A better photo.....

thanks to Don and his snazzy little camera (and superior photographic skill)!

Click to enlarge. :)

Making Progress

With limited time this week I have only made a small amount of progress on my portrait.  This is where I left it today.

I moved the eyes further apart and reworked, the mouth has been further defined and I've fiddled and faffed around with the right hand side of the face.

I thought you might like to see a compilation showing how the painting has evolved so far.

Don did a demonstration in class today and painted a portrait alla prima which was very interesting.  One BIG thing that I picked up - even though I watch him paint every week - was the way he held the brush at various stages of the painting.  I had a pen on hand so took a photo to remind myself and then put it into practice during my own painting time.  It felt very uncomfortable but I must admit that it made a significant difference to my application of the techniques I've been trying as well as the result.

Just so I have a reminder....here is how to hold the brush....

It helps you have a very light touch and enables you to manipulate the brush into a wide variety of positions very easily. So I will be trying to get used to this over the coming week and hopefully develop some proficiency and greater comfort holding the brush this way.

Portrait Update

I squeezed a small amount of painting time into my day today and managed to practice some new techniques that Don showed me in class last week.  I gave myself over to the techniques and didn't worry about  getting it right as I develop my skills.  It was fun and interesting to be brave and try a new approach that was more 'painterly'.

You can see where I have added some colour to the background and changed the horizon line of the lake so that it is no longer competing with the eyes and face of the portrait. I may move it further yet as it creates quite a visual line right across the painting with the folds of the shawl.  I have cut back into the hair reshaping it and will rework it so that it has whispy bits going back over the background if that makes sense. I rendered the left eye in using the new technique and have yet to refine the shape and size.  I have also moved the mouth to the right and have yet to paint over the original position which you can see showing through like a black smudge at the side of the present mouth.

If you are interested in the techniques I've been using - painting the image rather than drawing then 'colouring in' with paint, I've found two great YouTube tutorials that demonstrate what I've been doing.  Their technique and mastery far exceed mine of course!  Check them out if you are interested.

"Lloyd" by Zimou Tan

Demonstration by Sergey Gusev

Portrait Progress

The rough monochromatic underpainting I left you with last and a little peek of part of the reference I am using for this image.  I am actually using more than one reference for this which has confused me a bit but I'm working it out.

 Today in class I started to add colour.  The hair is intentionally wilder and bigger than it needs to be so that I can cut back into it with the background colours and then work back over it again with hair colour.

Here is Don demonstrating a particular technique for rendering the eye.  I get to further refine this and then use the technique myself to do the second eye.  Will try to remember to take photos to share with you.  If I was very clever I'd make a vimeo or youtube clip for you but that may be stretching my technological capabilities.  Also would put lots of pressure on me to 'get it right' for you! 

 Here the mouth and nose have been moved over to the right of the image as they were a bit off originally.  This is where I left off today.  Lots more to do but it is starting to come together.  Remember you can click on the images to see them at a larger size.

Studio Tour 2 and what's on my easel.

Life has changed quite suddenly and significantly for Jeff and I since my last, long ago post.  My brother and his two little boys have moved in so we've packed and cleaned a house that sold and made space here in our home for the boys.  They live in the rooms off my studio and having new demands on my time and having someone living so close to the studio has changed how I do things a bit.  I'm finding my feet again though and my health has coped really well with the changes which is great.

So, back to where I left off.....

The main wall of my studio which doubles as both display and storage for my art.  Yes my studio is YELLOW!!  Oh so yellow.

During Open Studio's the children's playroom doubles up as my gallery space and we bring tables in for Aannsha's felt and any textile art made by my sister and I.  This room is right next to my studio and joined by an open arch so it flows quite nicely as a viewing space.

As for what is on my easel.....I am studying portraiture at present and continue to be amazed that I quite enjoy it!  I am currently painting a young Merryl Streep in the French Lieutenant's Woman. 

I prepped the canvas in a warm tone and then drew a very rough image on with charcoal.  I was less than happy with this and it sent me into a state of anxiety.  My homework was to complete a detailed drawing to then paint over.  I became so anxious and scared to draw that I threw out my class instructions (sorry Don!) and used the painting technique I use when painting animals....block in large shapes with a big brush and focus on tones.  I rubbed out most of the charcoal and then just went at it with the paint.

