Nel's Art Marks

Taking the DC Metro

2011-03-28T11:34:00.002-05:00

During March I've been riding the Metro a few days a week for a temp part time job downtown, a nice chance to be a "working girl" in DC. Mostly that just means seeing the comuters moving through the streets, going to lunch, walking and talking on their cells, and yawning home in the evening. Me? Nah, I never yawn, LOL.

Metro Riding

2011-03-28T11:32:00.001-05:00

A few more sketches from the Metro.

Metro Riders

2011-03-28T11:28:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile since I've posted here, since sadly I don't sketch much just for the sake of sketching. What drawing I do is on a canvas, in preparation for a painting. However, since I've been riding the Metro to and from a temp part time job...Metro sketching again this past month or so. I'm rusty, but have gotten a few that I like.

March Metro Riders

2010-03-20T13:48:00.003-05:00

Another set of various Metro riders. Notice a pattern here? I've settled into preferences. There is a certain seat I like, facing backwards, avoiding the sun in my eyes, and with people very likely to sit perpendicular to me, so lots of clear profiles. I used up my first Picadilly sketchbook, and bought a Moleskine, but it just gives me the willies. The second to bottom sketch here was done in the Moleskine and it was over a sketch that didn't work. The paper is so "precious" that you don't want to waste it. I went back to a second Picadilly, and I'm much happier, feeling free to waste pages agan.

Metro Riders, February

2010-02-13T20:25:00.003-05:00

Metro riders, winter 2010. The Borders on the corner of our building downtown had both Moleskeins ($18.00) and this new sketchbook
called a Piccadilly at $4.00. Hmmm, think I'll try the cheaper one, I thought. And even though the paper is thinner, and there is some bleed through with ink sketches, it feels so luxurious to not care much about how much paper you go through. I've been trying to do three or four sketches every ride, and the following posts are some that turned out well enough to post.

Metro Folks, February

2010-02-13T20:23:00.003-05:00

The bottom one here is a quick gesture sketch, I really like the effect of a 30 second sketch.

Metro Folks February

2010-02-13T20:21:00.002-05:00

People riding the Metro, winter 2010.

Metro Folks in February

2010-02-13T20:06:00.002-05:00

My February Metro sketches, these are pencil.

Metro Sketching

2010-01-23T22:17:00.003-05:00

I have a new job. It's a FT temporary job, and it happens in the heart of DC. So I'm a Metro girl again. It took me a good week carrying my sketchbook around with me, before I got up the nerve to take it out and do a sketch, but now it's like: "pshaw, not a problem." I can now do about 3 sketches per ride, that's maybe 6 a day. They don't all turn out, so I'll just be posting some of the better ones here.

People are cool. They may see I'm sketching, and they may even get that I'm sketching them, but I've only ever had one seatmate comment that she liked my work, and nobody else has said a word. People really just mind their own on the subway.

The first sketch? I thought it was a girl with earrings at first, until I realized it was earbuds I was seeing on a guy. He really was enjoying his tunes.

These are all done with various pens and pencils, ink and watercolors added afterwards, or not.

Sketching on the Metro

2010-01-23T22:08:00.003-05:00

Sketching on the Metro.

You'll be seeing some more of these, as I have gotten up my nerve, and am practicing sketching people on the trips to and from downtown. I manage to get about three sketches in on a "good run." (5 or 6 a day) That would be where nobody gets off the train before I can finish them, and nobody sits down in front of me while I'm only half way through. It also depends on whether I don't mess up the proportions too bad. Trust me, there are lots of sketches that I'm not showing too.

Concept for a Painting

2009-11-04T22:24:00.003-05:00

I don't always do as I teach, but when it's a large painting, I do feel that thumbnail sketches for layout and composition are highly in order. It gives you a map anyway. The painting will be a large canvas of 24" x 36", with a gallery wrap, so it's a big piece. I start with some small marker sketches, to figure out just what looks good, for the placement of the blooms. I like the three and three look, even though it's an even number. There may be room for a seventh blossom, depending on how large I make each bloom. I also like the diagonal format, it just has a nice feel to it, and the negative space is big enough to be a relief, small enough to not look like wasted space. I like the three sides running into the wrap, off the edges. I do a second, larger sketch using the thumbnail I've chosen. Next I'll add some watercolor.

Working Out a Painting Concept

2009-11-04T22:18:00.004-05:00

The finished painting.

Once I have an idea of the layout, the placement of shapes, and where my light source will be, I add some color. These are done with watercolor pencil, and then just loose watercolor. I haven't exactly settled on the background color, but since the painting will go on a yellow wall, I am thinking a gradated color in warm light green and cream. I will keep the background quite neutral, but warm and soft, since there will be a lot of color in the blooms. Or I may decide when it's said and done to go to a muted mauve tone, which would be a complement to the yellow wall.

Another Saturday Life Drawing Session

2009-07-18T19:49:00.004-05:00

Another Saturday morning session at Montgomery College. It takes the starch right out of me, it takes such concentrated effort. But oh, such good practice, those three hours. This is the same model as the first week, can you see improvement?

Life drawing

2009-07-18T19:44:00.004-05:00

Last week we had the most elegant model, long and stately.

Lovely lines to draw.

Ahhhhh, Life Drawing!

2009-06-28T10:23:00.006-05:00

One of the nice things about being back in the Maryland area is that I still have a few art connections. On Saturday mornings, at Montgomery College, there's a wonderful open life drawing session. The artists all chip in to pay the model, and yesterday we had a splendid model. It felt so good to be drawing again, even though I'm rusty and many of my proportions are off.

Tube Wringer

2009-06-28T10:15:00.002-05:00

This is my favorite new toy. It's manufactured by the Gill company, and I got it from Dick Blick for around $20.00. Very well worth it. It's a metal clamping system for wringing all the paint out of each tube, and it works just great. I can hardly believe I've been painting for almost three years now without one. They are also available in plastic. The link is here: tube wringer
We'll put it in the category of great tools!

Art Books Sold

2009-05-31T15:05:00.001-05:00

I've deleted all the posts about selling art books. Thanks to all of you who rescued books for me, they have all been sent out, and you should be getting them within the next week.

Thanks again!

Selling Acrylics

2009-03-31T11:29:00.002-05:00

I've been thinking about this for awhile, and since I haven't been selling many paintings, this is the time. I hauled out all my acrylics, potions and mediums, and arranged them all for photos. And am now offering it all up on ebay. A great deal for anyone who happens to stop by this blog within the next few days. All these fun toys for cheap! here's the link:

acrylics auction

I've put shipping high, as this all will weigh a lot, I think: all those mediums and tubes and jars.

