Sunday Afternoon in the Studio

I got Rainy to the airport around 11:30 this morning and have since been trying to focus on some artwork.  I have not been too successful yet as my mind is now wandering towards getting ready for Christmas!  I did finish Jack the Beagle yesterday.

There wasn't much lefy to be done.  I lightened Jack's eyes a bit and completed some detailing around the mouth.  Overall, I am very pleased with the the finished painting.  I enjoyed using the oil paint on top of the torn magazine pages.  The last few layers of paint were added with quite a bit of linseed oil mixed into the paint and this left a nice overall sheen to the painting.  I will be giving the painting to my sister Jenni and her husband, Jim for Christmas as it is a portrait of their beagle.

I also started and finished this cat portrait of Zoe in my collage book.  Her face started out pretty accurate, but I got off on her body proportions.  I chose orange for the background to accent her tabby coloration.  I am done now with the household pets.  Next on my schedule is a portrait of Adam, but I need to get a photo first.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have the turkey in the oven, so I managed to squeeze in a little time to finish a page in my collage book.

This is Cloe, one of Bryant's cats.  She actually turned out better than any of the previous cat portraits that I have completed in the book.  I think this happened because I started the portrait differently.  Instead of drawing the overall shape of Cloe's face and body, I began with her nose, shading it in and getting it to be the right shape.  Then I moved onto her eyes and then her mouth.  I simply worked out from there.  This is how I draw people, so why haven't I been doing this in the collage book?  Who knows!  I guess I just forgot what works best for me.  The center fold in the spread of the book had me working around it instead of working in a way that I know is successful for me.  Now that I have been reminded, I think the pages that are yet to come should get better and better.

It's Been a Busy Day!

This morning I weighed in at Weight Watchers; lost another .6 pounds.  It is slow progress but at least the scale is moving down.  I did my Thanksgiving grocery shopping.  It always amazes me how expensive it is when you buy special foods.  Plus I stocked up on beer because Rainy arrives tomorrow.  I can hardly wait.  After lunch I made a batch of Coc Full of Chip cookies for Christmas.  They took a few hours and I was ready to be finished baking by the time I took the last batch out of the oven!

I added another layer of paint on my Jack the Beagle painting.  I am definitely liking the way it is looking!  I think it is pretty much done at this point.  I just need to come back in and work the facial features a little bit more.  I am not sure when it will happen, maybe next weekend after Rainy goes home.
Now I am getting ready to work on my Rainy & Raven painting.

I am Making Progress

Yesterday afternoon I worked on my Jack the Beagle painting and really made good progress.  Again, typical of me, I was afraid to get started on the painting, afraid that I would "ruin" it.  My self-asteem is pitiful as I don't recognize what I do well until after the fact.

Instead of using a rag and paint thinned with turpentine, I used a paint brush and thinned the paint with linseed oil.  When the brush strokes seemed too obvious, I simply rubbed over the area with a bare finger to smooth it out.  In the smaller areas, I used a q-tip.  The painting is starting to come together and it really does look like Jack.  I was suprised this morning to find that the paint is already dry enough for the next layer.  I guess this occurred because I used a high ratio of linseed oil to pigment and the oil simply dries faster than the pure paint.....faster than I realized it would.  That means I will be able to continue working on Jack the Beagle today instead of waiting until next weekend!  How fun!

Late Start Saturday

I spent the morning baking a batch of Christmas cookies so I didn't get into my studio until after 1pm.  I haven't been working very long but I have big plans for the day.

I had been working on the portrait of Bryant in my collage book off and on for a few days.  I can't tell you how many times I used turpentine to erase his mouth and portions of his face!  At first his face wasn't long enough so I had to redo most of his face.  I added his sunglasses (cut out from a magazine page) but I had the 2 sides shaped differently so I had to tear them off and redo the glasses.  The second pair I cut out I traced from the first pair, flipping the right side over to make the left side match.  This worked out very well and now the sunglasses seem to work much better.  I also struggled with his nose because the photo I was working from showed his nose at a different angle than what I am accustomed to.  Honestly, I finally gave up trying to fix it and said "this will do".  In the end, the portrait isn't a replica of Bryant but it does capture the basic essence of his image and I am satisfied.

Now I am going to work on the collage painting of Jack the Beagle and then I will move on to the collage painting of Rainy and Raven.

A Productive Sunday

I accomplished quite a bit in my studio today.  I didn't get started until after 10:30 this morning because I went to Weight Watchers.  I was down .4 which is a good thing.  I had planned to hike Lookout Mountain this morning as well, but I was anxious to get started on some art projects.

