Lady with an Apple, Continued

I should be able to finish this one up in just a couple more sessions; It's another one that just flows right off the brushes for me. In the background you can see that I am toying with the use of metallics. I've been quite interested in using metallics and possibly gold leaf on my paintings for quite some time now, but I am not sure this is the time or the right painting. The ochre seems to suit the painting better.

In late February, I will have a show opening at Strecker-Nelson on Manhattan, KS. More info on that to come soon...

Ugly Duckling

I've titled this post (NOT the painting!) 'Ugly Duckling' because this painting will go through quite a transformation before it's completed. This is on a 36" x 24" canvas, which is large compared to what I have been working on lately. I am not fond of the feeling of a brush against acrylic ground, so I wanted to get this stage over with as quickly as possible and was impatient to get the canvas filled in with paint. Though I was fairly patient and accurate with the drawing stage (above) I wasn't so careful when it came time to add some color.

The above image is from the end of the first session. The previous picture was half way through. I used burnt umber to draw everything in and add some shading on the figure, and then set the background and mask with black. This will help me judge the values in the next step. You can also see where I used lines that follow the form of the stomach to help me place the navel, and if you look really carefully you can see that I divided the canvas into quarters before I began. I do that to ensure the figure is positioned correctly.

This blurry photo was taken a little ways through the second session. I started by filling in the reds of the headdress. Then, I redefined some of the shadows on the figure and used an earth red to mark both warm areas and planes that just begin to tilt away from the light source.

This was taken at the end of the second session. It was late, and at some point I became weary of getting accurate values and simply wanted to fill all that white space in. (In other words, this layer is totally inaccurate and barely more than a mess of colors!) However, I knew better than to take this approach late at night in such small, important areas like the hands and eyes. So I left them for another day, when I will be refreshed and diligent once again.

Facade - The Finale

"Facade"
Oil on ABS 20" x 16"

All she needs is to dry, get a signature, and be varnished. Sounds like a lot left to do while I'm calling it done, huh? Other paintings are in progress. I will return.

Facade - On the Verge of Completion

Now that I have these posted, I can see that they are destaurated in comparison to the real thing. I often forget how images seem to lose saturation after they leave Photoshop. Ah well, enough with the excuses. (Did I mention there is also a lot of glare again?)

This is so very close to done now! The blue and speckled feathers are pretty much finished, and the foundation has been set for those long tendrils on the peacock feathers. When it's dry, I will carefully paint the individual strands and some highlights on the 'eye' of the feathers. Peacock feathers are interesting in that they are not the color they appear, but rather the structure of the feather itself reflects light in such a way that it appears to have those rich hues.

The background also needs another coat and then a signature, but that's not a major undertaking with this simple background. The next post about this painting should see it completed.

Facade - Hands and Face

For the most part I am finished with the figure in this painting. I still need to work on the mask, finish the hair, and fill in the rest of and then put a second layer on the background. While I am doing this I don't doubt that I will tweak some of the flesh tones.

Above it the painting in its current state, with details below. There is some glare especially on her jaw and left upper arm. Thank you to everyone who has commented on this one so far; I hope it doesn't disappoint!

Facade - The Torso

Finally, a solid evening of work! I am actually very happy with this layer on the torso. I see a couple things I could improve, but they aren't major. Mainly I want to soften the receding shadow area above the front facing breast.

One of the challenges of this painting is going to be waiting for the background to dry. I have a stripe going down the right side that hasn't been painted yet so that I can grab the panel and move it around while I am waiting.

In and Out of Commission

Unfortunately, I have spent the first week of the new year in and out of commission (mostly out.) I caught a cold, and I really hate being sick! During that time I did manage to paint another layer on this hand and arm. No, it's not much, but my health is returning and that will help!

A New Beginning (Not the New Year)

12" x 9" oil on panel

After a few days of playing and socializing, I got back to work last night. I started this new painting and also have another one from the beginning of the month in progress. I look forward to painting tonight as well as on New Year's Eve! (Nope, no partying that night for me...)

The Offering

"The Offering"

14" x 11"

This painting is off the easel until it is dry enough to sign. Some areas will look a bit more saturated and clear once I get a varnish on it, and then I will take a new picture.

I hope everyone has a great holiday!

Headdress

Here's the headdress in progress. More to come hopefully sooner than later!

Just for Fun: Ice Pictures

As you may have heard, we've been coated with ice here in the Midwest. Thankfully, KC did not get the worst of this storm. I lost power for a little while a couple nights ago, but nothing dramatic. It all started melting today, and I decided to head out before my run and try to get a few artsy pictures before it was all gone. I am not a great photographer, not even an amateur, but it's still fun to try.




This last one doesn't look very icy, yet ice was falling all around me as I took the photo. I have always wanted to get a picture from this angle that would really emphasize the ice so that it would look like the Crystalline Entity. (Yes, I grew up a Star Trek nerd.) Maybe next time.

