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Flowers and FormSeptember 21, 2010 Felt like I was in the black hole of painting this morning; I spent a long, long time on the elusive pink zinnia in Country Bouquet. Felt like I had little to show for it until I stepped away from it for a while and then came back. The flower works now as form! All along I've been having trouble with the color of the flower, but today it came together. See pic at right. The big, important paintings and the little Two by Two are all progressing nicely. Inside/Out is speeding along, maybe I'm learning to paint faster? Enjoying working. |
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The Importance of Being DiligentSeptember 16, 2010 Worked all day yesterday, into the night... though the light was gone by 7 p.m., I was able to sketch the next three images in the Doors of Old Town series. This is a group of 6 or more 5" x 7" paintings that feature row house doors decorated with Christmas wreaths and trimmings. They need to be framed and ready to show by the first of December. It's a lot closer than you think, especially since it takes a long time to paint in oil. The drying time is a real drawback when speed is concerned. Have been making progress on Two by Two. It looks a lot better than I'd thought it would in the looser style. Getting the color right is tricky, because it's a night scene lit byweird fluorescent and street lighting.
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Trying Something NewSeptember 10, 2010 No telemarketers today, no snarling (and thus, guilt) on my part. I'm trying to work differently on Two by Two--- the canvas is so rough there's no way to do my usual finicky detail, so I'm using broader strokes and thicker paint. We'll see if it comes together or not. The Mystery of Summer Evenings is done.
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Annoying Bugs and TelemarketersSeptember 9, 2010 How many "phone listing services" are out there? I chewed the heads off two telemarketers this morning before 11 a.m., and I can tell you it is no fun to be concentrating, concentrating, on painting a fine, straight line when the phone rings and you dash off to answer it and it's just another stupid hustle. And don't get me started about the stinkbugs. If you live on the East Coast, you already know what I mean. I've started another big canvas. This one is called, "Inside/Out," and it's taken from a little scene in a coffee shop in Manhattan on a Sunday morning. Also two more tiny trees! A mighty oak and an apple, laden with fruit. Of course, right now it's only the backgrounds that've been painted in, but I'm excited about developing them. The wedding painting--- the one with the straight lines--- is coming along pretty well. I need to have it finished by mid-November, so I'm pushing it. |
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Catching UpSeptember 8, 2010 Since August was a whirlwind of social activity, I'm trying to spend as much time at the easel as possible. It's always been hard to keep a balance between domestic chores and actual work, but now there's a lot of pressure to get some things done that I missed doing over the summer. Once the weather changes I won't want to be washing the windows (which are nearly opaque with dirt at this point) or doing gardening. But the painting is going well. Fourteen paintings have sold in the last year or so at Gallery West. There have been a couple of other sales, too. I've got a 2-page list on lined paper of new paintings to work on, and have started a couple already. The gallery owner on M Street is planning a big reception in October for me and the other artist she's showing, and there are a couple of shows in the works at various venues. I'm trying to pinpoint what isn't working well. Checked out 3 books on figure painting from the library last Saturday, and am reading up on different mixtures for skin tones. It occurred to me that while the facial planes and modeling on Tamara, Robert, and Eric are just fine, it's when I use color that things go disastrously wrong. I guess I'm tonally challenged when it comes to painting skin in color, is all. Have not gotten back to the veggie paintings except for one sitting, which was at least a small improvement over the work I'd done without Slow-Dri. |
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An AHA MomentAugust 19, 2010 So I was going through the new Dick Blick catalog page by page yesterday, because I actually had the time to browse and enjoy the experience. Lo and behold: on the Liquitex mediums page was something called Slow-Dri Blending Fluid, which is supposed to extend the "open" or working time of acrylic paint by 40%. Picked some up today at Plaza, and got back to work on Tamara and Eric, with great results (see smoothness of Eric's shirt). Last weekend I was screaming because the stupid paint (which I don't use very often) was fighting with the brush and just being generally disagreeable, even when I tried using the gel retarder or the gloss medium. I hate to throw out paint, but it seemed hopeless---until today! Maybe I'll get to finish those little veggie paintings after all. |
