Finery

Finery   watercolor/gouache   26 x 18

Without a doubt, Easter is a day of finery.  People, as well as furry things, don their splendor as they emerge from winter hibernation.  Even the gold finches are on display as their feathers turn from yellow to yellower.  Brightness.  Light.  My quest in my work is that of the common human experience.  For this work, I used a family photograph from the 1950's.  My color inspiration was emerald green, which I might call viridian in the paint world.  A detailed sketch prefaced the work.  As the painting progressed, that bright green just seemed too out-of-place and subsequently morphed into softer, more muted hues in order to show off the pure, albeit sparse, used in the eggs and basket area.  The use of gouache softens and adds a milky quality to the pigment.  Pure white paper remains at the bottom and works its way up to the top, within the Easter bonnets.

I took this work to critique this past week.  We were to self-critique.  While on most paintings, I have areas of concern, on this one, I did not.  It progressed totally according to the plan.  One artist questioned the pure white at the bottom.  Another questioned the dark strokes between the feet in the sock area.  While I always consider the concerns of other artists, these two remarks were unfounded, I think.  The feet need a horizontal for the feet to be grounded, as well as to provide an entry for the movement of the whites.  The dark strokes in the sock area are not precise, to be sure.  But more precision here would, in my opinion, be out of sync with the broadly painted, and somewhat imprecisely rendered, shapes in the rest of the work.  Good comments.  But I will not heed them this time.

Happy Easter.  Enjoy your finery.

Scrabble King

Scrabble King   watercolor   13 x 10

Most of the watercolor portraits I have undertaken have been painted from life....from a model.  In our watercolor class, participating artists voted to attempt a portrait from a photo.  Of course, there are always pros and cons.  Painting from life offers up more in the way of interpretation and, for me, a much simpler way of seeing.  Painting from photos can get just too itty-bitty for me, as the work always progresses into finer and finer detail...towards the likeness offered by the photo itself.  The challenge in painting from a photo, for me, is to keep the work expressive and fresh, when re-painting passages is always an option.  Painting from life usually doesn't offer enough time for the portrait to be overworked.  I chose to paint mon mari, and snapped a photo just after he had triumphed in our winter-nightly game of Scrabble.

The beard is the white paper which has been cherished and retained.  The hat and shirt have been kept simple.  I am pleased.

Nosegay

Nosegay   watercolor   8 x 8

Our class assignment was an arrangement of Spring flowers, harbinger of the warm and sunny weather on the horizon.  (Little did I know that winter would be hanging around for a few more weeks)  I picked up a dear little nosegay bouquet from Heinen's.  My first attempt was too bold, too aggressive...not appropriate for this tender subject matter.  The background blue was far too strong and overpowered the bouquet. As was the solidly painted orange wrapping paper.   Another attempt in my studio yielded a more satisfactory result.  Each bloom was painted separately, always a challenge for me.  The "destroy" passages were kept to a minimum and consisted mostly of some broad watery strokes designed to pull the paint outside of the bouquet and simply imply the orange paper that held it altogether.  I am more satisfied with the second attempt.  I think that a preparatory drawing would have saved the extra effort.  Note to myself:  when the subject is small and tender, the process must follow suit.  The soft notes are as important as the loud ones.

Simple Wicker Chair with Detail

Simple Wicker Chair with Detail   oil/canvas   40 x 30 x 1.5

Why would I paint a chair?  A simple chair?  The two chair paintings that I have done in the past several months are, quite simply, objects of beauty to me.  They represent comfort, quality, a purity of spirit, and all the warmth that is "home".  While painting, I thought of all of the artisans whose work led up to my work:  the designer of the chair, the artisan who wove it, the designer of the fabric whose colors and patterning catch my eye.  These are the artists whose work contributed to this work...a collaboration of sorts.  And, I will confess that I had to pay close attention to the rhythm of the weaving in order to represent its qualities.

Wicker is complex.  Wicker is enduring.  Wicker is comfortable and light weight. 

A tribute, of sorts....to a simple chair.

One Green Gumdrop...

One Green Gumdrop   watercolor   12.5 x 9

Our class assignment was "a jar of ______".  The challenge was to render these sugary treats as they appeared behind class...as well as to describe the nature of the Ball jar.  Large background strokes of transparent watercolor were subsequently layered over with gouache...hopefully, just enough to let the color peek through and offer a bit of pastel opacity.  The polar opposites of opacity::transparency have been with me for years....I like to think that it offers the best of both worlds.  It has been said that transparency offers more of an entry, a participation, for the viewer....that which is to be.  And, conversely, opacity offering more of what is seen by the artist...that which is, that which is definite.  This is my response to the challenge.

And, as far as the green gumdrop.....why is it that our favorites are more often in short supply?