First I had to get a photo of Leila.  She was very cooperative, I suppose because I had just displaced her from a nap on my bed.  She chose to sit on the nightstand as I made my bed.  I still can't believe that I was so lucky as she doesn't usually sit around.  As soon as I was finished, she got right back on the bed and continued her nap.

I started out working at my easel and thought I had Leila's proportions layed out pretty well.  I was having a hard time pushing the pastels into the paper when it was upright, so I moved back over to my table to work.  I am not sure what happened to the proportions.....oh well.  Working in the coloring of Leila's hair was difficult.  I struggled keeping the colors from looking muddied, especially as I added the black, but in the end I felt as if I had captured the tortoise coloration pretty well.  Why are cat's eyes so hard?!?  They are very round and curve upward.  They have a very thin line of black around them which is hard to do with a pastel crayon!  You would have thought that by the third cat I moght have it figured out!  Nope.

I was anxious to work the skin tones on my painting of Rainy & Raven but decided instead that I should get my first layer of color in on their hair and clothing.  Using a rag wrapped around my finger, I rubbed in oil paint that was thinned with turpentine.  Now that the  first layers are there, I will switch over to using a brush.  I still need to think in terms of layers to get the overall luster and depth of the painting media.  This means that I can't be in a hurry.  I will have to stay focused, and patient!

I also continued my painting of Jack the Beagle.  I decided that the background was too blueish so I began by rubbing a layer of terra verde over the background.  This seemed to successfully tone down the blue though I may decide that it needs one more layer.  I also layed in the first layer of color on Jack.  Just like my painting of Rainy & Raven, I am ready to switch to painting with a brush when this layer dries.

Finally, I used oil pastels and finished the self-portrait on the cover of my IB sketchbook.  I had collaged torn magazine pieces on the cover weeks ago, but just hadn't gotten around to doing the self-portrait part of it.  I think I had somewhat lost interest because I just completed 2 self-portraits for examples to show my IB students.  This is not my best self-portrait, I struggled with the eyes and my glasses.  When I was finished with it, I applied a protectice layer of matte medium over the surface.  Now it is officially completed!

Getting Caught Up

Because it has been such a long time since I have written in my blog, I have been able to finish a couple of paintings that I mentioned in October.

I completed the mixed media painting of Dusty.  I titled it "Remembering Dusty".  The media is torn magazine pages and oil paint on canvas.  It is 20" x 24".
I hung it up in hallway where I see it every time I walk by, which is often.  I am very pleased with the way this piece turned out.  By layering and rubbing the colors, they have a definite sheen and depth to them.

I also finished this oil on canvas painting titled "Looking Back".  It is 18" x 36".  This will be the last of my series involving skeletons, at least for now, as I feel finished.
There are certain things I like about this paining such as the way the skin breaks away to reveal bone.  I also like the way I interpreted the human flesh and the skeletal structure.  I am not too thrilled with the plant.  I wanted it to have more of an ivy-like appearance, as if it was growing up the wall, actually clinging to it.  Instead, it looks like a tall plant growing upright out of a planter.  Oh well, I guess I kind of gave up on trying to fix the plant and will live with the painting the way it is.

It has been a month since my last blog!

Wow!  I hadn't realized how long it had been since my last blog.  I have a lot to catch up on as I have been busy in my studio.  For now, I am going for a hike around Lookout Mountain.  When I get back, I promise to update everyone on my studio work!

I am back from my hike, I have showered and mixed up a batch of Christmas cookies that are chilling in the frig.  Now about my art....

I have continued to work in my collage book and manage to complete about one image a week.  Since my last post I have finished one of Rainy, Raven, and our cat Toby.

The oil pastel painting of Rainy has managed to captured the essence of what she actually looks like.  I struggled a bit with her smile, which is bigger than I managed to make it.  I used some paper that I had on hand for Rainy's shirt, then added a bit of pastel to blend it into place.

I am not sure how I feel about the final painting of Raven.  It is basically her but not quite.  I think I am having trouble because I have to work around the binding at the center of the spread.

Poor Toby.....I made her beautiful eyes way to small plus they should be lower on her face.  I painted this picture of her relaxing in the bathroom sink  which is something she likes to do.  I used foil in the upper background to represent the mirror.

I just finished the spread of Alex.  I think his proportions turned out really well.  This is probably because I decided to work with the book upright at me easel.  I used bulldog clips and clipped the opened book to a drawing board.  It is so much easier to see what you are doing when the image is upright!  I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner!  I really want some Sennelier oil pastels as I think it would make the blending and layering of colors much easier.  They are on my Christmas list.