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OptimismAugust 18, 2010 The summer has been stagnant but I feel a definite change in the air. I think Fall is full of possibilities! |
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After a Break of SortsAugust 16, 2010 A couple of things have pulled me away from painting in the last month, and this week I'm planning to catch up with a few friends, but I will settle down and attack the easel in a more methodical fashion. Yesterday I worked on 5 or 6 pieces. The light wasn't strong enough to paint the biggest canvases I have, the series of monochrome portraits and the country bouquet, but today looks good for those. |
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What To Do NextJuly 11, 2010 Just back from a trip to the beach. It was a wonderful vacation, very restful... Fell asleep last night, not to the sound of the sea, but to the singing of frogs. Slept hard and woke up this morning to the sound of the birds singing. Now trying to unpack and reorient myself in terms of art making. It's beautiful here this time of year, and I think July is my favorite month. It's so quiet. Everyone goes out of town; the birds in the yard seem less frantic; there are flowers blooming and a slight breeze every now and then animates the trees. It's a good time to take stock and reassess, all right. With the show over, I can concentrate on a couple of new directions. I like the idea of doing more silverpoint--- I'd brought the three pieces I've been working on with me on vacation but never got any further than unpacking them. I'll pick up on them again soon. There were some incredible sunrises over the ocean. I took a lot of photos and will have to narrow the choices down to three, to fill out the series of little 8" x 10" dawns I've been doing for my own collection. Maybe some of them could go larger... if I can control my whacked-out approach to color and show a little restraint... The air series is a definite next step. It just feels right. It feels like this point in time. I can't really explain it, there's just a gut need to do it. I got some better reference photos down at the beach, too; the wind was very cooperative. Otherwise, I'm not sure about any particular theme. There's so much to draw from. |
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Catching UpJune 18, 2010 It's been a while since I posted anything, so there's a lot to catch up on. The show was successful, in that I sold 4 pieces and made an extraordinary connection--- a gallery owner whose shop is on the main street in Georgetown asked me if I'd consider showing in her gallery. Of course I agreed, and now 14 of my works are there, just waiting for the right buyers to walk in the door. I've gotten back to several works that had to be put on hold last fall in order for me to use the time for the show pieces. It feels good to make some progress on them, rather than letting them sit around gathering dust. I've also started a few new things, and have developed an idea for a series that started out (in my head) in a very different way a couple of years ago. There's no title for the series yet, as I want it to be right and fitting. Am exploring silverpoint in a slightly larger size, and on gessoboard that I then coat with the special medium for silverpoint. The process is very relaxing, and I find I enjoy it at least as much as painting. Finally purchased a new digital camera, and it is OUTSTANDING. It's a Panasonic Lumix, and it does everything I need it to do, and provides crisp, undistorted pictures even in low light and at zoom. Have taken it with me on an out-of-town trip, and the grab shots from the car are remarkable. Happy, happy, happy. |
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I Don't Like the Boring PartsMay 20, 2010 I'm champing at the bit to indulge my senses in the gratifying exercise of painting the flowers in Country Bouquet, but had to work on the deep shadow color in the background behind them first. Boring! It's a big piece--- another 40" x 50"---so there's quite a lot of square inches to cover. And now it has to dry, too. Aarrgh. Got a phone call from the gallery today; another of the vignettes has sold! Yay! That makes three. I am ecstatic. Have been doing a lot of organizing around the house, but somehow managed to work on 6 paintings today, and much to my surprise, two of them are almost done. |
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New RhythmsMay 18, 2010 I stretched another big canvas today. The floral I've been working on sporadically over the last week is so joyous it's infectious. I might try my hand at another on this new canvas, or maybe will do a splashy landscape. My brushstrokes have bee a lot freer on the big floral, and it feels good. I think I'll do the tightly drawn pieces that feature graduated light on board from now on (rather than canvas). And smaller. |
