To work with purpose

Poof

2011-01-17T22:02:00.000-08:00

it disappeared!

Didn't take many picture in progress, since it was so large (40 x 30") it was difficult to see the changes. The studio is empty, I'm worn out, and the work is up at Place des Arts in Coquitlam through Feb 5th. The opening was very well attended and the other artists were super nice and have very strong shows. Pretty good press, didn't get to plug the blog and misspelled my last name in one article, but I got a new pic in this weeks paper so that was cool! We did an artist talk for Family Day on Sunday which was fun and that was a good crowd as well, the photo is of the big beast with some kids in front doing the Venetian mask craft. Really happy with how everything came out, totally worth all of the work!

Monday morning

2011-01-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

Sun morn

2011-01-09T08:42:00.000-08:00

Sat morn

2011-01-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

Finished!!!

2011-01-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

Took much longer to do the white part - needed several layers of
glazing to develop the sheen / lighting to make it appear ceramic
instead of chalky. DD insists I'm not finished as there are fine
cracks apparent in the photo. Told her we could experiment with
crackle glaze _if_ this comes back from the show!

Now to move the back burner painting to the front!

Final day

2011-01-02T08:46:00.000-08:00

for this one. So the sculpted gel media lace worked great, not as
quick as i hoped since I've never tried the technique, but did speed
up the paint application. It actually is like lighting an object at
that point, just fill the brush and drag it in the right direction.
Worked perfectly for adding tons of detail. Now off to finish the
feathers and readjust the nose.... Today! Liking my little
cheerleader popping her head in the studio with a "How awesome are you
painting, Mommy?"

Fiddly bits

2010-12-27T11:47:00.000-08:00

- are being worked on as I go. Can't wait to get to the ornate ribbon
to use the trick I've had up my sleeve! But first the mask...

Mask on mask

2010-12-22T14:13:00.000-08:00

the eye mask of the facemask first pass.

The need to sell

2010-12-21T10:18:00.000-08:00

is very strong, at least for this one as the 4.75 yr old is afraid of
it and wants me to hide it! Adding in some warm tones now to work off
the cools. Testing iridescent gold with yellow ochre/ my black.
White needs to warm up quite a bit!

Heavy body paint

2010-12-20T15:14:00.000-08:00

Seemed like a good idea, but totally lacks enough pigment for thin
applications. Luckly this is a thick puppy, so can take full advantage.

Black

2010-12-15T14:10:00.000-08:00

I'm amazed what a nice black can come from a primary mix. Not flat at
all. Having to really push the gamma down to see the folds in the
photo.

Next up

2010-12-15T14:07:00.000-08:00

One of two on the go

Painting vs reality

2010-12-13T12:10:00.001-08:00

Here they are side by side:

Final lighting

2010-12-13T11:44:00.000-08:00

well, I would love to keep futzing because the bounce lighting on the churches was incredible but must get some more work finished for the show. This was quite the challenge putting the lighting in based on several reference photos from different angles. I loved my reference photo I took, but with the dull lighting and scaffolding all over it, it needed a little work!

Midtones in

2010-11-22T18:45:00.000-08:00

and they've been there for a while. Slowly doing a lighting pass
based on a few other photos, very interesting process, but slow
going. Fun to use my computer graphics experience on something
completely different!

No Guts, No Glory

2010-10-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

So after spending way too much time on a way too detailed underpainting I've almost completely obliterated it with a wash of Ultramarine blue... Turned out actually much darker than the picture and actually darker than I intended but makes for a good "black". At least with all that fussing I've discovered a lot about the building and what is hidden under all of the scaffolding in my reference photo. Currently enjoying painting in the midtones loosely and at least a bit more quickly! Soon I'll be on to faking the lighting! May have to hang the photo in the show so viewers can appreciate my pain....

Working with limitations

2010-09-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

Got about 20 min of "interupted" painting time this afternoon. Hoping
my new studio partner can adjust to longer sessions, or be happy to
run off and play in her room...

