Session 2 of Peonies

I had so much fun painting tonight. I didn't get much done, but I like what I did accomplish. Here is a photo at the end of today. I darkened the shadows, continued painting the pink peony and worked on some of the buds and some shadows in the other flowers. Lots of glare in this photo due to horrid florescent lights in the garage (my drying space). I will let this dry and do a bit of glazing over the pink flower to eliminate some of the chalkiness (even though that is how chalky it really was). Time for bed. Tough day tomorrow.

Is it finished?

I painted more background yesterday. I didn't want to completely get rid of the thin underpainting so I reserved the thicker paint for the center of the painting near the main subject. I also varied the color throughout to avoid the background being a void. I'm not sure I like it when it is photographed, but I do like it when it's in a frame. The light part on the upper left edge is a reflection, which is part of what I don't like in the photo. It doesn't show in the painting. Somehow a good frame makes any painting look better. So, the big question is: Is it finished?

Corn - Continued

I got a chance to paint for 2 hours today. I finished the background on my carnation painting (I think) and got to paint a bit more on the corn painting. This is a photo at the end of session 2. At this point, I'm working from photos, which is so much easier as nothing rots. I just can't find enough time to paint every day to set up a still life and make it useful.

I knew that things would have to get darker in this session as I need to lay the darkest layer down and then paint up in value from there. I spent a lot of time on refining the shape of the colander. I hope I got it right. Ovals, especially angled ovals, are very hard to master, plus I don't have a steady hand and the eye can fool you.

I also did some pretty dramatic underpaintings based on previous experience. For example, I know that I can get a good carmel colored wood if I underpaint it cadmium orange and then glaze it with purple. Painting it any other way just never looks rich enough. Granted this is very weathered wood so maybe it's not the same thing as a highly polished table. We'll see. I can certainly undo anything I don't like.

One problem is that you really have to paint the colander "wet on wet" in order to get the edges right. By the time I get back to this everything will be dry, so I will have to repaint alot. I complain, but the reality is, multiple painting layers make it so much richer. I don't know if there is a true rule on this, but I believe it takes 3 layers of paint (or sessions of wet on dry painting-that is-letting the paint dry between layers) to get something to look 3-D with depth. Try it, it's something I tell my students and it almost always works.

Queen of Starts - Corn

I thought I'd post another start of a painting because, well, I have no finishes...yet. I have to make finishing my main objective if I can get any free time this holiday weekend. There are a few competitions I want to enter including "Something Hot Exhibit" at Gallery 222 in Loudoun and Art at the Mill. Both have entry dates that are less than a month away and I really have very little that is available for sale, mostly because I have so little time to paint. I'm taking the summer off from teaching, however, which frees up at least one night a week.

This was a demo I started in my still life class this spring. I picked corn because I have to find fruit or vegetables that can last more than one week, so that the students have time to finish a painting. This set-up was perhaps too complicated with the corn, colander, lace drape and old biscuit box, but it was a very interesting set up--if I do say so myself. One again, I loved the energy. And, I can't resist a highly reflective surface.

I use a 200 watt clear incandescent bulb to light my subject which creates a "spot light" on the subject. I think that works well because it creates an extreme high value on the main subject, which in this case is the peeled corn (secondarily it is the colander). What are artists going to do when incandescent bulbs aren't produced anymore??

Art at the Mill

One of my favorite shows is coming up -- the Art at the Mill show --in Millwood VA. The due date for artwork submissions is July 29. The Show runs from October 1 to 16th. http://www.clarkehistory.org/. How can that be? The spring show was just over. I have to hustle, clearly if I'm going to make that date. I have to paint like mad as nothing is finished. I have lots of great demo starts that are calling my name--one in particular of tomatoes in a bowl. I also think I'm going to do a few really small paintings like before, they tend to sell. Well in fact any well executed painting sells well there. Artists should consider entering the show, its a great event.

Painting Started

Here is a new painting I started this week. I just love peonies and paint them whenever possible. I'm going to have to find a new subject at some point. Anyway, this is going to be my last "dark" painting. I've decided I want to painting lighter backgrounds for a change even though the dark backgrounds really make the subject vibrant. I bought these beautiful peonies off the side of the road outside of Salem New Jersey. There was a flower farmer who had buckets of these flowers on the side of the road-- 12 flowers for $3.50 -- what? They are normally $3-5 a stem around here. I bought 1 1/2 dozen, bought a bucket and a gallon of water from Walmart and they took the trek home with me to VA. I immediately set them up in different draping positions over this beautiful antique tea box. See photo.

I've decided to do an underpainting of very thin color before putting on the next layers. One of the key things I've figured out with painting flowers is that the centers must be really saturated and intense in color. You then put on the duller or lighter colors and that intense color bleeds through to make the flower more realistic and three-dimensional. Thecenter peonies, for example, are really white but they have an incredible yellow hue and orange center that I hope will come through in the finished painting. I love the energy in this painting...now watch me kill it :-( I'll post progression photos as I go along.

Liberace Painting on Copper

Above is a beautiful miniature painting by Robert Liberace. He painted John, a popular model at the Art League, during the "paint like Velasquez" workshop I took two weekends ago. He painted it on copper to show how to use metal surfaces. At the end of the class he sells his demos. Interested students put their names in a hat and he draws winners. I won the drawing to purchase this gorgeous painting...what luck. It is 5 x 7". One important thing about painting on copper, it oxidizes, which can change the entire painting since the copper is peaking through. Luckily he told me how to avoid that-- by putting retouch varnish on it (he said Kamar is fine) after the paint has dried. I have done that and now will be searching for the perfect frame.