More work on my little drawing

It's been a week or so since I've had good time to plug away on my art. And I think the break prompted me to look at this piece in a new way. I added four birds today by tracing an outline over a piece of carbon paper. I love the dark graphite like line this produces.

I returned to this smaller piece that I began a few weeks ago. Happily most of the stand oil pours have dried and I was able to introduce more and develop the visual complexity of the layers. I wonder if these smaller pieces will continue in conjunction with my larger panels. In comparison they are almost secret little portraits - icons perhaps?...

12? x 24"

I began this piece a few weeks ago with the intention of exploring color in my drawings. But then I put it down for quite a while as I began lacrimosa. Today I returned to it introducing some darker colors and expanding the palette. I've also started stitching the paper to create horizontal movement in the composition.

I have been able to work often this week, and I am making headway with this painting. Yesterday I introduced some strong horizontal lines and I think I've hit upon a cohesion that was lacking in my last few oblong compositions. This piece particularly is really exploring mark. I've found a wide variety of ways to work with the paint here without becoming overwhelming.

Quiet morning in the studio

I'm pretty tired after the long weekend at Brookline Open Studios, but it was a wonderful success. It's such a change for me to discuss my art with other people. I found the experience very refreshing.

This morning I spent a quiet hour or two in the studio. I began articulating a second bird in the upper right hand corner of this panel. Then as I grew tired of that I ventured into the abstract work on the rest of the panel. I've added beads, thin washes, goopy piles of pigment and stand oil and some interesting marks with oil stick and straight out of the tube.

I've started articulating a bird! It's always an exciting point in a painting for me - creating the living subject.