Thanks for stopping by. If you bid on all this stuff, good luck!

Water Miscible Oils

2008-12-21T16:20:00.006-05:00

I've been experimenting with the water soluble oils a bit, since some of my students for the Beginners Online Oil Painting class will be using them. The apple and the bottom piece were done exclusively with the Artisan Oils (water soluble) by Winsor Newton, and the little diptych at the top of the post was done with a combination of the water soluble and the traditional oils.

The brochure for the starter set I got says that yes, indeed, you can combine these with traditional oil paints, substituting the special Thinner and Mediums for your normal OMS (Odorless Mineral Spirits) and whatever medium you normally use with your oils. I found the combination to be a bit difficult, my paints got tackier than normal. Or too slippery.

Here's what I've found so far:

I had to work harder to maintain my values with the water solubles. The paints seem to want to mix rather than lay on top of subsequent layers, as I'm used to.

The W.S. paints in the lighter colors seemed chalkier for some reason than my normal oils. Some of them were thick, some thinner out of the tube, but that's pretty standard for normal oils too. So that doesn't count really.

I will try some of the Duo Aquacolors by Holbein, which are supposed to be of better quality than the Artisans. I'll do another report when that happens.

I think that for people who can't tolerate the smells associated with traditional oils, these paints are a boon, and if you worked exclusively with them, you would get to know the capabilities better than by doing three little pieces. For that, I think they are wonderful. But I still prefer my oils, maybe since that's what I've gotten used to.

The final verdict is in the individual use. I think that if you try these and like them, then that's the proof in the pudding.

Of Interest

2008-12-08T18:18:00.002-05:00

One of the EDM group members is gearing up to sell handmade sketchbooks that look pretty interesting. She now creates handmade journals and such that look to be both beautifully made and inviting to use. Her name is Janice Hook, and her artwork is also very nice. She is having a little competition on her blog for winning one of her handmade books, by way of market research into what kinds of sketchbooks people like. All you have to do is mention the size and style of sketchbook you like to use. Pretty cool way to find out what she'll want to market.

Good luck if you decide to enter.

Mommy, Scatch - Painting in Progress

2008-11-30T21:08:00.002-05:00

Progress on the "Mommy, Scatch" painting. Probably the reason I don't do more faces, figures, people is that they are so hard, so time consuming. Little brush marks, little smidgens can make or break each small feature. I saw a bit of yellow in the little face, so added some, now it's too much, so I'll fix that tomorrow. I can also see now on the screen that my daughter has webbed pointer and middle finger, so I'll fix that as well. Tell me if you spot anything else.

Little Dreamer

2008-11-29T22:10:00.003-05:00

Little Dreamer, Painting in Progress

Or I may call it, as I originally thought, "Mommy, Scatch" since that's what she says, and pulls up her shirt for her belly scratch. It helps to put it up, to see the flaws. It looks okay, but not like her, really. The nose? Maybe too long? Maybe too big for her little face? Hmmm. Do like the eyes, though, they came out good.

Mommy, Scatch

2008-11-28T18:08:00.003-05:00

Mommy, Scatch will be a painting, and this is just the planning stage for the piece. My little grnaddaughter, Katie, loves to have her tummy scratched, and I caught her one day sitting dreaming in Mommy's lap, snapped a quick few photos. I hope I can do it justice.

Watercolor Layers

2008-11-26T19:37:00.003-05:00

Watercolor Value Study in Layers.
There are several layers of color here to produce this silver grey color.
One: Alizarin, Cobalt, and Cad yellow medium
Two: Manganese Blue and Quni Sienna
Three: Alizarin and Pthalo Green

Little Curled Leaf and New Brush

2008-11-25T21:59:00.002-05:00

Little Curled Leaf, Oil on Canvas Panel, 5" x 7"

We grow so accustomed to our tools, don't we? I've been using nothing but flats and bright for oils, which are square ended brushes, long and short. But I do use a round (pointed) tipped brush to draw in my roughs. The other day at the art store, the brushes were on sale, and so I bought a larger mongoose round brush, and played with it here on this little painting. It feels so different, more like drawing, but I like the way you have to let the paint be thicker, not much room for "fussy". Funny too, since watercolor rounds are all I use for watercolor. Go figure.

Nappy Sketches

2008-11-24T21:27:00.004-05:00

Sitting with little Katie during nappy time, waiting for her to fall asleep, sometimes I read and sometimes I sit and sketch, whatever happens to pop into my head. A few pen and inks from last week.

Value Sketch Pastoral

2008-11-23T20:05:00.003-05:00

Value Sketch for Pastoral Painting, various pencils
I have a request for a large pastoral painting, and wanted to give it some prep time. So I'm sketching from photos and references. I plan to paint this one in a smaller version first, a 16" x 20", which is almost proportional to the 30" x 40" planned. This way I'm not committing to a painting that might not work out. I can work out the bugs before I go to the larger version.

Day 22

2008-11-22T21:12:00.004-05:00

Magnolia in Pastel Pencils, and Carbon
Trying the magnolia blossom from a different angle, more for the shape than anything else. I kind of like the bowl facing right. The more I work with this, though, the easier it gets. By the time I'm ready to paint it for the request, it'll be a breeze. Well, maybe not a breeze, but easier anyway.

Magnolia in Watercolor

2008-11-21T21:45:00.004-05:00

Magnolia in Watercolor

I did an oil today of this fake magnolia, and wanted to try it in watercolor as well. It was really hard to control. I did a lot of scrubbing and used Chinese White in the end to perk it up some. Tricky to get the colors deep enough, but not too dark. Detail below:

Magnolia Oil Begun

2008-11-20T22:02:00.003-05:00

Magnolia Oil Painting Begun
I wanted to see how the magnolia would look larger than "life," (it's a fake flower) so I started this little 8" x 10". I will also try this one with a cool light on it, since this is warm. The cool light will of course, produce bluer shadows. I like the front petal so far, but I'm not sure about the colors in the center yet. I'll have to wait and see how the other colors sit next to it.

Value Study for Magnolia

2008-11-19T20:33:00.003-05:00

Value Study for Magnolia Painting
I have a request for a white floral painting in a vertical format at 10" x 12" (to match a previously purchased painting I did) so I've been looking around for white flowers. I found a fake magnolia in the craft store, so now to see if I can do something vertical with it. Using my proportion scale from my graphics days, I cropped this drawing to manage that size. I think it will work. I'll do more drawings before I settle on a composition.

On another note, although I don't get many visitors to this blog, I would like to put out some feelers for interest in an online oil painting class, geared to beginners, come January. I was thinking a six week class for $60.00. Please send an email if you are at all interested. Write me at NelVanL@aol.com, and I'll see what the interest level might be.

