Third Day: Finally Understanding

 

9 x 12 oil on linen

Blue Pot with Grapes

By the third day of the workshop I was beginning to understand the process. I was happier with this little painting than I was with the previous two and I think it comes down to edges and brushwork. Keep the edges loose where detail is not necessary; allow the eye to fill in what is not there. This is actually harder to do than one might  think. We want to show and tell. We want to complete the line. It makes the entire process of painting still life more interesting and complex than I ever thought possible. I was having fun and enjoying myself with this one.

Soybean Fields

You might wonder what is so beautiful about soybean fields. I will tell you that I am downright distracted by them this time of year, especially in morning and evening light. The golds and violets are stunning. It is my goal to capture this beauty correctly SOME DAY.

As I said, it's a goal. I'm not quite there yet. The fun thing about being an artist is that you will probably never be as good as you wan to be; so there is always some unattainable goal for you to work toward. It keeps life interesting.

I used two photos to create this painting, plus a little imagination.

Rework it if you're not happy-- it's only paint

I've had this painting of my daughter sitting around for a couple years and I knew I wanted to crop it and make some changes. She agreed to sit for me if I let her watch a movie so she is not looking AT me in the painting. The movie only lasted a couple hours though so I didn't have time to get to a point where I was happy. The danger with reworking a piece like this is that you may lose some of the freshness associated with painting from life. But in this case I hated the portrait so much it didn't matter. It was a case of fix it or throw it away.

The original painting was 16"x20" and I cut it down to 12"x16".

The figure in a landscaoe

This is a different kind of painting for me: more impressionistic and less detailed. I started it at a 2 day workshop with Mark Gingrich on "impressionism and plein air". Shana posed at the table reading a book. If the setting doesn't work it's my fault because Mark is a pretty easygoing guy and he told me to set his wife up anywhere on the porch.

It was a challenge to keep everything loose. I had to really lose a lot more edges than I am normally comfortable with and think in a non-linear style. The railing posts especially were a challenge. I had too many hard edges and they were detracting from the focal point- the model. A successful workshop IMO because I learned a few things.

The painting itself had to be completed at home because 90 mile winds and a strong thunderstorm interrupted our session. On the plus side, it did cool off a bit after the storm went through and we had a beautiful day to paint the following day.