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BouncebackMay 12, 2010 After hanging the show, I had a bunch of things to attend to and did not pick up a brush for a week. I had a bad case of painting withdrawal by Monday, and have been hard at work ever since. It's like a madness--- I'm so excited about possible new directions that I can't keep from mining my personal photo library, gridding new pieces, and resurrecting things I haven't worked on since last October. But the interesting thing is that I'm most interested in organic stuff right now: flowers, landscapes, and people paintings with NO architectural elements in them. I guess I've had it with straight lines for a while! The reception was pleasant, if slightly less well attended than I'd have liked. Visitors had lots of questions as well as suggestions, and we had more than enough food, but I was happy to see that everyone was well fed. A lot of my friends showed up, and a bunch of us went off to dinner afterwards and had a long, leisurely meal (including dessert!). Two of the vignettes are sold. At least 44 people visited the gallery on Sunday, I've heard, and that's a pretty good number. So, we'll see what happens. The show's up until June 6th. |
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It's Like Having a BabyMay 4, 2010 So, yesterday I hung the show, and it looks good in the gallery. The paintings are much more colorful there than they were here in my studio, probably because of the lighting. It occurred to me (as I periodically broke out into a sweat when something went wrong with the hanging) that this whole thing has been just like having a baby. It's been months of careful work and preparation, and then it comes down to frantic nervousness and hard labor at the end! G.S., who is one of the dearest people I know, showed up around 4:00 to help out with the hanging, and she took charge of the labels and a few other tasks, allowing me to fret over hanging and some of the small details. We had our monthly meeting at the gallery last night, so the members got to see the show and they were uniformly supportive. This is one of the things I like best about Gallery West; the community of hard working, serious artists who not only understand what you do but who also provide insight and good pats on the back when you need them. But I don't know how to deal with compliments. I have to admit that I've never found it easy to come out of my shell, and having spent the past six months (at least) hiding out in my studio only contributed to my social anxiety. Now, though, it's time to shift gears and get on with normal life. Forgot to mention that the cherry blossom painting has sold, and one of the gallery members bought the little vignette of Grand Central Terminal (Return Trip) last night after the meeting. It's good to open a show with a red dot in place! |
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FINISHED!April 29, 2010 I just put the brush down from the last details (falling snow) on Broadway Evening, and I'm DONE. All the paintings for the show are finished. Seven of the vignettes are framed, and the edge work's been done on three of the big paintings. Tomorrow: pick up the signage and print labels. And write the little blurbs that go next to each painting. And address and stamp another 50 postcards. And write up an artist statement and price list. |
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Looking ForwardApril 26, 2010 I feel really positive today, much like my old self. A lot of the tasks that have been dogging me for a while have been taken care of, and everything for the show is beginning to fall into place. This time next week, I'll be hanging it! And then I'll be able to see my way clear to new projects, and to taking care of house and home, both sadly neglected in the last 6 months. Off to the sign store to see if they can do a custom sign for the show, then more painting. |
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LimboApril 24, 2010 Some outside activities took me away from painting yesterday, but I managed to take care of the little that was left on the clock painting and finish it. The borrowed digital camera is not working out very well. It takes lousy pictures in low light situations, unlike my old one (same brand, too!). The pix I've shot of the finished paintings are either soft or the color's really bad. Need to get a decent camera soon. Three more of the vignettes are a step away from being done. I'm letting them dry right now. |
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Walking the WalkApril 22, 2010 Walking the Walk is now completed. I started this one in 2006, so it's about time. The heavy texture of the canvas really slowed me down and made finessing many areas impossible. I think once this show is over, I'm going to gravitate towards panel. Hope to get a few images shot and uploaded this afternoon. Almost everything is too wet to work. It's very frustrating, since I'm so close to finishing several paintings. In honor of Earth Day, I got off a few more catalog mailing lists. I've probably opted out of 200 catalogs at this point. |
