Dear “Followers” – Moving notice

If you’re visiting this blog I thank you for checking it out.  However, effective July 5, 2011, all new posts will be made on www.cherylquist.blogspot.com.  Previous posts, and all comments, have been moved there.  I hope you’ll drop by this new blog and continue to follow my artistic journey.  If you’re interested in the reasons behind this change, I’ll be blogging about that soon.

Until recently I had no idea how many ways there are to follow a blog!!!  I’ve moved my email subscriber list over to the new blog seamlessly.  Google followers and other droppers-by aren’t quite so simple.  For that reason, I’ll continue to monitor comments made here for some time. 

In keeping with the theme of this notice, and just for fun, I’m reposting a painting I did last month. In the case of Elbow River Jam, the water moves very quickly indeed! 

See you later at www.cherylquist.blogspot.com.  Cheers!

Retweet this

Paint Small and Often [Carol Marine workshop]

Last Tuesday afternoon was one of the most difficult workshop experiences for me – but I learned a lot.  We selected one item, I picked a kiwi sliced in half.  We painted this item small, 3”x3” squares in my case, over and over.  We had 10 minutes to draw and paint each of these little beasts.  We whined A LOT, and we sweated in that hot, still room. 

Carol was in constant motion making the rounds.  She encouraged me to leave my white paint out of the mix until the very end of this kiwi project – it wasn’t necessary except for the highlights and was causing a dull result.  I was getting it by the 4th and 5th effort [row 1 #4, row 2 #1]…  but I have no idea what happened on the sixth – apparently I unlearned everything!  Carol even did a little demo for the class of my half kiwi before the sixth sketch but the law of diminishing returns was setting in for me health-wise.  When somebody begged to be allowed a new item for the 7th timed sketch, I jumped at the chance to paint this yellow pepper and get out of kiwi-ville.  It turned out okay for a 10 minute sketch but if you squint at the photo of the pepper you will see how dark my subject was on the unlit side.  My sketch should have considered that pretty early on.  Again, value is KEY to painting. 

 

I learned an awful lot from my Tuesday efforts.  Outlining them in this blog helps to drive home the points again. 

1. Paint as often as possible. Many small and quick sketches teaches more than one large painting
2. Use LESS white for many subjects. 
3. Bring a fan to workshops [wink]
4. Ten minutes is long enough to consider lights and darks.  Slow down to speed up. 
5. Painting is SO MUCH FUN [oops! I already knew that didn’t I]

Cheers!

Retweet this

Tuesday’s Cherries [6”x8”, oil on panel]

I really benefited from the exercises we did on value at the Carol Marine workshop last week.  The two smaller photos below were taken after one such exercise last Tuesday.  In short, we were to arrange a still life and paint it in monochromatic tones quickly [30 minutes for this one I think].  I had some yummy cherries all ready to go [left photo] and the resulting monochromatic painting is the really dull one on the left.  If you SQUINT at them both you should see a similar pattern of lights and darks. 

 

Today I took the dull, monochromatic result of that exercise and layered the colors overtop. I loved doing this – the dark values come through from the first layer and carry the value pattern.  I used the grey study in a similar fashion to the old masters’ technique known as grisaille [grizz-eye].   The resulting painting is the larger photo at the top of this post.  I wish I had a few of these yummy cherries right now – they’d make short work of my munchies.  Cheers!

Retweet this

Workshop Monday [Carol Marine, Benalto, Alberta]

As I mentioned last Monday, the first day of the Carol Marine workshop we began with introductions.  What a talented bunch of ladies!  I’ve added the bloggers among them to my list of “Blogs I Follow” on the right side of my blog…  http://cherylsdailyblog.blogspot.com/ in case you are interested.

Here’s a photo of 4 apples Carol set up for her painting demo…  and a thumbnail of her complete painting.  This took her about an hour, what with all our demanding questions [lol].  She’s fast and so fun to watch!  It was interesting to see an intentional tangent [the apples are just touching each other] in this composition and how well Carol pulled it off. 