Figuring out a dark blue glaze to get some blacks and greys in there,
then need to work out the lighting and colours for the lit side. At
least I'm happy with the scaffolding removal.

Shared studio space

2010-09-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

Allosaurus and small Dino in the rain...
She got much further on her painting than I did on mine. Need to
teach her how to open her own tubes, but a little afraid of the
consequences!

Sketching at city farmer

2010-09-03T14:10:00.001-07:00

Swiss chard and apple tree
Note to self - don't white balance on the sketchbooks when outside - missing in shot is the super cute branch swing in the upper right and the rest of the beautiful plants!
Great art day all around - got to explore a craft gallery and the Federation gallery on Granville Island.

Sketching with the girl

2010-08-31T10:51:00.000-07:00

Stanley park petting zoo/farm

Back!

2010-08-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

What a summer!

Two weeks in Alaska, 10 days in Wisconsin and happy to now be back at
home in the messy studio. Taking this week to clean before I crack
open the paints this weekend. Some how extra boxes migrated in while
I was away :(

Big clip

2010-06-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

For a small head!

Fast and furious

2010-05-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

Not my strongest, and not really my regular subject but quite a learning experience.

This is from the workshop at the Evergreen by David Langevin- very intense, very good, hoping someday I'll have time to test some more of the stuff out before I forget it.... fortunately I took lots of notes and pictures so there is a chance and David kindly said we could always contact him with questions, which I plan on doing!

Check out his amazing "tree portraits"!

Hooray

2010-05-28T22:39:00.001-07:00

for babysitters! Finally we are back in business, after two weeks...
I've preemptively cleaned out a spot to start sharing my studio with a
smaller artist. Going to surprise her with it on Tuesday - hopefully
having a setup just like mom's will inspire her for more than a few
minutes! I'm inspired by our aquarium trip, have a great idea I can't
wait to try out. Hopefully I'll finish up this floral, crank out a
Venice painting and have a spot for it soon. This weekend is very
exciting, painting workshop at evergreen, hope I have the stamina to
keep up!

Bog blog

2010-05-23T18:27:00.002-07:00

On location

2010-05-23T18:27:00.001-07:00

Green Day

2010-05-23T18:26:00.001-07:00

2010-05-11T22:56:00.001-07:00

Twins

2010-05-09T18:54:00.001-07:00

Collaboration drawing!

2010-05-07T23:39:00.001-07:00

2010-05-06T23:45:00.001-07:00

2010-05-05T23:13:00.001-07:00

2010-05-04T23:42:00.001-07:00

Back at it

2010-05-01T10:17:00.001-07:00

Let's see less reading about painting and more actual painting around
here! Starting a 16" square, establishing the lights and darks,
trying the workshop pallette out on something fresh and less
confusing. Plus the more florals I do the more flowers I get to buy
myself right? Really liking the flow so far.

Researching

2010-04-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

and thinking today. Trying to formulate an action plan.

[sent from iPhone]

2010-04-26T21:51:00.001-07:00

ArtWalk 2010

2010-04-26T21:50:00.001-07:00

What a weekend! Had a wonderful and intense time. Absolutely froze,
got great feedback, experimented with my pallette, did a decent
acrylic sketch and even sold a (tiny) painting.

Our location was great, ended up introducing a lot of passers by about
the ArtWalk since we were right across from starbucks and thrifty's.
The space was great - huge windows but no heat so ended up quite
chilled by the end of the day.

There were some confused people who eventually found us after ending
up at a different spot. Apparently one of the artists at another
location went rouge. She didn't like her spot and decided to show
somewhere else, apparently near or on the way to our spot. Pretty
insulting to the organizers and volunteers who made it all possible
and to the locations who were so gracious in their support of local
artists. Kind of takes the community out of community based art.

I took the opportunity presented by the two days to really dissect the
pallette from my landscape workshop. I'm now more aware of the
character of most of the pigments and how they mix and ir is a good
fexible core of colors. I'll have to clarify my notes a bit more, and
explore the remaining few odd colors before I'll be confident to takle
the landscape again.

