butterfly watercolor experiment #248

Windmill watercolor #247

When I get overloaded it becomes evident in how "together" my house and/or my studio look. My coffee table is covered in stuff right now and I have at least 3 days of newspapers I haven't even glanced at. I have found that working in watercolor is a bit of a pressure relief for me. It is so much more immediate and the clean-up is a snap. It dries quickly and I can just stack them up when I am done. I am not a water colorist so it is all experimentation and play...it is just about exploring and learning. I have chosen images from Daily Artist photo challenge. I am looking to get better.....

Party Time watercolor #246

It has been a really intense week for me. I had 2 show openings and was a key organizer for The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center annual fundraiser. All went well but I was pretty distracted. I worked some on watercolor this week, playing around with it and this little wine bottle and strawberries is one of the results.

Kate ink #245

This is a quick sketch of my friend and fellow artist Kate. I didn't like the pose the model was holding so I did her instead. She is making a funny, serious look with her mouth as she studies her work.

Practicing #243 #244

Yesterday I took paintings to two galleries where I will be the featured artist. The openings are both today (don't ask). It is also the day a group of us gets together with a model. Long story short, I didn't get much actual painting done. I squeezed in a few small watercolors and am posting this one from an Artist Daily challenge. I am trying to teach myself how to manage watercolors and this is a good opportunity. On the right is a 5 minute sketch and I really like the weighted pose.

Subway Readers 8"x8" oil #243

I have been wanting to do this painting for a while. I tried to get the effect of light bouncing all around the subway car from the reflected stainless steal surfaces, the florescent light and the weird light that comes in through the windows. That light tends to wash out colors and give everything kind of a green cast. This photo is more yellow than the painting actually is. The man up front is so interesting looking to me. I may paint a portrait of him later. I would love to know his story.
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Family Tradegy 8"x8" oil #242

This family was really drawn in by this large painting. Unfortunately I forgot to get the details of the painting. It is a compelling painting which I believe tells the story of a dead child. I think it is Italian but you can never be sure without the historical details because artists seemed to frequently draw imagery from other cultures. There is a strong circular design to the composition and as a family, I can see how they would feel the emotion of the story. I researched it on the Met's site, but couldn't find it.

Lincoln In Color 8x10" oil #241

This is the second part of Raymond Logan's challenge, doing Lincoln in color. It created different problems and questions in choosing colors and keeping the values. I struggled with this exercise and it shows in how tight everything is. Lisa Daria's rendition of Lincoln is true to her style...very loose and expressive. You can see hers and the rest at:http://dailypaintworks.com/Challenge/A478B026-D8AE-4D2A-83A3-FA3BBE810231

Lincoln 8x10 acrylic #240

This was a Michael Naples challenge on Daily Paintworks. The idea was to do a gray value portrait from his famous photo using just ultramarine blue, burnt umber and titanium white. It is a really good exercise, but the second part was particularly difficult. After doing this, he suggested doing it in color from the black and white photo. I will post my results tomorrow. I used acrylic and canvas board for this. I used to always paint with acrylics but since I have been using oil, the fast drying factor of acrylics really bugs me!

fast sketch water marker #239

15 minute pose II oil 8x10" #238

This is another quick pose. I see there is a glare on the photo. I don't usually paint on canvas board which is what this is. I, like so many other daily painters, like gesso board or a similar slick surface. There is something to be said about trying different effects, surfaces, colors, brushes, etc. I also painted these with a very thin purple underpainting instead of the usual black or red that I use. Yesterday I took a new lift to the terrain park when I was skiing. The lift is the oldest three person lift in the state and is pretty jerky. It doesn't take much to throw me off, and although I did fine, my nerves were on edge the whole time. This is what it is like for me when my "usual" conditions are challenged in painting.