Poppy Samples

2008-11-17T22:16:00.003-05:00

Today was a business day. The Daily Painters Gallery is doing a book, and I had to make up my page for that book (each painter gets his/her own page.) Being computer illiterate, it took me forever to decide on images, write up a blurb, figure out how to size the images, then go back and do it right. At one point, I lost everything I'd done (images were way too big) so had to start all over. I also did some samples on canvas paper for a revision of my poppy painting set, in which the colors were not quite right. Samples 1, 2, and 3 above. They are subtly different. I took notes on the color mixtures, and hopefully will get it right for the revisions. No time to sketch today.

Wonky Bowl with Onion

2008-11-16T21:38:00.003-05:00

Day 16

Wonky Bowl with Onion

Graphitint Pencils, Watercolor, and Gouache on Watercolor paper.

One of the results of participating in the every day for a month project is my renewed interest in my tools and toys. I've used pencils and sketchbooks that have been sitting neglected for quite a while. I'm having fun with that part of it, although much like doing a painting every day, the crunch is always what to sketch or paint. I do always enjoy having made that choice in advance, and knowing way before I do the sketch what it's going to be. With my paintings, I try to at least start on the next painting the night before, so I can just set up in the morning and go about it.

Day 15, Pastels

2008-11-15T21:30:00.003-05:00

Onions in Pastel, Conte and Stablio Pencils on Craft Paper
Image size is 6" x 9"

In an ideal world, I would love working with pastels, especially pastel pencils. They blend, they layer, you can go darker, you can go lighter, you can erase, you can change your mind, you can build up colors. The colors themselves are rich and vibrant, but with varying pressure, you can change that too. You can be subtle. I love the nice grab and scritch on the paper.

However, with these pencils, I spent as much, if not more time whittling them down as I did drawing. A lot of carving with an Exacto blade, often to find the freshly exposed color crumbling as I carved. Yuck! Maybe they are too old, and that's why they are so brittle. Maybe I need a lighter touch, or a sharper blade. But for whatever reason, as much as I love the effects, the frustration may make them NOT worth it.

November 14, 2008

2008-11-14T22:52:00.003-05:00

Gesture Drawings, really quick, really loose.

Most of the time, my gesture drawings look really bad, really not cool. But these I like. Click to see them larger.

Thumbnails Bowl with Stripes

2008-11-13T22:10:00.004-05:00

Thumbnails for Painting

I'm not sure if you can actually make these out, but they are thumbnails for a painting I'm starting. I was trying to work out the placement of the subject mater in a square format. The first sketches showed me three ideas I didn't like. Bowl too centered, bowl too small in the format, main fold of the fabric too much in the center. The bottom sketches come closer for me, with the darkest and last one being the one I'm using for the layout of the painting. I really don't take the time to do these little sketches as often as I should, but when I do, they really help avoid drawing and design problems later on down the line. I'll add the painting to this post later if I can figure out how (I think you just do "edit post.")

Here's the painting done, two days later.

The composition is pretty strong, and I think that's because of the thumbnails.

People in Pen and Ink with Watercolor

2008-11-12T21:22:00.003-05:00

November 12, 2008

A couple of people sketches, but I cheated today. These were done in pen and ink earlier, and today I just did the watercolor part. BUT..hey, they count. I especially like the lady face. The pen and inks under her weren't especially good, so I just painted right overtop. It works.

Day 11, Value Studies

2008-11-11T20:47:00.004-05:00

Value Studies for Painting, sketching with a purpose

The second one is done with a water soluble graphite pencil, a Derwent product called Aquatone, more fun than serious. The first one is more an effort to define the shapes and details of direction and interaction between the shapes, and darks and lights. Interesting that each one of these value sketches will make the actual painting part much easier. Working out the positioning and all the changes from the references that I'll make in the final painting.

Addendum: Here's the final painting. The sketches really helped.

Value Study, Day 10

2008-11-10T17:38:00.003-05:00

Value Study with Markers.
I just plain like the look of marker drawings, so I'm not really sure how much good they do me as value studies, but it at least is a start when you are thinking about a painting. I'll probably do this again in pencil before I begin the painting, it's a little easier to see the actual values then.

Garden Bunny

2008-11-09T20:42:00.003-05:00

Garden Bunny
Watercolor Pencils with Watercolor

This little polymer bunny is colored to look like weathered metal, copper maybe? He lived in my Mom's garden for quite a few years, along with a few critters and gnomes. She adored gardening, and passed it along to all of us, and many of the grands too. The bunny came inside before Ike, and he hasn't left the studio to go back outdoors yet. So today I thought I'd draw him.

Day Eight

2008-11-08T19:04:00.003-05:00

Salt and Pepper Shakers

A quick watercolor study, done without pencil. I guess you'd call that freehand watercolor. Usually I like having even a small pencil sketch underneath, but I was thinking of inking overtop and so wanted it loose. No ink, right now anyway, I like this one as is. Maybe later, though.

Iris Face

2008-11-07T22:12:00.003-05:00

Iris Face, watercolor on Arches rough scrap, 6" x 6"

A small watercolor today. I was thinking about good brushes as I did this one, since I have a couple of really, really good brushes for watercolor, and I didn't use one yesterday. Today I did, and what a difference it makes. I am convinced that for watercolors, paper and brushes are the key. For oils it's good brushes and the surface. Linen (yum) is my favorite, of course. And stretched linen is the nicest bouncy surface to work on. I haven't gotten to the point where the quality of the paints makes much difference to me, whether it's top drawer brands or the student grades. I know a lot of artists have their favorites, but at this point I haven't gotten fussy about that yet.

November 6, Sketch 6

2008-11-06T21:33:00.002-05:00

Day 6, trying to keep up with the sketching every day for the month.
This is just some color play in watercolors, since I have two freshly stretched paper mounts (on Gator Board) and I'm thinking of another watercolor for the Daily Painting. Wanted to mess around with the yellow shadows as a mix of purple and yellow. I have to find the right combination of the two, since I have a lot of different purples and different yellows. These don't work as well as I want them to. So it's good to have some scrap paper to experiment with.

Kuratake Brush Pen

2008-11-05T21:29:00.003-05:00

This little sketch was done with pen and ink, specifically, the Kuratake brush pen. I like this tool. It comes with cartridges of ink. The brush part can be very, very fine for detailed lines or with more pressure, a nice hefty brush stroke. Little farmer man, done in Earthbound sketchbook. The pages are paper bag colored, but show up more greenish here.