After taking these pictures, I went for a 3 mile run at the park. Looking across the park towards the sun, everything looked platinum and glittery. I thought about returning to the park to try and capture it, but by the end of the run most of the ice was gone.

Opening Report - More Painting Progress

The opening at Hilliard last Friday was great. I hadn't planned on staying all the way until 10 p.m., figuring that 4 hours would be a bit much for me, but so may friends came that we wound up closing the place down at 10:30! Thank you to all the friends that showed up last week. You made my evening!

Now that the opening is over, it's back to painting. I am hoping that a few more sessions with this one will do it. As of right now, I haven't touched the feathers or the apple for a second go, and there's still more to do on the hands, face, and background, but for the most part the figure is done.

Holiday Open House Tonight

"Eve, Ashamed"
30" x 20"

Art opening at Hilliard beginning in two hours! At least at the moment, the weather looks clear, and what better way to spend a cold evening than gallery hopping and grabbing a warm bite to eat? Hope to see you there.

• Hilliard Gallery - 18th and Oak - Kansas City, MO

Painting Progress

In the picture above, I have added another layer to the chest and upper arm area. You can tell the paint is thicker now, and there is more variety in the hues and values.

I decided that I wasn't pushing the values enough. The figure is lighted almost from the front and above, so the light areas don't necessarily have the variety of values that I like. I want the upper arms especially to recede more than they appear to in this first picture. (See how they appear a little flat and perpendicular to the picture plane?)

To accomplish this, I lowered the relative values there, and used the background color (lamp black) as I darkened the flesh tones. Adding the background color is a great way to get something to recede, as it connects more visually with the background space, and gives a certain feeling of more air being in front of the object... if that makes sense.

You might also notice that I highlighted the chest area, which further increased the contrast. Certainly there is still much more work to be done, but it is coming closer to my vision.

This side-by-side black and white comparison shows the value differences more clearly. You may have noticed that I stopped painting at the hands. As I progress to that area, I will return to the higher values because this is an important area in the painting, and good contrast will draw the eye there.

Art Opening This Friday - Preparations

This First Friday, from 6 - 10 pm, is the opening of Hilliard's Holiday Open House, where a selection of my new nude paintings and drawings will be featured. Stop by if you are local!

Of course, I had to prepare some work to go out the door, including four drawings. Thus my absence from blogging. Matting works on paper is one of my least favorite things to do, but now that I finally have a *real* mat cutter it causes much less agony.

Above are three of the pieces matted, and there they are below, framed. I know it's not very interesting, but it is certainly part of the territory.

Facade - 1st Layer

Except for the background, which will be all black, this now has one layer on it. I'll come back to fill in the background, but otherwise I will have to wait a while to get back to work on this one since it will take a long time to dry on the ABS.

Just a Bit of Color

The flesh areas all have one layer, but I have yet to attack the headdress or the background. I need some patience!

Quick Charcoal-Paint Drawing and Website Updates

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I started the day by running a 5K in 22 degree weather (it was fun!) and finished by having a BBQ sandwich, pie, and good company.

Above is a really basic outline painted in, with some charcoal lines still visible. This was originally going to be on a 30" x 24" canvas, but unfortunately when I pulled said canvas out I noticed it was significantly warped. I will have to see if there is a way to fix that or get a replacement. However, I didn't want to wait to start a new painting, so this is on a 20" x 16" piece of ABS mounted on a maple board. I love ABS, but it does take the first layer a long while to dry. Hopefully I will have a full base layer done by tonight, and then I can work on the painting below while I am waiting.

Also, I made some small design changes to my website. Please take a look and let me know what you think! I am always considering getting rid of the red background theme, but I have had it for a while now, and it's my favorite color. In the near future I need to add another demo or two and update a lot of information.

Easy as 1 - 2 - 3

OK, maybe not that easy, but I do try and keep it simple in the beginning. The following is what has occupied my last two evenings.

Here you can still see some of my sketchy charcoal lines in the headdress. I started off by enveloping the figure with the almost black background, the mask, and painting in the totally black thin feathers. For some reason I decided not to dilute with OMS as I usually do, (OK, I have a reason, I want the final product to have thicker paint) so this all took about 50 times longer than it usually does. My hand was a bit cramped after that, so I decided to dilute a little bit when I got to the figure, saving the places with more detail like the face, hands, and headdress for the next session.

The first thing I did last night was model the arms a bit more and break up the warm tone of the chest a bit. Then I moved on to the face and hands, trying not to create a forced expression. It was all done with my smallest brushes as these areas on the painting are only a few inches wide. The painting is on a 16" x 12" panel.

For the apple and headdress, I got a completely different palette because there is so much variety in the colors in those areas and I had no more room on the flesh-tone palette. This will help me keep my colors clean as I progress, too. The headdress will get a lot more detail as time goes on; there are a few speckled feathers and lots of wisps from the peacock feathers that were impossible to add at this stage.

So there you have it; two evenings at the Lewis Studio!

Inward - Finished

"Inward"

14" x 11" Oil on Panel

All done and ready to move on to something new. Please stay tuned.