Daisy, Studio Tip, Stroke Update

Daisy, Green Vase

6"x 6", Framed

oil on gessoboard

Studio Tip:

I like to paint on panels and boards, and my friend, Doug, built a storage system to hold them. 

Now.... I needed to come up with a way to hold/support them on my easel. 

There is a "lip" that covers up the upper and lower part of your panel.

I tried to sit the panel on the "lip"and it didn't work. It wasn't secure. (it fell down......scary!!!)

So, in my efforts to come up with a remedy, I have found some solutions:

David Darrow  -"My board is 2ft x 2ft x 1/2” birch plywood. I bought a flat, aluminum “bar” at a hardware store, cut too 12” pieces from it, and drilled holes through them both. I set a panel onto it, then somewhere along the top edge I stab a screw into the board very close to the painting. Sometimes the threads hold it in place, other times, the wide head of the screw. 
I have been using this board for 15 years, so far."

Scott Conary -"On my small easel, I've added some bits of wood so that 1/4" panel has something to brace against."

David and Scott made these supports/braces and are master woodworkers! 

Now, I could do Michael Orwick's approach:

He screwed 4 screws; .2 at the top and 2 at the bottom of his easel to support the panel.

Or..... I can just buy one...

Carol Marine - "designed by David Marine - holds the panel still and allows you to paint off every edge with nothing in the way." Carol Marine's Easel

Karin Jurick  the "Paint On" easel comes in two forms: one that fits on your stand-up easel and one that is a tabletop easel. 

Karin Jurick's Easel

 Any other suggestions???

Stroke Up-date:

This is kinda funny....

 This is where I lift almost every day...... pretty intense and intimidating, right?

But the one thing that I had to overcome this huge hill  because I have this thing called "foot drop".

"Foot drop is a gait abnormality in which the dropping of the forefoot happens due to weakness, irritation or damage...." Wikipedia

I couldn't climb up or down that thing without some help from a nearby weight machine....

Curbs were another problem. I had to use the car or a person, (all of which were happy to help!) to get up and down those.

But I conquered it!!!!

Listening to while I paint:
Audio Books:
"David and Goliath" by Malcolm Gladwell

Podcasts: 

The Nerdist, hosted by Chris Hardwick

Here's The Thing, hosted by Alec Baldwin
Artists Helping Artists, hosted by Leslie Saeta
Social Media Examiner, hosted by Michael Stelzner
"Wait, Wait.... Don't Tell Me!", hosted by Peter Sagal
Splendid Table, hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper
American's Test Kitchen, hosted by Christopher Kimball

Truth For Life, hosted by Alistair Begg

Music: 
My iPod

Really helpful!:
I am continually checking a dictionary, thesaurus, spell check, but one thing that has been particularly helpful is the grammar check. Please excuse any errors that I make and tell me! :)

Shadows and Saturation

8"x 10"
acrylic on masonite

One of the fun things about the current image from Karin Jurick's DSFDF challenge, was all of the red I found in the figures after enhancing the saturation in photoshop. Playing with the saturation and hue in photoshop has helped me to look for and see color where I hadn't before and as helped me to expand my color usage in my painting.
For this painting I used: ultra marine blue, cobalt blue, yellow ocre, hansa yellow, cad red lt, napthol red lt, and raw umber and titanium white. Oh, and a litte green gold!

Different View

Karin's original reference photo

5"x 7"
acrylic on masonite

There were two things that I particularly appreciated about the current painting challenge from Karin Jurick's DSFDF. First of all, the reference photo provided a new subject matter with a multitude of cropping options. Using someone else's reference photo gives me the opportunity to see through different eyes and broaden my artistic view.
Secondly, I ended up using a limited palette of colors: cerulean blue, burnt sienna, hansa yellow, a little raw umber, a bit of ultra marine blue and white.

Challenging Cupcakes

Karin's reference photo

Okay, so Karin Jurick posted a photo of colorful cupcakes to paint for the current Different Strokes for Different Folks Challenge. I thought, "How fun! This should be easy." Not so! It was hard. But I loved it!
What I loved about it was that Karin referred to the artist Wayne Thiebaud who is one of my favorites. It was a good reason to pull out my book and notes about him.
He uses incredible color in his paintings, but I also noticed that he spend a lot of time looking at positive and negative shapes, and shadows, and pattern/repetition....so I decided to go in that direction.
The drawing was hard! (I think it was the frosting!) And then I wavered between using two or three values or pencil or ink.....I tried them all and ended up with this. The end result may not reflect all of the time and thought that went into it, but it was a very valuable process to me and I enjoyed the srtuggle!

