owl

This is the latest done on illustration board. I am continually disappointed with the color reproduction. It just isn't accurate. The original image is so much more subtle, but I guess digital photography doesn't do lots of brushstrokes. Oh well. I still want to get these things posted when I do them. This one has a lot of expression and was successful in terms of painting a subject flat and middletone basically. I used a magazine photo of an owl. I'm going to have to do a good deal more painting before I land, but I like working on white board and I like acrylics. There is a purpose for using toned backgrounds, but for painting like this, pretty much alla prima, the white board shows up color much better. I have moved far away from strict value interpretation.

Today My Roses Wept

Well, this is the end result of the roses from the prior post. I kept adding things, I stopped working, I started, I tried to decide what this "should" be, and then I gave up and just let myself paint. Between calls at work I read a book I tried to read years ago and realized at the last attempt I just wasn't ready to wholeheartedly embrace the message-I am now. The book is "Art & Fear" by David Bayles and Ted Orland. I laughed at so many things this time, I read it in a few hours, whereas before I'd read a page and lay it down. Here's a quote, "A finished piece is, in effect, a test of correspondence between imagination and execution". A friend of mine shared with me about her "inner critic". Mine is the little voice that says to me, it has to be saleable, it has to have purpose, it HAS to be this, that, thus....and last night, I said, it simply has to be painted. My only goal now is paint, and let my poor soul have its own unique say independent of pleasing a public, a person, the inner Nazi, all that. And last night my roses just had to weep.

This statement is not aimed at anyone, any school of thought or method of painting, but I'm just not of the mind "every piece a masterpiece". The main point of the book is, and seems to be the lesson I'm learning in life-art is made by fallible human beings who are constantly changing. It is not some angel's offering to a few hallowed souls. It can be learned, it is a dialogue as the other quote suggests, it is living, on-going, a diary of the soul. What makes an artist an artist? This dialogue cannot be ignored and it is a person who does not stop recording it. It is a person who is lovingly, completely and wholly dedicated to their craft and who keeps working and keeps listening to what that work says to them and responds to it. This whole thought train set me free. Is it worth the doing? Only if the work is authentic response to the individual vision. Nothing else is, and I could say that for any other art form.

A parting shot that I hope may give a chuckle. This quote included in the book is from Ben Shahn, "It may be a point of great pride to have a Van Gogh on the living room wall, but the prospect of having Van Gogh himself in the living room would put a great many devoted art lovers to rout."

Practicing, having fun

This is something I painted this afternoon on my illustration board, sort of taking a cue from the crazy piece I last posted. It's not nearly so colorful, but what is important to me now is that I feel comfortable painting this way. I like working on a white board, and I did this with four acrylic colors and one brush. I've always been attracted to calligraphic art, Japanese in particular-the post-impressionists borrowed heavily from Japanese postcards. So this may turn into a poster with script, more background-but I was very pleased with the flowers. I used a photo of dried roses as a reference, but made up most of the composition. I like the gestural feel of the flowers. They don't possess photographic realism, but the "pose" if you will surely denotes death. This to me is much more enjoyable than straining to capture intense realism. I can tell the years and years of painting have given me a very relaxed and natural brush style, if I let myself paint this way. So we'll see. I'm going to continue working and seeing where it all goes. I think my artistic bent is more as a designer than a painter.

Zulu

This is piece of art I did early in my community college days. It is mixed media, black and white acrylic paint and magic marker. I have always liked it and felt even though it was done before all of my training in realism, it has great strength, sense of design and originality. I feel as though I need to get back to designing in my work, no matter how that manifests itself. I like the freshness of the piece. I cancelled my Yellowbook website ad, and feel I need to take a year to not be pressured by "having" to do things. After a while what used to be a joy becomes a chore. So I bought some illustration board and magic markers, and decided to see what I can still do, now that I have the training.

Pennsylvania landscape

This is a wedding gift I painting for the daughter of good friends who is to be married at the end of July. Once again my camera just couldn't graps the subtleties of color change the way I painted it, but for a small show and tell, it's ok. I'm not a landscape painter, but I like this one.

two months is too long!!!!

Well, a lot of things have happened in two months. The above two pics are the more finished backyard. Everything is done except my real wish list, which includes a covered swing, a pond and a new patio set. Ok, that's the frosting.

The bulldog is my latest completed commission. The picture isn't wonderful, and I know it's time to save up for a camera or larger scanner that records work more accurately. Things tend to moosh together and pixelate out with the camera I have now, but this is Zebby, probably the most beautiful amateur photographic reference I received to work with. Lovely. And I'm so proud of his expressiveness. So I'm back in the saddle.

Oh, the other issue I've been dealing with is an 8-5 work situation. It's tricky but not impossible by any means to paint and get everything else done in the off work hours. I'm just learning a game that so many people have to deal with.

p.s. I scanned Zebby's head to see if the image would come out better. It's still smooshing, but I added it anyway.

where I've been...

Backyard pretty well done....

Backyard started!!

I feel like I need to apologize for my absence and getting seriously off track with my painting a week goal. My "painting" talents have be recently used elsewhere (front steps, shingle facade on the front of our house), and my designing skills particularly used in the backyard. Well, my sister Tere and I agree...landscaping is 3-D art. And it is, so I'll include pics of the back. We had an above ground swimming pool, a little 15 footer, that finally bit the dust, and so we were left with a 15 foot circular sand pit basically which was becoming the world's largest litterbox for wild animals or visiting neighbor critters. In short, something HAD to be done. So I covered it with stone. Now the space can be used. Ialso had help ala Tom Sawyer-style, this-looks-fun as our little 11 year old neighbor saw me painting. Could he help??? Is she stupid??? We painted steps together and had a nice conversation. That is such a lovely age.

So finals are next week, certification testing is over then, too, SO!! Back to the easel! I promise-myself as much as anyone else. Well, I do want to buy a Serenity prayer stone for the backyard, a covered swing and few more plants!! I deserve some fun and pretty stuff and friends to enjoy them with.