More work accomplished

Not the past week but rather the one before I was able to spend a good amount of time working on this painting. I am really excited by where it is going. After a long week at work I feel derailed. And the whole diptych seems a little daunting - really ambitious. What the heck am I thinking?...But I'll muster the wherewithal to continue plugging along soon I am sure. I like the composition. I will be enlarging the roadrunner, keeping the tribble-cactus, painting out the back leg of the chair that descends to the ground under Tyler's right hand (because everyone thinks it's a cigar), and working more on Tyler's face. The photograph I am working from actually doesn't provide enough detail around Tyler's ear and neck. Maybe I'll have to photograph him again. Today I stretched the large canvas for the painting I am beginning of Memphis and Reagan. I really don't have anywhere in the house to store it...

Here is a picture of the progress I have made on the painting of Tyler. It is not the entire composition - the left and right sides are cropped out. I am getting some more opaque layers of paint down on the canvas. And I have covered the entire area with color. I am working out the composition in the foreground still. Earlier I added a small barrel cactus; but because it more closely resembles a green tribble in the bottom right hand corner, I will be changing it.

Ch Ch Ch Changes...

I am working on everything right now trying to tie up loose ends before beginnings more projects. The self portrait is really coming together. I worked into the cacti on the right hand side of the canvas and back into my shirt. It won't be long now for this one I think.

I have worked on the second panel of this piece as well, but the photo turned out blurry. I'll post it at a later date. I envision this piece as part of a larger wooden frame that maybe has hinged doors; but I think for the sake of the portfolio I will end for the time being by cradling the plywood. The advanced carpentry will have to happen at a later date.

Above is a quick snap of another linocut I am beginning for the portfolio - a grackle. I haven't worked out the composition entirely (even though I have begun cutting). Below is another linocut I will include. I have been working tirelessly to get a good print from this block, but my efforts with the press have yielded nothing. My next attempt will be done by hand with a barren on rice paper. I am currently thinking I will make this a two color piece by printing a second image in the large expanse of space in the top left corner.

Almost Done...

Probably my favourite title for a blog post. I am looking to get this painting wrapped up - get it off my plate. I am currently in the middle of a lot of work in the studio right now, and it would calm my nerves to put some more paintings in the "completely finished" category. I am excited by the changes that happened today. I like the expansion and collapsing of space that the outline and the realistic painting create. And I finally painted over the blank spots in the top lefthand corner of the painting - previously meant for birds...forget it. They won't be going into the picture. Lots of things are being resolved, however, I am still struggling with a title. Any suggestions?

Infant of Prague 16" x 20"

I have started another painting - like I need another painting to work on, right? This is the first in a series I have been thinking about. I am very nonplussed by it at the moment. The composition is static, the painting is very blonde, and it has none of the majesty I imagined for it. Still it is a nice break from working so large as with the current figure paintings. Additionally, this piece is solely from observation - my favourite way of painting.

More work on Tyler

I am slogging through it right now learning how to work when I don't really feel like working. It is time to hash out the rest of the composition of this piece and I feel like I won't find the answers to it today. So maybe I should put this up for a while. There are still some drawing issues to work out in the figure as well...

Desert Eve

I am finally finding the patience to build some complex compositions again. I am really enjoying working on this portrait even more so now that I am constructing a rich environment for the figure. The introduction of the cacti was precipitated by a hot and sweaty stroll through South Mountain this morning - which was inspired by Sina's continued postings of her encounters with Sabino Canyon.

"Eden"

I haven't posted any images of this painting in a while because I haven't been working on it. But it is time to get cracking as it is becoming more of a chore than a "delight". I think I made some marked improvements in the composition today and it has refreshed the piece in my mind.

Adam and Eve

Well of course I can't get blogger to format this post the way I would like it to. In the "compose" mode everything looks fine, but when I publish the post it goes haywire. The painting of Tyler is the lefthand panel of the diptych. I only began his painting today and it is still very rough. I was hoping that blogger would allow me to view these two images side by side as they are too large to view in the studio...need more space...

