Broken Eggs

This still life was begun in my Wednesday evening oil painting class.  It started out OK, but quickly got very muddy and ugly.  Everything was purple!  After it dried, I went back in with a lot of drybrush and adjusted the color of almost everything, and I think it is much improved.  The inspiration is from Carole Marine's paintings of eggs as shared by our instructor,  Jerry Points.

Warm Ups

 

These are two small paintings, 6" x 8", that I did as "warm up" this past week. It helps me get going with the larger work. Today, though, I went back to them to improve both the color and brushwork. Some how, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this thing! 

It's close to done...

I worked on the large painting some, and it's almost done.  I'd like to change the sky a little, make it darker at the top and try to add a warm yellow glow at the horizon.  Have to wait for the sky to dry first!

Carole's Painting

I worked on the large painting today, it's for a friend who's been waiting a long time, until I took enough painting lessons to be able to do this! It's probably 2/3 of the way done. It isn't as large as I thought, but is just under 4 feet tall. Still large for me!

Very Small Painting

Before beginning the large painting in the last post, I decided to try a small one, just to warm up. This painting of my coffee cup is just 6" x 8". It's not terrific, but it did serve it's purpose... I was ready to begin in earnest when I'd finished this one.

Very Large Painting

This scene of a footbridge on the grounds of the IMA is one I've painted before. What's new, for me, is the size. It's nearly 5 feet tall, so I have to move it up and down to paint on different parts of it. It's just the beginning. The large areas of orange are actually acrylic paint applied to tone the canvas before beginning the oil painting. As you can see, it was not possible to even finish my color notes in one sitting. I'm definitley using a lot of paint on this one!

Lotus, for the Fourth Chakra

I've finished the Lotus abstract. I plan to put it in the upcoming show at the Stutz on Friday Feb. 5th. Hope it will be well received, maybe even sell!

Classwork

Painting these watermelons from life was the assignment in Jerry Points last oil painting class. Originally my still life had a warm neutral background, which was OK, but one of my classmates had put his watermelons on a black background, which I really liked. I changed mine the next day, to a very dark purple-blue background, and I think it works.

Still Life in Progress

This is an unfinished still life I set up in my studio. I'm having trouble with the lower right quadrant. There are about 5 thin books that the green candle is sitting on, but when I've painted them in, it doesn't look good, so I've rubbed it out. But now the candle is floating in air. Something needs to go under it, but what? Any suggestions? Also am still struggling with the background texture, and the reflections on the glass vase. Hope to work on this some more today.

My husband took our camera to work with him today, so no new photos from my studio. This is a charcoal drawing done at the open figure drawing at the Stutz a couple of months ago. It's probably the best figure drawing I've done. The Open Studio group took a winter break, we start up again this Thursday. Can't wait! I miss not only the drawing from life, but the group interaction. In my next life I'll be living in an artists' commune, where we live together, grow our own food, and do art all day. It will be in a place it's warm year round, with wonderful vistas and quaint surroundings... But for now, I love the Stutz!

The Fourth Chakra

This is about half done, it's an abstract piece I'm working on for the Stutz first Friday show, "The Fourth Chakra". The show is inconjunction with the American Heart Assn., and part of the proceeds will go to them. The fourth Chakra is the heart, it's color is green, and it is represented by the 12 petaled lotus. It signifies universal love, compassion, and forgiveness. Hope this painting will turn out well, and perhaps help the AHA.

Finished Painting?

Further refinements, and hopefully, better modeling of the bottles, though I think they are still a little flat. The thing I struggeled with most was getting colors right. During class that was what I concentrated on, never really happy with the outcome. In the studio, not having the still life in front of me, I was free to make a nice painting instead of recreating what I was seeing. It seems that either goal is valid, it would be nice to be able to attain both of them!

I made some changes to the painting from the class the evening before. Lightened the background, and changed the table to draped fabric. Tried to improve the brushwork in the bottles. But still not satisfied...

Oil Painting Classwork

Art class has started up again, with Jerry Points instructing. As usual, it's fun, interesting, frustrating, fulfilling, stimulating. I feel fortunate to have such terrific talent to learn from right here in Indianapolis. This painting is what I ended up with after the first class. It was a still life set up by Jerry after the Stutz Artists Assn. dinner, using "leftovers". There would have been more wine bottles, but someone from the dinner retrieved one or two just as class began! Of course, the glass bottles were very challenging, but the ice bucket is actually plastic, which didn't have the distortion and reflections that glass would have. I was not very happy with the painting at this point, so the next day...

Eagle Creek

This is the result of an afternoon spent photographing Eagle Creek Park in November. I'm not a very good photographer. I used to think this was a hindrance to working from my own photos, but it allows me to explore changing the composition and colors rather than just trying to copy the photo. I like the contrast of the vertical tree trunks against the horizon, and the contrast of the orange tree trunks, with the blue-purple horizon.

Heart of the City, Canal

This painting is of the view seen when coming out from under a pedestrian bridge while walking the canal downtown, just south of the Eiteljorg Museum. It is a view I have admired for some time, and finally took a camera with me on my walk to get this shot. The painting was done entirely in the studio.

This is the first painting I've started and finished while at my studio. I'm pleased with it, and certainly wouldn't have done as well without the comments/advice/guidance from fellow artists at the Stutz. I am definitley loving the art community here!

My Studio!!!!

It's been awhile since I posted, but am resolved to be a better blogger this year! Since my last post, I have rented (sub-leased) studio space at the Stutz Building in downtown Indy. I ablsolutely love being a Stutzie! Here is a photo of part of the interior. Although I wasn't looking for studio space, this opportunity was too good to pass up, and I guess I was ready to make the plunge. This has to be considered an investment in my happiness, as it certainly isn't a money making endeavor yet.