I was determined to finish something today! I worked on Kaleidoscope but can't seem to get very far at one time. The way I am painting it, there is so much down time waiting for it to dry. I have to be consistent so the heads look enough alike. I also have it on a very large piece of plexiglass as it was the only support around big enough to hold the painting. It makes it awkward painting because it needs to stay flat. I am leaning over pretty far. Well, I getting there but it is taking way longer than I like.
In the meantime, I finished number 4. I tried Alex Power's technique of splashing diluted gesso on part of the painting and then spraying parts for texture. I think it came out okay but I don't really have this technique down very well. I panic and then spray the hell out of it. I think I need to try it on a non-objective piece or something that I am going to cover up. That way I can be free and not worry I am messing it up. I used the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on the glasses. Great way to lift paint. I think it is less abrasive than most methods used too lift watercolor. I was thinking of creating a stencil for the lifted areas for a crisper edge and then decided to take the fast and easy route. Anyway, I like that her hair looks soft and wispy and thin. The only criteria I met on this painting was Blue Violet Mother Color.
I had a really fun idea for painting #5 but the month has run out. I will keep it in mind for another time. I will post the rest of the sets of requirements so those of you who would like to do the entire series will have them. I have February's Painting challenge in mind. I just have to work out the final details.
I actually worked on the Kaleidoscope painting today. I can't believe it isn't finished yet. I do think it will be an interesting painting when done. I tried to work on all three heads that are left at once. I got part way into it and then went on to finish just one.
I had worked on the #4 painting the other day but haven't posted my progress on it. So, this is where I am at this point. As you can see, I don't have that etheral, mystical feeling anymore. I crave contrast and drama, so that is the direction I always move toward. I like what is happening here. It is interesting to me that the graphite isn't very obvious now. I think I will try this idea again and do a very detailed graphite drawing and then paint over it. I am thinking of floating a gesso wash over the top part of the painting before it is through. I will wait and see how it looks after I put in the final darks and make the adjustments for final light touches.
I found a new magic eraser at the grocery store today. That is the cleaning product with Mr. Clean on the box that is a wonderful tool for watercolorists. This new one is extra tough. I am curious whether it will lift more than the other one. I was told that someone called Proctor and Gamble to ask if there was bleach in the little white block. They said it was chemical free. It is the material itself that does the work. I also picked up a box of Stretch and Seal plastic wrap. I'm going to experiment with it as a resist. It makes a different texture when pressed into wet paint than the standard plastic wrap. Better painting through chemistry!
I attended both the morning and afternoon sessions of the Model's Guild Drawing Marathon. I saw Sunny there. She, too, has been practicing with the Pose Maniac website and we both were amazed how much quicker we were able to draw today! All of the drawings on the phone book are one or two minute poses. After doing 30 second drawings on the computer, two minutes seemed so generous a time frame! When they went to 5 minutes and 10 minutes, I switched to different paper. I brought 4 half sheets of tyvek to experiment with so I did two in the morning and two in the afternoon. On the colored pieces, I used acrylic inks. I thought I had packed fluid acrylics but discovered they were left in my office after it was too late to do anything about it. I also forgot to pack a water container!! I really am not myself today. Fortunately, I found a plastic water container there, so no problem. For the brown tone, I used walnut ink. The blue scribbles are the wide copic marker and the dark line is a fine copic marker in black. I used my sharpened match in the pen holder to draw with ink and paint.
I made an interesting discovery. The acrylic color went all the way through the tyvek paper and made a very exciting textural pattern. Watercolor doesn't go through the paper so I was surprised but really liked the effect. I am going to try putting a second sheet of paper behind the first next time I paint with this material and then do a painting with what is transfered. I have posted the front, back and detail of one of these paintings. This was a 10 min. pose. The acrylic dries much faster than the watercolor, which makes it a viable choice for this fast kind of work. There is no time to let it dry!
I have also posted the only 20 minute pose we had all day! I had time to paint in some background as well. The acrylic made some very interesting textural effects here as well. I added some India ink for the black accents.
Tomorrow it's back to #'s 2 and 4 of the January Painting Challenge!
The day started with an e-mail from my cousin in Kansas City, informing me that my dear friend of 40 years and fellow artist, Satin Sturdevant, died unexpectedly yesterday. This is my tribute to her memory.
Satin graduated the University of Missouri at Kansas City with an art degree . During this time she became best friends with my sister, Harriet, and through that friendship became a friend of our entire family.
Satin was a very talented artist. I have posted the one photograph I have of her work. This was done in a workshop I led in her Images Art Gallery in 2006. It was Satin who promoted me and made that workshop possible.
You can see more of her work by visiting her website. The following is taken from her website www.satinswatercolor.com.
"After painting in several mediums I concentrated on watercolor for it's challenges and excitement. Watercolor is a magical medium and every painting I do is an adventure. My subject matter is quite varied and I find it exhilarating to explore new territory. I love to travel for research material as well as paint in areas and markets in the Kansas City area.
My paintings represent what I see with what I feel. My main objective is to get a feeling for my subject without overdoing it on the paper. I use top brand archival paints on 100 rag paper.
After receiving a BA in Studio Art from University of Missouri at Kansas City, I taught art for several years and did post graduate work at UMKC and KU. I've participated in local art fairs throughout the city and my watercolors have been accepted in National Art shows.
I'm a member of Images Art Gallery, the Kansas City Artist’s Coalition, Summit Art, and Greater Kansas City Art Association."
Besides being very active in regional art activities, participating in many shows and winning awards, She also helped build the reputation of the Images Art Gallery and managed their web site as well as being the Workshop Chairman for a number of years. Along with all these activities, she was also a wonderful and caring teacher.
Satin will be remembered for her warm smile, positive enthusiastic personality, and her generous and caring spirit.
Good by, dear friend. You will be missed by everyone who knew you.
I wasn't going to post as I didn't do a whole lot on this painting today, but I changed my mind as I decided to document the different stages. This painting has a soft quality so I thought graphite would be a better choice than charcoal, so I started laying in value with the graphite stick. I have seen some very interesting and effective paintings that have a grisaille under painting of graphite. I have never tried that, so here was my chance. Tomorrow I will finish this painting. Don't be surprised if it takes on a very different character. I don't do high key paintings very well. I love drama and strong value changes. I am really feeling a strong urge to punch it up a bit! I'll start with going over the graphite with color and see how it looks and then decide what direction to go in. I probably will need to do another painting that follows the constraints I set out to do...shape as dominant element and cruciform as compositional design.
I also worked on the Kaleidoscope image. It is moving toward the finish line soooooo slowly, but ever so steady.
I had some time this morning before I left for critique group to work with the pose maniac website. I keep a phone book under my desk for the drawings. It is so freeing to have tons of pages available and not caring if I mess up. Today I decided to start with the pose of the day and take my time. You can rotate these poses so I did several versions. Then I went to the negative shape ones and did contour drawing for awhile. Lastly I tried the 10 sec. poses!!!! It was interesting watching myself adapting to the pressure of time as I altered how I drew to finish in the 10 seconds! Because I am sitting in front of the computer to do this, I am working much smaller than I normally do. I was thinking it would be an interesting challenge to fill in the missing lines in the negative drawings as they are silhouettes. These are not timed views so you can sit there as long as you need to get the drawing completed. I thought some of them had intriguing possibilities combined in a composition.
So many ideas, so little time!
