When life gives you lemons, draw them, 11 x 14 inches dry pastels, graphite on paper

"When life gives you lemons, draw them." (Nikki)

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language." (Paul Gauguin)

experimental

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First Snow, final update

Saturday, December 1st, 2007


 

First Snow, 40H x 27W inches acrylics, crackle glaze on canvas and box-frame

First Snow, 39H x 30W inches acrylics, crackle glaze on canvas and box-frame. Finishing: added some darker areas, dripped water down the top layer of glaze, and flicked some specks of white with a toothbrush. Sold, but can be replicated as a new, unique piece by special order in the same spirit as the original.
Detail images:

First Snow, detail - acrylics, crackle glaze

First Snow, detail - acrylics, crackle glaze

Polypore Fungi finished

Thursday, November 1st, 2007


 

Polypore Fungi, 58H x 41W x 2D inches acryilcs, modeling paste on canvas, wrapped sides painted, narrow frame

Polypore Fungi  finished – 58H x 41W x 1.5D inches, acrylics, modeling paste, plaster on canvas, wrapped sides painted, narrow frame

One of the goals for this painting was to see if a composition could remain balanced with the main subject offset to the right. With Petra’s suggestion there is more contrast, also scrubbed some paint away for more background to show through.
Mushrooms, bacteria, molds, lichen and other non-flowering plants are lesser appreciated life forms that help maintain the healthy life cycles of forests by aiding the decay and conversion of plant and animal matter into nutrient-rich soil.

Polypore Fungi, detail #1 - fungi are carved modeling paste, plaster

Polypore Fungi, detail #2 - fungi are carved modeling paste, plaster

Changes to Polypore Fungi

Monday, October 29th, 2007


 

Polypore Fungi created with modeling paste, sanding, scrubbing, scraping and carving

 
Polypore Fungi - detail 02The 3D fungi idea was fun to try. The canvas absorbed moisture from the modeling paste, so the faux fungi are permanently incorporated and will not fall off. It was carved after drying, being too goopy to manage while wet. The paste was applied then built gradually, dried before applying more, sanded, scraped and carved to define areas. Commercial modeling paste does not sand well, so a tiny bit of plaster helped to tidy it.

Polypore Fungi, work in progress

Monday, October 22nd, 2007


 

Modeling paste creating 3D effects

Polypore Fungi, 59H x 41W x 2D, acrylics on canvas, work in progress. Started in June, hung and studied in the loose-phase state; cautious about overworking it. Plans this week: most everything will stay out of focus, with details only on the fungi using a little modeling paste to sculpt. Modeling paste is applied in layers, drying in between, becoming permanent and adhered well to the canvas. Applying too thick at once creates cracks and unstable structures.

Firewheels work in progress

Friday, October 12th, 2007


 

Firewheels after about two hours of work

Firewheels, 18H x 24W inches acrylics on canvas, started

I started a small painting last night that I’ve been wanting to do since Spring, of Firewheels (Gaillardia). Masses of them come back every Spring in a nearby field.

Dancing With Trees 02

Tuesday, October 9th, 2007


 

Dancing With Trees 02, 48H x 48W x 1D inches acrylics, matt and semi-gloss glaze medium, and semi-gloss varnish on canvas, trim frame
Dancing With Trees 02, 48H x 48W x 1D inches acrylics, matt and semi-gloss glaze medium, and semi-gloss varnish on canvas, scene continues onto trim frame. Detail images below.
Layers of glaze washes used in final stages: Hansa yellow light, Phthalo blue, Phthalo green, Permanent green, Thio violet, Mars black, Cadmium red light, Dioxazine violet.
This piece is an example of work that does not reflect the original vision but is turning into something much more interesting. To help enhance the character of cedar branches I’ve dripped water, paint, glazes, and varnish across patches of color, splattered it on with a brush and also painted it turned upside down. This left sheen and textures not captured in photos; best seen in person.
Dancing With Trees 02, started August 30th – several progression details posted on different dates are combined in this post. The oil pastel with the same name, first version, posted in March 2007, inspired the painting.


 

  Dancing With Trees started Aug.30, 2007   Dancing With Trees in progress: Sept. 4   Dancing With Trees - Sept. 6
  Dancing With Trees - Sept. 10 details   Dancing With Trees - early details using drips   Dripping varnish, and painted upside down

 

  

  

 

Male Cardinal

Saturday, October 6th, 2007


 

Cardinal - pthalos blue wash added

Male Cardinal at the Dallas Arboretum, Dallas TX, 24H x 24W inches acrylics and masking medium on canvas, trim frame. Sold.

Cardinals are one of my favorite subjects. On walks I see them in the open, but good photos of them are elusive, as they hide just beyond the branches so perfect shots are next to impossible. Branches here are partially in front, placed around the bird in the abstract shape of a nest. The cardinal in the painting really is that chubby. He is well fed at the Dallas Arboretum.
There were two separate applications of masking medium, used traditionally in watercolor paintings. Second phase: trying to highlight the bird’s interaction with its environment and hoping to find a way to do more than provide the expected sort of cardinal portrait. Adding Pthalos Blue wash changes the mood and the season, maybe even the time of day…interesting what one or two brushes of color can do.

Cardinal eggs, Spring 2007, in one of our back yard bushes One male Cardinal returns regularly to our yard with his mate who chirps quick, sharp notes. I discovered this when thinking that our air conditioner needed servicing, and going out to see what the consistent squeaking was. The pair laid eggs in one of our back yard bushes during May this year. I half-hoped the eggs would be red! The nest was made to perfection with a tightly woven bowl of dry grass, leaves, twigs, and pieces of plastic garbage, so artfully crafted.

A tale of two drawings

Friday, September 21st, 2007


 

 Northern Delights 01, Banff, Alberta, Canada, 14 x 11 graphite, waterwash graphite, oil stick, colored pencils

Northern Delights 01, Banff, Alberta, Canada, 14H x 11W graphite, water-wash pencil, oil pastel, colored pencils on paper. 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.

and

Redbuds 03, Eastern Redbuds blooming on a foggy Spring morning in Coppell, Texas. 14H x 11W oil pastels, graphite, water-wash graphite, colored pencils, eraser on paper

Redbuds 02, misty morning in Coppell, TX, 14H x 11W inches oil pastels, graphite, watercolor pencils on paperBrowsing for pieces to enter in a juried exhibition, I came across two drawings started in March that have a lot in common. Both scenes are low-light situations that were achieved by lots and lots of layering, scraping, redrawing, and using the eraser over pastels for blending as well as erasing. Both are experimental re: oil pastels vs. paintable water-wash graphite pencil.

Dancing With Trees 02 work in progress

Monday, September 17th, 2007


 

48H x 48W x 1D inches acrylics on canvas
Dancing With Trees 02, 48H x 48W x 1D inches acrylics on canvas. Layers of glaze used in final stages: Hansa yellow light, Pthalo blue, Pthalo green, Permanent green, thio violet, Mars black, Cadmium red light, Dioxazine violet

It’s the sky’s turn

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007


 
Sky detail, Dancing With Trees

It’s the sky’s turn to dance! White glaze will attach itself to the varnish I dripped on the other day.

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