Fall Colors

2008-11-04T22:26:00.003-05:00

Fall Colors

A little watercolor playing today. An imaginary scene, using the colors I love.
Wish that I had done the sky first, instead of last, but really was just playing around, so that's okay too. Keeping up with my resolve to do something sketchy every day in November.

November 3, Drawing 3

2008-11-03T13:08:00.003-05:00

Avocado in Watercolor
Watercolor on Winsor and Newton Rough 14o lb Paper.

I was doing a small oil of this little avocado for the painting blog and decided to go ahead and do it in watercolor also, for my drawing every day project. The image is only around 7" x 7" but I like the paper a lot, in my MaryLou Sketchpad.

Beach Towels

2008-11-02T14:50:00.003-05:00

It is so good for me to take the time to sketch. I was sitting at the patio table enjoying the sunshine when the two towels drying on the chairs caught my eye. The white towel had so many subtle colors in it. Not captured here at all, really, but the doing of the sketch started a small seed germinating for a painting, where maybe I could catch some of those wonderful subtle colors in oils. I used my Kuratake pen, which has a water soluble ink, but which is really fun to use. It bled into the soft blues, but oh, well, just a little sketch.

Maple Promenade

2008-11-02T12:04:00.002-05:00

Maple Promenade
Oil on Canvas Panel, 11" x 14"
Available at $45.00 plus shipping.

Another Wauwinet Road rendition of the autumn maples. A little nostalgia again.

Louisiana Crabs

2008-11-01T14:59:00.002-05:00

Louisiana Crabs

Watercolor on Richeson (top) and Arches (bottom)

My son-in-law, Jim, went crabbing Friday morning with one of the guys from work. Armed with string and chicken parts, they weren't at it long. The crabs went into an ice chest, with ice. I thought I had found a couple of frozen ones to draw. Such great colors. But one of them warmed up enough under the light on my drafting table to squirm around and scooted himself right off the table. He didn't like me trying to pick him up, either. But despite his claws, I got him back into the ice chest, for later with Old Bay in the pot. Doesn't the top drawing look like a dance?

Acrylics as Watercolors, More

2008-09-22T10:41:00.003-05:00

Birds of Paradise, acrylics on watercolor paper, 13.5" x 18.5"

This is the last of my experimental pieces, exploring the use of thin "watercolor" layers on watercolor paper, using the acrylic paints. For now, anyway. It's a very time consuming process. I've leanred more, and have added a couple more notes on the list of handling these. I waited too long to do my incised lines in the leaves, the color had already sealed in the paper, so I learned that incising lines must be done early on in the layering stages. I also learned here that the blending and lifting technqieus that we normally use in watercolors can be done, but must be done in the first or second layer. You can lift the paint, blot the paper, bleed two colors, but the paint DOES act a lot differently, and you have to be even more quick in these techniques than you would with watercolors. You CAN get really rich and vivid color though, and it's nice to be able to have a black background, or to build up really nice deep colors. And that's it, so far.

Acrylics as Watercolors

2008-09-20T14:58:00.004-05:00

Two Sunflowers paintings with their details. These were done as watercolors, using very thin layers of acrylic paint, on watercolor paper. The colors were actually paler and thinner than what I generally use for my watercolors, but to avoid shine, I kept the acrylic layers very watery. This is a new technique for me, so I kept some running notes, which I'm copying here for anyone interested in trying this technique. It's pretty fussy, for when you are in the mood to do details, not splashy.

- Have two pieces going to allow each to dry while working on the other.
- A butcher's tray works great for mixing and for cleanup.
- Just use an old bristle brush to scrub the old paint away and mop up with paper towels.
- Small amounts of paint, less waste, they will dry up, or crumble.
- Don't go "acrylic", keep glazes very thin, or it will shine.
- Spray paints often, keep brushes rinsed.
- Drying time between layers decreases as more "sealing" is added, more layers.
- Watch out for the little "curds" or flakes of dryed paint, they seal into the layer.
- Don't use watercolor pencil (see black detail) for original drawing, since it doesn't quite dilute.
- Use graphite pencil for the original detailed and careful drawing.
- For the opaque black, count on at least seven layers.
- Dry completely between layers, or it'll pick up.
- After several layers, the acrylics stop acting like watercolors (blending on the paper), then you switch to a poster paint or graphics mentality. The paper gets "sealed up" I think.
- Incised lines should be done early on, during the wet paper stage of the first layers.
- You can use blending and lifting techniques only during the first several layers. So paint carefully in the first stages, blotting and blending as you normally would.

And that's my notes for these two paintings. I like the technique, came across it used in an acrylics book, paintings done by Barbara Buer, just exquisite things. More about this process as I do more paintings with it.

Poppies, Second Generation

2008-09-18T11:38:00.003-05:00

Poppies, Second Generation

Oil on Canvas Panel, 11" x 14"

Available at $45.00 plus shipping

Since I had a lot of mixed colors leftover from the large poppy paintings, I decided to do a small painting to use some of them up. How tough could it be, right? Actually, the larger paintings were easier to do than this one, and as I'm trying to figure that out, it occurs to me that when you have less space to work in, the composition has to be tighter. I think. Any ideas or experiences? Thanks for looking.

Painting Pink Poppies Large

2008-09-17T14:03:00.003-05:00

I have completed a set of two oil paintings of pink poppies, (see several posts below) and given the posts of the process, step by step, below. I had originally put this notice at the first (last) post, but as all you bloggers know, you have to type and post in reverse order. So now I can say "below."

Steps One and Two: The commission, Preparation, Planning, Collecting.

This is actually where the main work occurs. The request is made, and sizes are determined, colors and subject matter are chosen by the collector. You order your canvas, get color swatches from the collector, start looking for reference photos online, start playing with colors and shapes, thumbnails and watercolors. I sent my lady a couple of ideas, and she gave me good, clear directions about her color choices. She chose the pinkish-oranges, taupe, ivory and greens. Since I would have reached (and did in the sketching stage), for the blues and purples, it was good to know she didn't love those two colors. I ordered some pink oil paints and got a couple of large tubes of white. Then I procrastinated. For a long time. The collector was sooooo understanding. Then I got tired of knowing I still needed to get to these, and did them. Yay!

Step Three: Finalizing the Plan

2008-09-17T13:50:00.003-05:00

Step Three: The color scheme is finalized.

I hear back from the collector on colors she prefers, and do another shape sketch, still playing around with the overall arrangement. She has requested the poppy color (pinkish peachy) and has sent me color swatches early on, and has chosen after some thought: taupe, ivory and greens to complement the peachy color of the poppies. This was a wonderful combination that I would not have thought of, so I was excited to work with this set of colors. Taupe? What's the color you think of? I think every person has a different concept of those subtle, unusual colors.