Saturday ended up being quite difficult as I stayed up late scanning
and framing. Then I couldn't sleep because I was too wound up! Thank
goodness I could sit all day... Not the best way to start off, really
felt quite ill for most of the day.

Sunday I felt much better and really enjoyed talking to folks about
art, my work, their work, and the ArtWalk. So many creative folks out
here in the burbs! It's always neat to see how people respond to my
paintings, even if it is a bit nervewrecking beforehand. Unfortunately
(?) I got into the zone a bit with my painting and testing so I may
have missed out on interacting at some points.

All in all I'm very happy to have participated this year and to have
met some very nice and talented artists. Which is the best part about
sharing a venue!

[sent from iPhone]

What a week

2010-04-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

Spent the whole week in prep for participating in the ArtWalk and in an epic failure of an attempt at digitizing my images and setting them up for printing... Totally exhausted after a great weekend. Should have the brain cells to post about the experience tomorrow!

Back to basics

2010-04-18T00:00:00.001-07:00

I'm finding myself quite confused about my notes. Part of the issue
is how much time has passed, but as I paint I can recall more about
what I had planned to do. But the other issue is how overwhelmed I
was/am about the suggested pallette. There are so many colors on it I
barely have room to mix! Going to have to study it in detail to see
if I can discover the reasoning behind it. I'm thinking there must be
a few triads in there, slightly offset from one another.

Also spent some time at Opus picking up frames and mat board. Good
thing I can cut my own mats... Yikes... Still spent over $100. I will
now officially stop complaining about doing "gallery wrap". It is for
sure the lesser of two evils!

Next in line

2010-04-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

Figured I should finish one of my last workshop paintings before I
sign up for another one! Already started in on the sky again before
remembering to document.

A breakthrough!

2010-04-14T23:20:00.001-07:00

Something major happened at Science World yesterday. I did a totally
unbelievably crappy sketch of a T-Rex, wereas DD did a bang up job:
Notice the three toed theropod feet and the two fingered hand.

But that is not the breakthrough, even though Dino sketching is new
for her (and myself actually, not that it would excuse my poor drawing.)

The breakthrough is that we were sketching _TOGETHER_!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is something I didn't think would happen for _years_! A dream
come true. I am so excited! Not sure if this will transfer to non-
dino subjects, but I will take what I can get. There are plenty of
fun specimens there to keep us both busy.

In other news - will be implementing a new wordpress templated website
soon so I can have searchable tagged images and a slideshow - but
first a lot of photography and scanning has to happen.

Oh and I'm still painting the church.

Roses Finished

2010-04-12T07:49:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm going to be looking at them for a few days, just to make sure - but I'll be needing that big palette for the weekend.

Switcheroo

2010-04-09T22:42:00.001-07:00

Swapped in Ste. Maria - actually there is another name for this church
I've seen - must remember to look it up... Anyway - need to finish
roses before I can use the big pallette for the landscape so ended up
with the church tonight since I need live reference and daylight for
the roses. Fortunately!? I've got a lot of unfinished work to chose
from when I'm stalled on a particular piece - just grab the next and
I'm good to go! Big work weekend, I'm totally stoked!

Getting there

2010-04-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

Working on at least changing the most annoying bits about my blog - while reading through a blogging book of all things - of course searching the Internet is providing me much more useful information and html code bits to use... The Rose painting is going to be put aside tomorrow after a quick pass on one side for the gallery wrap - I've got all of the main shading in - will need one more pass for color correction but I'll need some daylight to do so - this is the first on my plate for Saturday painting. It's going to be a busy weekend!

Time

2010-04-07T00:25:00.001-07:00

...is not on my side. I've got to make peace with that. I have a huge list of things to do to present myself professionally at the artwalk - website redesign, business cards, possibly setting up to print some of the paintings. But the reality is that I have 10 hrs a week available to me, not 40. I'm lucky to find the time to paint - the business side might have to slide a bit.

