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Monday, September 24, 2012

Monday Smorgasbord

Transfered this photo to computer this morning. It isn't the picture I intended to take last night, but  I like the murkiness. I really am not too swift when it comes to taking pictures with my Smart Phone. You can own one, it doesn't make you brilliant. I didn't have it set to auto and the flash bounced off the windshield obliterating the sky which was to be my focal point.   


Sunday was a day of devices. I downloaded Infinity
on my iPad . I discovered I could freeze the action in movies 


By freezing the frame, I discovered a new source for a lot of fast drawing action.
My quicky this morning.

Then there's laundry  come around hell or high water. Looks like there's going
to be some ironing to do too. Yuk.  A day of art interruptus.

Watercolor set up as I left it. Saturday. I gave all painting a rest .  Today, I
noticed it really is time to cook those peppers. I'll cut out the black spots.


IN THE STUDIO STEVE AND ZAC WAIT AND WAIT AND WAIT.

This is where I left off to go play in the water last week. I marked where Zac's left eye should be, now I just have to get it there. I have improved  the lighting on Steve. Taken at noon, his skin tone on the left  has been brought up to nearly white. I'm still working on the values of Steve's left side and Zac's more shaded skin tones.  Zac's highlights wouldn't be as bright as Steve's; Steve is blocking him from the sun.  Do you see why I turned to peppers last week? Nothing but hard work her.


AND THEN A TUNE FROM A TV COMMERCIAL MADE ME FORGET TODAY'S SMORGASBORD OF ACTIVITIES : It reminded me of Zorba's (Anthony Quinn) Dance on the Beach in Zorba The Greek, a great movie, great actor, and great painter. Quinn is inspiring.


Anthony Guinn's painting of Zorba. Aren't multi-talented people disgusting. Don't you wish...
Quinn's own style..  The colors of Mexico, his origin of birth; a Cubic double portrait.  

18 comments:

  1. Steve is looking quite good.

    Good luck with laundry day. I own an iron, but no ironing board. You can guess how often I iron.

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    1. I don't either usually, but as summer drops from the trees, sport cottons destined for Mexico in December are being readied for packing. My housekeeper will iron, but she doesn't do it as well as I do. I don't mind once I start. It's the starting that's the hard part.

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  2. You had a busy day, a very recognizable smorgasbord! Painting with watercolor has the (dis)advantage that I have to wait for parts to dry before I can go on. That is the time I do my household chores like washing dishes, doing the laundry, etc. :)

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    1. This post was me just listing what had to be done today. Now I'm doing it. The hard task was transferring my iTunes to my iPad and figuring out how to get the library to play continuously. I think iTunes has made navigating more difficult. But now, I've got Bob Seger making ironing a lot more fun. Zac's eye might will just have to wait till later this afternoon? Oops. Here's Elvis...

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  3. Today ... the sun didn't shine ... it rained ... it is suddenly Autumn (the fall) ... so what we do?
    We started Spring-cleaning ... carpets, ceilings, walls ...
    "Why don't we get it done professionally?"
    "I prefer to do it myself," she replied.
    "Well why do I have to do it?"
    "Because I can't manage."
    "I can do it for you," calls Janice - Pat's 'Daily' (housekeeper) - from the ironing board.
    "You can do it next year, Janice!" Pat called back

    She says this every year ... I live in a madhouse!

    I love Quinn, and the Portrait's coming along well.

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    1. You think so? Okay. I'll get back to it tomorrow. Mondays are for household chores. From then on, it's painting only. I like to get housekeeping out of the way in one day and never look back.

      Housekeepers can't clean as well as the lady of the house. That's what my mother thought; my dad had no thoughts. He went to the club. I'd go to the club too, if I still had a housekeeper five days and I knew how to play gin as well as my dad. I do know what to do with laundry and it's no big deal; I went to college. I took it over when my housekeeper was making it a big deal and no cleaning was getting done. I also polish silver better than she did. I do not leave a trace of polish in the filigree; and I don't drop things that bend. Aside from those chores, I paint--and call wall washers and carpet cleaners and who ever else is more expert than me for the hard work. I've even turned the gardening over to experts, but I feel badly about that. I liked puttering around in the dirt, in the sun and sweating.