Steps Four and Five: Draw and Block In

2008-09-17T13:44:00.004-05:00

Steps Four and Five: Drawing and Blocking In

Here I've used vine charcoal to do the drawing directly onto the canvas. I have the idea of the triangle (overall shapes for the set) in the back of my head, and I use various references, photos from google and wet canvas to give me the shapes and configurations of the various flower heads. The charcoal is easily wiped away with a paper towel, so it makes it easy to change my mind when I need to move a guy here or there. Normally, at this point, I would use a spray fixative on the canvas, but since I didn't have any, I just went over the charcoal marks with OMS to seal and dilute them. Once the drawing is done, I start to overpaint behind the flowers with very thin paint, mostly to see how the arrangement will look from a distance. I can still change things easily at this point.

Step Six: Start Painting Background

2008-09-17T13:39:00.003-05:00

Step Six: Roughing in the Background.
I start with a large batch of ivory mixed, and then move from there, adding swishes of taupes, sienna, greens. This goes over the washes I've already put in. I'm not really worried at this point about accuracy, and I want to keep the flavor very loose overall, so I really do "swish" with a large and medium size brushes.

Step Seven: Paint Poppies

2008-09-17T13:33:00.003-05:00

Step Seven: I paint all the poppies. This is the most time consuming step, and I bounce from canvas to canvas, and alternate some background work between poppies. I give myself a break between every two poppies, and go out of the studio, so I'll try to keep fresh eyes. I keep my color swatches handy to refer to, so I won't get too far off the predominant colors I want.

Pink Poppies Finished

2008-09-17T13:27:00.004-05:00

Pink Poppies, Oil on Stretched Canvases, 24" x 24" Each

Steps Eight, Nine and Ten: (finishing)

Finishing touches, flowers, background and overall. I stand back from the paintings set together, and see where anything needs to be fixed, adjusted, some spot that's too mushy or dark. Somewhere a color needs to be balanced. I also add a few touches of bright red and orange, just because it needs a pop here and there.

Bugs and Peanuts

2008-09-13T17:08:00.005-05:00

Since all my art supplies for my daily painting were packed away, to make room on my tables to put boxes up and off the floor (anticipating some flooding from Ike), I played with my pen and inks, some pencils and watercolors to do some small sketches. The EDM challenge last week was "peanuts" and so I did a few sketches of those. The kids have been collecting dead bugs for me for awhile, thinking that I'd like to paint them, so I did a few of those as well. Click on any image to see it larger.

Little Red Pears

2008-08-01T12:04:00.002-05:00

Little Red Pears
Oil on Canvas Panel, 8" x 10"
Available at $50.00 plus shipping.

Someone has been playing mischief maker with my painting blog, and reported it as SPAM. Hmmm. So the blog is locked for the time being, pending a review by Blogger, and I'll post my daily painting here. These little pears in the grocery store were just too beautiful to pass by. Thanks for looking.

Watercolor Pencil Class

2008-02-11T00:25:00.001-05:00

I'm taking a class online with Kate Johnson, who is truly a wonderful teacher, and a really talented artist. This is the second class I've been in with her, and it's really good. There is a spirit of friendly competition and generous sharing among the students, and Kate is quick to answer questions, offer suggestions and gives oodles of information. Well worth the cost (which is so reasonable.) Anyway, all that said, after a week of playing around with my various brands of watercolor pencils, and having nothing much to show for the time spent, I figured out that if it's basically a "watercolor" you need to abide by some of the "watercolor" rules. The (my, I should say) first one being, that you can get by with second rate paint, second rate brushes, but don't skimp on your paper! I got out some decent watercolor paper, and was pleased enough with the results to post it.

This one has several layers of pencil on it. I hatched in a color, and then wet it down. Let that area dry while I was working on another. Then as each section dried, I went in with another coat of color. The mango isn't exactly as I want it to be, but once it's good and dry, I can maybe go back into it. So, okay, why pencil when you can use real watercolors? Maybe it's as casual as the comfort of a pencil in your hand, or maybe because there is more control here, and they are fun to use. I'm still exploring that question. Let you know if I figure out something concrete.

Painting Walls

2008-02-05T12:46:00.001-05:00

This is the main wall of the mural, from the horizon line down. I put the horizon line where it seemed comfortable to me, if I were say, standing on a hillside looking across a "valley." The center area was left from the original mural, and I didn't adjust the other painter's fence and stream.

Here's the extension of that wall, over to the toilet.

And behind the toilet, there was a tree from the original mural, which I adjusted:

Oops, forgot to remove the blue tape before I shot this one. The next several posts show more of the work. Thanks for looking.

Mural Done

2008-02-04T23:55:00.001-05:00

My mural is complete, after four days of work. The next four entries show some of the views of the walls in the powder room. Here's how it worked:
Day 1: Took down switch plates, toilet paper holder, towel racks
Taped around edges with blue painter's tape
Plastic sheets and paper towels down for protection
Sanded areas to repair, then rolled latex paint over areas
Sketched out new views with vine charcoal
Started with mountains, then distant hills all around the four sides
Blocked in the new trees and sketched in the village and farm

It was a lot of prep work on the first day, and blocking in stuff lightly. This is the view of the corner behind the toilet. Thanks for looking.

Chickadees

2008-02-04T23:44:00.001-05:00

Day Two: Painting the main wall, and finishing the two small walls to the sides of the door. Mostly these were mountains, hills and some trees. Grassy fields, and the cows done. I worked in acrylics and used just a little Slow medium mixed into the paints. The wall is actually a nice surface to paint on, like a huge masonite board that doesn't move. These photos show the little chickadees above the mirror and over the door.

Right Corner and Behind Toilet

2008-02-04T23:43:00.000-05:00

Day Three: The chickadees and finshing work on the sky. I had mixed a color to try to match the sky that was there, and got it too dark. Then went to the paint store to try to get a better match, which turned out to be too light. So I had to paint in clouds all around the merge point of the two sky colors, old and new. It finally looked okay. But it did set me back some hours. This photo shows the back wall behind the potty. The tree was there, but flat and choppy, each individual leaf was painted. I overpainted and massed the leaves, using Blending medium, and added quite a bit of new foliage. Also gave the trunk some definition with dry brush work over the trunk.

Village and Cows

2008-02-04T23:41:00.000-05:00

Edge of the mirror, used to reflect a tree and fields.

This is the main wall of the powder room, which runs the full length of the room. Here I put a village in the distance, and the cows under some shade trees. This is the first view as you walk into the bathroom. Below this are a line of field flowers along the bottom of the wall.

