Water Lilies - See The Painting in Progress!

November 1, 2018
UPDATE: Here is the next layer of this painting on the top - basically I just added thick light areas to the petals, so there is more definition. Still thinking about what else, if anything, needs to be done....










I am realizing that I really enjoy starting projects more than finishing them. At the beginning of a painting, it is all loose and splashy and fun - then things start to get more serious and the decisions become harder and I lose interest. How about you? Are you a starter or a finisher?

With this painting of water lilies, I used too much medium and it got really difficult to get the values I needed at the end, especially the highlights. So, I smoothed out the texture (you can see it is a little blurry) and let it dry. Now, I need to go back in and add those highlights and thick paint. I like to leave things a big abstract and painterly so the painting is not just about the subject but about the texture and paint quality.

Large Loose Floral in Acrylic WIP

I am still working on this one. I started big, bold and splashy and now I am stymied. I always had in mind to layer a lot of different colours, especially in the background.

I utilized a lot of tools and textures in this painting - bubble wrap, drips, spatulas, spray bottles and more!

My reference was actually a stock photo with a white background so I have in mind to layer white over all the blue as I am not sure about the blue background. I think a lighter value would be more effective. What do you think? Please let me know if you have an opinion as I am frozen with indecision on this one.

It is a large painting of roses and tulips on a gallery wrap canvas - 42" x 42"

A closer look

Acrylic Floral Hydrangea Landscape 24x24 Gallery Wrap - On the Beach

This was another demo in acrylic in my "Large and Loose Florals" class. This one is not quite as big as some we did, it is 24 x 24 inches on a gallery wrap canvas. I struggle a bit with acrylics since the colours are not as subtle as oils and softening edges is trickier. You need to be paint very quickly and loosely to not have the hard edges typical of acrylic paintings unless you to a lot of layers of paint.

I think what attracted me to this subject is, well, first of all I love hydrangeas! They are so fluffy and gorgeous in pinks and blues with pretty leaves too. I also liked the aqua blue of the lake behind, I take every opportunity possible to use that colour. And, I also love painting glass and water, so the jar was fun too.

The trees and shrubberies in the background had to be softened and muted and glazed with a milky blue to push them back. There was a lot of painting in and out of those trees as well, so they didn't look cut out and pasted on.

I am not sure I am done with this one. I need to even out the table, for instance, but you get to see the work in progress.

Pink Tulips in Acrylic - Work in Progress - See All the Steps!

Pink Tulips - 16 x 16 Acrylic on Canvas

As long as a painting remains in my custody it is never finished. This one started out as another class demo and it was painted in 4 layers - a block-in, then the basic shapes and then some details.

I plan to change the foreground as my plan was always to have this underpainting peeking through a creamy white colour. So, by the time I complete the painting it will have taken at least 5 layers of paint.

What do you think? Would you paint the foreground white? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Initial Block-In

Locating the main shapes

Adding some detail and refining the drawing

Painting almost done....just need to add white to foreground!

Painting Big and Loose!

Pink Roses - 42 x 42 inches Acrylic on Canvas

 This past spring I decided on a change of pace by teaching a class all about painting large in acrylic instead of small in oils. I strongly believe a great way to improve your work quickly is to paint every day and small pieces fit better into this paradigm. However, I also believe it is good to shake things up by doing something different and experimenting on a regular basis as well.

This is one of the paintings I started in class as a demo. I find acrylics challenging due to their propensity to create hard edges, so you really have to work fast and splashy, in an abstract fashion. I ended up doing at least 3 or 4 layers of paint on this one, having fun with various textures, using a spray bottle, bubble wrap, cardboard and a spatula, letting the paint fly and drip.

Fun to see the scale in a room!

September Means a 30 Day Painting Challenge!

No. 1: Calendula Bouquet - 9 x 12 Oil on Belgian Linen

It is now September 1st and time to get back to work. Every fall, Leslie Saeta hosts a 30 day painting challenge. She says it isn't cheating to paint ahead, so since I haven't done that recently, I am going to take the opportunity to post a number of pieces that have not made their way onto this blog yet, while I also get back in the studio. I will be working on some large paintings, so may post their progress as well.

Way back in March, I attended a workshop by Canadian painter Robert Strickland. I like to attend at least one or two workshops every year with painters that I think can teach me something new. I almost always come away with new insights or ideas to pursue and a refreshed urgency to get into the studio and create.

I love how he simplifies complex flowers into their essentials. The flower on the left was painted  and re-painted several times by me. I was thinking it was looking pretty good, but every time, he came by, he wiped out all my detail! It is all about the form and capturing that first, then adding select touches to give the particular flower character.

Friday evening, we had a lecture, entitled "The Language of Paint" that talked about fundamentals of drawing, value and color) and then on Saturday and Sunday we painted from life with several people gathered around each vase of flowers. 

For those who would like to know, Robert uses very expensive panels as his support (Raymar oil primed belgian linen) and his palette consists of:

Titanium White
Cremnitz (lead) White 
Cadmium Lemon
Cadmium Yellow
Cadmium Orange (optional) 
Cadmium Red
Permanent Rose (optional) 
Alizarin Crimson
Cobalt Blue
Ultramarine Blue
Viridian – Rembrandt

Transparent Oxide Red – Rembrandt

Charcoal Portrait Drawing Young Girl - How to Loosen Up Your Drawing!

If you want to loosen up your drawing, I would highly recommend vine charcoal and a reckless disregard for detail when you begin - as you proceed you can tighten up some areas (which is kind of necessary for portraiture) so the person is recognizable but try to see in masses of light and shadow, look for shapes, not features.

Sport - Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 Challenge September 2017

It is once again September, and that means the 30 in 30 Challenge for Artists Helping Artists has begun.

This time, knowing myself, I am just going to post when I can, as I have a very busy couple of months ahead with teaching and a solo show coming up. I will be working on various projects, some of which will be impossible to complete in a day. So, I may be sharing some works in progress.

We all have our own inherent style, similar to our handwriting, but for many of us, that tends to evolve into a looser version once we become more comfortable with how to paint. I know from working with dozens of master artists that there is no "one way" to do things. I also know that the fastest route to artistic growth is a daily practice that includes drawing and painting.

I finally finished this painting of a cute puppy named Sport, who lives with Leslie Saeta, the founder of the above-mentioned challenge as well as the online radio show, "Artists Helping Artists".  Don't you just love those big puppy paws?

I have made sure to incorporate value massing in this painting so the dog stands out. If you squint at the painting you will see that everything in the background is a darker value. I blurred out that background as well so that the eye won't focus too much on those details.

If you are interested in joining me in a daily art practice, at any point this month, click on the link above and sign up!

Blogtalk Radio - Artists Helping Artists

I am excited to announce that this blog was one of five randomly chosen to be critiqued by fabulous artists and radio show hosts Leslie Saeta and Dreama Tolle Perry of Artists Helping Artists.

I hope they can give me some advice about how to deal with and maybe amalgamate the plethora of blogs I write - this blog about my portraiture, my blog for other paintings: Painting Color and Light, my blog for other artists: Thinking About Painting, my travelogues: Prague Idyll and Paris Sojourn and my eco-lifestyle/food blog: Creative Lifeskills. I also have an abandoned blog for posting my sketchbook pages: Sketchbook by Laurel.

I obtained a domain name, foodartlife.com, where I was planning to put everything except the portraiture, but I am guessing that maybe that is not focused enough.

Anyhow, be sure to tune in to the show today at noon, eastern standard time, or download it afterward if you miss it - should be fun!