Eve

I have been working on this thing all day! And my eyes are beginning to bug out of my head. It is going well, but I have some challenges with my source material namely the photo of myself. I am not quite able to work out what is happening in the detail areas and may need to shoot the scene again in order to work out the face, hands, and feet.

Eve 42" x 42"

There's a lot to say today. I got back from a weeklong vacation to San Francisco and was eager to return to my paints. So I began mapping out and sketching in a whole new painting. The canvas is one I stretched myself - a beautiful fine weave linen that I picked up at the art shop round the corner at a fantastic price. I had some trouble with the first stretch and had to undo and restretch the entire thing. This has been a long time coming. I initially bought the linen with the idea of doing a similar composition but using my husband as the subject. Today I knew I couldn't wait until the weekend to begin and so started a piece from a photograph of myself. I think it is a happy accident...As now I see this piece as part of a diptych - using my husband in the other panel.

Diptych

It's a twofer today. I laid down the first bit of paint on the panel with the grackle on it. Yesterday I added the patterned box next to the apple blocking out the veins that used to be there. Hmmm....

Dry Point Etchings

Here are two pieces I made in my printmaking class I am taking at the Shemer Center. I love the results of working with dry point. The lower image of the onions looks especially moody - like a small ink painting. Both copper plates have been reworked a little after these prints and I have yet to proof the corrections, but these images are only undergoing slight adjustments. The etchings are tiny. I think the onion were scratched into a 4 x 6 plate? (perhaps even smaller). And the hibiscus plate is only 4 or 3 inches square.

Diptych 12" x 24"

I have only just started this piece, and I expect it to be the bottom panel in a diptych. We'll see. As always, I am really excited at the outset of a piece. I will probably be darkening the colors as right now they are very high key and the overall contrast in the painting is low. I am still working out the composition as well.

Squash

This was all done on the same day that I began the painting. I have added the shadows underneatht the squash and worked in more detail into the vegetables. It was a good day painting.

Squash 12 x 18

I really love the boards this painting is on. I love to touch them - the smooth sanded surface of the gesso, the mounds of block printing ink - plastic and chaotic - like a fingerprint. And now, once it is dry, the thick impasto of the oil paint. I'm so sorry that we can't interact with great works of art through touch. The photo of this piece was taken with a flash so the wet paint is reflecting that light in places, and I have already added shadows underneath the squash. It makes them look as if they are sitting on the boards themselves.

Eden

I had a really good painting yesterday. I guess you never know when it is going to happen. It was a long day at work, and I dumped myself in front of the canvas rather reluctantly for just an hour. I was fed up with this painting - very frustrated at the craftmanship of the piece. As I was driving home from work I thought I should go back into it and really risk something, really try to paint, loosen up, push the color across the canvas with the brush rather than timidly dab at the pigment. And I produced the rock formation in the middle of the piece. I like it. I am excited about the piece again, and beginning to play with titles for it.

noli me tangere

Here is a detail of the apple/pigeon painting. I added goldleaf to the halo today. It's really beautiful stuff. The result is a saturated gold surface that I couldn't acheive with the gold acrylic paint I previously applied. I am wrapping up this piece, still contemplating working back into both the apples and the pigeon to make them more life like. On the other hand, I don't want to lose the freshness the images have right now. We'll see if I get around to a touch up.

On other fronts, I have determined how much work is needed to compile my grad school portfolio; and it is time to focus and churn out images. The thought kinda makes me cringe, but at times I work well when I have to be quicker with my decisions. I don't linger. I printed two small poplar panels with a linoleum pattern today using an oil based ink to avoid the running I encountered in the background of the above piece. I also began preparing a large square linen canvas. It is on my list to stretch it today and hopefully lay down a sketch on it next weekend.

I can't put titles into Blogger right now for some reason. But if I could....#$%@!!! is kind of how I feel right now. Some days are like that. These two pieces are growing by leaps and bounds, however, very akwardly - like adolescents. We shall see. I am thinking of a new name for the piece as well.

