Water Lily Finished

I painted from this same picture about 3 1/2 months ago for the Art 4 Shelter event.  In that earlier painting, I used transfer paper to essentially trace the picture on my painting surface.

This one was painted from a drawing (said or written with pride).  For the more complicated water lilies, I see no problem with using transfer paper.

I really like how the lily pads turned out.

Drawn, Not Traced

Awhile back, I painted some water lilies, but I used transfer paper and traced my picture.  This time, I am trying to paint from one that I drew.  I selected the easiest lily picture that I have.

Darn it.  In looking at my drawing, I see that I missed a petal of the lily.  There are two petals stacked on top of each other on the left and I missed one.  I need to remember to fix this!

 Some of my lines did not photograph very well.

Minor Adjustment

When I got home from work last night, I figured out what was bugging me.

Marvin is a good cat and he deserved a better nose.  I made it a little more prominent and now I am happy.

The need for this adjustment was much more obvious when looking at the painting.

Marvin -. - Yet Another Cat

I enjoyed painting cats over the weekend and it was a blast going crazy with paint strokes.  The tiny strokes in Saturday's painting of Dorian slowed me down and I did much less rework than usual. Many times, I will painting a section more than once, mostly to try and capture values better.

This one was done yesterday after spending the day at the Fair.

The eyes are too big.  It does not help that I had to outline them with gesso.  Other than that, there's a lot that I like about this one, including the cat's body, the paint strokes, the colors, and the cat's body.

I did the drawing on Saturday.

Before I begin drawing, I've started marking the outer edges at key points.  It makes a big difference. With using a grid, I thought I could skip this step.  Nope.  It's an important step and I should have been doing it all along!!

Lots And Lots Of Brush Strokes

This one was a lot of fun, too.

Crazy Brush Strokes

That was a fun painting session.  I wanted to experiment.

Dorian

Yesterday, I drew this during lunch time at work.  I had a short day at work, since I went to the State Fair to volunteer in the afternoon and play in the evening,  The plan was to post the picture last night before bed time.

In addition to having no hot water in the house since Monday, my WIFI carrier is going through an upgrade. Instead of being down for 1-3 hours, it's been down since last night.  Sigh.  I needed a work-related email, so I'm at a coffee shop for just a bit.

I like this drawing.  I hope to paint it later today!

I Had A Plan

I did not do what I planned, but I did start out with a plan.  The plan was to revisit the painting of Dorian in two different ways.  The first way was to make small brush stokes with space in between each one to see what type of effect that would be. That was the goal for this painting. That's not what happened.

As is, I see two major problems.  The eyes are too big and the face is too round.  It makes the cat look more like a kitten. Least I sound too critical, I am really pleased with the colors, especially since it's the first painting using a fresh palette.  I also like the cat's muzzle.  It's there, but not as over-emphasized like I usually do.

I do want to circle back and try the idea of small brush strokes with leaving space in between,  I also want to try a"solid" painting with no bits of black gesso showing through.

Just in case I sound too critical of myself, know that I love the process of trying to capture what I see in the form of a drawing or painting.  It is such a wonderful, wonderful thing to learn and do!!

Fresh Palette

Every three to four months, I wear through the paper that holds the paint in my palette.  When that happens, it's time to set up a fresh palette.  Since I am still very new to painting, this is only the second time that I've replaced the paper.

It's almost a little intimidating staring down at so much white space.

That won't last for long.  My goal for this time around is to be more gentle when I mix colors.  I feel like I push down to hard when mixing and drive the paint down through the paper into the sponge below.  I am really, really going to try to be gentle, gentle and keep more paint on the brush.

Very Little Time To Paint

It was a tough day.  The boiler in the basement, which feeds the hot water heat and the hot water for the house, essentially blew up sometime during the night.  It could have been so much worse than it was, but there was more than enough to do so I stayed home from work today. My favorite part of the house at the moment is the floor drain in the basement.

I really should not have taken time to paint, but I did anyway. Needless to say, this one was a rush.

When I first finished it, I didn't like.  As so often happens, my assessment changed after I came back to take a picture.  This happens about 90% of the time.  It's not my best work, but under the circumstances I'll take it!

It's a 5" by 5" painting, so it's a little smaller than usual.

It's my sweet Dorian.

Wow!  Looking at the picture, I just realized that I forgot to add the highlights in her eyes. Boy, it's has been a long day!!

Here it is with the highlights.  It's amazing what a different it makes.

Gray

Some of my favorite things are gray.

I need to think more about gray and how to use it in paintings.  I borrowed the book "Making Colors Sing" from the library.  The author, Jeanne Dobie, talks about mixing grays (or what she calls the mouse colors) in a way that makes a lot of sense.  To get gray, you mix a color with its complement. That means you mix green and red, or blue and orange, or purple and yellow.  With a palette containing only the primary colors of blue (although I have two blues), red and yellow, it's a two step process, but that's besides the point.

