April 30, 2009
Today's Thursday. Sunday and Monday I was able to spend most of the days in the studio, still working on the same piece. It's subtleties are surprisingly difficult to capture in a way that satisfies me.
The image on the left is from Sunday. The one of the right is from
Monday. The most obvious difference in the color, but that has more to do with the light under which I took the photograph. Other than that, it's the subtleties. I guess I must be close to finished if I can't tell the differences between the versions anymore. This is proving to be a more difficult piece than I expected it to be. My interest in painting it was the gorgeous light behind her back and how it highlights her figure. I also love the graceful curves of her body. Chris (my husband) wonders about the success of the composition given the wide open space on the left, but I really like that. It gives her so much room to move into. She's tight on the right, but wide open on the left. I like the feel of it.
Tomorrow I will be busy all morning, then in the evening I will be judging a Wood turning show, so I won't have much time to paint. Perhaps over the weekend I can make some time. I sure hope so!
April 20, 2009
It's an almost physical sensation of discomfort and frustration when I'm unable to work in the studio for days at a time. It's such a strong feeling of desire. It isn't like an addiction with craving and compulsion attached. I feel a strong drive to paint or draw or otherwise create, but it isn't compulsive, I don't think. When I am creating, I am in a different zone where I am fully absorbed, fully present in the moment. That happens also when I'm dancing or taking intensely with a friend or teaching, but painting is a little bit different since I'm alone doing it. There's only me and the painting. My mind moves through color choices and value ranges and creation of form, and it's the only thing on the planet in that moment. It matters what I'm doing. One could argue that the world doesn't need another painting - and it would possibly be a valid argument - who cares if I paint another naked woman? Or another piece of fruit? Well, I care. It improves the quality of my life. And I know that when I have looked at Van Gogh's paintings, I have felt spiritually transported in a way that hasn't happened in any other way. I guess it's the type of experience Zen monks are looking for when they meditate - absolute presence in the moment, peace, safety, comfort, God's presence. One day I will be able to paint everyday.
Today I worked more on the piece I started on the 13th. I worked to improve the values and to darken it overall. I'm excited about the glow behind her back. Her left leg is starting to have some lovely luminosity as well, and her left side is getting a good sense of form. I need to refine the transitions between the passages and fix lots, but it's starting to take form. It's a beautiful piece to work on.
I've also been spending a good deal of time applying for shows and contests. I'm sending in the female nudes I've been doing lately. I'll hear back over the next few months. I don't have any shows lined up right now - a fairly unusual situation for me, but I don't mind. I like having the freedom to work on whatever I want without a deadline looming. It gives me the ability to choose to do whatever moves me whenever it does.
April 13, 2009
Ahh! A good long day in the studio today! I got out there by 10 and worked til 3 then again from 8-10 tonight. It felt so good! The last couple of weeks had been busy so I only had one other day in there. I've missed it!
The one day I got into the studio, I drew two pictures, one on a wooden board, the other on a canvas. I started painting the board but didn't like the progress I was making.
It felt like a fair beginning, but it lacked subtlety, and I wasn't in a subtle mood that day. Plus I think it was more difficult to paint on the board than to paint on canvas. It's hard for me to blend the paint. Either that or the more expressive mood I was in was influencing the style I was wanting to work in.
After a break, I decided to try something. What if I would divide the body into pieces based on the value changes/planes? 
It felt almost like I was defiling the piece, taking it from how it had been - ready to make it pretty and smooth and beautiful - to chopped up, but it was a good experience to do it. It helped me break down some very subtle changes and exaggerate them. Before I could work on the piece any more, I took my son on his Junior Year Spring Break College Tour for 3 days and 5 colleges! It was fun but a bit tiring. I was definitely ready to get home and into the studio today!
I didn't like what I saw when I got in there, so I knew I had to change it, but didn't know how. Last night I watched a DVD about the Highwaymen - several men and one woman who live in Florida and who, since the 50's, have been rapidly painting scenes of Florida in florid colors. I would have considered them trashy hotel art, but apparently they've really caught on and have become collector's items. Fascinating!
At any rate, the reason I'm mentioning it is because they paint with a palette knife. That gave me the idea to try that with this piece. I wasn't able to wipe the whole image off the board which was what I'd wanted to do with it, and I couldn't paint over it because the paint wouldn't cover it - I was painting too thin - so I figured I may as well use a palette knife. First time in years - since one of my very first paintings. I enjoyed the experience. It was hard to do since I couldn't be exact in where I placed the color. Since I had already worked with the image so much, though, I knew it well and knew what I was trying to achieve. I was able to use a lot of different colors to get interesting blends and great neutrals as well as strong bold intense colors. I think it's an improvement over the original. I guess it's a keeper now!
After I finished that piece, I was ready and raring to keep painting so I was glad I'd already completed another drawing. I took a while to mix my paint. In the previous painting, the paint had mostly dried while I'd been gone, so I'd been working hard to get enough paint, and what I used frequently had paint film built up that got onto the image. What a pain! So this time I decided to mis enough paint and enjoy the luxury! This image is being done with a paintbrush on canvas. It's much smoother and will look very different from the previous one! I completed more than this today, but I haven't taken a picture of it yet. I'll put it up tomorrow.
Here 'tis, on the easel with the photo of it above.