Shoe Atop Star Box

Shoe Atop Star Box   Watercolor on Canvas    12 x 12   $150

I really love to work on this new canvas from TARA. Watercolors are hard enough on paper and I find I can control them better when I can wipe out sections that are going badly. The canvas doesn't stain like paper does, or fall apart from repeated scrubbings. I don't do many watercolors any more and this is from my "Sampling the Media Class" where I had time to do a demo for my students that I finished at home in my studio. It is a strange collection of objects...just stuff that was in the prop box. TARA has stopped making the 8x10 size and that is a shame. I bought a pad of watercolor canvas sheets, so I will see how they work, but I'm not likely to put them on stretchers myself, so it is back to mattes and glass with that. 

Easter Sunday...Awe is Resurrected! Oh Happy Day!!!

Notice that shiny area at the top of the canvas.
I tried to minimize the green and played down the yellow

I took this with my phone and it is fuzzy. It could be OK
this way but that yellow is still bothersome 

Easter Sunday 4-20-14. Vastly improved

My palette shows the assortment of colors and replicates those tones I used in the sky.

Over this week I made many changes to Awe. I had a difficult problem to solve with either my paint or the diamond-studded canvas that I bought 6 yards of for $250 or both! I feel like I have wrestled with the paint not behaving like it should, or perhaps I am just not used to expensive canvas. I don't know. But the problem arose when I noticed that there were areas of the sky that were shiny and others dull. I admit that I had used Oleogel Medium to make that dark blue paint brush on like it should. I get nervous when I use something like a medium because of future problems of cracking, and I don't like shiny paint surfaces, preferring a smooth matte finish to my canvas. This canvas was both taking in the paint too much and in areas it seemed to sit on the surface. After I repainted the sky, I guess on Monday, I thought it was OK but on Tuesday morning I noticed that there were brush marks and that shiny stripe at the top of the painting, that you might see in the photo of the previous post. Anyway, after much hand wringing, I decided to dive into again, and in the next few days I actually took up some sandpaper and sanded the whole sky. I have never heard of anyone doing that, but I did it, and took off the top shiny layer of paint. Then I put on more paint, by mistake I added some linseed oil to that dark blue, which was, again, not the right thing to do. I had more shiny spots and that stripe across the top was dreadful. So I got out the sandpaper again and really laid on it, and took off most of the shiny areas. This time I repainted the sky without medium getting more paint on it, and trying to blend in my brush marks. It seemed to work well, but it was still not quite right. Sunday...I started in again on it, and repainted the sky again....yikes. I was so exhausted by Sunday night I could barely function. But the painting is looking good, and there are no shiny spots this morning. I also began to work on the final go through working on the details, the flowers and the small vase was where I did most of the work yesterday. I am happy with my progress now, and feel that I am finally on the downslope with Awe! Yay!!!

You may not see the subtle changes I made, but I have reduced the green stripe significantly and downplayed the yellow above the trees. I like the green and yellow stripes, but we joke around among ourselves "don't get wed to a part of your painting" because it is often the one thing that should be removed! I finally decided that the yellow had to be minimized and it is so much better, because that stripe cut the painting in half, and was way to bright. I should have known...but I admit that I was wedded to it.

So having made these changes I am now ready to work on those details that from a distance you can't really see, but close up need attention. How much longer? Who knows. At the end of July it will be two years on my easel. I am definitely sick of it!

"Awe" 3 months later

I am having such a problem with the sky! I repainted it today, making the green stripe and yellow area by the top of the trees less noticeable. I like what I did, but I am having a big problem with the way the paint is showing brush marks. Before, when it dried I had areas that were shiny and parts that were sunk in and dead looking. I think now the only hope for it will be retouch varnish when the painting is finished. Hopefully that will take care of those shiny/dull spots.

I do have more work to do in places on the painting, and a bit more touching up in the flowers, and a few places I missed in the sky. I hope I can get it finished by Sunday afternoon. I think I am on a roll now.

Splat!

