What's next?

Now that I have finished painting the roses, I have to decide on the next painting.  I have a series in mind to create for another show… am pretty anxious to get going with it, but alas, have to wait it out until after my fall show.

I took the opportunity to sketch out a number of piecesmonday evening.  Really rough sketches to see where my heart is at.  I am also anxious to paint some more birds – but they too will have to wait. 

One of the sketches is of a vase of old fashioned pink peonies sitting on our concrete bench.  Another photo has some dropped petals at its base.  Hmmm... merging the two in a sketch would be quite complex and quite inspiring as well.

Drew out my potted begonias on a 22 x 30 sheet of Ampersand Aquabord as well – complete with a Herculean spider!  And also drew out two sketches of our doggie Sadie.  She is soooo expressive.   Makes me smile.

This may come down to a toss of a coin – where I start painting.

And in the fall, I will paint anything but flowers for about six months I am sure!

Rosy Red Roses - WIP completed - I think

 

And so,  countless hours, untold amounts of staring and figuring and color balancing... I think this painting is finally done!

I knew today that it was in my reach to finish this piece.  I hunkered down at 8am and just finished it at 7pm.

I spent a lot of time deleloping the foliage.  After I thought I was all done - I looked at it with squinty eyes and realized that I had to deepen the colors of the leaves.  I went back in with a wash of terre vert (a blueish green) and intensified the leaves.  And then once again thought I was finished.

Then I looked at it again with squinty eyes.  Saw a number of the rose petal has to be deepened and some of them needed a boost of personality (more colors).

I looked at it again and thought I was finsihed.   Then I realised the tiny fly had no legs or antennae.

I fixed up the bug and hung the painting on my fridge - yes my fridge.   And am determined no more squinty eyes.

I am declaring this painting finsihed.  At least until tomorrow when I look at it with fresh eyes.

WIP - Carpet Roses - "Rosy Red Roses"

Apparently I underestimated the time and effort required to complete a detailed full sheet mono chromatic painting.  I always do.  And at this stage-I ask myself — what in the world am I thinking?   Obviously I am attracted to complexity.  And color variances.  And details and textures.  What am I thinking?

I am at the half way mark with this painting.  I have been working at this for about three — four weeks. Ok, I admit I took a divergance with the poured daisy painting.  And I spend as much time studying it as I do painting it.  Part of the process.  Looking for color balance.  Looking for scale.  Looking to see if it is working and what subtle tweaks it may require.

Daisy Fresh - Work in progress -completed

This painting was pure fun to work on.  Layer after layer of poured colors in combination with layers of masking compound,  When working in this fashion, you really have to plan you work - as it is not quite as intuitive as painting directly. The toughest part of all this is actually removing the mask.  

Then the fun really begins when you go back in and crispen (is this even a word?) up the edges and freshen up certain colors.The most challenging part is knowing when to stop and resisting the urge to overwork the painting. 

This painting is custom framed.  I haad to resist the urge to use a goldenrod colored inner mat - too  trendy - the finished result is quite lovely.  Greenish inner mat - off white outer mat with a v-grove.

Work in progress - Rosy Red Roses (?)

This painitng of carpet roses has me a bit consumed.  It is 30 x 22 so on the large size again.  I am fascinated by the range of colors in the roses - particularly the fading petals.  If you look closely, you will see the first ant!

I am actually working on two paintings at the same time. The other is another poured painting of daisies.  Loose and fun so the focus on this one will not make me too crazy!.

The name above may not stick but for now I'll use it.

Work in Progress - Daisy Fresh

Currently I am working on a carpet rose - amazing colors - so exciting - so much detail and complexity. 

Often when I am working on a complex highly detail painting, I will work on a second looser and more adventurous piece.   I have been experimenting with sort of batik on paper using a masking compound instead of wax.    

The first pour was with cadmium lemon the second was new gamboge.  Then I applied two layers of masking in between.   

Next I mixed some cerulean blue with neutral tint for the grey wash - more mask and the final pour was perylene green. Interesting enough, the toughest part of this process is removing the masking compound  - other than letting go of control when pouring paint.  Recently I recieved a tip from another artist - she shared with me that the best removal method  is to use the mask itself - roll it into a ball - and it worked like a charm.  

Previously - I would have broken a sweat over this.  Literally.  

So now I will step back and study the painting for a few days.  This piece is working without too much detail.  I know I will go back in and crisp it up.  

"Follow Me" is finished finally!

This is the finished result of pouring, masking, pouring , masking over and over and over.  This process reminds me of batik - only on paper.  Once I have removed all the mask, I go back in and crisp up the details and intensify the colors as required.