Day Four: Painted the wildflowers, mostly daiseys around the bottom of the wall, and finished up the tree work. Cleaned up, replaced all hardware, got paid! If you're thinking of doing a mural, and you have any questions, it's fresh in my mind and I'd be glad to help as much as I can.

Overall, it was a very interesting project, easier than I anticipated. The up and down the ladder, and the squatting on the floor part, well... and maybe the being in a little tiny powder room for a bunch of hours, but overall, I'm really glad that I took it on, and even better, the homeowner was incredibly pleased. Thanks for looking.

More Acrylic Work

2008-01-18T21:42:00.000-05:00

I've been working with acrylics now for a bit over a month, with occasional returns to my oils. You can see all the paintings I've done on my painting blog, Nel's Everyday Painting (link in sidebar.) I added a Masterson Stay-Wet palette to my equipment and that has made a big difference. It has a fitted flat sponge in the bottom of an edged tray, and special palette paper made to be permeable (you soak it in hot water for 15 minutes) then lay it on top of the flat, wet sponge. It keeps the paints wet (almost runny sometimes) but you aren't constantly battling against paints drying out. I also got some glazing medium, and did the painting above with lots of glaze layers. It gives you a nice glowing build up of thin layers of paint. Very nice to work with. (But you do have to have patience to keep adding layers.) You can see in the dark water how deep you can get the colors, and still have them read as color. The blending continues to be a challenge, some days it seems to flow, and other days I completely forget how to do it. Odd, huh? But overall, I like these paints, and am getting comfortable working with them. Here's today's painting:

There's not much blending in it, and for this kind of a painting, with all the tree limbs and branches, it's nice to have a dry surface to paint all those lines on. With the liquifying medium and a variety of colors, you can put some limbs further back, some deeper and darker, to bring them forward. You learn to use the advantages of acrylics after awhile I think.

Large Painting in Acrylics

2007-12-24T00:21:00.000-05:00

Valley with Cows, and Details.
This painting is the finished piece which I posted as a work in progress several days back. The painting is fairly large, 22" x 28", and I'm pretty happy with the results. Getting used to the acrylics by painting and painting and painting.

Chroma Atelier Interactive Acrylics

2007-12-23T23:38:00.001-05:00

I've been working with the acrylics now for about a week and a half, and doing as much practice and research as I can. The above are several winter paintings I've finished with the Interactives this week. Blending is the hardest thing to adjust to with the acrylics, and I've found some really good information on techniques on Wet Canvas. Now www.wetcanvas.com is huge, enormous. And I've gone there a couple of times without any luck (high levels of confusion and frustation), but somehow I stumbled on a good resource this time around. It's the Information Kiosk under Acrylics, and inside the Kiosk is a nice list of "classrooms" that you can visit and read. All different topics. Here's the link to the Kiosk: http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=329 I think it'll work. From there you can pick a class to visit. The one on blending techniques helped me enormously. Also the one on glazing.

Today I mixed "slow" which is a medium for slowing down the drying time of the paints, and also some Gel Pumice (it was a Golden sample I had gotten at an art store and saved), and the combination gave me extended time and some extra heft and tooth to the paint. I used my water sprayer some but not as much, mostly to spray the palette, not the painting. And I scrubbed when I wanted blending with a damp, clean, bristle brush and found the blending easier to manage.

For the small branches and trees I used some "Liquifier," another Chroma product for their Interactive line, and that not only thinned the paint, but it (somehow) kept it from turning transparent (as you'd expect.) I was able to get thin, solid lines with a rigger brush to add branches to the trees (bottom two paintings.)

And there's my update for the Interactives. I'm starting to get the hang of it. You really do have to stay with it, and get past the frustration at the beginning. Working WITH the paint is the trickiest part, but the mediums really help you out.

More on Chroma Interactives

2007-12-19T16:46:00.001-05:00

This post continues to document and make comments on my experiments with Chroma Atelier Interactive Acrylics. I was able to manipulate the paint to do this small (5" x 7") landscape today, and start on a larger painting to see how big I could go. See below.

This one in a larger canvas, 22" x 28", and the second photo is a detail. I wanted to practice larger work, in preparation for a wall mural that I'll be working on in January. I think that once I have some of the technique figured out, I'm going to really like these paints. I have to undo the habit from oils of holding a paper towel in my left hand, for wiping my brush, and replace it with a spray bottle of water. As long as you keep spraying, you can keep blending. I'll work more on the sky on this one, to see what I can learn about manipulating the paint. But I was pretty happy working with these today (now that I am figuring out about the water spray.) I still need to figure out brushes, since the bristle brushes I'm using from oil work (my old ratty ones) get thick and gunky pretty quick, and I have to work to get them clean in the water.

More as I learn it.

Interactive Acrylics Day Two

2007-12-17T15:52:00.001-05:00

I am glad to report that using good watercolor paper makes a real difference in the results with the Atelier Interactives. They merge easily, and wet-in-wet works really well also. Bleeds, gradations and dry brush are also good possibilities. Now I'm eager to try a "real" watercolor with these. I think the only real adjustment will be that I'm used to a palette with dry paint that can be "awakened" with water. These, obviously, need to be used while they are fresh.

Winter scene with detail. Acrylic on cardboard coated with Gesso. I added a whole bunch of "Slow" medium to my colors (about ten drops to each 1/2" squeeze) , which made them able to rewet with the water sprayer. This gave me a lot more control. The mountains blended a little, but I hadn't sprayed them as I went. The sky blended better, with spraying right on the board. There is a yellow undercoat on the sky, which I let show through in spots, then added more white to the clouds. It worked nice for subtleties. The treetops are fan brush with somewhat dry paint.

We're getting there!

Report on Interactive Acrylics

2007-12-17T00:54:00.001-05:00

Chroma Atelier Interactive Acrylics.
I have been shopping for acrylics, in anticipation of a mural I will be working on ( on four walls) in January, and decided to try the Interactives. These acrylics are advertised as being the most like watercolors, used very thin, and oils, very blendable. It sounded like the best of both worlds. So I got them yesterday, and after finishing and posting my painting for today AND cleaning my brushes, I got them out to play. The colors are strong and clean. The color chart was done on really poor watercolor paper, and I will try them on some decent paper, but I think they'll be fairly like watercolors. On this paper, thinned with a lot of water, they acted like watercolor, but lost their strength. Used more thickly, they felt a little "slimey" to me. I'll let you know what I think with better paper. I tried some wet on wet, and the colors will run together, but since it's a different medium, it really won't act exactly like watercolor.

