I was looking at my collection of Splash Books in anticipation of a new one coming out. Splash 2 had breakthroughs, and I came across the idea of working on a very smooth surface of sanded gesso. I realized I always textured the hell out of the gesso and never made it super smooth. I decided I wanted to try working on that surface, for a change. My first effort resulted in an overworked image. It was fun to lift out and repaint over and over but eventually it just looked tired and overworked. I decided to start again and I was determined to keep the reworking to a minimum. I am happy with this result. I used a large squirrel brush with my favorite, Dr. Ph Martin's Hydrus liquid watercolor. I always wanted to be able to paint steam or smoke like Mary Whyte. This surface worked very well . I don't know how Mary does it, but this comes pretty close, visually.
Now for the "Lose Some". So far I have made a mess of my correction on the previous posted painting.....but I haven't given up. I still hope to pull it out of the fire. I will post my ultimate solution, good or bad, when I am satisfied or just give up! Stay tuned!
23 comments:
Great painting ! Amazing colors and textures.
Perhaps to be able to make such wonderful works of art you need to loose a few ones on the way :-)
Hi Sandrine,
Thanks for the comment. Boy, you are fast!!! I just posted this painting a few minutes ago.
This is stunning, glad that you persevered. The painting has a wonderful feeling to it.
Thank you, Diana, for the nice words.
Absolutely awesome painting, Myrna.
Dear Myrna,
Always your challenging spirit brings amazing works. I love smoke in this painting. Thank you.
Kind regards, Sadami
Brava! I like the saturated color and the effect of cigarette smoke very much.
Autumn, I see you are working on a gessoed surface, also. Glad you like this one.
Hi Sadami, a lovely comment from a fellow portrait enthusiast. I love your fresh watercolor sketches.
Hi Sherry, Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to see what you do at that Plein Air event next month.
This is a lovely painting. As for the lost one... where did I hear "there are no bad paintings... only unfinished ones" ?
Yep, this is a winner. That gessoed surface is perfect for the smoke effect. As for the possible loser: it's a learning experience.
Hi Jo, Thank you for the comment from one art book lover to another!
Hi Davida, Thanks for checking in. I follow your progress regularly.
Myrna this portrait really caught my eye in the thumbnail.... i'm not familiar with the techniques you've used . ...re your mist comment discovered "Working South Today" by Mary Whyte so thankyou ...,glad to have found your new blog limb to limb too ..stop here ..so inspiring
jane
You managed to capture a lot of emotion in this one. Great job!
Hi Tim, how nice that you are following this blog. Good luck with your film. The setting reminds me of a 1988 film "Bagdad Cafe" which I loved. Check it out if you are not familiar with it. Older than you!!!
The creativity never stops. Myrna, you are an inspiration to us all.
Thanks, Carol. A special compliment from a very creative artist!
This is stunning! I love it ! Precise and loose, what feelings, what atmosphere !
Gorgeous painting, Myrna. It immediately drew my attention like a magnet. The effect of cigarette smoke is excellent.
You often talk about gessoed surface, so I wanted to ask you what kind of surface you use. Could it work on Arches watercolour paper 140 lb?
Is it a special gesso you use?
By the way, I am subscribed to 'L'Aquarelle' and was glad to find an article on your artwork. Congratulations!
Love 'Bagdad Café's' soundtrack ;-)
Hi Annaquarel, Any watercolor paper can be gessoed. In fact, it is a god thing to do to cheap WC paper. I use thick gesso form texture and sandable gessomforma smooth surface. Bagdad Cafe sound track is very haunting and a favorite of mine, too.
Thank you, Myrna.
Post a Comment