Still on the roses, also mulled over pricing and attempted to read some website design books while DD played with trains at the bookstore. Must start doing some small modular sculpture or something more portable and process oriented.

ReErgo

2010-04-05T22:50:00.001-07:00

Still working on the roses... Just have to keep the faith and keep plugging away - managed to work on some art related stuff while DD was busy with a craft. What a wonderful day it will be when she can paint along with me in the studio! If I had a space that was un-carpeted and spacious she'd be in there now. Finally dawned on me that I should set up my mini easel thing again (I think its actually more of a sculpture table) so now I should be slightly less sore after painting. A warm-up collage is still taped to the surface, but it doesn't get in the way! Really need to get in the studio a lot this week, hope I can find the time.

Last lecture

2010-03-31T23:01:00.000-07:00

Finished up the last history of Impressionism lecture this evening.
Going to miss having my art buds over every week. We'll take a break
to get ready for the ArtWalk and then resume with movies about artists
perhaps!

[sent from iPhone]

No big

2010-03-30T23:10:00.001-07:00

....breakthroughs in the past 2 days. Couldn't paint yesterday due to
an ankle injury!?! But managed to research competition deadlines with
my foot propped up on the couch. Got too late of a start tonight and
interupted with tax prep questions so very little paint to canvas.
Will try to encourage upstairs play tomorrow to get the rest of the
paperwork out of the way and clear up my time for painting.

Finding it super annoying to be making such little progress on such a
tiny painting. Just need to keep reminding myself I'm still getting
up to speed. The more I do, the faster I will become!

Feeling this one is going to be getting a shading pass and then
another pass to tweek the colors. It will actually work out better
that way since I want to build up the surface with my thick paint.

Working from the outside

2010-03-28T23:35:00.001-07:00

...in to the focal point. Need to start overlaping and it will allow
me to work out all the color issues on the less important flowers.
Mixed a large amount of warm (tops) and cool (lower portions of
flowers) shadow color which should get me through to the finish - as
long as I can get a good chunk of painting in before the pallette
dries! Background is still super transparent, not sure I like that.
Will have to see how it plays against the solidity of the flowers.
Kind of backwards from reality, but it might look cool. If not I'll
have to remember it for something else because I really like the look...

[sent from iPhone]

Reading, recuperation, and roses!

2010-03-28T14:02:00.001-07:00

This was mostly a recharge week for me. Read art books, had my art
buddies over to watch the history of Impressionism, painted a tiny
bit, and did battle with the mess in my studio. Finally feeling ready
to start taking on the next deadline - the ArtWalk on April 24th &
25th. Starting back in to finish all of my UFPs (unfinished
paintings) so I can have a clean slate to start applying for more
shows and competions. Hard when you have lots of orphans staring at
you!

Still working and playing!

2010-03-24T09:48:00.001-07:00

Pretty slow going this past 5 days or so. Spent the time painting the
sides of the canal painting and finished up by finishing those final
details that were bugging me. So now it is finally finished. Thought
about sneaking a signature into the stonework but I really can't stand
to mar the picture with text. I know it is pretty standard, kind of
extra advertising in a way. Still very torn. People like to say they
own a piece by so and so. Maybe it's just a modern art museum thing
for me. Can't put anything extraneous to the picture in the picture.

Saw the most amazing show of the da Vinci notebooks. Can't wait to go
back without the Olympic crowds!

[sent from iPhone]

More of the same

2010-03-17T10:52:00.001-07:00

Still painting edges - note to self: do this at the end of each
session next time - will save on time and will solve the paint drying
on the pallette problem. Plus be much less annoying to deal with!

[sent from iPhone]

Weekend work

2010-03-14T22:59:00.001-07:00

Doing the gallery wrap (painting edges) and cleaning studio. Catching
up on sleep and cleaning too.