15 Minute Pose oil 8"x10" #237

Belinda del Pesco posted this today: "Painter Gerald Brommer says you have to paint a minimum of three days a week just to keep from getting worse." That is motivation! I am a newer skier and although I am approaching 60 and not a big athlete, I know that I have to get out a couple of hours almost every day to keep my rhythm and courage, especially when I have half the year when I can't do it. Next year when I go out again it will take me a couple of weeks before I start to feel comfortable on the slopes. That is the way it is with drawing and painting. It is a bit like riding a bike in that you don't forget, but it takes practice to keep the rhythm and there will still be failures, but they will be wrapped in a lot of successes. I have really busy Thursdays so I don't get to paint until the evening when I meet with other artists and a model. It is mostly short poses and a lot of drawing, but I try to do a couple of really quick oil sketches so that I can get better at them. Even though they don't take much time, they take a lot of effort, quick thinking and fast movement. Sometimes I get something exciting and sometimes it is just a hot mess!

Carnival Kiss 5x7" oil #236

This is another Carol Marine challenge. The idea is to do each stroke a different color. That means you have to mix each time before putting the brush on the canvas. The main thing it did for me is make me really think about my strokes and make them count which keeps it fresh looking and loose. It is a carnival squash, an onion, and a garlic.
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Orchids for a Cloudy Day oil 5"x7" #235

I realized I have been photographing my work on the wrong setting lately and they are kind of blurry. This painting makes me happy because these flowers are so beautiful and painting them was challenging but gave me the chance to look hard at them and really appreciate them. I struggled with "how much detail?"...an on-going battle with me.

New Car oil 6"x6" #234

This is from another Carol Marine challenge on Daily Paintworks.

Flower Stand Farmers' Market oil 6"x6" #233

My friend Darby and her husband grow and sell flowers at the open market in the summer. They also grow garlic and numerous other specialty items. Their flowers are grown with love and it shows.

Saucier et Commis oil 6"x6" #232

This is part of a series of Farmers' Market paintings I am doing. The chef and his assistant are preparing gourmet tid-bits for hungry shoppers. In our area we have indoor markets all winter which is a real treat, but this image was from the open air market.

Shot Experiment 8"x8" oil #231

Let's see...how many ways can it go wrong? I did the Carol Marine challenge to do a series of 10 minute paintings of the same object (yes they are the same!). So, how can you make this difficult exercise even more difficult? Well, I chose a weird shaped clear shot glass and I am not very used to painting clear glass. Then I decided to change the lighting for each one and the angle/height. The shadows were really weird too because it was overhead top-down lighting. Then I don't think the palette I chose was quite right....anyway it was difficult and I learned a lot (like I think the next time I do this I will choose a box or orange.....

Alpine Lemon Drop #230 oil 6"x6"

I need a lot more practice doing roses but it is fun to do this loose variety of them. Sometimes I need a break from lots of details and itty-bitty things! There is a rose called Alpine Sunset and this is not it, so I gave it my own name. We are in the midst of a major snow storm and I love to ski, so that is the idea.
I read so many art blogs in which the blogger has a studio partner in the form of a canine. My partner is over 17 years old and I love her very much, but I am constantly pulling hair out of my paint! Does anyone else have this problem?

Yellow Rose of Texas 6"x6" #229 oil

This painting was a direct result of the assignment I gave myself last summer to do a painting a day. We drove to Boston and back with things to do in the middle, and it was a really early and long day so I knew I only had energy to quickly whip out a painting in 1/2 hour or less. It is also a response to Qiang Huang's Daily Paintworks challenge of painting a rose, something I have seldom done. So, armed with a 3/4" brush and a 1 1/2" brush I did this very loose rose thanks to my friend Dan Hale who grows exquisite roses. It didn't turn out how I imagined it would, but I love the big, loose and direct brushstrokes.

My Zippo 6"x6" oil #228

This was a challenge painting on Daily Paintworks initiated by talented painter Michael Naples. My rendition is loose and edgy, but it took me a lot longer than I expected because I did that "hard looking" thing which

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 is both exhilarating and exhausting at the same time...a bit like skiing and white water kayaking! I also reworked the background on yesterday's painting and like the results.