Here's that big painting again. It has changed a fair bit, but I am really struggling with working from photograph rather than life. The apple is from observation (There are apples in my studio?...surprise, right.) The mountain, is not. There just isn't enough information in my Monument Valley photos. I probably just have to blow them up.

I did away with most of the previous composition. It actually looked better as empty negative space rather than purplish mountains in the distance and a fuschia bleeding heart. It just wasn't working. So it's gone. The power of the brush. I still don't know about this whole thing. I just keep showing up.

I reread my first entry concerning this piece, and I am currently feeling completely the opposite. I am not a restrained painter. Trying to press myself into this box is just not going to work. I do best off the cuff, usually the first time, and often quite quickly. Which is beginning to make me think I need to give up the oil paints and return to acrylics. I currently fight with the preceeding layers of paint when I work, but with acrylics the paint dries almost instantaneously allowing me to constantly restate my observations without interference from underlying colors.

Eve 24" x 24"

Here is the piece in which I incorporated the linocut into the background. I left the grain of the wood exposed which also led me to paint with acrylics rather than oils as I could eliminate the need for gesso. I probably still should have prepared the area under the painting with gesso, but with acrylics unlike oils I don't suffer as much for this oversight when trying to manipulate the paint. Initially, I was painting a pigeon in the top lefthand corner of the picture - a poopy pigeon. I really didn't like how it was turning out. So today, after I added the apples, I sanded the bird out. I am left with a rather rough looking portion in the painting and I am not sure yet how or if I will resolve this. The whole piece has been fun, fabulous, and messy!

Great Big New Age Southwest Painting

Slowly, slowly...

I did get a small beginning on my ellipse piece as well, but it's not worth posting just yet. It's all very exciting!

Lino Mania

We went away this weekend to Monument Valley where I took this photo. Seeing the landscape for myself gave me a little insight into the painting I am working on right now.

Today, the first day back in town getting myself settled I opted to work on more linoleum cutting. The pattern of ellipses I cut today and intend to use as a background for a painting. The finches were cut the same day as the sparrows - also intended as background.

I printed the ellipses on a 2 foot square piece of wood that was languishing in my studio. The design didn't print very evenly as the wood is beginning to warp, but I think it is interesting nonetheless. Check back for more linoleum fascination.

Lino Sparrows

I am having a little more fun today.

These sparrows are a lino cut. The block is small with only two sparrows cut into it, so to get this look I printed the block three times on the sheet of paper.

Great Big Brand New Painting 30" x 40"

This painting is very much outside of my experience. The imagery, the surreal aspect, the restrained way in which I am working on it (background to foreground). I'm terrible at restraint when I am painting, but I think that limits me in a way. It will be far less frustrating at this size and complexity if I plan out my composition beforehand and then finish the painting in sections - like my first painting teacher tried to impress upon me. I think all my time working with acrylics in university developed a fast paced frenetic way of working that I love; but doesn't fit me right now. Hmmmm. This painting should be fun.

Almost Finished

I think this photo is a little out of focus, but I guess now you know how lazy I can be...
I added a bird to the painting, and I was struggling with the composition. Was it complete? Did I like the movement in it? Was it too "composed"? But I just stopped worrying. I'm going to live with it. I also developed the table the pepper is resting on. It is sitting on a white cloth, and I began articulating the folds. I am not sure I like this change a lot. There was something nice and clean about the previous flat white surface the pepper rested on. But again, I am going to go with it. I feel compelled to do so.

More red pepper painting

As usual, I am excited about how this piece is developing. I am thinking about adding another element on table with the red pepper, but haven't yet decided what.

Bell Pepper 12" x 12"

I think I have found where the wallpaper fits into my work. (And maybe a new avenue for the still lifes as well.) I like the combination of observational painting: the pepper, and painting something that has more to do with design and illustration: the wallpaper. It is allowing me to determine a color scheme within the piece and break away from painting straight local color. When we were at the Barnes in Philadelphia I was struck by the colors in Van Gogh's work. Among all other painters he seemed to deliberately pick the colors in his painting rather than simply reproduce what may exist naturally in his subject. Perhaps I only noticed this because he consistently produced color arrangements that struck a chord with me. But seeing the work reminded me of my own fascination with color and I think I'll spend a little time exploring it in this way.