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Another One DownApril 21, 2010 Time Piece is done! And--- the female figure in Conversation is nearly finished, and lookin' good! She is the keystone of the work, so getting her right was very important to me. I re-drew the head on the male figure today, since the top of the head was too big. I also worked on the modeling of his face, and it's much better. Tomorrow, the hands and the cell phone and the extended shoe. There's not a whole lot more to do on this painting, but some of the vertical architectural elements need to be straightened out or finessed in some way, and that'll take a few days. Still trying to figure out how to get decent photos from the borrowed camera. |
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More Progress on the Painting FrontApril 19, 2010 The sudden demise of my 6-year old Nikon digital camera took me by surprise yesterday. Now I have to research cameras and find a new one. I'm borrowing a digital in the meantime to take pix of the paintings in their different iterations, and hopefully will figure out how to upload and continue posting them on the Works in Progress page. Downtown Crossing, Boston is complete. Nine more to go. Two weeks left to paint. |
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Jurying at AlexandriaApril 18, 2010 Yesterday I went to the Alexandria Campus of Northern Virginia Community College to jury the student Spring Fine Arts Show. I am a big fan of the community college, and particularly NVCC, where I worked for many years. Had a terrific time yesterday, looking at all the art and trying to make some very difficult decisions as to in/out... There was a group of wonderful volunteers who helped move pieces about, and my job included informing them as to my decision-making process. It was just like being back at work (but this time wth the knowledge that I wasn't taking work home with me to occupy my time until the wee hours) and I really enjoyed the whole 3-plus hours in the pursuit of excellence. The work was of very high caliber (but this is no surprise to me) and I still feel wrenched about having to leave some pieces out as part of a space-available situation. Afterward, took off for a quick-but-pleasant lunch with S.T., who was the coordinator for the event, at a spot in Clarendon, which has been undergoing some sort of huge growth spurt. Parts of town are almost unrecognizable to me as a northern Virginia resident since the early 70s. Anyway, we had a good time chatting and catching up, and I got to see her excellent collage pieces afterwards when I dropped her off at her studio. All in all, it was a very fine day. |
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Another One DownApril 16, 2010 You Are Here, the title piece for the show, is finished. And not a moment too soon. Had to dash off this morning to take care of the errands I didn't have time for yesterday (gallery sitting all day) and have been working all day; it's now a quarter to six and I'm trying to neaten up the sloppy edges on the turnstile bars in Time Piece. Worked on four of the vignettes plus The Blind Date today, no small feat in light of the fact that I got very little sleep last night and have been dragging all day. |
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There IS Light at the End of the TunnelApril 15, 2010 Hats is done! And two of the big paintings are about one hour each away from being finished. This will work. |
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Fine TuningApril 12, 2010 Worked on seven paintings today, and it's all small details, from the hands and face of the old man in Time Piece to the tiny bunches of flowers in Day Job. Four pieces are getting close to being done. I've got 17 days of painting left. The last two frames arrived on Friday, and they're beautiful. They're a gold color with what's called a crown profile, and they look equally well on Point of View and The Blind Date. I'd gotten a good deal on them, too, so I'm extra happy. Speaking of The Blind Date, I'd thought I was coming into the home stretch on that one, but in redrawing the slats on the right hand side window today realized the ones on the left side were too big. Painted out the whole area. Will have to wait for it to dry before I go back in, and it makes me impatient: the area glows with color in the reference photo, and I really want to do it justice. Had a very pleasant phone conversation with S.M. on Friday morning. She had a show opening on Saturday in an out-of-town gallery. We both take a lot of pains with our work, and it was good to run some problems by her, as she really understands what I'm up against technically. I'm lucky to have so many good friends whose advice and encouragement I treasure. |
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One Down, Twelve to GoApril 8, 2010 Took off to the craft store to get brushes, since I was so aggravated anyway I couldn't paint. Once home, I had a snack and got back to a couple of things, being VERY CAREFUL not to smudge. I've finished Point of View! Hooray! |
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Everything's WetApril 8, 2010 Except for Time Piece and You Are Here, which I might get to later today, everything's too wet to work on. I keep smearing paint around with the ham of my hand, and using the mahl stick isn't going so well, either. Rrrrrr. |