I had previously mixed up a tonal run of colour using Burnt Umber and white and used that to just get some paint on the canvas.  I was in such a tizz that I ran out of paint and just kept stretching it across the canvas as best I could.  It NEVER occurred to me to mix more.  What a dill.  As you can see this is very rough and was done very quickly.

 

Starting to refine the image.  Looking at the photograph I see some hard edges and splotchy bits of paint that need attending to.  A lot more work needs to be done to refine and accurately depict the face and hand but I'll get there. She doesn't really look right at present.  I may also change the waterline in the background and move it up or down a bit.  Not sure about that. 

Here is the paint run that I used to work on this tonal underpainting.  I used Burnt Umber for my dark and Tinting white with a trace of the umber for my lightest light. I made a value scale from the two and worked from this.

Here is an example of a portraiture palette I had set up for another exercise.  The image has rotated strangely and I use this with the colours running down from dark to light on the bottom (rotate left 90' in your mind!).  First is a cool run of colours, then bronzes and then warm.  Unfortunately these colours are not quite right for this current portrait so I'll have to work out how to mix the right colours to match the skin tones and hair for this portrait.

I'm off to work on this portrait in class tomorrow so will photograph my progress and post it for you now that I've come back to blogging.  Can't wait to see what the other girls in my class have done. There was some great work last week - I of course am dragging along behind everyone!

Experimenting Part 1.

I mentioned recently that I had developed the germ of an idea to incorporate painting and embroidery.  Not five minutes after posting that thought on my blog I discovered Fi at Marmalade Rose had beaten me to it.  This lead to a Google search and the realization that my thought wasn't that original after all....  If you take the time to look at Fi's blog I encourage you to check out more than the post I've linked you to, she is awesomely talented and marvelous.  Not to mention living in one of my favourite places in the world.

Anyway, I decided to just get on with it and start experimenting with my idea.  My initial intention was to do a portrait but somehow that morphed into a rooster. No idea how, the weird and wonderful ways of my mind there...

I began by taping a bit of plain cotton quilters fabric to a piece of scrap cardboard.

I then loosely drew my image onto the fabric with a mechanical pencil. No reason for that choice other than the pencil was near to hand so I used it.

I wet parts of the background with a damp brush and discovered a couple of things.  Firstly the fabric resisted the water (perhaps I need to wash it first). Then I added more water and the fabric stuck to the black cardboard making it difficult to see where I was applying colour. I also think a sturdier fabric would be easier to use. Perhaps calico or maybe I could iron some interfacing to the back of this fabric for future use.

  I used cheapo tube watercolours and tried to get a wash type effect in the background.

I continued to splotch colours on and now I look at it on the computer I realise I have somehow ended up with blue feathers on the chest.... oh well.  I left finer details like the eye, beak detail for the later stages.

 I did experience some bleeding where the colour spread out and started to look smudged and out of shape, particularly around the face.  So I quickly pulled it off the cardboard and hung it out to dry. 

Now I need to work out what to do as my next  step.....I have knit and natter with my sister tomorrow so will take some embroidery floss, needle and hoop and see if I am flumoxed or inspired. 

Progress of the Pears

I had expected to be finished with this painting - it is only small.  But I find myself unable to stand for long at the easel before fatigue sets in so......I'm close but not finished.  Instead of pushing myself this afternoon I've laid down brushes and will take a break.  Here are some progress photos.

 I started today's session  by working on the tonal values that had were rather wishy washy when I finished painting last.

 Further work on the background and definition of tones.  The pear at front needs further work particularly where it's highlights are concerned.   Interestingly the shadows and reflections look far better in the photograph than I believe they look in real life.

So, I need to finish defining the tones, particularly the highlights, put on stalks, fiddle around a bit with the foreground and shadows and straighten the line between the dark background and the lighter bench top.  I keep changing the angle of it which is starting to test my patience if not my sanity!

Remember you can click on the images to see them larger.  I hope you are enjoying watching the pears take shape.  Be brave and leave a comment or question. :)

Blah old day

I'm having a blah kind of day today. Feel out of sorts and out of sync.  That should have been a big flag in my face saying 'DON'T PAINT'....but paint I did.  I'm wanting to get the painting done for the Curves breast cancer fund raiser.  I thought I'd take you through one of my painting processes in greater detail than usual.

I start by picking a reference photo (usually from my own photographs) and then select a canvas to suit the composition of the image.  In this case I think the canvas I am using is just a 50cm x 50cm that I had on hand. I'm getting better at selecting colours to use but if I get stuck I have made up some colour charts that I can use to help me work out how to mix just about anything from a limited range of paints.  I've included a little frame to show the colour range I'm trying to mix from (not all of them).