Sunday Afternoon in the Studio

I finally finished my painting "International".  I started the painting in May, but with my 5 week road trip during the summer, I stopped painting.  Then school started at the end of July and it has been hard to get back into the swing of painting.  I am grateful for Fall Break, as I think it has successfully refocused me on my artmaking.

I worked from a photograph that I took when Rainy and I were living in Divide, Colorado.  In 2003, Joni, Asher, and Seva came out to visit.  We went to an old mining town to tour the underground mine.  I took a lot of pictures, including one of this old International dump truck.  For some reason, I have been attracted to beaten up and abandoned vehicles.  Overall, I am pleased with the way this painting turned out.  It is 18" x 24", oil on canvas.

Oil Painting Collage Process

I have a new collage process that I am working on.  The process goes as follows:

Step 1:  Tear old magazine and book pages into pieces.  Small pieces work best as larger pieces tend to wrinkle, but the wrinkles are okay, they are part of the collage.  Using acrylic matte medium, adhere the pieces of paper in a very random manner, spreading the medium under and on top of the papers.  I use a large brush and my fingers to make this happen.  Because I am working on stretched canvas, I make sure to cover the sides of the canvas with paper as well.  Let the canvas dry overnight and then start sanding.  I begin with a medium sandpaper, then move to a fine, and finish it off with steel wool.  Loose edges of the papers peel off; this is okay as I am just creating a textured background for my painting.  Once I am satisfied with the sanding, I wipe the canvas clean with a damp rag.

Step 2:  At this point, I thin some gesso with water.  Using a damp sponge I apply a layer of this thinned gesso to the entire canvas.  The gesso needs to be transparent enough that it doesn't hide the magazine/book colors or printed text.  What this step does is kind of provide a cohesiveness to the canvas.  Now I am ready to lay out my idea.

Collage Fest

I am altering a children's book; you might know it....The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales.  My book will be titled "Through My Eyes".  It will contain portraits of the people and pets in my life. 

Of course the first page is a self-portrait.  I layed down torn pieces from old magazine and book pages, attaching them with matte medium.  Once that was dry, I worked the self-portrait in oil pastels.  When the portrait was about finished, I glued in lips cut from a magazine.  For my glasses, I used the key fobs from a Tiffany's ad then attached eyes to the top of the fobs.  I then came back in with more oil pastel to integrate the images into the collage.  For my blouse, I tore pieces of colored papers that were glued in place, again with matte medium.  I rubbed a little oil pastel over the surface to create subtle shadows.  To finish up, I stitched embroidery thread around the shirt opening.

Page 2 is a portrait of Mike. His portrait was made in the same way, but the only part that is added in are the sunglasses.  I didn't quite capture the way he looks.....I think it is the mouth that is wrong.

Page 3 is a portrait of Dusty.  I struggled with the proportions of her face, but feel like I got pretty close.  Once her portrait was complete, I added in the grasses.

I'm Back to Making Art

Since school started the end of July, I have had difficulties finding time to spend in my studio.  Mostly it is because I am tired.  The weekends have been full of household chores.  The reality is that I had distanced myself from the paintings that I had started in early June, and just hadn't been able to reconnect with them.

Last weekend I convinced myself to go back to my paintings.  It took a lot of self talk, you know the type......I had to convince myself that I wouldn't "ruin" the painting and that I was good enough to work on it.  I was scared.  One of the paintings is a self-portrait titled "Looking Back".  The only portion I had finished was the walls.  I jumped in and painted the tile flooring.  I started by painting the grout lines (somewhat sloppily) and then came back in and painted the tiles one at a time.  It wasn't so hard and it really didn't take that much time.  I set the painting aside to let the paint dry.  A few days later I came back in and added a large concrete, round planter in front of the wall to the left of the figure.  When it is dry, I will come back in and add vines growing from the planter and up the wall.  The idea for the setting came from a picture my sister Joni had taken when she was in Italy.  The setting is important to me as I am looking back from where I have been yet I am heading into a hallway where the destination is hidden.  The future is unknown.

Another painting goes in my series on run down, beat up, abandoned vehicles.  This is an old International dump truck that I had photographed years ago when I was living in Divide, Colorado.  This painting has been mostly complete since early June.  I recently came back in and painted the side mirror, the lights on top, and the side grill.  When the paint is dry, maybe today, I will work more on the side grill area.  I need to finish that area before I can paint the fender well and light.  This painting is very close to being done!