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Persistence in a Righteous Course Brings RewardApril 7, 2010 I can definitely see improvement in Conversation. I've spent well over 80 hours on it in the last couple of years, and am going to see it through until every sloppy brushstroke, every unfortunate color choice, every misplaced line is done correctly. The female figure is FINALLY beginning to work (and is actually starting to resemble S.M.), and I added some violet here and there on the ceiling and in the mirrors to bring a sense of unified color to the whole. |
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Dreaming of PaintingApril 7, 2010 After my 10-hour workday yesterday, I unwound in front of the TV for a while, then went to bed late. Woke up around 4 a.m. from a dream about mixing paint, and running out of places on the palette to mix more. Ordered the last two frames, contacted a local newspaper about doing an article on the show, and picked up 500 postcard stamps at the post office this morning. This begins to feel more and more real. |
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The Pressure is OnApril 6, 2010 Finished the pro bono doggie painting and sent it out, complete with a frame I'd bought, to the charity that will auction it off. Went out of town for a few days, against my better judgement. Now it's already the 6th of April, and the 13 unfinished paintings have to be finished, dry, framed and hung by the 3rd of May. Trying not to panic... Worked for ten hours today, on all eight of the vignettes and The Blind Date. Tomorrow I'll tackle the three big ones. Had another lovely lunch on Monday the 29th, this time with P.C. Hadn't seen her since August! We had a good chat at a place in Reston, and exchanged advice on art a the business of art. I am lucky to have such good friends. |
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Thinking About Art, and Other StuffMarch 28, 2010 There's an article in today's New York Times on the perennial debate about the "death of painting." It's interesting, but the images that accompany it only seem to represent the more abstracted side of realist painting. I guess that was the point of the article; still, I wish someone would make a case for the rising resurgence of draughtsmanship in realist works. Took a little time off recently...Thursday I met A.T. for lunch, and we had a really fine time.The conversation included our recent experiences with movies (mostly Avatar) and books (we are both Austen fans), and similar problems with web-based technology. It was a leisurely lunch. We enjoyed the entrees, and then decided to stay on for dessert and coffee, both of which were delicious. It's good to keep in touch with old friends, and afterwards the day had a kind of peaceful glow about it. Despite my need to feel productive every minute of the day, once I got home I just sat and thought about things. A little time away from the studio is not a bad thing. Friday and Saturday I got back to work. Last night I left two paintings out in the hall so I could see them when I came up the stairs. That always makes me look at them with a fresh eye, because being away from them for a while and then viewing them unexpectedly, as it were, makes certain things obvious that I miss when I'm nose-to-nose with the work for several hours. The first thing I noticed this morning was that they looked like they belonged together. (Maybe I am developing a sense of style, like R.D. said I would.) There's a kind of stillness about them, like the moments that they depict are suspended in time. While I wish my color sense was more adventurous, and while I admire artists whose brush strokes are free and loose, these two (The Blind Date and Point of View) seem to be true to who I am. There's a sense that they're headed in the right direction, whatever that means.... |
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Spring!March 22, 2010 Well, I'm happy to report that the doggie painting has turned a corner. Not only does it look like it'll be done on time, it's beginning to be believable. I'm still not sure about the length of the woman's arm, but almost everything else is falling into place. As I write this, we're experiencing the first thunderstorm of the season. It feels odd. I'm surprised by the end of winter, which seemed to drag on forever... Darkened the shirt on The Blind Date. It looks better. Why do I have so much trouble going dark enough? I'm sure that the shadow I put on the wall under the Villers painting in Point of View is not dark enough and will have to be repainted. The postcards for the show arrived today from Overnight Prints, and they're perfect! I'm really pleased, especially since there are 2000 of them. Worked on Conversation today, too, though not much. It was too dark to see any critical value changes. Had to spend three hours this morning attending to errands and details. Mondays are always catch-up days around here, and it takes away from the painting time. Grrrr.
