Urgh!!

It feels like I paint best when I am along in my basement studio. This is frustrating because there are times I would like to paint around live human beings and even talk or interact with them. For reason, my brain goes into overload and I am rarely happy with anything I create in the presence of others. I will keep trying.

All of that is a long way of saying that a friend and I got together to paint yesterday and I was unhappy with my work. In thinking about what went wrong, I switch over to painting the object rather than the values and the shapes and I went painted without thinking. This is a bad habit, which creeps up periodically. It seems like there should be a formula to express the amount of time for thinking beforehand versus the time your brush spends on the surface. At a minimum, I need to remember to be deliberate, whether that is before each paint stroke or by formulating an overall plan before starting. Auto-pilot does not work.

This morning I started fresh. I kept my drawing to a minimum, focusing on major value changes.

Another relationship I will explore forever is the one between the essential versus the details. When I do these simple value drawings it amazes me how much can be communicated with so little.  It always makes me stop and think - - what is essential here - - what is the minimum that is needed? I have trouble staying in this place, since I also love the fussy little details in life. 

Before I picked up my brush, I stopped and thought about what I wanted for this painting and why I was drawn to the source photo. The reason was the drama. I took the source picture of Chandler when the light at dusk was hitting his face in a very appealing and dramatic manner. I decided to start with his eyes, which I will adjust at the end. Next up was getting the lightest lights represented. The color of the lightest lights is not quite right, since these parts glowed in the picture. I don't want to over-paint this one, so I am going to try and leave it "as is". A painting represents many, many choices and I don't see how anyone can ever be happy with all of his or her choices. In the darkest areas, I wanted to suggest and not over paint, so I did a little of that.

Here is the start.

Delicate Whiskers - Finally!

Ella is a beautiful cat. She deserves delicate whiskers and she finally got them represented in a painting. This one can get hung up on the wall, since it's on hard board.  Hurrah!

#193 - Ella - 6" x 6" - hard board - standard palette

Woman In Chariot

I finished this one this morning. Backgrounds are still my nemesis. I fussed around with this one.

#192 - Heart of the Beast May Day Parade - 5" x 7" - paper - standard palette

Overall, this was a very fun challenge using an image that really speaks to me. I think it's the hardest thing that I have ever tried to paint, especially since it is so small.

I may have to look at other pictures I've taken at the May Day parade over the years and try painting from some of those.

Almost all of my 5" x 7" paintings on paper are going to Art 4 Shelter.  This year, the event is taking place at the Minneapolis Institute of Art on May 9th.

It Comes Back

From the pictures that I've taken over the years, there are a few images which just stay with me. This is one of them. It's from the Heart Of The Beast May Day parade. There is something so compelling and powerful about this woman in a chariot.

I finally decided to try and tackle painting it. It's a challenge. It has a ridiculous amount of detail, so I'm practicing making decisions about what to change, simplify, and so on. 

What I am happiest about is that I am out of my rut. Prior to vacation, I felt a little stuck or mechanical in my painting practice. I can't articulate what was off, but something was. I'm glad to have a daily painting practice, because if I just keep working the good always comes back.

I Painted A Face!

It's a fictitious face of a gnome, but still I painted a face!

#191 - Gnome Out For A Stroll - 5" x 7" - paper - standard palette

I like the gnome, flowers, and path. While progress never takes place in a straight path, I feel like I'm getting better at mixing colors, especially the ones in the face and beard.

This is another revisit. The last time I painted from the same source pictures was back in December 2016.

Hello Blog, I've Been Neglecting You

I was away from last Friday through Wednesday. It was good to be away. It was even better to be in a beautiful place visiting a dear, dear friend with my hubby and her spouse. If that's not enough goodness, it was in a new and beautiful location. The only time I've been close to the Atlantic Ocean was in Florida. This trip, I was on Block Island RI. My friend is house-sitting for the winter. Since it's an island, you are surrounded by water, plus there are a number of ponds on the island. While I love living in the city, I also loved being away where you can see so much sky and water. The views and the colors were amazing. I had a good camera along and put it to good use.