I want to highlight some of the things that I found helpful from each day of the workshop.  First of all, each artist comes to a workshop with particular needs and talents so what resonated with me might have been “old hat” for other participants or vice versa.  I’ll stick to my experience of the workshop rather than the content – after all, that’s Carol’s content.  If you’re thinking of taking this workshop sign up immediately because it is well worth it!

• Fear… we all have it.  Painting daily helps to relax this performance anxiety.  We reviewed the wonderful benefits of painting small and daily vs big and infrequently…  I’ve experience many that she mentioned – reduced fear of failure, more playful, increased confidence, less emotional involvement.  Try it – really!!!
• Materials – lots of great points from Carol and tips from the other artists including:
  • Carol’s medium mix – 2 parts linseed oil, 1 part stand oil, 1 part mineral spirits.  I’ll be trying this out after I’ve used up my current supply of Maimeri’s ecoblend
  • lots of the artists were using burnt umber [a color I don’t currently own].  I need some!
  • brushes – Carol doesn’t use very many because she cleans as she goes.  Nice – way less mess at the end!
  • brush cleaning – she rarely does more than clean with mineral spirits at the end of the day.  She uses Murphy Oil every couple of weeks to clean them.  I LOVE this idea – brush cleaning is time consuming.
  • brush storage tool – PVC pipe and cap makes a good seal and then brushes don’t dry out.  That makes cleaning with soap and water less necessary :-)
• Painting methods:
• There is no “right” way to paint.  It’s still amazing to me that every artist I observe in a demo has a very unique painting method and style.  I’m getting more comfortable with my own style and finding out more and more how I want to paint – that feels good.
• Carol doesn’t get hung up on painting inside the lines of her drawing, cutting in and/or overlapping the background in places creates some beautiful effects.
• I’m getting the feel for the weight of my strokes.  This is critical with oil painting “alla prima” [in one go] because the under layers are still wet.  Digging around in those layers with a new layer is a great recipe for mud. 
• Squint, squint, squint…  in fact we stopped on Friday morning and took a photo of the class watching Carol’s demo SQUINTING.  We had a great laugh over that – it won’t be easy to forget!

Interesting values [light versus dark] are essential to painting.  Carol gave us 30 minutes to set up and paint a little still life that had a dark, medium and light monochromatic pattern in dominant, secondary, and “smidge” values.  The dominant value in my still life set up  [the cup below] was “mid” [takes over half the painting], my secondary value was “dark” [takes up most of the remaining area], and there was just a smidge of “light”. First I wrote down my pattern, then I painted the cup in a neutral color to match the pattern I had noted in my subject.  You can read all about this on Carol’s Daily Paintworks Challenge from May 21st.  It’s a good exercise in SEEING.

All week, Carol amazed me with her ability to SEE in every way possible – the value, color, intensity, shape, etc. of both her subject and the painting she was making. More tomorrow!

Retweet this

Beginning with the ending…

I’ve just arrived home from a week long Carol Marine workshop and, although my lodgings were superb [ty Conrad & Teresa], I can truly say I am happy to be home, sweet home!  I’ve neglected my blogging this week due to shortage of time & energy but I’ve painted lots, and I’ve learned even more! 

Tomorrow I’ll begin a day by day recap of the workshop highlights with photos of my work, but today I want to share what happens at the end of Carol’s workshops.  Over the course of the week, Carol painted five 6”x6” paintings during “demos”.  These are made available to student to purchase for a modest price if you’re lucky.  This morning we had a draw to see which students would be selecting a painting to buy, and in which order.  My name was drawn second.  I really wanted Carol’s painting of orange slices, a knife and a little bowl of mine [as yet unnamed].  But, another student’s name was drawn first and she selected this one.  Later, she had a change of heart and we traded – thanks Margreet! 