Bear Mountain Bakery oil 6x6 #227

This is part of my Farmers' Market Series. I was drawn to the three unique characters in this scene. There is something so personal about shopping in a small town Farmers' Market. The growers (in this case baker) are so caring about their product and so friendly.

Free Range II oil 6"x6" #226

Chickens...why not? I took this photo on one of the most spectacular days ever...rain, sunshine, rainbows, warm, cold...it had it all. These chickens have a determined look....like "let's get away from the woman with the camera."
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Squash Anyone? oil 6"x6" #225

Looking straight down on this grouping of squash and a tomato creates sharp edges, especially in the shadows with direct overhead light.

I also reworked my "Mother Nature" painting and am happier with it.




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Roots III oil 4"x4" #224

This is the third piece in my Roots tryptic. I really like this series and am glad I did it. It is kind of abstract yet is based on an idea that makes sense to me. The photo is horrible but I tried numerous times to get a good one and was unsuccessful.

Roots II oil 4"x4" #222 and FemSumo ink #223

This is my second rendition of roots with moss and pine needles, my homage to an early spring. I am going to do a tryptic of them. The second image is from my life painting group. I haven't been since mid Dec. and I could really tell. I was out of sync. I wasn't happy with the materials so I went to find a crayola marker and a kid's paint brush and this drawing turned out pretty good. I called it FemSumo because she reminded me of Sumo wrestlers. I looked it up online and there is a whole sport of female Sumos but I couldn't find a specific term for them.

Mother Nature 5"x7" oil #221

I was challenged with the paint on this one. It is not at its finished state because I need to let it dry a bit and rework a couple of areas. Usually it is the oil paint's ability to slide around that I like, but I had trouble with the features and getting the color right and it got to where the paint would pick up on the brush rather than lay down. This was a new experience for me. The other issue I have is that my brushes are completely worn out and I keep procrastinating at getting new ones. This is really not smart as brushes are a critical tool. I like the composition and the background suggestion.

Roots 4"x4" oil #220

I wanted to try something kind of abstract. When all this snow melts, one of the first signs of photosynthesis is moss growing around the roots of trees in the forest. The pine needles form little islands of reddish brown at the edges of the moss. I just read an article about how you shouldn't put red and green together because it looks seasonal. I always manage to break the rules.

Diner 6"x6" oil #219

One of the fun things about diners are all the kitsch items of nostalgia. This is from the Dream Diner in Tynsboro, NH. My favorite piece is the lunch box that looks like an old TV set complete with the image of Elvis playing the piano.

Valentine's Day oil 6"x6" #218

Valentine's Day...a day to celebrate love. My husband and I met on Valentine's Day, a long time ago. Salt, pepper, sugar and in the background, a bottle of vinegar (for the french fries) these can represent what marriage is all about, and a date at the diner (or MaidRite, or A&W). This was a very fast and loose painting, and maybe I should have given it more time and attention....like a good relationship requires. Have a really loving day today!

Rodeo Feet 4"x4" oil #217

These boots are made for walkin"

Strangers oil 6"x6" #216

Three people on a bench against a wall share the space but not a friendship and yet there is an intimacy in it. The colors are a bit off in this photo. The reds in the girl's clothes are bright but the reds in the floor are actually much more brown...I tried to adjust it, but I couldn't come up with a better result. I like the composition which makes the shadow and negative space equally as important as the figures.

Dinner at Home Tonight Feet 4x4" oil #215

These feet were on the Staten Island Ferry in warm afternoon light. I loved the different patterns made by the chain link fence and the browns of everything else except the decidedly purplish shadows. It think it has a nice complimentary feel to it, although not strictly so.

Traveling Feet oil 4"x4" #214

Another mini-size. Compared to these little ones, 8"x8" seems large! I like how loose this is. I certainly could have worked on it more to smooth it out and add more detail but I quit when I got a loose impression and I think it is fun. I am going to do more feet paintings, re-photograph them and put together a book about feet. I am saying it here because then it becomes an assignment for me to complete. I have to play games with myself to stay focused and disciplined. I like the story that feet tell.