If you mix a perfectly neutral gray that is not cool or warm, that's fine.  The interesting concept was making grays that lean a certain way.  For instance, making a gray that leans a bit towards blue.  If you use this gray next to or surrounding the color orange, the orange color is going to glow or sing. That would be true of a gray leaning towards purple used next to yellow and so on.

I hadn't thought about this with mixing and choosing colors in this way.  It's a really interesting thought to try both with painting and knitting.

Sadie - Take 2

I finished it this morning.  This photograph is in "truer" light than yesterday's.

There are a lot of things that I like about it, including the values, shapes and energy.  It was fun being more sploshy with the background.   Next time, I need to make all of the colors lighter in relative value.

Sadie - Take 2 (Work In Progress)

Today is crazy.  While I had a day to work at home and had more than a full day of work, a few other things crept up that had to be done, including going to the veterinarian's office twice today.  I probably should have sacrificed painting time today, but I really, really did not want to.

Here's Sadie as a work in progress.  I plan to finish this tomorrow.

Here's my first painting of Sadie back in mid-June. I like the way the face shape is turning out on this newer attempt. One of the things I like about this blog is being able to do these types of comparisons.

After Dinner Drawing

I don't understand my own brain.  I basically fought with yesterday's cat drawing at lunchtime.  Last night after dinner, I drew in a drawing that I plan to paint today or sometime this weekend.  It is more of an outline than a drawing.  Still, it came together relatively easily.

Picture:

Drawing:

Lunchtime Value Drawing

I worked on a value drawing at lunch, today, of Marvin.

The point is not to get an exact drawing, although I confess that I worked quite a bit at this one.  The point is really capturing the values.  Still, there's something not quite right about the face shape and I can't quite see what it is.

This seeing stuff is hard.  With the position of the picture and the drawing, I can see places where the values could be better.

A Sense of Place

One of the things that I love about learning to paint and draw is slowing down to truly see and captures things or places that are important or interesting to me.  I also enjoy seeing those same types of things through other artist's eyes.

The few people who read this blog certainly know that I am a big fan of Kat Corrigan, both as someone who is teaching me, but also because I so enjoy her art.  I have a several small pieces of her art.  Two of them are landscape pieces.  One is a scene in Duluth.  The other is a snowy, Minneapolis road way.  In both instances, I can look at them and can both revel in my memory of those places and also want to return to or experience them again.  I'm also a big fan of her paintings of animals and flowers.

I recently discovered another local artist, Brendon Farley and am really enjoying his work.  When I look at his paintings of South Minneapolis, I see my world and the place where I make my home.  I love the energy of these pieces and it reminds me of the beauty of the things that I see in my normal day to day world. He even makes an alley in South Minneapolis look like a special place.  You can see his work on Etsy or on his Facebook page.

Even before I started painting, I loved art with a strong sense of place, probably because I have a thing for certain types of architecture.  Many years ago, I went to the Edward Hopper exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago.  I had never see his paintings of urban architecture before and really loved them.

Another example was when I first moved to Minneapolis.  My medical clinic had a Rod Massey painting of homes in South Minneapolis.  I loved that painting.  It captured the energy of the type of neighborhood that I lived in.

Do Not Paint Right Before Bedtime

I try to draw or paint a little bit everyday.  The longer that I do it, the clearer it becomes that this is the best way to improve.  Not everything works out. Sometimes, it seems like it's necessary to get the failures out, so the better stuff can emerge.

Some days, it's so hard to find time. If the only time is right before bedtime, I really, really need to stick to drawing, either a quick sketch or a drawing that will become a painting.  Picking up the paint brush right before bedtime is almost always the wrong decision.  Last night before bedtime, I started painting a cat, decided it was a disaster, and gessoed over it.  Was it a disaster?  I think so, but I don't know.  I really should have left it, come back to it today, and decided today.

This morning, I had an email newsletter from Jen Hewett.  She does beautiful block prints, mostly on fabric. If you are interested in block printing in this, take a look at some of her 2014 work when she did one fabric block print over 52 weeks or better yet sign up for her occasional online class.  I took it this spring and it was a blast.  I also subscribed to her mailing list. This part of her newsletter really spoke to me:

"Learning from the process is something that I emphasize when I teach. The process is just as important as the end result, and rushing it in the wrong places - especially before you've mastered a craft - will lead to disappointing work. It's better to put in the work and learn from your hands".  Jen Hewitt

A Quick Sketch

It's hard to find time for art on Mondays.  I took about 10 - 15 minutes this morning to start drawing out a new cat painting.  I'm only doing the face.  I still do my grid lines, but here's the picture before I drew them in.  This is Marvin.