I love everything about this little painting – the oranges just glow against that blue background and the brush strokes are lively & free.  I find Carol’s style engages me in a way that hyper-realism doesn’t.  As a viewer, I have a role in this painting…  a connection. My eye moves around in the painting noticing the colors and shapes, confirming the story.  The connection is also stronger because I enjoyed watching her paint it!  Throughout the week Carol came by to help me with my painting and every project she commented that the highlights needed to be smaller…  I’ll remember that every time I look at this painting – the dark shape says “knife” with just those small lights on the handle! 

Two very, very tired ladies today… and now to bed!  Cheers!

Retweet this

Carol Marine Workshop

Today I began a 5 day workshop with Carol Marine.  We are meeting at the Benalto community hall near Red Deer.  I'm fortunate to have a lovely place to stay here at my brother and sister-in-laws' place about 40 minutes from the workshop.  This morning we got things going with introductions and some general discussion around the daily painting movement.  Carol's story is such an inspiration and I am thouroughly enjoying this workshop so far.  This afternoon we were given 2 hours to set up and paint a little still life. 

I found these fun little key limes at the grocery yesterday and I set them up on my kiddie blocks with my new little mixing bowl.  I'm hoping to get some help with making the limes read a bit better tomorrow.  They aren't the usual shape of a lime but are round little guys.  Anyway, it was a lot of fun and we're just getting warmed up!

Cheers!

Retweet this

Elbow Falls gets a new home

Yesterday I was privileged to attend the wedding of Kelsey Quist and Brandon Somerville.  I certainly hope they like this painting of Elbow Falls I did in acrylic last year. This is a viewpoint that most Calgarians, and many around the world, are familiar with.  Usually the sky isn’t orangey like this but hey, this is art folks!  The beauty of this spot on the Elbow River puts me in mind of a marriage – beautiful, risky, but WORTH THE DRIVE!  May your marriage prove this to be the case as you continue your journey under the cross.  Uncle Ron captured this photo yesterday and I LOVE it!  Blessings on you both in your joint venture as man and wife! 

Retweet this

Thundering Through the Foothills [oil, 10”x8”]

This particular, spectacular storm rolled across the foothills between the Leighton Centre and the Rocky Mountains.  We had spectacular thunder and sheets of rain just a few miles away.  I painted for about an hour wanting to capture the power of the scene.  I kept an eye to the southwest though…  I wasn’t fond of my chances with lightening out on that ridge!  Bits of blue sky shone through here and there before the wind picked up, the umbrella came down and the golf cart got rolling. 

Golf cart you say?  Yes – golf cart!  Why let all that research golf engineers have done about moving heavy gear without sore shoulders go to waste?  Ron clipped some dividers out of an old golf bag and my chair [when I get a smaller one], umbrella, and tripod ride inside that.  Plenty of pockets for the layers of clothing, bug repellant and sunscreen, lunch, water, etc.  My Alla Prima pochade box rides in my backpack, attached to the top handle of the golf cart.  Nadda on my back – cool, eh?  Still, I’m not venturing too far from the car just yet…  my back isn’t up for long hikes. 

Retweet this

Survivor START [oil, 10”x8”]

I took a photo of this wind-bent tree in Ucluelet, BC in 2006.  I’ve painted it a few times in watercolor but this is the first attempt in oil.  Although I’ve got a ways to go on it, this scene speaks to me about persistence, thriving in the face of adversity [wind and salt spray] and showcasing beauty along side of the challenges life throws at you.  Although the surf pounds loudly in your ears when you’re in Ucluelet, it’s a sounds of peace for me.  I’m looking forward to finishing this one but I’ve got to set it aside for about 10 days for a family wedding this weekend and then *WOOT* a Carol Marine workshop all of next week.  I’m trying to rest up in advance so I don’t run out of jam part way through…  cheers!

Retweet this

Late June Tulips [oil, 8”x6”]

No, I’m not kidding!  The tulips planted on the northeast side of my house just bloomed a few weeks ago and they will probably last another week.  It’s been a very cold spring around here but today is glorious!  Sunny and warm for the first day of summer!  Enjoy!