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  4. You have reminded me of the laundry I need to get done. Oh no, I hate chores. If I could, I would paint all day long, dream on.

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    1. It'll happen when you run out of undies. We run out on Mondays. Every other day of the week, I paint. Ellis goes to work. The house gets a lick and a promise--a little from him, a little from me.

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  5. I like your idea about freeze-framing movies for sketches and you don't seem to slow down. I am amazed over how much energy you got and ability to do so much different things.

    PS! I think the last Quinn painting is too much Picasso. I think of him instead of the Quinn.

    Happy painting

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    1. Well his day job was actor. I do think his self portrait as Zorba is fantastic. It is a bit Demoiselles, but I guess you have to start somewhere and Picasso gave us so many places to jump in.

      Are you kidding. Yesterday, I laid on the couch most of the afternoon and watched movies, (after figuring out how Infinity worked on my iPad and noticing I could stop the action, back up, go forward in increments). We were going to go to an art show and the more I thought about it, I don't like art shows in the park. I find myself comparing mine to theirs and then wondering why I never wanted to get into that. A lot of the artists have very interesting works, but others seem to have imported things--things I recall from our own imported art business. Plus everyday, online, I'm at an art show. As you can read too many techniques books, you can see too much art and get boggled down.

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  6. Interesting as always. A reminder to us that the world impinges on our art but for a true artist it's always bubbling along under the surface.

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    1. Mick, I think we're always thinking how new technology can be used to our advantage don't you? Nothing we do doesn't feed our art. I once won an award for my laundry. I took all of the clothing items I had ruined in the wash or dryer cycle and plastered them. Then I plastered a large wicker laundry basket and filled it up with the plastered clothes. I painted everything Whiter Than White (that was the title). The sculpture won best of show. I never sold it. I sat it at the bottom of my staircase where often real folded laundry sat for days waiting for someone--anyone other than me--to tote it up to the bedrooms and put it away. My sculpture sent the message I intended it to send to my boys.

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  7. What a great post Linda, interesting as always...love the top photo...kind of misterious.

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    1. Thanks Jane. I thought so too for a faux pas with that stupid camera.

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  8. The Steve and Zac portrait is looking good.
    And your laundry room looks nice--I like the painting on the wall. My laundry is done in the dingy basement. I didn't know Anthony Quinn was a painter--I learn a lot by reading your blog!

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  9. I try. Thanks. Zac is taking me long enough. The laundry room off the kitchen is a nice feature. But if my laundry room was in the basement, I'd get more painting done on laundry days, since my studio is in the basement. Running stairs to change loads puts a damper on the laundry.

    Tony Curtis painted. And so did Kim Novak. I imagine more actors paint than that. Creative people usually are muti-talented. Besides painting is a great thing to do while you're waiting around for your next gig? Oh and Tony Bennett too.

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  10. Daily housework goes well with watercolorist life,as Judy wrote!
    I'm very lucky painter!

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    1. Yes it does. There has never been a time when my studio was on the same floor as the laundry room. Stairs have always been an issue along with not hearing when a load was finished. The laundry always suffered. Now, the painting suffers on Mondays. I have made Monday laundry day and take care of other household duties. Then the rest of the week is free and clear as is my conscience. Now what's for dinner and any pre-prep is another matter.Ellis markets. I cook whatever he bought, while paint dries. Ellis cleans up. It's working. I've cut my housekeeper back over the years from five days to every other week. That's good enough for the two of us. I really don't like people working in the house with me. 'I like being alone,' as said Greta, the other woman who liked dramatic hats with attitude as much as me:-)

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