We had time to wander around the port in before we took the ferry to Block Island.

Fishing Boats - Port in Galilee RI

Fishing Boat At Dusk

Ferry Docked On Block Island

Imagine living on an island. To get to and fro, it's either by water or air. Many islanders will have a vehicle on the island and on the main land. What do you do when you've done a bunch of shopping and need to get your stuff easily back home? Use a cart provided by the ferry company.

If you have a lot of stuff, there are options for that too.

Once you get to Block Island, it's easier to show some of the beauty rather than trying to describe it.

While we were there, we chased a sunset.

Also, I practiced counting.

One Snowy Owl

Two Swans

Three Seals

Four Llamas

It was an incredible trip. Being from Minnesota, the weather helped me feel right at home.

Monday

Tuesday

Oh yes, this is supposed to be a blog about drawing and painting. While, I took a painting hiatus. There was too much to do and see. Now that I'm back, I picked up my brushes again.

#190 - Cardinal In Snow - 5" x 7" - paper - standard palette

Another One For Art 4 Shelter (And Another Revisit)

Art 4 Shelter is going to be at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, this year on May 9th. It's mind-boggling to think that I am sending in paintings for the 3rd year. I still feel like such a beginner. How could it be the 3rd time? It still does cause a little angst and causes the internal critic to make an appearance.

I went back to revisit the peony. The last time the decision to "suggest" a second flower at the bottom of the painting really annoyed me. I'm not sure if this was the editor or the critic, but I decided to give this one another go. This time I tried to "suggest" the irises in the background of the actual picture. Overall, I like this version better.

#189 - Peony - 5" x 7" - paper - standard palette

I also went back and added a few strokes to Dorian, the value cat. Two things bothered me in the original version. First, her chest didn't seem grounded enough. Second, the outline of her face on the left side seemed to just float in the world of black. I added some additional brush strokes and I like the end result better.

Take that internal critic!

Value Cat

Yesterday, I took some additional time and started and finished a painting in one sitting. I haven't been doing that. My self-imposed assignment was to focus on the values and the shapes. Rather than sticking to one color, I went with one color for the cat, one color for the blanket, and one color for the eyes.

#188 - Dorian Value Study - 5" x 7"- paper - standard palette

It just amazes me how well the suggested eye reads any time I've tried something like this. 

Also, I switched my standard palette today. My official yellow is now hansa yellow opaque. Since I haven't used this color with pthalo blue red shade before, it did make mixing grays interesting today. 

Finished Flower, Plus Cabin Sunset

I finished the second version of the pansy. It was interesting that this is the first time that I did not try to represent the little black lines that appear on the lower petals. Guess what! You don’t need them. I also added another layer of color in the flower petals. I think that helped.

#186 - Pansy in Pot - 6" x 6" - hardboard - alternative palette

Over time, I want to paint up a bunch of 6” x 6” paintings on hardboard. I want them to be of things which have some sort of meaning to me. The other day, I realized that much of the wood work in the living room and dining room is perfect for perching this very size of painting.  My goal is to fill these spaces with paintings over time and to make sure that they are not all paintings of cats.

Next up, I revisited a scene of a cabin sunset.

#187 - Sunset on Dock - 8" x 10" - paper - standard palette

While it's getting better, I still struggle with a complicated scene like this. In this version, I think that sunset and reflection of the sunset is much better than in the past. The sky and water look more distinct from one another, although I do think the far shoreline needs a tab more weight. That's all I'm going to say.

It would be easy to point out the things that I don't like. Unfortunately, I've been fighting some negative situations in life and it's spilled over into how I look at my paintings. This is temporary. It will pass. For now, I  am only willing to write down what I like or find positive as a way to also fight the negativity.