Retweet this

I Miss Biking [oil, 8”x10”]

Lately my daughter Kim has been biking to work along some of the beautiful bike paths here in Calgary.  There are over 1,000 kilometres of paved bike path within Calgary’s city limits.  I enjoyed biking to work until I lost my balance, fell and broke a wrist back in 2004.  The peace of the pathway before and after work was a wonderful contrast to pressured work days.  Since then my health hasn’t allowed me to get back on my bike and I’ve come to terms with that – don’t need any more broken bones, that’s for sure!  But last week I pulled my golf/art cart along a bike pathway in Tuscany and found this little view that pleased my eye.  Enjoy!

Retweet this

Tomorrow in Balance [oil, 8”x6”]

More practice in oil painting and I took up a Daily Paintworks Challenge on “balance”.  Setting up this balancing act with a little striped box, a bottle of acrylic paint, and “tomorrow’s” blank canvas was just fun.  It was ironic to paint the bottle of acrylic paint with my oils!  We need hope in the future and signing this painting in the bottom right of the “tomorrow” canvas is symbolic for moving on with life and believing in the future.  Big thoughts for a fun little painting.  Have a great week!

Retweet this

80% Chance of Rain [oil, 8”x6”]

I painted some of this scene plein air but felt it needed a few touch ups at home.  I added the warmer color in the tops of the cloud and underneath, as if it was evening.  It feels like the whole things is working better now.  I have no idea what the rules around “plein air” designations are…  I suppose I should be more curious about that.  Right now I’m happy if I can get a color mixed the way I want, never mind where I painted it.  Ciao!

Retweet this

Monday Model [oil on canvas, 20”x16”]

I had another go at the painting from class 2 weeks ago…  I like her face and shoulders better now.  She appears to be sitting up straighter.  I also toned down the colors in the dress and warmed up the color in her skin.  This seems to have put the focus back on the model rather than the bright dress.  I feel like I’ve learned quite a bit from this exercise, particularly about the pushing and pulling of warm vs cool skin tones.  Getting a “likeness” however, is still eluding me.  Fun stuff. 

Retweet this

Elbow River Jam [oil, 10”x8”]

I spent a few minutes finishing up this one today…  it’s all done now but, as usual, I reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow ;-).  I feel like I captured the peaceful, yet uncontrollable, essence of the scene and I even like my foreground rocks! That’s a first as I usually struggle mightily with them.  It helps to squint down and not think of rocks at all.  There are lots of colors in those Elbow River rocks!

Retweet this

Elbow River Jam “start” [oil, 10”x8”]

I painted this last Saturday at Leighton Centre during a plein air workshop…  inside, from a photo.  It poured, pitchforks points down, all day long.  Correction, it poured until 4pm at which point we were done for the day.  However, the silver lining was quickly evident.  There are many things about plein air that are more easily discussed, observed, and practiced in the classroom without the elements and the distances between painters that one normally has  during outdoor workshops.  For example, a teacher can pull all students together more easily in a classroom when a common issue arises.  The discussion is covered once for many instead of student by student.  I took this photo a year or two ago on a Sunday afternoon drive out to Bragg Creek.  I’ve got some more work to do on this one but it’s going to be put off until later this week when, alas, the rain is scheduled to recommence.  Cheers!

Retweet this

Consider the Lilies [acrylic, 20”x16”]

It bears repeating regularly – we need to rest and trust in God.  Easier said than done I know!  Quite a few folks I know are feeling the pressures of the the world, whether they have major decisions to make, have fallen ill, or are getting by on less, concerned about family members, have lost a loved one, etc.  More often it’s a combination of several of issues.  Jesus put it succinctly as usual in Luke 12:27 - "Consider the lilies, how they grow : they neither toil nor spin ; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these”.  That’s what inspired this painting. 

I love how the apostle Paul described this type of resting from financial worries in Philippians 4 - “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity ; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  I think Paul’s talking about an attitude of gratitude that few of us practice these days.  And it does take practice…  have a contented week!

