Sunday, February 22, 2009
From the Totally Unrelated File
This is from the Totally Unrelated File : by opting to get our home electricity from a Wind Farm, I powered my home studio ( well, actually my entire home) from a renewable energy source which avoided the release of 9,183 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions into the air, or the environmental benefit of not driving 9,313 miles. While using Wind power is slightly more expensive than hydro-generated power, the cost on our monthly bill is negligible and so, no, I don't feel guilty about driving my car. Now if they can just come up with wind-generated cars...
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Yellow Rose
Collected
I bought a dozen of these yellow roses and kept them in a cool room for a week while I got up my courage to attempt this painting...or rather, the painting I was going to do - four or five roses in a vase, maybe on a white cloth.
However, after long consideration, I decided that this small format was more suited to just one rose. It was a wise choice. The task of capturing this image took me longer than expected. Several of the flowers had to give up their little yellow petaled lives during the process, for which I am grateful. Although I do feel awful about it. The flowers, I mean. Spending their last moments under hot lights without benefit of water...it is a cruel life we lead.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Red Mum
Red Mum
oil on panel
6x6
click here to bid
Okay, so maybe this painting says Fall rather than Spring. I've been exploring flowers - which I've discovered can be complex forms - but I'm not of the right temperament to render a photographic image. Rather, I try to communicate the essence of what being a flower is all about. I was particularly happy with this mum - I used a palette knife for the final few strokes to get that element of fresh immediacy into the flower.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Tangerines
"Tangerines"
5 x 7, oil on panel
Collected
This is another of the Daily Paintings that I posted to eBay. I was thrilled when someone bought it immediately.
Several months ago I bought one of those three tiered wire carts from the Big Box Hardware/Everything stores - when I was on an organizing kick and trying to be space efficient. The cart is on casters, which makes it easy to move around. I keep all my paints and supplies on the lower shelves - and it works great for this.
Once I decided to paint still lives, I realized I needed more space again. The cart came to my rescue... I moved my palette to the table in front of the easel and set up my still life arrangements on the top. This cart is high enough that I can place something at slightly below eye level, as in the painting above, and also stack up a box and an old painting panel to lift the arrangement up to eye level. For lights I sometimes use a cheap, goose neck desk lamp with a 60 watt bulb. Low tech to be sure, but it works.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Copper Pot with Lemons, Before and After
Katherine Tyrrell has an interesting post today about how artists learn their craft. It seems that artists aren't all that different from each other, or anyone else for that matter, as we all learn by a relatively simple variation of the same idea - learning to see what we have created, comparing that to what we wanted to create, and then discovering the techniques, approaches, or materials that will bring those two ideas closer together.
I am constantly learning, and while I one day would love to be able to take workshops from artists I admire, right now I have to find alternatives. One of the most effective methods for me has been to purchase instructional dvd's. I purchase rather than rent because, one, the artist benefits from the sale, and two, I can watch it over and over, when it's convenient for me. And because, since there is so much information provided, I may not realize I need to understand a certain concept until much later, so it's wonderful to be able to go back to watch something again when I'm not concerned with questions like "what color is he using."
However, not every dvd has information of value to me, so I have had to be more selective. Many of the dvd's made more than a few years ago have a different approach (more basic instruction) from those made more recently( mid to experienced artist ). My most recent additions include "In the Studio With...Sherrie McGraw."
This is one of the first still life paintings I did last year, when I decided to try something new. I liked it well enough. I thought the drawing was good and the overall composition pleased me. But I felt that the painting lacked weight, or presence, or...artistic craft. There. I said it. The painting kind of sucked.
So, after I watched Sherrie McGraw, I realized that I could take a second shot at this painting. McGraw had mentioned that she loved the actual painting process - as do I - and sometimes worked on a painting for several weeks until she was satisfied.
This was a form of "permission" to me, to let go of my fear of "overworking" - that dreaded comment so frequently thrown out to beginners at critiques. I decided that the painting would never see the light of day as it was, so why not? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I took a palette knife and scraped back the paint and started again.
As you can see, I added the lovely branches in the pot, with their dried berries. I scattered a few leaves into the foreground because I realized that I needed interest there to move the eye. I also knew I could suggest the forms and paint abstractly as a compliment to the lemons. I worked on the movement of light across and into the forms. I discovered new approaches to applying the paint. When I was nearly finished, but still stuck on how to best describe the light flowing over the copper pot, I stumbled on a solution. I turned off the overhead lights in my studio and painted using only the north light, with my spotlight on the still life set-up. Suddenly I could clearly see the play of light and shadow.
I am a lot happier with this improved version of Copper Pot with Lemons. I learned additional techniques, I discovered some strengths I hadn't full appreciated, and I can see progress. All in all, it was a good day.
I am constantly learning, and while I one day would love to be able to take workshops from artists I admire, right now I have to find alternatives. One of the most effective methods for me has been to purchase instructional dvd's. I purchase rather than rent because, one, the artist benefits from the sale, and two, I can watch it over and over, when it's convenient for me. And because, since there is so much information provided, I may not realize I need to understand a certain concept until much later, so it's wonderful to be able to go back to watch something again when I'm not concerned with questions like "what color is he using."
However, not every dvd has information of value to me, so I have had to be more selective. Many of the dvd's made more than a few years ago have a different approach (more basic instruction) from those made more recently( mid to experienced artist ). My most recent additions include "In the Studio With...Sherrie McGraw."
This is one of the first still life paintings I did last year, when I decided to try something new. I liked it well enough. I thought the drawing was good and the overall composition pleased me. But I felt that the painting lacked weight, or presence, or...artistic craft. There. I said it. The painting kind of sucked.
So, after I watched Sherrie McGraw, I realized that I could take a second shot at this painting. McGraw had mentioned that she loved the actual painting process - as do I - and sometimes worked on a painting for several weeks until she was satisfied.
This was a form of "permission" to me, to let go of my fear of "overworking" - that dreaded comment so frequently thrown out to beginners at critiques. I decided that the painting would never see the light of day as it was, so why not? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I took a palette knife and scraped back the paint and started again.
As you can see, I added the lovely branches in the pot, with their dried berries. I scattered a few leaves into the foreground because I realized that I needed interest there to move the eye. I also knew I could suggest the forms and paint abstractly as a compliment to the lemons. I worked on the movement of light across and into the forms. I discovered new approaches to applying the paint. When I was nearly finished, but still stuck on how to best describe the light flowing over the copper pot, I stumbled on a solution. I turned off the overhead lights in my studio and painted using only the north light, with my spotlight on the still life set-up. Suddenly I could clearly see the play of light and shadow.
I am a lot happier with this improved version of Copper Pot with Lemons. I learned additional techniques, I discovered some strengths I hadn't full appreciated, and I can see progress. All in all, it was a good day.
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