three Museum Paintings

 It's New Year's Day, and after a nice casserole breakfast and a mimosa, I went into the studio and worked like an ox. There was real progress today!

                                         Standing Room, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 

 The back wall now has a full layer of paint in place. Next time I'll darken the corners and add some yellow spotlights around the painting frames.

 

                                         A Quiet Moment At The Met, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Sorry about the glare around the face. It will disappear when the paint dries.

                                         Untitled Museum Piece, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Splashed a lot of paint around. It felt good, but next time I shall be more disciplined.