Once I decide on colours I prep the canvas with gesso or a 3 in 1 sealer and primer.  I usually do two coats and sand in between.  If I want a bit more 'tooth' to my canvas I don't bother priming.  For something like a flower I then cover the whole canvas in a mid tone from the image.  Once I've done this I transfer the image onto the canvas.  Sometimes I add the image loosely with a slurry of paint a few shades darker than the background or use charcoal, pastel or chalk.

I often draw in freehand but have included an example using a grid for those of you who aren't confident in your drawing abilities.  I've placed the reference photo inside a plastic sleeve and drawn a grid over it (it's moved in the image - make sure it's evenly spaced when you do it).  Examples of materials to use to draw image onto canvas.

I selected the paints based on my colour chart.  Cadmium yellow light, napthol crimson, pthalo blue, titanium white and carbon black.  I mix these onto my palette and then mix further as needed on the canvas

I start putting in colours and tones and on a day like today NOTHING seems to work. It's very hot and windy and the paint is not going on easily even with the use of medium.  I left it like this for a few hours as I was just getting upset. It wasn't working, the brush was loosing bristles continually, I dropped the paintbrush....you get the picture.

After my little mental health break I came back and got into it again.  The darks that seemed way too dark and out of place now are not dark enough but it is starting to take shape and when I get the tones right it will gain the correct form.  I generally do quite a few layers as I build up to the final image.  You can see my reference perched on top of the canvas.  Some people I know use sheet music stands to hold their reference but I haven't fixed on a way to do it yet.  Sometimes I hold the reference in my free hand, toss it on the table and paint from memory, lose it on the floor under the dog....  I got to this stage this afternoon and decided to quite when I knocked a container of clear painting medium all over the floor.  Sometimes you just need to be out in the garden instead. :)

Speaking of which, don't my azaleas look lovely.  Happy sigh.

Making Art

Over Easter I am participating in a local art exhibition to launch our local Arts Trail. In preparation, I spent the whole day in the studio working on ongoing pieces and planning new ones.  For quite awhile I've been working on a giant rose painting - about 1m x 85cm. I set myself a goal of using only three colours red, white and black to paint this rose and I'm not sure it will be an experiment that provides the best painting as an result.  I shall persevere though. Because I didn't use my artist diary to document how I mixed the colours I have run into difficulty at different stages throughout the process when needing to remix colours as I ran out.  NOTE. TO. SELF.  USE - ARTIST'S DIARY.

The Process.

After priming the canvas I painted a solid pink colour over the whole canvas and sketched on the rose using a white pastel pencil.  Hard to see but may show up better if you click on the image.

I then started to paint the outer petals and progressively moved in towards the centre.

This is where I stopped weeks and weeks ago.  I continued today but have used a different camera and for some reason it has altered the colour and has minimized the red.  The above photo is truer to the real life colours.

I still have to complete the very centre of the rose. It's an indiscriminate blob at present so needs to be refined.  You get a little peep at my studio (formerly known as the Granny Flat) in the background.

I also primed watercolour paper ready to collage and three canvases of different sizes ready to paint.....  I used gesso.

I worked on a thumbnail sketch for a new, small painting in the hard edge semi-abstract style that I used for this painting.  Even managed to transfer most of the image onto canvas ready to start painting.

I spent time gathering reference material and ideas for another few pieces into my artist's diary.  Lesson learned.

This is the table where I work on thumbnails, do charcoal and graphite drawings or gaze dreamily into my garden.

I hope to have the rose finished by my next post and some better photos for you.  Thinking of you all.

Day two with Cleo

Today I put another two and a half hours into Cleo.  That's seven hours all up.  I continued to build up the layers, incorporating more of the warm colour and bringing in more white. At the awkward, doing lots but not looking pretty stage but it's coming together.

A Good Day's Art

You may recall my dilemma late last year as I struggled to decide upon a subject to paint for the final piece of my art course.  I had wanted to paint the lovely Cleo, a European eagle owl, I became closely acquainted with on my trip to the UK. Instead I composed an image from scratch using a combination of imagination and real life objects to copy from.  Well, now that particular piece is completed, I have time to give the lovely Cleo some attention. Hurrah!  I spent about 4 1/2 hours on her today and this included deciding on a format, the initial drawing onto canvas, deciding upon and mixing colours and beginning to paint.  Photos of the initial white charcoal sketch didn't turn out so I've show the first two painting stages. 