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Spring!March 21, 2010 Spring always manages to come in exactly on time around here--- the first daffodils are blooming in the yard, and the early cherries and plums are flowering in neighborhoods close by. I saw some Forsythia opening up, too! |
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Trust MeMarch 19, 2010 I know it looks like Conversation's done, but there are enough sloppy edges to keep me busy for the next month! Today I darkened the twin marble areas and knocked back that very bright piece of furniture--- I guess a display cabinet---on the left of the female figure. Now it doesn't shout for attention. There's plenty of glare on the wet parts, and I'm anxious for them to dry down so I can see if the darker color works correctly or not. Just put the brush down from painting the head of the figure in The Blind Date. The guy looks much better, but still needs a touch here and there. He's mostly backlit, but there's so much warm light all around him, it's difficult to get the skin color right. |
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Blue Skies!March 16, 2010 At last! Maybe I can get the work done on the columns in Conversation today, the light's strong enough. We've had nothing but gloom since last Friday. Yesterday was incredibly productive, as I worked on six pieces. More today. |
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Almost DoneMarch 13, 2010 There's only about an hour's worth of painting left on You Are Here. I worked on a few spots that needed work today, and realized there's not that much more to do. Well, unless I decide to take it to a whole new level and go all-out on the natural realism. But that would probably take another year. |
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Snow and SnowdropsMarch 12, 2010 The giant snowpile down at the end of the driveway is almost gone. We've had some steady rain overnight, and the world is changed this morning, though it still looks grey and grim. Snowdrops are blooming and the back yard is full of the spikes of wild crocuses, unopened because of the hidden sun, but ready to pop. Spent all of yesterday gallery sitting, and then had a surprise phone call from my sweetie, who suggested we have dinner out. We did, and it was fabulous. But: no painting got done yesterday. Today: work on the doggie painting is not going well and I'm beginning to have doubts about whether or not it will come together in time. The skin tones just looked too dull, so warmed them up today but it looks like I overshot. The male dog is beginning to have some structure, so that's, at least, encouraging. I must say that acrylic is not my friend. The question continues about the right name for the painting of the young woman taking a picture of the Villers. Point of View brings the viewer into it in a subtle way: the young woman is viewing the Villers; it looks like the girl in the Villers is observing her; and the there's the unseen spectator--- the viewer. So, I like that goofiness. But Echoes intimates that something mysterious is reverberating across time. I welcome input on this issue. |
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A Concentrated EffortMarch 10, 2010 I'm going to finish You Are Here very soon. And not soon enough. I have to have it printed up as a postcard, delivered, and sent out to everybody on the mailing list for the upcoming show, which is about 1300 people. Meanwhile, Point of View, which I might rename Echoes, has to be done in time to send it off to be printed up for the Galleries Magazine cover. Why am I writing? I should be painting! At right, a detail from You Are Here; this is the area I worked on this morning. |
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Killer PillarsMarch 8, 2010 I took up the brush on Conversation again, a couple of days ago... The pillars are just as I remembered them, and probably the reason why I haven't wanted to work on the piece for the last few months. Painting the straight vertical lines is bad enough, but trying to get the color/values/gradients right at the same time is practically insane. The light's bouncing around all over the place because of all of the (beveled!) mirrors, so the planes of the pillars are lighter in some spots, greyer or greener in others, etc. What a nightmare. And I'm still having trouble with the female figure, despite the fact that S.M. did such a great job of posing for me. Meanwhile, I continue to make progress on a few other paintings. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel on You Are Here, and Hats is moving along quickly. I love Hats--- it makes me smile every time I look at it. |