Retweet this

Lloyd Leaner [oil, 10”x8”]

There are so many scenes available to paint at Lloyd Park [SW of Calgary].  None are quite as tempting as this gnarly spruce tree which imposes itself in the foreground of many views.  It’s an interesting contrast to all the horizontals in the rest of the land/lakescape.  I struggled with the shapes in the background and although this was painted 90% on site last Saturday, I puttered a bit with it at home as well.  I can see that it’s important not to overdo the studio putzing…  the freshness needs to be retained.  Looking forward to more plein air this weekend at Leighton Centre!  Have a great day!

Retweet this

Pear Pair [oil, 6”x6”]

A pair of red pears – except there are many, many colors in these “red” pears.  Violet shadows, green, yellow and white highlights, 4 different pigments of red…  all rolled into 2 little pears. 

I’m sure enjoying painting these little guys!  I’m using baltic birch panels sealed with GAC100 and tinted with an orange/red.  The warmth peeks through in places and unifies the whole.  Enjoy!

Retweet this

Still Green [oil, 6”x6”]

I’m back to studying the colors and shapes of fruit.  I took on this little pear today.  Even though it sat on a purple fabric, the light reflected back into the pear was orange!  The purple behind the pear took on a reddish cast that offset the green of the pear nicely.  Ciao!

Retweet this

Little Falls at Big Hill Springs [oil, 6”x8”]

This little painting was also done at Big Hill Springs Provincial Park yesterday.  After a morning of chatting with passersby at the main falls, I took a rest break and then set up in a more secluded spot.  This little scene was so peaceful and calm.  Relative to some of the views it was quite boring.  However, sometimes “boring” is just restful… except we’ve lost our capacity to rest!  The sound of the waterfall was peaceful in the morning so I didn’t want to go too far away from it.  Consequently, I stood with a smaller waterfall spraying just a bit onto my left foot when I painted this scene.  Refreshing indeed - plein air painting was made for such a day a this! 

Retweet this

Big Hill Springs [oil, 9”x12”]

My plein air adventure continued early today when I met with my fellow painters at Big Hill Springs Provincial Park.  It’s about 35 minutes from my house to BHSPP and yet this is the first time I’ve been there.  WOW!!!  From the parking lot this park looks pretty average…  but climb the Big Hill and you’ll see a series of waterfalls and pools that are gorgeous!  We had a gorgeous day for plein air painting – just the right temperature and good protection from wind.  I painted with the sound of running water in my ears for hours and it did me a world of good.  Also, I did a better job pacing myself today – yesterday was a bit too much standing for my back :(

We arrived [jammed into 3 cars to save parking] before the crowds.  Sharon did a quick tour of the potential plein air sites with some valuable information about when the light would be best at each.  Then a quick demo was followed by a lot of scurrying around to set up and PAINT!  I realized that this waterfall was a bit over my head, but I was so drawn to the sound that I just charged in.  I like the way this feels – it’s long-exposure painting…  so much water charging over those falls, such power!

Although I registered for this workshop weeks ago, today had another focus for me.  Before I began painting I walked around the area by the parking lot where ~760 trees have been planted in memory of a lost family member, including my brother, Chuck Matson.  This event is hosted by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes for the families they served last year.  I was sorry to have missed attending the event with my family yesterday. 

Later, as I painted, I visited with dozens of folks taking in the gorgeous sun, sights, sounds, and smells of creation!  They seemed to enjoy watching us paint and chatting.  I certainly enjoyed visiting with them – particularly the children who say the most amazing things about their own art!  I was moved by the symbolism of the new growth and beauty that we are able to find in the midst of our grief.  Today was a day of blessings.

Retweet this

Lloyd Lake Wetlands [oil, 6”x8”]

Just south of Highway 22x & 53rd St SW, near Calgary, a little gem of a park is waiting to be discovered.  It’s invisible from the road and is home to gazillions of birds – all chirping and squawking at once.  I went there to paint today with a group from the Calgary chapter of the FCA.  Sharon Williams is teaching this ‘plein air’ [aka outdoor painting] workshop.  I chose to paint this little scene of the reeds meandering through the lake.  I still haven’t taken the training wheels off my oil paints yet but I really do like what is going on in the top half of this one. 