[sent from iPhone]

And Breathe

2010-03-12T23:06:00.000-08:00

Photos taken, proposal written, CD burnt, package delivered!
(Fingers Crossed)
Taking the weekend off from any pressure - still planning on painting though.
Start planning for the next show on Monday!

Extreme Fail / Resounding Success

2010-03-11T22:04:00.001-08:00

Well it turns out attempting to complete 5 paintings in 6 weeks was
even more impossible than I had imagined. Throw in getting sick for
two weeks offset slightly from our daughter's 2 week illness, flaky
childcare, a trip to Seattle, a long visit by the in-laws, a long visit
by my mom, a 4th birthday party, and the Olympics I'm surprised any
painting got done at all!

Yet it did and I have two paintings I'm happy to show, another two in
the works, and plenty of ideas for others. I think we'll have a very
strong concept for our proposal and a good chance at a show. I've
also got a great routine of getting into the studio daily now which
I'm planning on keeping up with, except for the late hours!

Good pictures to follow tomorrow - after the application is turned in, these are all from the cell phone with my standard wacky light setup.

Count down

2010-03-11T00:36:00.001-08:00

One more painting evening tomorrow, hopefully a writing filled visit
to the play park as well. Then a fun filled scramble of
photographing, writing, burning a CD, printing hard copies and
delivery of exhibition application on Friday.

Looking forward to a weekend off. Although I'm still planning on
painting everyday! (But with no pressure).

Happy with the stone and shadows. Think there is just enough to
ground the lion without taking away from him. A nice stage for his
majesty.

Looking...

2010-03-09T23:45:00.001-08:00

more and more like a painting every day. White bg will stay as I've
discovered some scratches on the paper - can't see them without paint
over them and so they will remain. I was thinking of leaving it white
to begin with so this makes for an easy decision. After I already
mocked out a bg in Photoshop of course!

Hrumph

2010-03-08T23:12:00.000-08:00

First background pass, shadow pass to going on tomorrow night. Seems
like I don't have childcare this week so finishing the church is out
of the question and I'll be writing a good bit of the application
sitting at preschool classes and the play place at the mall - luckily
a new found favorite. At least the painting is going well, when I get
the chance to do it!

Roaw-er

2010-03-07T22:19:00.000-08:00

Wow - this flip back and forth between pix on the iPhone really
helps. After a frustating few painting sessions when I thought I was
totally messing up and not accomplishing what I wanted to, seeing the
difference in the pix shows that the painting is working. Or at least
much better than I thought it was! Wrapping up with a good feeling
tonight. Who knows, maybe I can even wrap up the church this week.

Flow

2010-03-05T22:42:00.001-08:00

Or lack there of... This is so not what I wanted this watercolor to be
about. It's tending so much to tightness that I'm tempted to just go
for it and start back in with the mechanical pencil. Was too timid in
the beginning to just jump in feet/brush first. Best to just let this
picture be what it wants to be and approach this subject latter in a
different style.

Close enough for jazz

2010-03-03T23:33:00.001-08:00

Still some issues to take care of, but no major problems. It will do
for now. So the easel is tucked away and the lion is back on the
drafting table.

Bridge over troubled water

2010-03-03T00:12:00.001-08:00

Looks like I should be able to "finish" this tomorrow. Just the
bridge and water with glaring problems. The rest can wait till after
the show application.

Discovered how to get acrylic off of carpet after one drops a brush
right through one's fingers... Spray until completely wet, which
appears to spread the paint into the carpet, but no worries - it comes
out with the water when you blot it up!

Just a bit

2010-03-01T23:38:00.001-08:00

Of bare canvas left - but no babysitter this week. We'll see if
Grandma is up to lots of one on one with the girl... Otherwise this is
just not going to happen this week.

Bridge

2010-02-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

First go at the bridge. Pretty happy with the house on the right.
Letting go of my dibilitating perfectionism.

