Painting Progress

Still slowly working on this one. I'm having a lot of difficulty avoiding glare and the effects of sunken-in areas in pictures of this one, but by the time it's finished I should be able to get a good shot. I will not be doing much painting for the rest of the week, as I am preparing to wake early on Saturday for the race. (Thus, not painting until the wee hours of the morning!) No worries; I have some great reading material on drawing the figure to feed my brain in the meantime.

Where I've Been

I've been out running! Sometime last month I decided to give it a try, and slowly I have built up my endurance. This coming Saturday I will run the Hospital Hill Rub 5K. After that, who knows!


Friday, Jay and Barbara Nelson of Strecker-Nelson Gallery came by to pick up some paintings for the upcoming Beyond Mimesis show. It opens Friday, June 22nd, opening reception 5-8pm.

I have continued to paint, but for now I'd simply like to post this Bargue study. The graphite of my drawing doesn't show up as well as I'd like, so just trust that some of it is darker. Right now I can't go into great detail about the purpose and origin of this exercise, but a Google search should yield some useful information for those interested.

Cherries, Completed

This painting is done! 12" x 9" Oil on Panel.

Adjustments

I made some proportional adjustments to this before moving on. I hope the color proves to be as much faun as this stage was!

Seppuku

Beginning of a new painting. Oil on canvas, 40" x 30". I miss starting paintings this way.

Almost There

Cherries Nearing Completion

This painting is slowly coming along. Some transitions need to be softened, etc., but it's getting there. A new, large painting will be started soon.

Cherries Day 2

Started working on 'Cherries' again last night. Still plenty to do! 12"

Mortalitas II - Completed

Mortalitas II, o/c, 36" x 24"

Finally! It's finished. This piece has so much going on in it, I think I could keep making little changes forever. Who knows, until it leaves my house for good, that's still an option. Detail view below:

Mortalitas II - Slowing Down

I have in fact been working on this, and am just finishing it up at a snail's pace. Other obligations have kept me from finishing it... but soon!

Mortalitas II - What Day Is It?

I've painted on this canvas two more evenings since my last post. I think I will finish up the legs and feet and be done with it!

Ma Cherie

I slapped some paint on this little 12" x 9" panel last night. It is all a slippery mess, but should make a good foundation for the painting.

Mortalitas II Day 6

The challenge at this point, besides trying to follow the laws of perspective with fluid paint and wiggly brushes, is to work at making sure the intricate rugs do not compete with the subject and steal the focus of the painting. They should play a supporting role here. To accomplish this I have had to edit out many of the lighter and brighter colors that are present in the rugs, and reduce the amount of detail and strong geometric patterns that can become distracting.

Mortalitas II Day 5

Can you see a difference? I've just put another layer on and adjusted the legs. I know, not very exciting.

Check this out, though:


I took these pictures yesterday. The sun was low, and there were dark clouds overhead (though it didn't rain like it was supposed to) and so the lighting was interesting. On the other side of the street, the trees are budding with green leaves. What gives?


This is my lone tulip. A few weeks ago, the weather was in the 80's, and then it dropped below freezing for a while. Now it's warm again, and the whole bunch of them are pretty confused, but this one decided to go ahead and bloom.

Mortalitas II Day 3-4

I had a couple non-painting days; Thursday and Friday are my weekends. Went out to lunch with my best girlie-friend, spent some time with my husband and the guys, good times all around. Last night I got back to work, mostly focusing on the far rug.

Mortalitas II: Day 2

I know I haven't been doing a lot of step-by-step posts lately, so I guess I will do it with this one. Since I didn't decide that until now, I neglected to take a picture of the charcoal cartoon. But know that it truly was a cartoon this time; no detailed sketches, no placement of fingers or facial features. It was simply an estimated outline for the composition, with an egg shape for the head and skull, for example. Then I just started massing in the dark values, next some middle values, and finally I put in some local color. Day two I did the same for the clothing.

Starting Mortalitas II

Same theme as Mortalitas. This is a 36" x 24" canvas, one evening's worth of blocking in. So far, so good.

Mortalitas

Mortalitas
oil on canvas, 18" x 24"

Show going up at LCT

Tomorrow morning I will drive out to Lawrence with a car full of paintings. I will set up my work at the Lawrence Community Theatre where it will remain for the month of April. I'll take my little camera with me in my purse, and hopefully have some pictures to share with you!

Also, don't forget to check out 'Cris' at the Overland Park Convention Center. I attended both Dean Mitchell's lecture and the grand opening of the show last week, and both were very well attended.

Meanwhile, the painting with the skull is coming along, I just don't think changes are dramatic enough to post right now. I pretty much nailed the overall look right away with that one, so I am just making adjustments and adding detail. A pretty pleasant job, it is.

New Painting Block-In

Here's my latest start; this is just the first coat of paint. 18" x 24" o/c