As I prepared to leave this morning, I kept an ear tuned to the phone – the weather was that yucky!  As promised, it was cold, foggy, and drizzly in the morning but gradually cleared up this afternoon.  The change to these wetlands in different weather is incredible – it was worth braving the cold and wet to experience the changing light over this gorgeous little corner of the earth.

I look forward to painting again tomorrow at a different park.  We’re supposed to have great weather tomorrow – no doubt we will since we will all come fully prepared with our winter gear!  Enjoy!

Retweet this

Team work

Ron and I spent a while cutting [scary saw!], sanding and prepping baltic birch panels for plein air.  A while ago I prepped some 9”x12” panels and I still have a few around.  However, now that I’ve done a few plein air sessions, I can see the need for some small ones.  Today we made 8”x10”, 6”x8”, and a few 6”x6”.  Ron cut and helped me set up the palm sander for smoothing the edges – nobody wants a sliver when you’ve inspired to paint!  I seal and tone all exposed wood with Golden’s GAC100, tinted with their fluid acrylic Transparent Red Iron Oxide.  And voila! – ready for my plein air workshop this weekend.  Now if the weather would just cooperate!

Retweet this

Wearing Purple [oil, 6”x6”]

Weeks ago I decided that I need to do more small paintings on a more regular basis and really study the mundane, simple things around me.  With that in mind I ordered a supply of 6”x6” deep, gallery wrapped canvasses when Curry’s had their sale last month.  I got some help with “seeing” better last weekend. 

Yesterday I set up a still life with just a red onion with a light green background and painted my first 6x6 canvas.  So fun!  I  love the way these colors complement each other.  There’s a real trick to getting the paint to leave your brush when and how you want it to!  I’ve got a lot to work out in that regard.  My hands can be quite shaky at times so I do better when I make a quick, decisive stroke.  Easier said than done – trust me on that!  Location, pressure, direction, angle, all factors in making oil paint work.  Before the stroke you’ve already made several key decisions – which brush? which color? how intense? what value? It’s very, very entertaining…  Ciao!

Retweet this

Monday model WIP [oil, 16”x20”]

Monday we had a beautiful model for our painting class with Ingrid.  I felt pretty good about my effort given only about 2.5 hours to paint.  Despite the warning from Ingrid that we often paint shoulders too big, I did exactly that.  Is it ever hard to figure out what isn’t working in a figure pose!  I did spend a fair bit of time measuring and re-measuring my drawing before I started blocking in and I think that helped.  The face is really bugging me though – I missed it totally on the color temperature for the shadow across her eyes.  Have a look at where I was at the end of class [below], and check out how long her right arm was!  I got the proportions “righter” but I’ve still got to deal with the color under her new hand…  or perhaps I’ll just wipe this and have another go next week. 

Cheers!

Retweet this

Orange Compliment [oil, 8”x6”]

This is the third painting from the weekend workshop.  I was amazed at how much duller the reflection was relative to the brilliance of the orange!  Given that blue is the compliment to orange [ie mixed together they would be dull greyish] I shouldn’t have been so surprised.  I love painting glass and this was a good challenge for the last painting of the workshop.  One more weekend of focusing on, and painting, what I see – not orange sections and a blue bottle!  So fun! 

Retweet this

Reflections of an Eggplant [oil, 6”x8”]

We continued our weekend workshop by setting up a simple little still life each.  I chose an eggplant, which I thought would be simpler than my striated apple ;-).   It was somewhat simpler but I found it fascinating that a great eggplant only reveals a little bit of it’s purple hide at a time!  Of course the lighting is somewhat controllable with my nifty Home Depot clamp on trouble lamp.  I set it up close to the left hand side of the eggplant and set to work.  The reflections are amazing!  They define the shape and the form, dulling and cooling gradually as they fall away from the light.  Then you have the funny things – like the reflected red of the background fabric and the warmish white of my roll of paper towel sitting just out of sight on the right.  Fascinating!  I thought this was done but I’m going to set it up again tomorrow and see whether I got the right value in the shadow – I’m guessing I’m off by at least two…  I learned SO MUCH this weekend.  Cheers!