No Way!!!

San Francisco Street
8"x 10"
acrylic on masonite

I just spent the last four hours frantically(?) trying to start and finish my painting for submission to Karin Jurick's DSFDF challenge by 3:00pm PST. I didn't get it submitted until 3:30, was sure it was too late to be posted, but wanted to turn it in anyway.
I emailed my image to Karin and apologized for being late and she emailed me back and said it wasn't due until next week. :)

NO WAY!!!

I realized how hard it is for me to try to paint faster.

When I took life drawing classes and we drew 2min., 1min., and 30 sec. poses, I got good at quickly capturing the essence of the figure in a gesture drawing or a mass drawing. However, I have not practiced painting faster and had to find another way to get the painting done quickly.

Edit.

I don't need to include every detail. What is the minimum I need to make the painting work?

Simplify.

I can simplify how I paint the elements I choose to include. Squinting is very helpful here!

Okay, so, I didn't finish by my perceived deadline and the painting may not look very edited or simplified, but I was reminded of the importance of practicing quick sketches AND quick painting to see gestures, masses, value, color as a whole and not get too close and get lost in the details.

I have to admit, I'm very tempted to work back in to the painting and "finish" it.......hmmm...

Taking A Break

8"x 10"
acrylic on masonite

This is the current entry for Karin Jurick's Different Strokes From Different Folks Blog. What I enjoy about painting people is having the time to contemplate and consider who they are and what they're doing instead of just passing them on the street.
It took several tries to get the drawing to fit within the space, a challenge I remember from Life Drawing class. I need more practice!

Click here to place bid for purchase.

Rest From Row

8"x 16"

acrylic on canvas

I am continually surprised by the Different Strokes From Different Folks challenges. A subject that seems simple can be hard and one that seems hard is often easy and enjoyable! I thought this would be a bit boring and was concerned about painting all the water and making it interesting, but I actually really enjoyed this painting and had fun with the water! That is the value of having someone else give you an "assignment". I am painting things that I may not chose and learning every time!

Summer Veggies

5"x 7"
acrylic masonite

This colorful arrangement of summer vegetables was the current image for Karin Jurick's Different Strokes From Different Folks .
Click image for larger view.

A Colorless Challenge

This challenge from Karin Jurick's Different Strokes From Different Folks blog was tough for me! As you can see, the reference photo is colorless.....thus the challenge. Make up the color! How hard can that be? It's farmland and sky! Ahhh, but there are MANY different colors of blue and green and gray. I spent several hours on what I thought would be very straight forward and simple! After painting many, many swatches trying to decide on the right color for the mountains in the background, I reminded myself (as I often do) that I could paint this a billion different ways and just pick a color and start!!! Unfortunately I lapsed back into indecision when I got to the foreground and had to remind myself again! Trial and error and thinking and planning are good , up to a point......then you just have to paint!
The good part of this was that after I decided on the colors, and established the darks and lights, I found myself referring to the photo less and less since it wasn't providing me the color information I needed. It made it very clear just how much I rely on my visual resource!

4"x 12"
acrylic on board

Click on image for larger view.

Madison Ave., New York City

8" x 10"
acrylic on masonite

A photo of cabs at the corner of 39th and Madison Ave. was the subject for Karin Jurick's Different Strokes From Different Folks challenge. I had a great time with this!
I have been learning a lot about seeing color by taking the original photo and increasing the saturation and individual hues in photo shop. Also looking at the photo without color helps to see the values.
Click image for larger view.

Diana For Karin

white & black charcoal pencil on gray Canson paper

This challenge from Karin Jurick's website Different Strokes From Different Folks, was to paint or draw from a photo of the statue "A Companion of Diana". I chose to use a gray colored paper which became the middle value for the drawing and white and black charcoal pencils for the highlights and dark areas. This allowed me to draw and do a value study in a different way.

At The Beach

acrylic on masonite

Here is my latest entry to Karin Jurick's Different Strokes From Different Folks blog. It's April 1st, 39 degrees and raining here in Portland, OR so painting this beach scene certainly leaves me longing for sunnier, warmer, weather!

I am wondering what the "dad" is gazing at out over the water.....

I think the biggest questions this painting posed for me were deciding on what blues to use and what brush strokes for the water. Instead of worrying about what was "right" ( like I have so often done in the past, over working the painting and taking all of the fun out of it) I picked the colors, decided on the brush work and finished it and realized that if I didn't like the result, I can do it differently next time!
Much more fun!

