Painting Update...

I promise all the madness of buying our house will end....I say this mostly for my own sanity. ;)
Until then, I have updated the small oil paintings page on the website for those who might like to have a look. I am amazed (and grateful for) how fast these go! Let me know if you want one.

I am still working (slowly) in my glazing experiment. I have learned a lot, mostly about what not to do.

Here is the progress of our little friend, Mr Peacock....



Underpainting. I should have made the lights lighter. In general, the underpainting must be painted lighter on the value scale than it really appears because as glazes are added, the painting gets darker.



Too much medium.



I think I am getting it......although, still getting darker and losing highlights.



Where we are now. But...I like it. I will keep messing around with it until it gets to the magical "done."

On the Easel

Painting without reference material directly from imagination is my most favorite way to paint. My thought here is to integrate the bird figure with the chambered nautilus. You can see the shell starting at the beak.
I feel rather stuck on the stag, so I found a canvas I painted black awhile back and just started with an interesting eye.........and will work outward from there.

Painting Update

Here are the first glazes on the peacock. I am already finding myself impatient and wanting to paint directly. Hmmm.....may not be my thing, but I will stick it out and we will see, right?

I spent Sunday purging things for our move in April and found an old 40" x 30" painting of me with Vincent Van Gogh. I painted over it and started a new one today. The central focus will be a white red shouldered hawk that fills up most of the canvas. Let's see how it looks in such a large scale and how it evolves.

"Ki" is done....I just need an assistant to help me get an image...

The Stag.....

Back to the stag today. I am still floating ideas.
Repainted some areas and did the tedious work of painting in the cracks in the antlers. Some scumbling in the sky.
I am trying not to over think here, as I am prone to do with paintings that have been long on the easel.

Today's painting

American Crow
7" x 5"
oil on panel
$250, framed

New Painting Technique

Sometimes I can spend all my time painting and forget to continue my oil painting knowledge and technique. Oil paint is a rather complicated medium with a lot of "rules" that must be observed in order for the work to have any longevity. It can be a little overwhelming when it comes to grounds, mediums and paints and their proper use to create a lasting piece of art.

I spent some time this weekend refreshing myself by reading about oil paints and methods. I looked at some amazing artwork that really challenged me to stretch my approach.
In my work, a painting is created in a fairly direct manner, meaning I mix and apply the paint directly from the tube modeling it within the value scale until I achieve my vision.

I decided to try the indirect method with the peacock. I began by painting a highly detailed image in grays. This is called grisaille and will serve as the structure for the completed work. Once it is dry I will apply several glazes of color over the next weeks until I get what I want. In other words the colors are optically rather than physically mixed. It is much like stacking pieces of colored glass on top of each other to obtain a luminous result.
I will post images as a go along. Hang in with me and lets see how it goes.

Update.....

We have been in the process of buying a house, and though I have been able to do some painting this week, that process has taken most of my focus. We did indeed get the house we offered on Sunday. I am surprised at how exhausting house hunting can be. From Sunday to Wednesday night was a roller coaster. Hence the wiped out feeling, I suppose.

I am really excited about how "Ki" is coming along and will post an image soon. I started a new painting, too, and I am still mulling over the stag painting.

For the weekend I will leave you with Jeremy Geddes. His paintings are the perfect marriage of technique to creativity. Not an easy task.


"The White Cosmonaut"
c. Jeremy Geddes

Frustrating Friday

Still struggling with shoulders some today from sitting at the easel and computer......
An offer we made on a house was not accepted and I had to paint over hours of painting.....ooohhh....and I was on the phone with Jerry's trying to resolve an defective order issue for a long time.

My motto this week was "Thou shalt not Whine"......I am not observing it very well today.

Off to First Night Fredericksburg to attend openings for two artist friends.....I will have wine instead of whine, right?

On the Easel,,,,

detail of "Ki Goes Up" (working title...)

At the Easel

"Black Swan"
7" x 5", oil on panel
$250, framed

The last week I have been taken out by a pinched nerve in my shoulder. I feel like I have so much work to do and with such a painful, time consuming incident, I have to say I got a bit depressed. It seems for me this is going to be an issue related to my work, so I have to find ways to do whatever I can to keep flare ups at bay. Laying on an ice pack for days on end is rather frustrating, but I did think about those who deal with chronic pain without much relief and wondered how they manage whether it is because no one has found an answer to their pain or they live in a place without medical care. Within a few days of a visiting my chiropractor I was 100%. That day was today and this painting is finally done thanks to Dr Mannino.....

I just read that Artomatic is probably going to be pushed back to the fall. Gives me more time to paint.......