Retweet this

Apple from Liz Wiltzen’s workshop

This weekend I am lucky to be in a Calgary FCA workshop with accomplished painter Liz Wiltzen.  We’re painting in oils and concentrated on value, color, and intensity today with several exercises.  The goal of the workshop is to concentrate on observing these things carefully, putting down the “true” colors.  Once that has been mastered, an artist can move on to their chosen path wherever they want to be on the realism --- abstraction spectrum. 

For the last 90 minutes we worked up our own small [6”x8”] still life.  I brought an apple that was striated red/green – what a nasty thing that was to paint!  The color was difficult due to the complimentary nature of red/green.  Every time I made a stroke it changed EVERYTHING!  I was reasonably happy with the way it turned out despite running out of time.  The background color was challenging and I’ve made it just a tad too cool in the painting.  More practice tomorrow.  Have a great weekend!

Retweet this

Irksome RSS feed test # whatever [lost count]

I hate techie stuff!

Retweet this

Foothills Fields [ 9”x12”, oil]

Just a little sketch of the rolling fields and foothills of Alberta today.  Country roads take me home….  have a great day!

Retweet this

Self Portrait revisited [oil, 12”x9”]

I had another go at this self-portrait today.  I used the same canvas but set up the lights differently this time so that I could eliminate that awful shadow from my glasses.  I also worked at restating the neck, which had been too short [for me] and decided to attempt a more cheerful, less concentrated and grumpy, expression.  I like it better now although it might be a bit too yellow still.  It’s better than looking bruised as I did on May 16th.  Here’s the before picture so you can see the difference.  Cheerio!

Retweet this

Draw [oil, 12”x9”]

Picking up is the only answer for this player…  Note to self:  dominoes are nasty subjects for a “quick” still life painting!!!  But, still better than dabbing at nicks in my walls – FAR better.  Cheers!

Retweet this

May Showers [oil, 9”x12”

I just had to get out of this house today…  packing and reorganizing seems to be the theme at our place right now.  It’s been inspiring to reorganize my art room and find all kinds of ideas that I’ve jotted.  All are now safely stored away in a much more organized fashion.  My art accounts and invoices are also.  Phew! 

So, to reward myself for all that hard work I grabbed my gear and headed to the park on the ridge in the community of Tuscany.  Set up is so fast with my BestBrella and my Alla Prima pochade box.  I was looking west towards the Rockies and the clouds were rolling towards me.  I expected rain before I finished so I was hustling to get started.  That’s when I discovered that, although I remembered the all important mosquito repellant, I’d left my medium pots at home.  No walnut oil nor thinner to help with paint control. Too late for that – I sketched in quick and grabbed my palette knives.  Consequently, this painting is thick.  I basically slathered the paint on with my knifes and used a bristle brush on most of the sky – it was amazing how fast those clouds were moving!  But, the distinct line of dark was constant like this for a long time.  It didn’t rain on me but it certainly was raining at Springbank Airport.  Eventually the wind picked up enough that I had to collapse my umbrella but I kind of like this painting – LOVE painting with the knives [loved the sale at Curry’s too]! 

Retweet this

Self Portrait in oil [11”x14”]

I painted this on Monday at my oil class…  just me, a mirror, and 5 colors of paint.  The overhead light is not attractive – the shadow of my glasses is quite awful but the exercise was to paint the shapes and values that one sees.  I think I kind of got a likeness at least and the light/dark areas on the mouth and chin are definitely working to describe the contours of my face. Cheers!

Retweet this

Scrapescape 1 [oil, 9”x12”]

This scene repeats itself over and over again all along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  I had a bunch of paint left on my palette at the end of my painting session yesterday…  second day for some of it and I needed to clean it up and resqueeze for next painting session.  I used my palette knife throughout this painting.

Here's a question for my oil painting friends...

Retweet this