July 30, 2009
Two days in a row! Life is good! I worked on my friend in the chair again. It's starting to glow. I'm so intrigued by the shadow on her back. It makes the piece almost abstract because it's difficult to figure out exactly where her back ends and what that shadow is about. I love the richness of the shadows and shading. It's difficult to discern the figure in the shadows and light. It's fun for me to see the picture from the beginning of the day yesterday and to compare it to the last one today. Good to see I'm making progress in the course of a long day painting!
Tomorrow I'll have the pleasure of teaching one of my favorite classes: making pastels and pastel paper. Both are quite expensive to buy and actually not all that hard to make - especially the paper - so I'm teaching a 5 hour workshop during which the students will make several pieces of paper and 6-8 pastels.
My pastel class is over for the summer so it'll be September before I get to teach that again. I do love working with students and helping them discover their talents. It's so satisfying.
July 29, 2009
Today I had the whole day to work on a new piece, My friend in the chair. Don't know what I'll call it, but that's what it's a picture of. Yesterday I had spent some time mixing paints so I could get right to work when I went in. I procrastinated in the morning but eventually got out to the studio and got to work for about 6 hours. There's lots more to go, of course, but I'm pleased so far. Here's the progress as it happened. 
12:20 PM
4:33 PM
5:16 PM
July 27, 2009
Long session in the studio today! Yay! I tutored this morning then took Andrew to work then got right to it. 
I had worked on "Sleek Back, Saucy Shadow" Friday but didn't have time to blog about it. We spent the weekend in the basement. We built in a wall so my son will have his own room since he's going to be living with us for about a year. We figured he'd appreciate the privacy. The wall looks great thanks to the help of my brother-in-law who was a carpenter for lots of years. Getting the room ready, however, meant I had to get everything out of there. It used to be my studio, and I had left a lot of stuff in there that I didn't want in the new studio. So now I have to go through way too many photos and too much junk before the basement has any semblance of order again. Ugh.
But rather than do that constructive task today, I painted. Much more satisfying! I think the painting may be done. I realized when I began work on it today that I had her backbone in the wrong place so I had to re-do that whole section. There were lots of adjustments I made to the upper back and lower back area as well as the buttocks and breast. I also adjusted the color somewhat. The finished piece is 53"x34.5". My pieces lately seem to be ending up somewhat larger than lifesize. I don't know why that is, but it seems to work for me.
I'm planning to apply to have shows at some colleges. A friend pointed out to me that this series of female nudes might do well in a college or university setting where there's a Women's Studies Program so that it could be incorporated into the curriculum. I like that idea a lot. I'd be delighted to hear from anyone who might know of someone at a college who might be interested. (Or a gallery for that matter!) I'm ready to find a place to show this work. There's a fairly long lead time to get a show, so it would be wise to begin looking now while I'm still in the process of painting the pieces.
July 17, 2009
I haven't made it out to the studio yet today. I had to teach this morning and have an opening tonight to celebrate the 2nd place I got on The Dancer at 89. So not much art today except to gesso my next canvas. Guess I'll paint again Monday after taking my youngest to the airport for a month in Peru. And I plan to design a new business card after I'm done with this blog. My current one shows a color study. My more recent work is all nudes, so I'll use one of them for the new card. That'll get 'em looking!
July 15, 2009
I think I finished this canvas today though I won't know for sure until I go back out there in a couple of days to see how it looks once I've been away from it for a bit. Sometimes I find things I want to fix once I haven't seen it for a while.
I already have my next canvas built, need to gesso it (put a coating on it so it'll take the paint), then I know what I want to paint on it. I took some very cool pictures of a friend the other night that I think will make awesome paintings, so one of those is next!
July 10, 2009
I visited with a friend this morning before getting into the studio then ended up wasting time doing blah, blah, blah until 1 when I worked for an hour before someone else came to visit - lovely visits, both! - then I finally got back to it around 3:30. It's so simple and easy to procrastinate. And so painful when I'm painting and loving it and wishing I had more time. I quit this evening around 7:45 so I could spend time with my loving husband who is right now making me yet another canvas since I'm almost out of them again. Here's the painting I worked on today in 3 stages:
I love the image. The young woman's grace is so evident in everything she does, and I think this image captures it well. Tomorrow or whenever I get back to it, I plan to make the shadow smoother and continue to refine the body parts. I worked hard on her legs today as well as her hand and arm and breast. Now I have to paint her back and shoulders and face better. It's exciting working in these skin tones. They're so gorgeous!
If ever you have comments about work you see on this website, I welcome interactions! You can contact me through the webpage or through email at susansingerart@msn.com. Thanks!
July 9, 2009
I finished Beauty with a Veil today.
I learned so much from doing it about painting transparent material. Most of the picture was easy to paint. The shadows and forms are well-defined so it was easy to make them happen. I didn't know how to render the tulle but I think it ultimately turned out very well. It's 3'x3'. I also started on another canvas, gridding it so I'm ready to start painting tomorrow.
This evening I took some pictures of a friend which turned out really beautifully. I'll start painting them next. I'm so blessed to have friends and acquaintances who are willing to model for me. I couldn't be doing this without them. If you're interested in modeling for me, please get in touch and we can set something up. (You can use the contact me page on the website to do so.)
July 8, 2009
I got up early so I could get out in the studio before life started happening. I was able to mostly get my next picture gridded so I can start painting either this afternoon or tomorrow when I have the whole day to paint again. Love it!
Today I'm taking Dancer at 89 to Crossroads for their monthly competition. I wanted to enter the National Portrait Competition but it's every other year and this isn't the year. I'll enter it next year with the Dancer at 89. Wish me luck!
Teaching was good last night. I taught a lesson on composition and making marks and value. Such important aspects to doing art. I'm really loving this life of painting all day and teaching in the evening.
July 7, 2009
No more time to work today, but I feel like I made good progress on Beauty with a Veil.
I enriched the color, refined many spots, increased the complexity of the veil, painted the hands better, added hair, etc., etc. I'll wait until tomorrow to see if it stands up, but she may be finished.
Now I get to go teach pastels. I really love teaching so this is a highlight of my week. We're going to work on composition and types of marks tonight, then they'll draw a piece of fruit. Should be fun!
July 6, 2009
I was able to spend the whole day in the studio yesterday. What that translated to was 4-5 hours of concentrated painting with a couple of hours eating, working on art business computer stuff, and relaxing. A lovely day!
I'm working on a painting I really like right now. The picture on the left is where I started, and the one on the right is where I finished.
The image is from some photos I took of a friend of my son's. She's 22. It's interesting to be painting someone who is so young compared to the other models I've painted recently. This is a difficult painting to do because of the cloth. It's tulle, I think it's called. See-through netting. I have to create the illusion of the cloth being over her body. I wasn't sure if I should paint her body all the same then paint the tulle over it or just paint the tulle with the body. I ended up doing the latter. I just matched my colors to the color of the tulle and skin together when I painted those sections. It was tricky, but I was thrilled when I finished the part I got done on the left hand picture and could see that it looked like the cloth was draped over her! I find time and time again that when I paint what I see, it ends up looking like the image in front of me. That's probably sounds absurdly self-evident, but I think people who are trying to paint and draw don't realize that. They try to paint what they THINK something looks like rather than painting what it actually looks like. The two things can be quite different!
I hope to finish this picture today. It's 3'x3'. I'm calling it "Beauty with a Veil." I have another one of a young woman I plan to start after this one. I have the whole week to paint, and Chris, my husband, and I made some canvases this weekend so I'm ready to go!