More solid

2010-02-27T23:06:00.001-08:00

Still slow - it's funny - been showing this to people and they all
think it's finished. Even with the missing / painted over railings.
Maybe they know something I don't! Actually it's something that I
forgot that I should remember always... When I was a lighter on
animated films everyone complemented my "eye" but complained of my
speed until I realized that things only have to be good enough to
please the audience. I don't have to do everything to the absolute
best of my ability, no matter how much I'd like to. It's time to
crank this puppy out.

Getting so much harder

2010-02-27T00:29:00.001-08:00

The closer I get, the longer everything takes. Every color choice
counts now and it's slowing me down big time. Olympic day yesterday
so no brush touched.

Headbashing....

2010-02-24T23:09:00.001-08:00

into wall. That's the day I had. Trying to control stress levels.
It's good to have a deadline, bad to have pressure which is very
unhelpfull to the painting process.

Late start

2010-02-22T23:30:00.000-08:00

Bad day :p

Another step closer

2010-02-21T23:10:00.001-08:00

Took a family day yesterday then "locked" myself in the studio today.
Pleased with my progress, if not my speed... Added yellow orche to the
pallette - gives me a bit of an orange range to match the bricks and a
yellow green for the plants. Still amazed at what a limited pallette
can do. May still need a blue to cool the bricks in shadow. Hope to
have no underpainting showing after tomorrow - would love to finish
actually but the day is looking pretty busy.

All in a days work

2010-02-19T22:27:00.001-08:00

Finally got a decent chunck of work done! Here's the first pass of
the canal with some color. At first I was worried that I didn't have
a good understanding of my pallette, but then I just forged ahead with
4 colors (dk red, dk green, unbleach titanium, and titanium white)
and this seems to be almost enough. Getting some lovely grays,
tempted to add a blue and a yellow but I want to see how far I can go
with this minimalist thing first!
Really trying hard to stay out of the details... Must keep using the
big brush!

Today

2010-02-18T22:26:00.000-08:00

More Ste. Maria, more blocking in values on canal. Yesterday took a
art history video break. Day before that Ste. Maria as well... Why
can't paintings just paint themselves? I must get much faster because
my interest is waning as my energy does. Really hope I have childcare
tomorrow so I can actually get a chunk of work done! So exhausted.

[sent from iPhone]

One canal painting

2010-02-15T23:04:00.001-08:00

Blocked in. Check.
(Really really really going to try and stay loose this time)

Back at it

2010-02-14T20:35:00.001-08:00

Only had yesterday off actually to enjoy some Olympic festivities,
though I did end up with a bit of time to figure some stuff out -
ended up printing out full size print of Ste. Maria. Between the
scaffolding removal and severe lense distortion this one is giving me
a tough time. I was planning on changing the lighting as well. Don't
think I have time for that now. Here it is in all of its temporary
color glory. Starting to look like something!

Back at it

2010-02-11T22:53:00.000-08:00

Didn't get much time, but I was able to do a bit on blocking in Ste.
Maria. Losing my voice but gaining energy which is fine, don't need
to talk, just need to paint!

Inlaws are here visiting so I'll catch a bit more painting time (In
between feeding the crew and some Olympic festivities!)

Having thoughts about doing the cafe with acrylics on paper. Can use
them over the pencil sketch as was the plan with watercolor but then
really play with leaving drips and obvious layers. Could give the
cafe chairs some nice solidity as well. (Excuse me while I ponder 'out
loud'.)

Do'in what I can

2010-02-10T20:34:00.000-08:00

Edited and transferred Canal picture onto canvas, since I could do that propped up on the couch.
Now back to bed.

Really sick day

2010-02-09T22:10:00.000-08:00

want to vomit - took a real sick day today.

Sick day

2010-02-08T23:12:00.000-08:00

Lost 4 hrs so to not expose our sitter to our horrible unshakeable
cold... So spent some time researching granulation media and what
monument my lion is from and JSSargent. Note to self, don't look at
any more Venice paintings by JSS until after I finish a few. Unless I
want to inspire fits of jealousy and feelings of inadequecy!
Limited studio time spent on lion and in loosely blocking in Ste.
Maria. Why the upsidedown grid action? Doing some scaffolding
removal, so I've got to figure some stuff out. Nice to have two to
work on at the same time, give the brain some variety and I won't see
lions when I close my eyes anymore!