On to a painting, using them like oils.
There are a lot of different mediums to use with this paint. The full line can be found on the web site, here: http://www.chromaonline.com/chroma/

I think once I play with them, and figure out what they do, I'll be able to do some blending. I could only blend when the paints were truly fresh, and was shy about using too much of any of the mediums. I did pop a little of the "Slow" into my blue mixes for the water, and that helped, but I probably didn't add enough, because I found it tricky. The painting is below.

I'm excited about the new paint, and have enjoyed it so far. Taking into account that this is my first play time with them, I am pleased with the results. I'll keep you posted.

End of Day One with Interactive Acrylics

2007-12-17T00:34:00.000-05:00

The Color Sketch, beginning stages, above. I used a regular canvas panel from Ray Mar, and decided later that it would have been better had I followed the directions and used a Binder to cover the canvas first. I'll try that on the next canvas and let you know how it differs. The sketching was fun, paints were fresh and soft, and I could use water as if it were OMS for oils, and paint fairly transparently. The build up was nice, as the first layer would dry quickly and I could paint overtop with subtle variations of color in the same value. Color mixing was pretty much as I expected, although I missed a really deep color. The ultramarine wasn't as dark as I'm used to. (I'll have to order some darks.) I did miss being able to blend, and you are supposed to be able to, but I haven't figured out the mediums yet. I did try the "Unlocking" formula, and added it to my water mist bottle sprayer, but when I sprayed it on the area, all it did was take the color right down to canvas again. I guess that's what it's meant for. Now I know. I will try the "Slow" medium tomorrow, see if that makes blending doable.

This is the painting as I leave it tonight. I want to see tomorrow if the color will still soften after drying overnight. I'm still getting used to how the color piles on the palette act, and how long I can use them before they get dried out. What the mister will do. And whether I dare mist right on the painting. When I broke for dinner, the piles on the palette skinned up. My mixing areas would reconstitute somewhat, but there were little bits of dried color skin in them then. I could still peel the skin off the piles and use the color underneath. This paint is great (so far) for:

layering, scumbling, fresh clean color areas (no cross contamination), easy clean up, glazes

Hopefully, I can tell you more tomorrow.

Ackerman Pump Pen

2007-12-14T11:04:00.000-05:00

Ackerman Pump Pen, the nib is a Hunt 101.

The Ackerman Pump Pen, a wonderful new toy! This is a very versatile pen, and can be fitted with a whole bunch of different art nibs. I bought the Gen 3, and this one has a Hunt 101 nib in it. It is a NOT fussy pen, and is supposed to accept all types of ink, acrylic, gouache, watercolor. Right now I have Noodlers Ink in it, and it works beautifully. I haven't exactly figured out the pump yet, (you can see the little oval pump in the barrel above) but what a fine new toy! Here's a portion of a little piece I played with while watching TV the other night:

It gives a very fine line, nice for hatching, but with a little pressure, you can also get a stronger line, and with pressure you can vary them in the same line. You can, of course, change the nib out any time. I know you can get these nibs in most fine art stores, or order various separtae nibs from Ackerman's. I tried writing with it, and that works just fine.

And here's the link, if you want to check it out:

http://www.ackermanpens.com/index.htm

New ET Series

2007-10-28T19:12:00.000-05:00

Above:
Autumn Serene, Oil on Canvas board, 12" x 16", from my own photos, for sale on my painting blog, Nel's Everyday Painting (see side bar.)

A new painting book is a wonderful treat, and I got one by a painter I greatly admire. It's called Oil Painter's Solution Book: Landscapes, by Elizabeth Tolley, whose work is just beautiful. This is a terrific book, and I think I'll be working from it for awhile, I like her colors and techniques so much. I did two exercises that turned out well enough to give as gifts, above. Then I tried one from my own photos from this past week, to see if I could use some of the color mixes and techniques, and that too, turned out remarkably well. It's a jump for me into wonderful new territory, so I wanted to recommend the book to anyone looking to improve their oil techniques.

Jana's Rose Photo and Short Step Process

2007-09-21T16:55:00.000-05:00

The following is a short step-by-step of a painting from this photo. It was loaned to me by fellow artist Jana Bouc, http://janabouc.wordpress.com/ and I wanted to see what I could do with it. I know right away that I want to move the position of the drapery, not having it right in the middle of the composition, and I'll also crop in the photo, so the flowers and vase fill up the canvas more. I take some scrap paper and cover parts of two sides, so that I won't see the far edges. I love all the drama in this photo and am eager to get painting.

Sketching the Composition

2007-09-21T16:42:00.000-05:00

I want my vase and flowers to fill up the canvas, so I've cropped the photo by covering part of two sides with scrap paper, and then sketching in thin paint with a lot of OMS. As I correct the "drawing" and wipe off mistakes with a paper towel dipped in OMS, I'm also toning the canvas very thinly with a sienna coating. I already know that to try to make this a tight painting, it will take more time, so I'm going to do this loose and kind of "sketchy," a style I really like to work in. I'm only indicating major lines here, and getting the shapes down quickly.

Step Two Indicate Darks

2007-09-21T16:38:00.000-05:00

I like the drawing now, after "erasing" it with paper towel several times, and changing this area and that. I start by putting in the darks, always the most fragile colors. I'm using alizarin, burnt carmine and some purple madder, keeping these darks very rich.

Drapery Step 3

2007-09-21T16:22:00.000-05:00

Mostly working with darks, deep reds and purples, I paint in the background and the drapery. I like the pattern in the right hand drape, but treat it as dots rather than the more complicated pattern that it is. A couple of quick strokes for the leaves.

Foreground Flower

2007-09-21T16:18:00.000-05:00

I'm satisfied with the background, and have started on the flowers. I like the shape on this one, and have tried to keep it very simple. I am really not trying to make the rose look like the photo, just get a pleasing suggestion of colors and shapes.

Front Flower Detail

2007-09-21T16:13:00.000-05:00

Detail of the front flower, included so that you can see the brush work. I've mostly not blended here, just laid in the colors where they needed to go.

Back Two Flowers

2007-09-21T16:09:00.000-05:00

Working on the two back flowers, the orange one giving me some trouble. It looks too choppy, and doesn't make sense. I go back and forth between the two flowers, trying not to get too

much mush. The paint is pretty thick, so anything as overlay has to be thick, and carefully applied. The other alternative is to scrape and start again, which is also a perfectly good solution.

Finished Painting

2007-09-21T16:06:00.001-05:00

The finished painting is 10" x 12", oil on Canvas board. Here I've added the edges of the water inside the vase, just a few strokes to suggest, and the highlights on the glass. I finished the last flower and cut back into the edges with the burnt carmine.

