These are my yellow carnations. I chose not to use a warm spot light on this. Instead, I just had the overhead fluorescents on. I was painting these during the Super Bowl. Every 30 minutes I would take a break and watch the game.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Yellow Carnations
These are my yellow carnations. I chose not to use a warm spot light on this. Instead, I just had the overhead fluorescents on. I was painting these during the Super Bowl. Every 30 minutes I would take a break and watch the game.
White Carnations
Here are the Judge's comments from the show:
I really like the artist's use of many colors to convey one object or surface. Almost narrative in the way these inanimate objects are given life, this artist really humanizes the objects depicted in such a gestural fashion. Specifically, Carnations, reminds me of Degas' Ballerinas, the way they are painted and move off the canvas to the right.
- Mary Mikel Stump, Judge
Saturday, February 4, 2012
How long will you wait?
Patience is a virtue. I'm reminded of the importance of patience when I drive my car. Sometimes I'll get impatient and go when I should wait. The cars come speeding by and I think I'll never get a chance to go. I take a chance and pull out. Hopefully the other drivers slowdown a bit but I swear some of them speed up. Almost like they want to hit me. Once I get in my lane and look over at the traffic I just missed, I notice it did clear up and I should have waited. Now what's the worst that could happen? Someone could hit my car and it would be my fault. I could also get hurt and maybe hurt the other driver. Maybe I'll never drive again. If I was patient and wait for my turn, the reward is I could continue safely on my journey. And probably arrive at my destination with no time lost.
In representational art, the wait to produce good paintings can be a long time. Maybe a decade before your competent enough. Be patient. I realize I have put a decade of work into my paintings but I also realize there is a long road ahead of me. If I was in a rush to be a great painter I would get aggravated and quit because it wasn't happening immediately. Like I should be born with this talent. As soon as we pick up a paint brush and put paint on a canvas, Aunt Edna says, "That's so great you should be in a gallery", "Your so talented". Now I have no Aunt Edna but just insert the name of any supportive family member. What Aunt Edna doesn't realize is what it takes to be a great artist. What is a great artist? A great artist has years and years of experience put into every brush stroke. Unconscious competence in Composition, Warm and Cool, Edges, Values, Drawing, etc. Your not painting pretty pictures. Your painting "Life". Your painting your interpretation of how the light falls on a subject. That's why painting from photographs is a mistake if you have never painted from life. Photos may give you a pretty picture but they will not give you a correct representation of the light (what we are really painting).
I often think back to when I started painting. I was around 29 years old. I thought I was a good painter of pictures. Then after a while I realized I was not after a "pretty picture" Then it became a lot harder. It also became a lot more rewarding. 11 years later I'm still after the light. Granted I've only been painting seriously since 2008. But at 29 years old If I knew it would take this long to produce good art would I still take up the challenge? I think so. If I stay with it and keep learning, I will reap the rewards. But If I give up then this is all there is.
We need to live with an understanding that if only we have patience and keep advancing little by little, someday we will achieve our goals. But if we rush through this journey to success expecting immediacy, it could be a short one. A disastrous one. A journey infected with depression and despair. It's easy to give up and say "I tried". However, if we only held out long enough the traffic would have let up. So give your goals (your life's work) time to mature, to grow inside you. And one day you will wake up as one of the competent and happy ones of your generation.
In representational art, the wait to produce good paintings can be a long time. Maybe a decade before your competent enough. Be patient. I realize I have put a decade of work into my paintings but I also realize there is a long road ahead of me. If I was in a rush to be a great painter I would get aggravated and quit because it wasn't happening immediately. Like I should be born with this talent. As soon as we pick up a paint brush and put paint on a canvas, Aunt Edna says, "That's so great you should be in a gallery", "Your so talented". Now I have no Aunt Edna but just insert the name of any supportive family member. What Aunt Edna doesn't realize is what it takes to be a great artist. What is a great artist? A great artist has years and years of experience put into every brush stroke. Unconscious competence in Composition, Warm and Cool, Edges, Values, Drawing, etc. Your not painting pretty pictures. Your painting "Life". Your painting your interpretation of how the light falls on a subject. That's why painting from photographs is a mistake if you have never painted from life. Photos may give you a pretty picture but they will not give you a correct representation of the light (what we are really painting).
I often think back to when I started painting. I was around 29 years old. I thought I was a good painter of pictures. Then after a while I realized I was not after a "pretty picture" Then it became a lot harder. It also became a lot more rewarding. 11 years later I'm still after the light. Granted I've only been painting seriously since 2008. But at 29 years old If I knew it would take this long to produce good art would I still take up the challenge? I think so. If I stay with it and keep learning, I will reap the rewards. But If I give up then this is all there is.
We need to live with an understanding that if only we have patience and keep advancing little by little, someday we will achieve our goals. But if we rush through this journey to success expecting immediacy, it could be a short one. A disastrous one. A journey infected with depression and despair. It's easy to give up and say "I tried". However, if we only held out long enough the traffic would have let up. So give your goals (your life's work) time to mature, to grow inside you. And one day you will wake up as one of the competent and happy ones of your generation.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Wednesday Night - Copinni 2/1/12
The last time I painted Ayanna it was one of the best paintings I've ever done at Copinni. I would post it on my blog but unfortunately I worked on it while it was half wet. So I ended up ruining it.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Sarah - rework
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| Sarah 2012 |
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| Sarah 2011 |
This was from the Dan Gerhartz workshop in 2011. Of course I left all the paint strokes by Dan. All I really did was rework the background to the edge. I'm finally getting good at these painterly backgrounds.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Thankful - rework
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| Thankful 2012 |
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| Thankful 2010 |
First let me say, You should never go back and rework on paintings. I have ruined numerous paintings this way. But, I had such luck with the last reworking of "Bob" I decided to improve "Thankful" also. I was really happy with the way the face was painted but not too crazy about the bottom and background. Such a beautifully painted face with such a bland background. To spruce it up I dry-brushed some of the hair color into the background and added some more alizarin crimson. I like the unfinished look of a painting around the edges but to me the bottom looked too unfinished. I added some skin tones and played with the edges of her shoulders. This was from a Dan Gerhartz workshop at "Weekend with the Masters 2010". I had the best time there and Dan was very helpful.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Christie
Every once and awhile I'll do a portrait at Coppini that I'm really proud of. This time I got really close to the model and It made all the difference in the world. Usually I'm stuck in the back of the room "Squinting at my subject".
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