Slowly but Surely

2010-02-07T23:46:00.001-08:00

I'm really enjoying seeing these iphone photos - because:

1. Even though I'm not feeling like I'm making much progress, I can see that I actually am.

2. I get a distance view so I can really see how the painting is reading - it's to easy to get lost in the details and lose the big picture.

_Must_ _do _ _the_ _Acrylics_ _Much_ _LOOSER!_
Keep promising myself to try loosening up, then keep getting sucked in!

There has been much gazing into space - very hard to keep focus when you are exhausted and can't breathe!

So.... Very.... Sick

2010-02-06T21:08:00.001-08:00

But still painted anyway - didn't make much progress but don't think I
wreaked anything. Off to bed in the hope of a better day tomorrow.

Oz

2010-02-05T23:09:00.000-08:00

Feel somehow that my beast looks like a cross between the cowardly
lion and one of those flying monkeys. Maybe because he looks a bit
pensive at this point, or because I'm projecting, or because I've got
a cold coming on.
Hoping to make some big breakthoughs this weekend and pick up some
granulating medium!

More paint

2010-02-04T22:26:00.001-08:00

Tests indicate that I should be able to erase even heavy lines from
under the paint. Actually I kind of like the combo but my drawing
would have to be much tighter to pull it off, so I think the lines
will leave when I introduce darker paint. Still kind of feeling
everything out at this point, but I'm fairly happy with my progress if
not my speed!

Work Work Work

2010-02-03T22:41:00.001-08:00

Making progress... it's slow but it's progress...
Salted the lion's stairs with preschooler leaning in to show me what she made... difficult to paint with someone pulling on your arm.
No tears today so making progress on the babysitter front as well. Should have a decent chunk of time this weekend, and next week now that everyone is getting used to each other...

Paint has arrived

2010-02-02T22:39:00.001-08:00

Not much of it, but at least it's there. Started on the easiest bits
and color/ texture tests (hello table salt!). Should get a good chunk
of time tomorrow to have a go at the beast.

ETA paint on paper

2010-02-01T22:34:00.000-08:00

Estimated 7:30 pm tomorrow, after preschooler calls it a night.
Here's the one I'm ready to jump into - stairs should be a good warm
up before the lovely flowing fur. Don't quite understand the front
paw yet, but I'll have a bit of time during "Little Scientists" to
work it out in the morning...

The weekend

2010-01-31T22:57:00.000-08:00

Not too productive but quite fun.
Friday more sketching onto canvas.
Saturday caught the Michaelangelo show at SAM and sketched a 16th
century drawing based on an etching based on the Sistine Chapel ceiling!
Also saw a Venice painting for the Grand Tour tourists... Interesting
to see all of the buildings I recognize and be able to see what has
been built up in the centuries between.
Sunday just spent touring Vashon Island seeing lovely things to
paint ... Maybe next time!

Grrrr

2010-01-28T23:06:00.001-08:00

Still no paint...
more scaffolding removal - wow I'm really going to know this church pretty well after all of this!

Still all prep no paint - but oh so close

2010-01-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

2nd coat of gesso in the morning.

Started sketching Painting 4 onto canvas with charcoal - like my shot but lighting sucks but did find a good one on the interweb - so will try to translate the lighting from a slightly different angle into mine - should be a nice challenge - so much for simple. Hoped to start actually painting but adjusting to the new babysitter is a bit of a challenge - lots of tears for no reason at all.

My art pals are starting to arrive - watching the History of Impressionism together. So that's it for this evening.

More Pic Picks

2010-01-26T21:48:00.000-08:00

Painting 3 - A Venetian Lion (Winged you know...) may have to do a few of these - so many lovely details to fiddle with, but would be so lovely loose....

