Winter vacation wasn’t as productive as I’d hoped. The blast of cold weather and a lingering head/chest cold had me focused more on Netflix and the couch rather than painting.
But with a new year in place I tried to shake off the cobwebs and get back to work.
“untitled” : Oil on wood panel. 6″x8″ 2018
Incidentally, this is also the first time I’ve ever tasted a twinkie.
Catching up on posting some work that’s been in the works. The past few weeks have seen the completion of a new painting for Echoes, a commissioned painting for a wedding present, and scrambling to get everything organized for Brickbottom Open Studios!
Since I haven’t finished the commissioned landscape or photographed the Echoes painting, here are a few new pieces of candy:
Still playing with surface, reflections, throw-away-culture, and a limited palette. These have moved somewhere past the exercise of the candy and beer cans and slightly into an idea.
Another week, another beer can study. I returned to small brushes and returned to my normal style after last week’s experiment. Next week I may take the experiment in the opposite direction and do a layered/glazed painting of a can. The printed aluminum is an ideal candidate for glazing and getting really deep, rich colors.
I challenged myself to do this painting using a 3/4″ filbert brush instead of the 1/2″ and 1/4″ flats I normally use. The flat brushes let me paint crisp edges and thin lines. The filbert was an exercise in letting go and loosening up. I also added a couple extra cans to push me for speed.
Tried again with Alizarin and once again it was challenging. I was also cranky and tired from a long walk in the sun, which resulted in the first attempt at this painting being wiped away. I went back at it after a little nap and felt much better about the painting.
I used natural light this time, which gives much softer shadows than the bright overheads.
Once again I’m reminded that Alizarin Crimson is a cruel lover when painting directly. I was able to overcome the transparency of the pigment, but the lower reflected lights came out a little hot-pink and a little to bright in value. Welp… I have half a bag of cherries left so we’ll see what happens next time.
This weekend was a bit weird and emotional losing Rocket. However, there were some bright spots: On Friday evening I sold the large of waves paintings to a gentleman who saw my work at Open Studios. I also handed off An Old House to it’s new owner.
And I wrapped up a new painting on Saturday, and did a little sketch on Sunday. The red house painting is finished – I think. I wonder if it needs more detail. I’ll have to revisit it in a week or two to see if I feel the same then.
19 years ago Paul and I rescued a tiny kitten from the MSPCA. I liked his weird blue fur. For three weeks he didn’t have a name, until his habit of endlessly sprinting the length of the hallway prompted us to call him Rocket.
He ruined shoes. He stole food off the counter. He obsessively hunted q-tips. His demeanor alternated between quietly regal and goofball spastic. His favorite perch was either draped across your shoulders, or in the middle of whatever you happened to be working on. Relentlessly mischievous, Rocket was never malicious, except the time we brought home another kitten to keep him company. Then he shat in the center of our bed.
After Paul and I moved apart I didn’t see Rocket as much as I would have liked. But any time I did visit I was greeted like an old friend. Yesterday Paul called to tell me that Rocket did not have much time left. Kidney problems and old age made him frail, sometimes confused by his surroundings, and in pain. I was able to visit one last time and sit quietly on the porch as he leaned against my leg, trying to appear aloof, but gently nudging my hand when I stopped petting him.
Today there is a little furry blue-gray hole in the world.
A set of studies from this past week/weekend. I find myself drawn to the reflective and hyper-saturated colors of manmade objects more and more. They are a completely different challenge than landscapes: hard vs soft, defined edges vs atmosphere, saturated colors vs a millions shades of neutral.
Still continuing the sweets theme this week. A couple more donuts added to the collection. I’m happier about the surface of these two: the jelly had to be wiped off and repainted at one point to better understand the sugary texture on top.
However, both suffer a bit in the shadow area in the bite. I’m not sure exactly what to mix to convey shadows that are both cool, deep, and yellow… every time I mixed up the colors I came out with something of a grey green approximation. Maybe the next study will be a focus on just that part.
Enjoy.