My 13 year old yellow lab, Dusty, died 2 weeks ago.  Her death has been very hard on me and I have hard time just functioning.  I have managed to get back to tracking my food for weight watchers and I have gotten back to exercising this week  Nothing has been easy, but making art has helped.  I started a new process that up till now I have only used on my mini collages.  I decided to try the process on a larger painting of Dusty.  I began by tearing old magazine and book pages into small pieces and adhered them to the canvas with matte medium.  My smaller paintings have been completed using oil pastels, but I am using oil paint for this experimentation.  Once the glued papers were dry, I thinned some black paint with turpentine and drew Dusty's outline.  When that was dry, I painted in this layers of overlapping greens and blues.  My next step will be the underpainting of Dusty.  This painting might take a while, it must be done in phases with drying time.  I am enjoying the painting process.  It is the journey that is important.

This is the completed 6" x 6" collage I made of Dusty.  This one started with the collaged papers, but the painting was done with oil pastels.  It is titled "Dusty, All Grown Up".  It was based on a photo I had taken in the winter of 2002 when Rainy, Dusty, and I were all visiting the Conte family in Eagle, Colorado.  I put in the dark red background to create a contrast with Dusty's lighter yellow hair while also portraying the idea of sadness.  I think the collage is very successful.  I am still working on a mini collage of Dusty when she was a puppy, it uses very bright colors to portray her exuberance.

Not much art accomplished this past week!

This past Tuesday was back to school for teachers.  I was pretty down at the start of the week, but gradually things got better for me, I began to re-acclimate to the idea of work and all that it entails.  Sadly, each day I was pretty worn out and not feeling much like an artist.Honestly, this weekend hasn't been a lot different.

Saturday I did get an artwork of the day completed.  "Time Passes" began with a layer of titanium white, yellow ochre and violet acrylic paintI added the main picture of the two women and the man first.  Next I used a clock stamp, adding a couple of different colors of ink.  Next, additional papers were glued in place.  Finally, I blended the titanium white with matte medium to brush a layer of transprent white over most of the artwork.  It turned out alright, but isn't one of my favorites. 

Today I slept in until 9:30!  This is very unusual for me.  Now it is afternoon and I have worked out for an hour on the treadmill and made my artwork for the  day.  I am pleased with "Round About".  For some reason I was thinking circles when I began and proceeded to base the entire piece on circles.  I began by spreading titanium white acrylic paint with just a small amount for yellow ochre in a circle.  Next I used a template and the same paint to add the cluster of dots.  I cut three images in circles and glued them in place.  To finish up I added the 7 rivits along the lower left edge of the large circle.  Simple yet affective.
The rest of my day will most likely be spent picking up a few supplies for school and basically getting ready for the week.  My artwork awaits.

Monday and Moving Slowly

Even though I was up early again this morning, I really haven't accomplished too much in the way of art making.  I did have a doctor appointment this morning so that did take some time.  I also took the time to buy myself a new agenda book for this school year, I like to keep track of appointments and meetings the old fashioned way.

I just finished my artwork for the day, "Just Yesterday".  I started with a picture of my sister Jenni when she was about 3 years old, with the intention of giving it to her for her 50th birthday.  I missed the big day which was July 3rd as I was deep into my roadtrip.  I will take it to her later this week.  I put down a layer of acrylic paint using Brilliant Orange, Medium Magenta, and Titanium White.  When the paint was dry I attached a piece of stained paper and some lace using matte medium.  Next I adhered the image of Jenni and a frame cut fromm some decorative paper I had on hand. I cut 4 flower stencils from paint samples, glued them in place along with jewels for the centers.  I felt that there was still something missing, so I added thin strips of a paint sample on opposing corners.  The this strips added emphasis and helped to balance the image.  I am pleased with the final composition and hope that Jenni likes it as well.
It is already almoast 1:00 pm; I plan to spend the afternoon working on photos from my roadtrip and adding in missed entries on the Driving Backwards blog.  I hope to be back in the serious painting mode by this coming weekend.

Start Simple

Sunday morning and I was up before 6:00 am; of course Dusty was barking for food and the cats were actively crawling over the bed indicating their hunger as well.  On these days of no school, I like to start simple by creating my artwork of the day.  This collage, "Dreams" was made in the same technique that I used yesterday.  Today I began with an image of the nude woman that I had cut out from an older issue of "W" magazine.  Because of the basic blueness of the image, I first laid down a layer of acrylic paint using Ultramarine Blue dulled with Brilliant Orange and a little bit of Titanium White.  Once dry I added a layer that included Bright Aqua Green that was mixed with the previous colors.  I added a bit more white to lighten it up.  Then I used matte medium to attach the magazine image.  I went over the image with the white tinted with a small amount of the blue and some matte medium to increase the transparency.  Next I found the words "your dreams miss you." in my box of miscellaneous words.  I used matte medium to glue the words at an angle following that of the nude woman.  Once it was attached, I went over the words with white thinned with matte medium.  I used a hand-cut stamp with blue and red ink applied to it for the spirals, then went over the spirals with transparent white, smudging the ink just slightly.  I am very pleased with this piece, the monochromatic blue color scheme gives it a dream-like feel.

