More progress on a big scale…

I’ve strengthened the light blue in the top background, added a similar blue across a portion of the lower background, glazed the raised central loop with interference bronze, and puttered around with a few more minor details since yesterday.  I like this a lot better now as the value patterns are interesting but still abstract.  Cheers!

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Progress on a big scale

I’ve been working on the 40”x60” painting [last posted on March 21] off and on for the past couple of weeks.  I thought I’d share a few of the steps along the way today…

Above left was the status as at March 21st when I last posted.  It seemed to me that I needed a darker path moving through and off to the top left.  After isolating the area to paint by taping off, I used a sponge to apply dark paint through a letter stencil. 

    

I used a similar tape off for the left ribbon but instead of applying the paint with a sponge, I pushed the opaque yellow through the stencil with a palette knife.  By this point I need to re-establish the values and I began with a glaze of cool blue on top and a strong near-white on the largest vertical loop.  A blue loop is next on the right side and a strong dark on the lower third background. 

It occurs to me that explaining the steps in a large painting is a very different thing than a small one [:-).  I think I’ll cut out now and add a few more steps tomorrow.  Cheers!

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Brown-eyed Susans [oil, 11x14]

This is the still life I worked at on Monday at my second class with Ingrid Christensen.  I love the feel of the oils – it’s an entirely different experience than painting in acrylic and watercolor!  So creamy!  I struggled away at this one and resolved one of the flower head but that’s about all.  Some fun left on this one for sure!

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Farming 101 [acrylic, 18”x24”]

My Grandpa Johnston, a life-long farm boy, never ceased preaching the wisdom of owning and protect the farmland.  Often he used the story of the goose that laid the golden egg to make his point. 

I didn’t begin this painting with the intention of illustrating this story.  I began by playing with tar gel, gloss gel, and my carved wheat sheaf stamp.  I suppose that’s where it took of in an agricultural bent.  I think this one is saying what I want it to say in a quirky, abstract way.  Cheers!

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Next Step [acrylic, 16”x16”]

  I’ve been puttering on several canvasses which all seemed to be going nowhere.  This week my goal is to move some of them to completion.  This began as an abstracted rock face but I began to see a figure frozen  in a hesitant stance.  He’s contemplating the next step...  Cheers!

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Alpine Hike [Acrylic, 24”x24”]

I’m dreaming of summer hikes in the beautiful foothills of the Canadian Rockies.  This painting is about that feeling – cool, clean, clear air, sunshine, and good old fashioned walking.  We’re still buried under the unmentionable white stuff here and YEARNING for warmer days!

This was painted in a direct fashion…  sketched in with a mix of Golden paints Crimson and Quinacridone Gold, then a first layer to block in the sky, mountains, tree band, and path.  After that was dry I went back in and defined some individual trees, added opaque highlights on some trees, and built up the rocks.  Fun! 

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Still Life [Oil on canvas, 11”x14”]

Today’s class we watch a demo by Ingrid before tackling our own painting of the still life.  I enjoyed the teaching about working from:

bigger brushes =>                                    smaller brushes

largest shapes =>                                     smaller shapes

drier paint =>                                          oilier paint

thinner paint =>                                       thicker paint

We sketched in the shapes in a very simple way and continued to paint the lower, darker level as we covered the painting with the first layer. 

The second layer was added by using the same mixes of color but adding white to raise them a value or two.

Here’s how it looks now Cheers!

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Plein Air prep

Tomorrow I begin a 6 week oil painting class with Ingrid Christensen.  I’m pretty excited to learn all I can about handling this new [to me] medium before I head outdoors.  Here’s a photo of my setup:  my old tripod, brand spanking new alla prima pochade, bestbrella, paint brushes, etc.  We’ve still got snow here so it may take a few more days before I’m out and painting. 

I’ve been doing some acrylic painting in recent days and will post again soon.

Cheers!

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I’d rather be painting…

…  but instead I’m catching up with Ron’s bookkeeping and income taxes.  It never ceases to amaze me that I worked as a professional accountant for over 20 years – I truly dislike the work. 

Anyhow…  that’s all – just wanted to let my readers know that I am [very sadly] otherwise occupied.  I hope to be back to my paints in another day or two.

Cheers!

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Royalty [acrylic collage, 10”x10”]

One of the exercises Sharon suggested in our collage unit was to take one of our successful paintings and attempt a collage based on our own work.  I chose my watercolour painting “Royalty” [see below]. 

I began by painting a variety of solid color collage papers – both opaque and translucent.  I traced my painting onto a mat board and started tearing and gluing.  I also painted directly on to the collage towards the end of this session.  Enjoy your weekend!

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