It felt both good and relaxed. I still need to fill in more lines, but it's a good start.  Tomorrow, my schedule is crazy, so we'll see if there's time to complete the drawing.

The Lake - Too Bad That I Rushed

It took a few tries to get the boat sketched in and the person on the right.

I painted this one quickly and in hindsight I wish that I would have slowed down and taken 2 sittings for it.  It's not terrible.  It just could have been better.  My skill level is such that I need to take time with color mixing and paint strokes.  

In spite of that, there are two things that make me happy.  The people turned out well.  I also am pleased with the boat.  So many times, I fill in everything and I was really trying to suggest the boat.

VW Bus - FInished!

Whew!  This was the most complicated painting that I've tried so far.  What I like best is the V.W. bus.  The back versus the side of the house does not quite work.

I have a painting class with Kat tomorrow and I'm going to ask her how to approach doing the vehicle windows.

VW Bus - Work In Process 3

I am going slowly with this one.  Here is the original picture.  I took some creative liberties when I drew this out by removing some of the detail.

Here is the painting, so far.

It was a very good evening of finishing up the drawing and starting to paint.  I'm pleased that I stopped when I did.  It is challenging (and thrilling) to work on a picture that has so much going on.  The VW bus is turning out, although I might adjust the values a bit before I'm done.

Tonight phthalo blue (red shade) was doing great things in my painting colors!!

VW Bus - Work In Process 2

I like how this is progressing.  Although, I do want to revisit the tires and wheel wells.

There is a lot going on in this picture!!!

VW Bus - Work In Process 1

Here is what I'm working on.

Yesterday, during my lunch break, I started drawing the scene.  It's a complicated one.  The centering looks different because the painting will be 8" by 10" and the picture I'm using is not quite that dimension.  I made a grid on the copy of the picture that I'm using.

Hopefully, I'll find time to finish the drawing today and start painting tomorrow.

Future note to self:  Rather than starting with the detail drawing, it would be better to mark the edges of each major item.  The grid lines in the canvas and picture help, but knowing the edges would be good too.

Landscape With Tree And Road - Take 2

This one is better than my first attempt.
 

I really like the mailboxes.  I'd like to figure out how to give the sky and the greenery a different appearance via the paint strokes.

It's Chandler!!!

It was the right choice to stop the other day, before I finished this one.  There was so little left to do, but I was tired.  This morning, I finished the eyes and whiskers.

When I look at this, I see Chandler. It is such a wonderful feeling to capture some of his essence.  I adore him.

What I Learned From Chandler's Painting

I learned something new with the latest painting of Chandler.  Acrylic paint dries very quickly. Hurrah!  I was carrying too many things up the stairs and I thought the lid on my water bottle was secure.  Five minutes or so after I finished painting for the day, I spilled water on my work-in-progress painting.  I dried it off with a towel and all was well.

Chandler - Take 3

Yesterday, I drew this over lunch at work.

With watering the garden last night, There wasn't as much time to paint as I would like.  Although, I did harvest some tomatoes.  I still need to finish the eyes and whiskers.  

I like this one.  The values are much better and so is his face shape. 

Another Second Try

Back in the beginning of May, my cat paintings started to work better.  Here is an early one of Harley that I really, really liked.  It was one of the first times that I drew something where I really felt like I saw it.  

She is a beautiful cat.  Here is the picture that I used.

I revisited this one today.

It's a bit disappointing that I like the first one better.  Also, I'm noticing a trend where the left side of the cat's face is better than the right.  The right side of Harley and the last two of Chandler have been too rounded.  I wonder what's up with that?  The likely answer is that the first one took forever to draw and I just buzzed along with the second one.  Drawing at a medium pace might be a better choice for me.  I'm not thrilled with the background color.  I wonder what color would be a better choice.

I do like the eyes in both the original and the new one.

I will revisit this picture.  It's a a really, really good one.  I like the light and shadows in her eyes.

Second Try

Take 2 (from today);

I painted this one and posted about it on 07/22/16.  Today, I used a version of the picture that was oriented in landscape mode rather than portrait.  The proportions and values are better in this one.  I like the picture better than the original painting.

Landscapes are hard.  

Cat Sketch

I try to practice two types of drawing.  One is exact, either using a gridded picture or a view finder.  The other is something between a free-hand drawing or even a blind contour drawing. My guess / hope is that working on both will help me develop better drawing skills.  Today was a free-hand day.

Here is the source.  Aren't they beautiful?

Here is the sketch.  It was fairly quick (not fussy).  The free-handed stuff is hard.  I didn't take measurements.  There is no way I could have done anything like this at the beginning of this year.  I know I keep repeating this, but it's true.  It also makes me very happy to keep learning and trying to improve.