Starting a Landscape

2007-08-22T20:13:00.001-05:00

Starting a new painting. More acurately, two of the same painting. The following entries are some of the steps I made in the process. It was pretty easy to shoot a photo when I was swapping out the two paintings, using the same colors for each step on the two paintings. This is done with the limited palette I've been using lately from the book, The Yin/Yang of Painting, by Hongian Zhang, who gives three complementary palettes. Of these three: the blue-orange, the purple-yellow, and the red-green, I'm using the red-green palette colors. I'm not really missing the blues and the yellows much any more, since I have turquoise and citron to use.

I sketch out in pencil the basic shapes in the painting. Over this I spray workable fixative. Usually you would tone the canvas once the fixative is dry, but here I just didn't. I block in my darks, and then start carefully mixing my critical colors: the road colors. I paint of bit of my test color on a piece of scrap paper, and hold it right up to the photo. Then I talk to myself, warmer, lighter, more pink, more orange, more purple...til I get it right. The actual colors in the foliage don't matter quite so much, so long as you get the basic values right, but with the road and it's shadows, I want to come as close as I can.

I hope that you enjoy the following posts. The two finished paintings are posted today on my painting blog, Nel's Everyday Painting. The link is listed in the sidebar. Thanks for looking.

Step Two

2007-08-22T20:10:00.000-05:00

I paint in the dark areas that I see first. I just mix some darks together, trying for a deep warm color. Not too much blue, that will make the tone of the shadows really cool. Mostly this is quite thin, so it will dry and I can paint right over it.

Step Three

2007-08-22T20:05:00.000-05:00

I paint in the darker areas of the road shadow. You could do the road one of two ways, either consider the road as dark and paint the light spots over top of the dark edges of the spaces, or consider the road as light, and paint the light spot first, and the darker shapes to overlap on top of the lights. Either way, the effort is to keep the two colors pure right now, and not intermix them too much, which would lose both the power of the dark and the punch of the light.

Step Three

2007-08-22T20:02:00.000-05:00

I mix a very light sky color, starting with white and then adding teeny bits of magenta and blue, and I mean tiny bits. You want the sky to be (most of the time) your lightest area, and it's surprising how light it can be, how little color you need to make it work. I don't touch the other colors with my sky color yet.

Step Four

2007-08-22T20:00:00.000-05:00

Blocking in the background grey and the light lavender of the sky. I paint almost up to the tree edges, but don't want to pick up any extra color into my sky color. I've also put in the second road color here, and some darker lines for the ruts in the road. These rut lines will help break up the horizontal shadow shapes and give more of a suggestion of road. There is still a bit of blending to do, since you want the road to "lay down" flat as one unit. Flattening the texture and easing the edges will help. I won't do too much blending right here, since the addition of the middle ground colors will detract from all this action.

Step Five

2007-08-22T19:56:00.000-05:00

Road light colors and starting to blend them together. Also here I am doing some finish work on the background greyed area. I want it dark, but also light enough and "blued" enough to show distance. I also want to suggest a warm light back there on the tree tops with some citron color. Theres a lot of blending and then repainting, working it back and forth.

Step Six

2007-08-22T19:52:00.000-05:00

Now the lighter edges of the road side. These are a mixture of white and citron yellow and some cinnabar green light (one of my favorites). I use a little of the road color for the continued shadow from the road into the grasses. Now I can also judge and refine the depth and value of the greyed area of the background. It's pretty close, but I can see where a little more darkness underneath the tree tops back there would help.

Step Seven

2007-08-22T19:49:00.000-05:00

The basic dark shapes of the tree trunks go in here. I've mixed burnt sienna and ivory black for a really dark color. Pure black might be too dark, looking like a cut out hole instead of a trunk. I'll work around and over the top branches.

Step Eight

2007-08-22T19:46:00.000-05:00

I cover the remainder of the white canvas now with thin mixes of mostly burnt sienna (the orange you see here is b.s. thinned up) keeping the coverage even thinner where I'll have lighter colors over top. The burnt sienna sometimes shows through the green foliage and makes a nice complement. This coat can dry quickly and then I can paint the mid ground.

Step Nine

2007-08-22T19:39:00.000-05:00

The greyed background, the road edges and the road are all pretty much done. I'm working my finishing from the background forward here. I finish up the trees (birches) on the left side of the road top. I work from the edge towards the left side, blending from the dark into the light. Then I'll do finishing work on the middle ground and the foreground.

Step Ten

2007-08-22T19:35:00.000-05:00

Using a rigger brush, I put in the treetops of the birches, then daub some of the road color into the lines, just lightly. This is done right on the dry canvas (actually it should have been toned first, but...) Over the sky the lines would have lost their thin darkness. This way I can go back in and paint the sky holes right up to the colors and lines.

Step Eleven

2007-08-22T19:28:00.001-05:00

Refining the Middle Ground. Adding swashes of green overtop what's already there. Some turquoise to cool the middle ground but give it some shapes. Further definition of the greens in the foreground. What I've found with oils is that you can plan on the layers. You know that you'll have a leaf clump in a certain spot. You can first put a mid or a dark down thin for the lighter leaf clump to sit on top of.

Finishing Touches

2007-08-22T19:25:00.000-05:00

I can put in the hard edged groups of top layer leaves now, and some little touches of white and tiny dots of red and orange. A few branches with the rigger brush, and adding color here and there for balance. And this one's done!

New Painting

2007-08-08T20:36:00.000-05:00

This painting has posted in it's finished form on my Nel's Everyday Painting blog, but I took some progression shots of it as I was painting. This is not actually the beginning. I've painted in the drawing pretty loosely, and started with the arms. Pencil work for the lines, where they need to be straight. Originally I had her glasses on, but left them out for the rest of the painting (by Alex my granddaughter's request.) There are some drawing problems which will be addressed: the tilt of the ear, the length of the forward leg, the height of the back shoulder. The size is 18" x 18", done of my granddaughter. Photos taken on the front porch yesterday morning, while she was having her cereal. Progression photos follow. Thanks for looking.

2007-08-08T20:34:00.000-05:00

Pretty early in the painting. The drawing feels pretty good, except for the back shoulder being too high, and the leg being too short, which I can't see at this stage. I'll fix it later when I spot it. Still really drawing with paint here, working on the face.

2007-08-08T20:30:00.000-05:00

Close Up. Sometime I'd like to be brave enough to stop right here, and call it done. Isn't there something so compelling about an unfinished piece?

2007-08-08T20:28:00.000-05:00

Shirt and pajama bottoms here. The ear needs fixing.