Splat!     Oil on Linen    10 x 10      $225

Did you know that certain chickens lay green eggs? I didn't until my friend Diane gave me one of her brother's chickens eggs. I was so intrigued I decided to set it up for a small Egg Tempera. I have a glass perfume bottle that has ruffles and ridges and I thought this egg would look great mounted atop this filigreed bottle. Of course just as I was reaching for the camera the whole thing was knocked over and went splat on the floor under the table. Between my cursing and trying to get the cat away, and then getting enough light to take a picture, the egg just slowly started to spread. I never did get a great photo of it, but enough to paint this little painting, which was great fun to do.

Apples in a Red Glass Bowl

Apples in a Red Glass Bowl          14 x 18        Oil          $450

Some of you will recognize that green striped cloth that you might have struggled to paint in one of my classes. I have painted it many times in the past and this time I think I may have gotten it about right. I love painting striped cloth but it is a brute to do, and just sorting out the confusion is something I like about doing art. 

Miss Puss and the Flowers series is finished!

Miss Puss and the Snapdragons        Oil on Canvas   

20 X 20              $695

I always feel a twinge of sadness when I finish a series. Oh, sure, I can add some more, but I think I have about exhausted the cat/flower theme as there are 8 paintings in this series. One has sold. I do have ideas for more paintings of Miss Puss, but not with flowers. I have not consulted with her about the next paintings, and don't know for sure if she is OK with posing for some of my upcoming ideas. We shall see.

Problems, problems! "Awe" is still a problem!

Those white blobs in the sky is masking tape which is holding a piece of 5mil acetate. I have tried a new sky idea in the lower right side of the sunset, while the left side shows a revision I made several weeks ago. After living with it for awhile I decided it is much better than what I had before, but I was still not too happy with it. I have spent days photographing the night sky out my window, and these cold clear evenings give me a good idea of what it should look like. I wanted the green stripe, which I do see sometimes, but I have exaggerated it too much and it doesn't look right. Hopefully the moderation of the green, more on the turquoise side, is a bit better than that strong green. Now that I have lived with the acetate revision for a few days, I will be able to actually make the change on the painting, and hope that I can match the blues and not have to paint the whole sky again. 

Awe 12-29-13

I have worked on Awe this week, all day on Christmas, and part of the day on the following day. I am still not happy with parts of it, but I was able to get the violin strings in, using a 20 zero liner and some artists' tape. It was a nerve wracking exercise! This painting seems like an endless project, as there is still more work to do on it, and I must admit I am getting tired of looking at it. I paint one thing and run immediately into value problems, and then have to go back and repaint it the next day. My picture is not a very accurate representation of the painting, but you get the idea.

Lemons to Lemonade

Lemons to Lemonade         8.5 x 8.5        Pastel on Wallis

This was a little pastel I did as a demonstration in my Saturday morning class and then some more in my studio. It was fun, and I have not done a pastel in a long time! I forgot how nice it is to work in juicy thick pigment. 

Miss Puss and the Gladiolas

Miss Puss and the Gladiolas        18 x 24         Oil       $695

Miss Puss has a mind of her own. I tried to get her to pose upright and looking inquisitively at the Glads, but she had other ideas. She insisted on this strange lying down pose and when I propped her up she got a sour puss on her face and glared at me. I'd look away and fiddle with my camera setting and there she was, lying down looking at me with that odd look, as if to say, "You have made me very tired, posing for all these paintings!" I have quite a lot of photos of her and only one or two with her sitting upright. It is quite mystical, this cat of mine, who seems to know when she is required to go to work and gets up on my work table ready to pose whenever the camera comes out, or I bring flowers into the house. This is number 7 in the series of 8 paintings. I said awhile back that I was going to do 4, but I couldn't resist doing more. I have run out of "safe" flowers as so many of them seem to be toxic to cats. Anyway, one more to go and I am going to be starting it very soon, if not today.

  

Miss Puss and the Orchids

Miss Puss and the Orchids       Oil on Canvas
18 x 24        $695

This is number 6 in the series of 8 paintings of Miss Puss and the Flowers. I am currently working on the last two paintings; Miss Puss and the Gladiolas and Miss Puss and the Snapdragons. They are so much fun! I swear Miss Puss knows she is a star and gladly poses for me whenever I set up my "stage" and camera. 