Painting 4 - Santa Maria as a frosted cupcake - so many swirly fancy bits.
Painting 5 - Canal painting - maybe even with a gondola thrown in - the easiest of my multiple photo combos! Noticed him coming into scene so took closeup as well.

So that is my 5 - wow - now all I need to do is paint them.

Ok - now off to gesso a few canvases. On top of everything else I've got a commission as well!

Plugging away

2010-01-25T22:31:00.000-08:00

Figured out missing parts of the church... should be able to start painting tomorrow.

Hungry?

2010-01-24T22:30:00.001-08:00

One felt breakfast coming right up!

Delivered a very late Xmas present, so slight diversion from the painting.

Painting 1: Working out the missing building parts (as I said - some rig removal needed.) Prepping for attempt on smaller pad, not brave enough to attempt the big one yet!

Painting 2: Printed out photo refs - a cafe on Piazza San Marco. Combining 3 photos so need to work some stuff out - not sure if digital or analog will be more helpful so trying rough sketch tomorrow.

Need to choose something quicker and less painful for painting 3!

Painting 1 - test sketch

2010-01-23T16:35:00.001-08:00

The Challenge

2010-01-22T15:18:00.001-08:00

A good bit of stuff has been worked on and 2 tiny paintings completed since the last post - none of it blogged about of course. I've had a good run of art everyday since December - only missed a few, and some days were only 3 one minute sketches, or reading art books in the tub....but hey, that counts too!

But now I have a challenge... am I up for it? No idea, but I'm going to try anyway!

5 paintings in 6 weeks

Rick and I are going to apply for a show based on our trip to Venice. He's of course already got his 10 best photos picked out and ready to burn to CD. I've managed to go through my 1046 reference photos and narrow it down to a few hundred to paint! Since I didn't have any time to do any sketching there, I figured I could relive the trip and do it from here.

Painting 1: Santa Maria della Salute and Dogana di Mare from Piazza San Marco

This one is actually a collaboration. Rick took the photo and I'll be doing the "rig removal and color correction". You'll see when I post the reference picture.

This was going to be a large watercolor, but then I realized that my transfer paper marks are not erasing like they did from my test sheet, so now I'll be doing a mixed media with acrylics. It's been something I've been meaning to try anyway... so now I have to!

For you "purists" - yes I can draw, I just prefer to spend my painting time painting and unless you're also trying to make art while taking care of a small child then I don't think you have a right to judge! So there! :P

The best laid plans....

2009-10-16T19:14:00.001-07:00

It was going so well... And then I got horribly ill :p

So no plans this time, just trying to keep going until things return
to 'normal'. Will post some older stuff soon, but here is tonight's
effort.

This is one of hundreds of rosehips from our community's artificial
natural landscaping. My barrier(?) paper doesn't seem to handle the
watercolour, but I think it would put up with acrylic....

It's good to be back!

Day 14 - More reference photos

2009-08-20T07:40:00.001-07:00

So great to be able to capture some things I've thought about for
years. Here's a shot from the walk home from the playground.

Day 13 - No more late night sketching

2009-08-20T07:37:00.001-07:00

Ok the take no prisoners pen was not kind the other night. Need to
make sure I schedule art time a bit earlier instead of when I'm ready
to crash.

Day 12 - A certain lack of perspective

2009-08-20T07:28:00.001-07:00

Did this straight ahead without marking in any indications of relative
position. Can you tell!? Still kind of fun. And no, Rick doesn't
have quite so big of a head.

Day 11 - Torturing paper

2009-08-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

Day 10 - Talking Shop

2009-08-15T23:28:00.001-07:00

Nothing going on in the studio, but talked shop with my Art Buddy today!

Day 9 Starting Painting

2009-08-14T23:47:00.001-07:00

And cleaned studio in an attempt to find my transfer paper. Thinking
a lot about "cheats" lately

Day 8

2009-08-13T22:30:00.001-07:00

Attended a friend's art show opening tonight. 35 pieces 20 of them
new for the show. Now that is an accomplishment!