I redid the painting on the right because I wasn't happy with my color choices. I like it better now, especially the posture of the lady leaning in and the suggestion of expression on the other lady's face.

Teething Is Hard Work 4"x4" oil #213

I needed to do something different so I chose this portrait of my grandson. I love this little 4"x4" format. It is just so cute! I prefer non-smiling portraits because they look more natural, but it was difficult for me to find a photo that really showed his personality and a reasonable likeness. I associate his features with smiles, but when he is teething his cheeks get red and he gets this set-jaw look.
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Naptime oil 8"x8" #212

I knew going into this one that it was a compositional risk. It has two focal points separated by an empty room. I went ahead and painted it thinking I pull it off if the two sides balance each other. I played with the idea of putting a another person in, but didn't. I am hoping to get some opinions on this one. I really like the sleeping figures and I find the gentleman giving a passing glance at the painting interesting, but I am not sure the whole painting works. So if you have a thought, let me know.

Mind Boggle 8"x8" oil #211

Optical illusion art objects are always fun for museum goers who like modern art. People are really good with their hands or they touch everything. Mostly I think they are aware of how close they come to objects and it always makes for a good pose.

Discovering Bonnnat 8"x8" oil #210

This is a favorite image of mine which I have painted once before, but this one is in a square format and the colors are lighter and cooler. For some reason I tend to go with a particular palette for a number of paintings and then switch to another one. I may do a lot of warm yellows or cool blues or tend toward lavender grays or greens. I am not sure why I do this so I am just going to call it "my personality style showing itself." I like the figures in this painting but I really am paying tribute to Bonnat's Roman Girl at the Fountain, which I think is an exquisite painting.
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On Closer Inspection 5x7" oil #209

I struggled with the colors on this one...trying to balance the warms and cools and choosing the right color for the walls and clothing. Those struggles are good because they make me really think about what I am doing. Sometimes it just comes easy and it turns out right, but even if I struggle and I don't get it just right, the struggle is productive. This has a cooler temperature than many of the museum paintings I've done and I am not sure I like that, at least for this one. I do like the way they are studying this and the tension in the arm that is being held back...it is clear she has an awareness that she doesn't want to touch this art. She is holding back her bags so they don't swing forward.
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Tiffany 5"x7" oil #208

This Tiffany window at the Met is breathtaking. There is something so special about light shining through colored glass. I like the way her clothes and the walls and floor are similar in hue and value except for the dark jacket. I really tried to give the window painting a glow. This one works for me and I think it follows Carol Marine's recommendation for a primary value, a secondary value and a smidge.

The Virgins 5"x7" oil #207

Sometimes titles come easy and then sometimes I can't think of a good one at all. I love the atmosphere in this environment and the kind of humble but hopeful and maybe awe-filled posture of the young woman.

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one of my paintings was chosen for "the painting of the month"...I am honored

Where Are We? 8"x8" oil #206

I like groupings of 3. There is something pleasing about the arrangement. This scene is as common in a large museum as those of people looking at art. Where are we and how do we get to the.....Egyptian art??? the bathroom??? the cafe???? where that famous painting is???? or in the case of the Met, to the roof!

one of my paintings was chosen for the artist painting of the month for the facebook page of American Artist Magazine's Artist Daily. You can see it at http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1011686820728&sk=messages#!/pages/Artist-Daily/132267586788585

 

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Undecided oil 6"x6" #205

This is from a gallery opening and Sculptfest at the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in West Rutland, VT. The patron and fellow sculpture is admiring a welded steel piece that is covered in rust of a high wire acrobat on a unicycle. The patron has wine in a paper cup which seems to be pretty common in less high brow openings. This is one of the big events at CSSC which has been called "The Carrara of America."It is a sculpture center located in a quarry.