Sushi For Karin

5"x 7"
acrylic on masonite

Here is my latest entry for Karin Jurick's Different Strokes From Different Folks challenge.

It continues to amaze me how much color you can find in things when you really scrutinize them!
This was a quick painting that involved a lot of squinting and bold brush strokes. Very fun!

Wigs In A Window

Here is my latest entry (my cartoon on top, reference photo below) to Karin Jurick's Different Strokes challenge. I usually do a painting, but I just thought that those poor wigs are stuck in the window with nothing to do but look outside and they MUST be thinking and saying something! I enlisted my 17 year old daughter and her friend to help with the dialog...they had a blast! It was fun to look at comic books for reference material and just to do something fun and different!
Click on image for larger view ....so you can read what they're saying!

San Francisco Victorian House

8"x 10"
acrylic on masonite

Here is my latest entry to Karin Jurick's Different Strokes From Different Folks blog. I had more fun painting this than previous buildings, because I didn't worry about getting all the lines perfect as far as perspective, etc., and just enjoyed painting!
Click on image for larger view.

If The New Trend Is "Generosity", I Agree!

As I read the opening lines of the current Trendwatching brief:

February 2009 | Has there ever been more urgency for corporations to ditch the greed and embrace generosity? It's something that countless individuals have already started doing, of course: giving is the new taking, and sharing is the new giving.....
GENERATION G | "Captures the growing importance of 'generosity' as a leading societal and business mindset. As consumers are disgusted with greed and its current dire consequences for the economy—and while that same upheaval has them longing more than ever for institutions that care—the need for more generosity beautifully coincides with the ongoing (and pre-recession) emergence of an online-fueled culture of individuals who share, give, engage, create and collaborate in large numbers.

I immediately thought of the experiences I've had over the past year in my little world of art and business. I am continually amazed at the generosity, encouragement, support, and information I find through my online networks. I have met several artists/business people online who have helped by sharing information and/or providing encouragement and support. Just to name a few: Dave The Painting Guy has answered countless questions and does a free live painting class on Ustream several nights a week; Torrie Smiley spent 45 minutes on the phone with me giving advice about selling art online; Tara Reed, who I found through someone online, happens to live a mile from me and is an expert on art licensing and is always willing to help; Alyson Stanfield's website and book have been a constant source of help; and you can read any of the comments on my blog entries to see the wonderful encouragement from different artists. Most of whom found me through Karin Jurick's blog Different Strokes From Different Folks. Karin has given A LOT ( I can't imagine how much!) of her time to work on this blog which has created a new community for artists. In fact, because I have participated in her challenges, I was fortunate enough to be featured along with her and two other artists in an article in the January edition of Southwest Art!

(my version of "Jack" is the last one on the right)

I could go on and on and this has all happened in just the last few months! I am continually thankful for the generosity and spirit of support and collaboration from my online network!

The Portrait

5"x7"
acrylic on canvas

This is my current entry for Karin Jurick's weekly challenge. I debated about posting this painting. It was hard for me. I always struggle with wanting to get a painting "right", whatever that means! And sometimes I have to stop working on a painting even when I don't think it's "right" because I don't know what else to do. Those are the times when my basement studio feels very lonely and I miss having input. But I am so very grateful to have the library down the street and so many online resources to refer to. I painted this portrait while watching "Dave the Painting Guy." David Darrow is an excellent portrait artist who generously invites anyone into his studio (via Ustream) to watch him paint.
The learning and the struggle is part of the journey and I do appreciate it, but I also look forward to the day when I can just paint and it feels "right".

Karin's Boots

graphite pencil on paper

Here is my latest entry for Karin Jurick"s weekly challenge. She asked us to try something different so I decided to stay away from paint and stick with pencil and paper.

Click on image for larger view.

Karin's Buddha

5"x 7"
acrylic on masonite

Here is my latest entry to Karin Jurick's weekly challenge. It is a picture of her Buddha. I am still trying to learn to take good photos of my artwork. My list of "Things to Learn" continues to grow! Hopefully I can focus on this in January!
Click on image for larger view.

Upside Down

8"x 10"
acrylic on masonite

Here is my entry in this week's Different Strokes challenge. The twist (or flip) to this challenge was that we were to paint 90% of it upside down.... not me, the painting and image! I frequently turn my paintings or drawings upside down or use a mirror to see them from a different angle. However, I have never painted something from start to almost finish upside down and it was a great exercise.
As Karin Jurick put it when she explained the challenge, " By flipping the image, you're more likely to render what you see, and not what you know. You are guided by shapes, blocks of color - logic goes out the window."