Portfolio

I added a new link in the right hand column of my blog: Portfolio. I haven't been taking final photos of my paintings especially of the pieces which I work on over a longer period. But I need photos of finished works for my portfolio to submit to grad school. Also I was looking for a way to view my finished works in one place, rather than sort through different blog entries. So I will be assembling final photos of paintings under this link. You will have seen all of these images before - although perhaps not in their finished more refined state. So if redundancy doesn't bother you, or you have been losing sleep wondering if I lightened the shadow in the bottom left hand corner of my last piece, you can now put your mind at ease and click on the link.

More self portrait

Am I overworking things?

The Barnes Foundation

No, this is certainly not one of my paintings. It is Van Gogh's Postman and I saw it last Sunday when I visited the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.

Self Portrait

I am getting some good work done on this piece, and I am very excited about it. Today I worked a pattern into the portrait's background.

Self Portrait again

I have gotten a couple of more hours work in on this portrait, and am currently working into the face with glazes. I hope it will give me a subtly of color and help mask the texture of the underlying canvas. After photographing the image I notice something strange in the shape of the right eye. It probably has to do with the dark I layed in below and to the right of the eye. Also I haven't articulated the folds in the eyelids yet.

Square self portrait 10"

I am into square formats right now. I like their equal sides - they seem less like "windows" than normal canvases do. It was time to get back to simply showing up at the canvas. My foray into woodworking has been distracting me, and I have been working WAY TOO MUCH. (But let's not talk about that.) For this picture I am wearing my new oversized plastic beaded necklace.

Here is the landscape with the reworked sky I was talking about.

I have had a busy week or so at work, but I have still found time to paint. The landscape is going well especially after a beautiful and cloudy day on Saturday. I reworked the sky which I like much more now, and I daresay, the piece is almost Finished. Also there has been time to track down a table saw, buy a sander, and finish or start a few wooden supports for painting. I worked with the table saw for the first time today and am a little frustrated by the results. It took some time to work up the nerve to turn the thing on and make a cut. But despite my immediate success (I still have ten fingers), I am a little discouraged by things the "borrowed" saw is missing - namely a fence to guide the wood along. The temporary fence I have rigged up is not perfect. So for now, I am pausing. I have also been feverishly photographing birds the past week; below are two that I took today. Tyler found the hummingbird on Saturday and brought it home for me to use in my artwork.

Good find

I was searching Google images for some Edward Hopper pieces to help me wade through my current landscape, (Yes, today it feels daunting.) when I found this - beautiful evocative work by Karen Halt.

Lemon Tree

I have spent two more mornings working on this painting. Here it is so far.

The Lemon Tree 18" x 18"

Well, I did it. I got outside of the studio, thank you Memphis. It was so amazing to simply walk into my backyard and set up the easel for painting. I melted under the hot sun, and became fatigued quickly. But something else happened too.



I was flooded by images that I wanted to record. Until today I hadn't realized how stale I had become painting within the same four walls all year. The only subjects I was working with needed to fit on my sewing table. It was fine for a while, but I am passed the frantic need to keep going. Now that I have more confidence I need to expand my subjects and take on new challenges. I need to be excited by what I am painting. I need to take a few risks. Landscapes are rich because they continually change, clouds drift by and light shifts dramatically. There is a lot of information to record as well, and during the time it will take for me to get it all down there will inevitably be even more changes to the subject. But I am ready to be a bit more liberal in my interpretation. I am willing to observe and paint what I know is there whether or not it has already long since passed by or altered. Below is the newest painting after the first hour of work.

Sketchbook update

I uploaded five new drawings to my sketchbook. I have been spending time making quick pen and ink drawings in the book lately, just to keep working. I realize I am at an impasse with my painting, but I have some thoughts and tomorrow's task is to just push through it and work. The photos of my sketches aren't perfect, and neither are the sketches; but they are practice.