Still Painting

I just spent about an hour working on my painting of an old International dump truck. I added in the neutral area of the truck body using mostly titanium white with small additions of Venetian red, Vandyke brown, Naples yellow deep, and lamp black.  I am still allowing the blending of colors to be apparent to get that slightly inpressionaistic feeling.  Forget blatant realism, I want to use color more dramatically that lets the viewer's eye do the blending.  It was fun and relaxing to work on this portion of the truck.
It is almost 4:00 pm, I plan to spend the next couple of hours working on photos from my roadtrip.  I am not sure what the evening will hold for me.

Painting, Finally

I just completed this oil painting that I have titled "Gunfight".  I had it mostly finished in June, before I left on my roadtrip.  It didn't take much time to add in color for the grass the four girls are standing on.  I started with cadmium yellow light and permanent green plus some titanium white.  I added in cobalt blue to make the grass more blue than yellow, then I added the blue to create the shadow.  The shadows weren't dark enough, so I added some cobalt violet.  To round out the coloration of the grass, I also worked in a bit of cadmium red. The grass brings in some of the warmer tones found in the red pants plus it creates a contrast between the ground and the empty space beyond.

Gunfight has become the companion to this earlier painting, "Rodeo Day Circa 1963" that I painted in April of this year.  I purposely painted the backgrounds in a similar style, that becomes a strong link between the two.  Bothe were painted from photographs that my mom took of me and my sisters when we were much younger.

I am Wasting the Day Away

It is Saturday, I always like the weekends, even when I am out of school like I am now.  I got a weave and haircut which took up most of my morning, but I feel better about myself.  Now if the weight would start dropping off I would feel REALLY good.

I made my artwork of the day, "Someone".  This time I started with orange, white, and yellow ochre acrylic paint that I applied with an old credit card.  Next I applied red ink with a hand carved stamp.  I used matte medium to attach a section of music; the lyrics are "Someone's rocking my...Someone's invading my dreams....".  I also attached a clipping of a woman at a sewing machine, then I went over all of it with thinned white paint.  It still needed a little something, so using the side of a credit card I applied ochre-colored ink and then did the same technique with a dark blue ink.  The result was a series of very thin lines.  This collage is much simpler than the ones I have been making, plus it took less time.  I enjoyed the change of pace.
Now my painting is calling me.....

Painting; Well, Sort of

The painting "Cactus Flower 1" was almost finished before I went on my awesome roadtrip.  All that was left to be painted was the center potion of the flower and that took me less than 30 minutes.  I am calling this one finished, signed and ready to finish drying.  I like the impressionistic quality of the painting with the only precise detailing evident in the stamens of the flower, and even that is subtle.  The flowing colors in the flower petals draw the viewer's eye into the center of the bloom, creating the focal point. 

I had finished "Looking Inward" before I went on my trip, but I forgot to post a picture of it in my blog at that time, so here it is.  I like the neutral skin colors, it creates a softer pallate and lets the red speak louder.  This self-portrait captures the way I look much more accurately than other ones have.  Even though the skin tones have that essence of impressionism, it is a smoother approach than the technique I subsequently used in the painting of the cactus flower.
I am done painting for the day as I just can't think straight.  I am still feeling low, probably because Rainy left a couple of hours ago.  Actually, I feel somewhat lost and scattered.  I think I will go make some pesto using basil from my garden.

Procrastinating

I am having difficulty pulling out my oil paints, I just seem overwhelmed with idea of tackling something "big".

I completed my 6" x 6" artwork of the day, "The Ranch House". I began with a photocopy of a picture taken back in the sixties of my three sisters and me (I am 2nd from the left, wearing the light blue cowboy hat).  I used a dark blue paper for the background, then added some stamping in off-white.  The floral trim came from a 1980 "Phoenix" magazine.  I added satin trim, yarn, and hearts cut from the dark blue paper.  I am pleased with the results, the blue herats helped to balance the composition and added a little more interest.

I also worked on sorting through the photos from my roadtrip, I finished up the images from Day 2, there are 44 images that I consider good enough to print.  I am waiting to do all of my printing later, I might even have an outside source print them because there will be so many.
Okay, I might be ready to work on one of my paintings.