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Faces in the CrowdMarch 4, 2010 Working solely on You Are Here this afternoon in an effort to get it completed in time to use it for advertising. A lot of it is done--- I'm working on the faces of the people in the background and the light fixtures, mostly. The faces are so tiny that I have to use a very small or well-pointed brush to get the details right. A little slip can really mess things up when you're painting the edge of a nose that's 4mm long. Looking forward to getting back to Conversation tomorrow. Most of the vignettes are too wet to work on today. |
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ModificationsMarch 2, 2010 My new monitor is saturation-happy; it displays colors in a harsh and truly lurid fashion, making me wince every time I upload a new photo of a painting and see it on screen. As a result, I've taken to desaturating some images, but now I worry that they'll look washed out on other people's monitors. Not sure what else I can do. I finally figured out what was bothering me about Downtown Crossing--- it was the dark foreground. I've changed it and broadened the lighter area, also changed the color of the impatiens (flowers) on the left side. The fuchsia was clashing with the natural reds of the fruits and vegetables in the background. There's still a fuchsia undertone, but it doesn't compete with the reds anymore. |
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And So It's MarchMarch 1, 2010 The sun is shining brightly today, and you can see patches of ground under the melting snow. Started painting early this morning; added a cast shadow on Day Job, not sure it's working as far as content goes, but the placement is correct--- just what that corner of the painting needed. |
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GreenFebruary 28, 2010 Worked with a lot of green paint today. The wall on the right side of You Are Here needed to be resolved, and it took a while to get the various shades of green mixed correctly. The wall itself has some surface irregularities, and it's hard to show those without making it look like bad painting. The color gets a little more yellow up at the top, and a little bluer on the lower flat part where it picks up the light from the window. From there I went to the new painting. I don't need to be starting a new painting right now, in light of how much I've got to finish for the May show, but this is a pro bono effort I'd promised to a neighbor for a charity event. I just found out that the deadline is April 1... Anyway, the new piece is called "Meet Cute," and I'm doing it in acrylic (otherwise it might not be done until December!) but the colors seem really artificial to me when I mix them. It's like they're made of plastic. The kind of plastic that cheap toys are made of. The greens---which I painted into most of the background---are particularly unnatural. Have to see it through, though.
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Finished for the DayFebruary 26, 2010 Whew. Time to clean the paint out of the brushes and call it a day. I've really been struggling with forcing myself to work on the vignettes lately, but got through four of them today, and I did work on a couple of others yesterday... The painting itself is going very well, I'm just bored. So much of what I did today involved straight lines! When I have a brush that actually comes to a point, I like to make the best of it until the ends start to fray. But things are starting to snap into focus, especially on The Blind Date and Clock, W. 44th Street. And I finally figured out how to get the reflections of the rear lights of the cabs to work on the street. Happy enough. Feel like I dug myself out of a hole this week. |
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Not Much to ReportFebruary 24, 2010 Feeling a bit under the weather lately. Also, so sick and tired of working on the paintings for the show, I could scream. |
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A Little Light WorkFebruary 18, 2010 Painting the hanging lights in You Are Here is harder than I would have thought. The light bulbs themselves are a brilliant white, but that's not the problem. The glass pendulum lamps graduate from a dusky Naples Yellow to a lighter color, and they have a distinctive shape. The shape and size has to be consistent--- the lamps hang in a straight line across the width of the store--- but because they're being seen from different angles, you can see more of the inside on some. Meanwhile, I worked on the portrait of Robert. The likeness is pretty good, but I haven't caught his bemused expression. I get the feeling his general approach to life is open and curious, but that doesn't come through yet in the painting. Oh, also, I drew the nose too long originally ( a tendency I have with all portraits); and am trying to readjust it. The modelling's working pretty well, I think.
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