Cheers!

While I thoroughly enjoy painting and easily get lost in it, there are some days that are easier and some that are harder. Today was a grueling day, as far as painting days go. I'm not really complaining. It was simply a lot of hours in one day, and a lot of working and reworking and building layers. But in the end, Grandma Ruby is now able to say to one and all, "Cheers!"

Hair Day

We all have bad hair days. Grandma Ruby is just having a hair day. I may touch it up a little, but having it a bit mussed is the point in this case. So I may just leave it. Her face is coming along and in the end I'll decide if they read well together. Her age is beginning to show a bit. That's good. Hopefully one more session and I'll have her.

Seeing Is Believing

She now has eyes to see, and a mouth to speak, but still needs an ear or two to hear! Poor dear... Sometimes it gets frustrating, but for the most part it's fun and fascinating to watch the paint and colors move around here and there and everywhere until suddenly they are just right and the figure is looking back at me saying, "You found me!" Grandma Ruby isn't there yet, but she's wiggling her way out.

Lights and Darks

When starting a face I first try to find the areas of highlight (lights) and shadow (darks) that define the plane changes on the face. It's tempting to go into great detail on one facial feature, like an eye, but it's better in the end to make sure all the general areas are correct first. I've made the mistake before of perfecting an eye and then realizing I painted it too high or too low or too far to the right or left and having to repaint it. Lesson learned... 

Canvas Sketch

I'm participating in a fun and exciting project with the Hoffman Art Center in Manzanita, OR. The project is called "Word and Image" and pairs authors and artists to respond to each other's work. I chose a poem that my assigned author wrote and this is the canvas sketch for my visual response to her piece. I'll be posting it's progress as I move along. This is a  pretty ambitious challenge as I have two figures in this painting and only 3 weeks to complete the whole thing.... Here goes nothing!

Inevitable Choices

I know this would have made a nice painting just as a train, but it was never intended to be that straight forward. For a long time I've been contemplating the reality that while we are all responsible for the choices we make in life, sometimes our options are pretty limited. This imagery has come back to me time and time again... sometimes it's like the only choices are to jump off the bridge or get hit by the train. Either way it's gonna hurt... and either way the choice is mine to make.

So the concept finally made it onto the canvas. 

While most people prefer to talk about "happy" paintings... like a happy little engine chugging down a track... I have found that my more emotive paintings are the ones that people are actually drawn to the most. They may have a hard time talking about them, but there is something in them that gives voice to feelings we are never taught or allowed to express. 

So here's another psychological painting to add to my repertoire. 

Walking Away

I was working on this yesterday and got to the point where all I could see was a big blob of yellow. It made no sense. I couldn't tell one part of the flower from the other.

At times like these I remember a drawing class I took. There was a member of the class who everyone considered to be the "best" artist. (That's a whole different topic.) One day when everyone was quietly zoned into their work he let out a blood-curdling scream. He said he wanted to take a knife and shred his drawing. Everyone gasped. We all thought it was good enough as it was. He didn't even need to keep working on it. What in the world could he be unhappy about? He confessed that he regularly shredded canvases when he got so frustrated in the process and couldn't make the images do what he wanted. 

I didn't quite feel like taking a knife to my canvas, although I admit I have reached that point before, but I did know it was time to walk away. Before long I came back with the camera to document my progress for the day and when I looked at the canvas voila! There was a daffodil! Mind you, I am absolutely not finished with it. But it's amazing how much perspective we can gain on our problems when we are smart enough to walk away for a while, let them simmer, let ourselves cool down, and them come back with new eyes.

I Told You So...

I don't like to be an "I told you so" kind of person... BUT... My sweet drawing student has been telling me for two years that she doesn't do color. She doesn't want to paint. She can't paint. She doesn't get color. She doesn't do color... Did I mention she doesn't do color? Well, I finally talked her into playing with the paints today. She mixed all of those colors with just red, yellow, blue and white. I'd say she's a natural peach of a painter!