A bit of colour on the eyes and starting to lay down the foundations lights and darks. I'm using the background colour as a mid-tone and will allow it to show through in some places. Using a lot of dry brushing where you paint with dry brush (for those who need help with that concept!).

Here she is, a little further on. I've continued to build up layers and have started to include the warmer feather colours. Still a long way to go but I'm happy with her so far. I hope to be finished by the end of the week. Will keep you up to date on Lady Cleo's progress. 

Evolution of an art work. Part 1

I've decided to be brave and share the progress of my final art piece for my course.  It's a bit intimidating but will be good for me to look back on in the future.  We are required for our final piece to submit an original landscape, still life or interior in acrylic, on canvas.  Our work must be in either the hard edge semi-abstract style (like the butterfly I posted previously), realism or impressionism.

So, how does one make a start?  You start by drawing thumbnails. In my case lots of them.  A thumbnail is a small sketch around 7cm x 10cm.  At first I just drew willy nilly and eventually some ideas started to stick.  My mind became stuck on a window scene.  A pot of orchids, a mug of tea and some bits and bobs on the window sill with a landscape scene in the distance.

This is the initial idea as a thumbnail. With further consideration and feedback from my teacher I started to rethink my composition.  In this composition the mountain fights the pot of orchids for the focal point and I have no clear direction lines within the painting to keep the viewers eye moving around within the canvas. I also didn't have enough repetition eg. repeated shapes or textures.

Onto yet another thumbnail.  I swapped out the dominant form of Coonowrin Mountain for the Coochin Twins (both local to my area) and think this has worked quite well.  I've introduced repetitive shapes in the form of an orange near the mug (copies circles from pot), circular trees and bushes and a sun catcher at the top of the window.  I've introduced directional lines with the banana, ferns, the lines of mountains and farm paddocks in the background.  The orange bothers me and the banana isn't quite working.  I'm really not sure about the sun catcher as it could compete with the pot for interest even if I use subtle colours.

Here is a second option in the same theme. I've  replaced the orange with a cupcake and the cherry on top repeats the circle pattern on the pot.  I've maintained the circular trees to continue this theme. I added a bird purely because I like birds and I rather fancied the idea of calling the painting "Benjamin Bird comes to Tea". Very Enid Blyton or Beatrix Potter.  I've included directional lines with broad leaves with strong lines in the veins as I think these will be much quicker to paint than ferns and I just wondered what they'd look like. I've replaced the suncatcher with a terrible cloud and sun combination which does nothing for me at all.

Sorry this is so hard to see.  This is the final piece that I've come up with. I've drawn it onto watercolour paper primed with undercoat and will use it as a practice piece before starting on my canvas. I'll work out my colours etc here.  Before I started playing with paints I came up with the oh.so.brilliant. idea of having a play with the Brushes programme on Jeff's iPad.  Here are the results....

How cool is this!  I got to try composition ideas in colour! The drawing is pretty poor as I'm not used to this programme and it was done 'fingerpaint style'.  Gives me an idea though. I've introduced an orchid flower at bottom left to draw the eye in (replaced the rock).  I've overlapped the banana over the pot and widow sill to create depth and to create a line for the eye to follow from the pot, up to the fern, along the fern and back to the focal point which is the pot.  The repetition of red draws the eye around the picture.  not sure about the orange cupcake wrapper though and need something above the cupcake and mug to draw the eye.

 Here I've introduced some of our local red earth above the mug and I think it works ok. It creates repetition with the cupcake wrapper but I'm still not sure about the orange of the cupcake.  What do you think?  Does it compete too much with the pot? I've included some birds way in the distance to add some interest to the empty bit of sky and to move the eye along.

Here's the final doodle I've come up with.  I think I prefer the blue cupcake wrapper as it makes the arrangement of cake and mug more subtle.  It goes against the rule of using warm colours in the foreground of the composition to bring the subjects forward.  I've varied the tonal values of the mountains and included a smidge of banana yellow in the orchids and the poorly drawn flowers on the mug.  I think I'm getting close to what I want the final piece to look like. I love the orchids in the pot. The greens against the red and the flowers in the blue of the sky. Remember if you want to see the images more clearly just click on them and they enlarge.  Any feedback is welcome. Thank you for reading and I hope you are enjoying a glimpse into the process.