I started this series as an exercise using a couple of pieces of candy from works by Felix Gonzales-Torres. They are oil on 6×8″ wood panels. My friend Zachary urged me to push the idea a little further, so I perused the candy aisle of the grocery store, bought a few models, painted the ones I liked, and ate those I didn’t.
The allure/challenge with these pieces was reflections and transparencies, and the rich colors. Reflective surfaces are difficult to map out and depend a great deal on subtleties of value. However, when done correctly, I find them rewarding.
I also enjoyed that I didn’t have to think much about the idea. I had a pile of candies to choose from, and a pile of painting surfaces ready to go. But the danger I see in pushing this series much further is falling it a groove of formulaic repetition.
The sweet-hearts was a one-off done on Valentine’s day.
And it’s not even Valentine’s Day. Three paintings from the weekend. The models for the two candies are from Felix Gonzalles-Torres’ artworks, in which viewers are invited to take away candies from large piles.
Ive decided to keep up the small painting projects. I find them helpful in learning about color, composition, and value. Also they aren’t quite as intimidating as a 4 foot expanse of canvas.
This weekend I did a flurry of paintings over 4 days. I started with looking out the window at the view of east Cambridge. The lower half of the painting is somewhat lost, but I’m happy with the courthouse tower and the trees around the tall building.
The second painting was from a photo of Maine. I am both pleased and annoyed with this painting. While the underlying structure came out correct, I was in a hurry when I painting the light plane of the tree trunk in and it feels generic.
On a snowy Saturday I tried out a portrait experiment, once again working from a photo. While the resemblance from the model is definitely off, I like the looseness of it. When I paint I tend towards tight control of detail, so relaxing a bit was both exciting and frustrating.
I followed up the portrait with a botched figure study that was so bad I’m not even including it. However, Sunday night I came back to the easel to try again and am somewhat satisfied. As I said to Lance: Once I figure out color mixing, values, and anatomy, I might be a decent painter. 😉
Two weeks ago I made a series of small (5″x7″ paintings) using a limited palette of red, blue, yellow, brown, and white. This week I made another set of paintings using the same limited palette, but adding a warm and cool version of each color, and removing (mostly) the brown.
In some instances it made a much clearer painting. See how much more pink the teddy bear is when I can use Alizarin Crimson instead of Cad Red Light. In other areas it added some frustration since I had to both focus on color mixing, as well as color temperature. Also – I’m learning that a concrete floor is not the best surface to work on. I see some rubber pads from Home Depot in the near future.
The strongest paintings are Teddy and Cowboy. The weakest is the evening Embankment. The evening light was fading fast and I was rushing.
untitled sketch : Oil on canvasboard. 5″x7″ 2015
untitled sketch : Oil on canvasboard. 5″x7″ 2015
untitled sketch : Oil on canvasboard. 5″x7″ 2015
untitled sketch : Oil on canvasboard. 5″x7″ 2015
untitled sketch : Oil on canvasboard. 5″x7″ 2015
What an incredible weekend! I am fortunate to live in a community that appreciates and engages the arts as much as Somerville does.
A huge thank you to the dozens of people who came through my space to view, buy, and best of all – talk about art!
Talking to people about my work is the most valuable part of Open Studios because it opens me up to many new ideas. It is a profound experience to create something that – to me- can only mean one thing, and then observe ten people engage and relate to the same painting from ten unique perspectives.
Another big thank you to the patrons who like my work enough to buy it. I’m sad to see these paintings go – but I know they are all going to good homes! I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them.
I spent all day working on one of my barn paintings. After I had reached a stopping point I still had a bunch of paint left on my palette and I had been wanting to do this painting for a while.
I have an anatomical skull on my credenza and put my leftover cash in the mouth after work. Its a little nod to Van Gogh’s Skeleton With a Cigarette.
I tried to work quickly and loosely with a limited palette and larger brushes. I’m fairly happy with the results, although my colors are a bit muddy.
Geld shedel – Oil on canvas 9″x12″
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