Miss Puss and the Spider Mums

Miss Puss and the Spider Mums         Oil on Canvas

20 x 20                    $695

This is number 5 in the Series of Miss Puss and the Flowers. I am so intrigued by Miss Puss as she seems to love to pose for me. I brought home a big bouquet of Gladiolas that were a birthday gift, and before I had my purse stowed she was posing with them. It was amazing, and later when I had them in a proper container and set up with my lights and camera she gave me several hours of shooting time in which I had so much material I will have difficulties picking the one I want to use for the series. I am working on Miss Puss and the Orchids now which is number six, and was the end until the Glads came into the house. Now I am looking for some snapdragons or zinnias to complete the series. I think 8 is enough! Miss Puss may have other ideas, however.

Awe 8-25-13

I have been working on "Awe" from time to time but the changes are hard to see so I have not been logging my progress as much now. Even so, other artwork, my job, and all kinds of real and imaginary things have somehow gravitated to the top of the priority list and Awe languishes on the easel for most of the spring and summer. But I made a commitment to myself that this would be finished by mid-September, and I think that is probably a manageable goal. I am fairly pleased with this painting, and I think I have worked out all the problems. Those white edges on the flowers have been a real tricky problem of getting the values right, and I have painted them over several times and I have to keep greying down that white, so much I can't believe it, but still they read white from a distance. I worked for quite awhile on the violin and I think I finally have the perspective of the bridge right now...for a long time it was flipping all over the place as I would walk by it. I had it so slightly off that the thing would appear to move...weird stuff like that drives me crazy.

I have one more run through that will solidify the background sky and sunset, which I am avoiding, but I almost got into it today, but decided other things were more important. I need to work a bit more on the scrollwork of the table and a bit more on the drapery. So...stay tuned...will Gainor meet her deadline? 

Monotype Demonstration Last Night

I was asked to do a Monotype workshop for Tampa Regional Artists last night in Hyde Park. I must admit that I spent two intense days preparing for this, as it is not easy to pull prints in front of an audience and have the presentation flow properly. I had approximately one hour to show them a couple of types of Monotypes. I have been doing hand printed oil paint Montypes for many years and I would have no trouble doing one of them, but it takes quite a few hours to actually paint it properly, and I didn't want to have them sit through watching me paint, so I prepared the plate at home and hoped that it would stay wet for long enough to get it to South Tampa. As it turned out it did stay wet but I also had to soak a couple of my printing papers for quite a long time, and the container of water dumped all over the floor of my car on the way to Tampa. It was soaking wet this morning and I hoped a spray of vinegar would deter the mildew from growing under the passenger seat of my car.

Anyway, the demonstration turned out well and the two types of Monotypes that I had minimal experience with also were fine. One was using water based Createx paint which I had never done before. I actually painted the plate the day before the demonstration and the directions say that you should let it dry completely before printing it. It suffered a bit of damage on the way which I fixed when I got to TRA. The final technique is a traced Monotype which uses water based block printing ink, rolled out on a plate. The paper is then placed carefully over the ink. Not touching the paper at all I set up a "bridge" as a hand rest. The idea is to either make the image on the back of the paper, or tracing over a pre-prepared drawing. In this case I did the latter, and had a drawing on tracing paper that I carefully traced. Then I used a rubber tipped tool to add shading to the drawing. The three examples are below.

Oil Painting Monotype

 Watercolor Monotype

Traced Monotype

Miss Puss and the Gerbera Daisies

Miss Puss and the Gerbera Daisies 

Oil on Canvas       24 x 18        $495

I think I just finished this painting today after much fiddling around and repainting. These things are always subject to another revision, after a couple of days of looking at it on my studio easel. 

This series of paintings of my cat with the flowers is so intriguing and fun to do, I wonder what will be next! I have quite a few ideas cooking but there are two more paintings in this series; Miss Puss and the Spider Mums, and Miss Puss and the Orchids. The spider mum painting is started and the orchid painting has the photo work complete, so I am well along on those two....and then it is over with 6 paintings.