Man, Woman

These two paintings are 30" x 36", and

are hanging together in the StutzArtSpace

Gallery. The current show, "Women of a

Certain Age", ends tonight with a lecture

by the show curator, Leigh Dunnington-

Jones, on the history of women's under-

garments! Tonight's reception is 6-8pm.

I hope some of you can attend, it should be

a very interesting lecture!

Both of these paintings, and "Coming and

Going" (seen in a previous blog) will be for

sale. Our calendars will also be available.

Please come join us!

Napping on a Cloud

Newest painting, started from our model two weeks ago. This is in oil, 20 x 24. It feels so good to paint!

Painting is a Process!

Today I am posting 2 images. The one, "Coming and Going" you have seen from last week. I wasn't sure if it was finished, but I've made some adjustments, and I believe this is done. I notice that I have forgotten to sign it, though. Something I am frequently guilty of.

The other image is of a painting I'm not entirely satisfied with. I am happy with the compostition, a male nude in a contemplative pose. I am not happy with the colors, but need to let this percolate before tackling it again.

I am having fun painting again, though, and for that I am grateful!

Exposed

I've been exploring Expressionism. It's really kind of fun! One result is that I'm beginning to think that it's possible to "draw" with paint. This opens up a whole new world for me, because drawing is what I really enjoy and feel called to do. This painting and the previous one are about drawing with paint, and about drawing what I like, often, this is the human figure.

Hope you like it!

Coming and Going

After spending a couple of "dry" weeks, artistically, I decided to just DO something! I have always loved figures, but haven't attempted to paint them very often, thinking I need a model, and why pay for a model when the first paintings for a while won't be any good. So do you see how backward this thinking is? I decided to just do it, paint figures without worrying about making them realistic or even attractive to anyone but me. This is the start of my efforts. I began from a gestural drawing done in open figure last week. This isn't done, but not sure what more to do. It's large-ish, 34" square. It's oil with some charcoal. The charcoal is another piece which I decided to leave in, even enhance. Usually I just use charcoal to sketch the rough outlines, but I like charcoal, and I like line, so why not emphasize that? I kinda like it.

Creativity Cycle!

So long since my last blog...

Creating art is such a cycle, currently I'm in the phase where I try something different each day. Nothing is turning out very good, I'm throwing a lot in the trash. Yesterday I started something that MAY turn out good, a largish pastel and charcoal still life of mums in a pitcher. I quit when it seemed like each stroke I made on the paper was a mistake! The trick to starting this one was to think about it before I went in to my studio. I needed to bring something to do a still life of, so I spent a few moments in my garden. Also brought in some Christmas bulbs and strings of beads. Hopefully this will lead to Holiday Show items!

Speaking of the Holiday Show, AAggghhh! It's coming up fast, I'm in charge of it and don't know what I'll exhibit myself. Lots of preparation work to do yet, but have had some volunteers, so that takes some of the pressure off. Thank goodness there are FRESH artists as well as SEASONED ones willing to pitch in!

Admitedly this pastel painting has nothing to do with the rest of this posting, but is something I did a few weeks ago from a live model. Sometimes it's good to look back at what you've done in order to see where you're going!

Model Lying

Yesterday four of us met at Michelle's house to draw from this live model. He is one of the best, interesting poses. I used smaller paper than usual, 14x17", so made the composition close in to the subject, which is so much more satisfying to do. Also, played with mixing compressed charcoal with charcoal pencil for hatching and detail work, and used pencil eraser for hatching as well.

More Practise with Pastels and Charcoal

Yesterday was somewhat productive. It's always a good day whe I get to draw from a model! The bottom image was done in open figure, and was done over 3 20 minute sessions. The first 20 minutes was spent on the body, the 2nd session was spent on the face. At the break after that I realized the face looked too small for the body/head. Thank goodness for fellow artists who pointed out that the only thing wrong was the placement of the eyes. In the 3rd 20 minute session I simply moved the eyes and finished off the hair and top of the head. I'm pleased with the result.

The top image is done in pastels, 20 x 16. I tried a landscape in pastels for the first time. This is done from a photograph taken at Shades State Park years ago. It took 2 days to complete. I'm pleased with this as a first attempt, it is on charcoal paper, which I haven't used much, and feels different than the drawing paper I usually use. With this I did much less blending with fingers, only a little in the clouds. With this paper more of the ground shows through. I will look for orange charcoal paper to use for landscapes, but not too confident of finding any.

Short Sketch

This is a charcoal sketch done in open studio a few weeks ago. We usually start with short poses, this one was 5 minutes, before moving on to longer poses. The short ones are nice because the model can sometimes get into some very twisted shapes which would be impossible to hold for very long. But a positive thing for me is that I can't overdue the drawing, which I am sometimes apt to do. I also try to impose the rule on myself, once the pose is over, STOP WORKING ON THE DRAWING. When I'm able to follow the rule, the result is always better.

More Fun with Pastels

I've been playing with pastels some more. Last Friday some of us hired a model, and this is one of the results. I actually just did this in charcoal from the live model, and added the pastel coloring in my studio later. I'm not entirely happy with the actual colors I used for skin tones, but am happy with the process. It would be preferable to add the color with the model there, but this was done at the end of our session! Also, did the facial features in my studio, without benefit of seeing the live model, and I think it shows. Anyway, I'm having fun with it!

Seated Nude, Profile

This charcoal drawing was done in figure drawing open studio a few months ago. The glare is from the glass, as this one is matted and framed. It's amazing what a nice frame with wide mat will do for a simple drawing! This is one of my favorites.

New Drawings, Open Studio

In the spirit of "Returning to Drawing", here is one of my latest charcoal drawings from life, done in our open studio. We have gotten some different models lately, and it seems to be helping me improve my technique. This drawing was done after preparing the paper with a coat of cold wax medium. It lends a "raw" quality to the drawing, as it is not possible to fully control the charcoal on wax. I kind of like this effect.

Waiting

This is a larger than my usual size painting, 30 x 24. I started it a couple of weeks ago in open studio, when Marla was posed at a TV tray table with this hat and dress. In open studio we made up a whole story about how she was waiting at an outdoor cafe for a blind date, who hasn't shown up yet, but her real true love is the waiter standing in the background. (Yes, we were all women in open studio that day.) I didn't want to try to include the waiter however, so I've re-worked this painting a couple of times, and I think I like it better now.

A quick pen & ink sketch of my grandson Avery laying on the back of our couch. Did a painting from this sketch.

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!

Bob, Portrait in Pencil

Did a quick 15 minute sketch while my husband was watching TV, then worked on it more the next day. I love pencil, it's so easy to blend! I think I captured him, or at least all but the back of his head!

Debby Painting

This is my friend Debby. She is working on an oil painting from yesterday's plein aire class. I'm not sure it's still considered plein aire if you spend more time in the studio than on site...

Bob with the Remote

My husband is willing to sit still long enough to draw him in only one of two positions, this one, and sleeping.

This is a pen and ink drawing done from a photo of my oldest 3 children, taken many years ago. It is done in pointilism, which took many hours to complete. It is one of my favorites!

This Charcoal drawing was done in the open studio at the Stutz Building last night. It took about an hour. I've been drawing this model for several months, but this is the first time I felt that I got her face right! The lighting was very interesting and provided good lights and darks.