Blackout Back Up Project Switch

Backed up project #1: load one in dish washer

I got a very tiny taste of what the folks in New York and New Jersey were going through that sent my compassion for their discomfort sky high. We had an electrical blackout  for six hours that seemed eternal. What do you do when you can see nothing?  You don't paint. You pray for those who are worse off and then you worry about your own situation.

I was sitting and  reading Alla Prima, with my morning coffee,  when the lights started to play strange games.  They hissed, went out and came back on--again--and again--and again--enough times to get me out of my chair and running around turning them off for fear of  a short that would burst the house into flames. The lights I chose to leave on, did one more hiss and died. I was left standing in the dark living room while Ellis stood in  in the shower, his hair suds up with shampoo. It was going to be a different sort of day.

Dish washer load #2 waiting in line

I was way luckier than my Jersey shore friends. My house was in tact and would  keep me warm-- for a little while anyway. I got dressed, had  some cold cereal  and sat down at the piano to wait out the darkness with Beethoven. Half way through the second movement of his Sonata in G Major, (the dirge like one you play to a nine count when dirge like things happen to you), I heard something scarier than dark, a high pitched buzzing sound. It was soft, persistent and audible, in spite of my foot pressed heavily to the pedal. I went to investigate. The alarm we hardly ever use had been zapped to life. It was lit up like a panel on the Enterprise. I called Ellis.

"How do I turn this damn thing off?"

"How can you turn something off that shouldn't be on?" he asked. "Don't worry, it'll go off when the lights come back," and hung up. He was working.

Yesterday's batch of Mushroom Barley soup
made today.  Dinner in a bowl for eight.

The house had gone cold. I had my coat on. Even though it was pouring sea creatures, it was a good day to do errands. Abandon ship was the plan. I got my purse and headed for the door when I was  stopped by  the alarm shrieking short, raucous bursts.  "What if it began to wail," I worried, "and the police showed up along with the fire department?" I called Ellis. "I can't leave it like this. Come home."

Again he reminded me that the alarm was off what could he do?

It was my turn to hiss,"Come home."

Standing in the basement staring at the electrical box and the alarm boxes with all those twisted pretty colored wires, I said, "On TV, the bomb squad cuts the yellow one to disarm the device."

Yesterday's whites washed, dried and
folded today.

My best friend  threw me a disgusted look and his status slipped.  "I'm not going to cut anything."

The alarm shrieked again piercing our eardrums. Ellis jumped. I smiled. "See?"

We both looked up, our hands clamped over our ears. We were standing  directly under the squawking siren .
"I didn't know that was there, did you? I yelled "We could cut those wires?"

 "Let's get out of here," my hero said.

Walking back through the studio,  my flashlight hit My Guys standing up against the wall. I hadn't worked on that overly ambitious painting, since March--months before Vianna's  eye-opening workshop--months before reading  Schmid's eye-opening Alla Prima? "I should finish that up,"  I said as we hoisted the garage door for the second time. But Ellis was already in the car in no mood to talk art.

The raucous culprit that finally drove us out.

 As we drove towards warm, cozy,plenty of  hot coffee and the soothing sounds of life-going-on-as-usual,   My Guys moved up on my agenda. This back up project was logical. My second son, the one who was giving me the most difficulty, would be here for Thanksgiving, a real live reference in the guest room under our roof that's been protected more than we ever knew.

My second portrait in oil  needs a lot of work, but I'm not looking
for perfection. I'm looking for three heads of equal size with enough likeness for this mom to know who's who. I looking for good values with a limited palette.  I am not looking for a lot of detail work. Unfinished is the finish I'm going for now that things have lightened up, warmed up and quieted down.











MY THREE GUYS AS I FOUND THEM IN THE BLACKOUT:

Painting was begun last March. Background was blackened in September. And a whole lot of learning went on since.  This is an important developmental painting for me however it turns out. I'll be satisfied with a sketch-like finish.

Hairy Background

I WISH I COULD SHOW YOU MORE, BUT I PROMISED SECRECY

So in bits and pieces: The Beauty Shop yesterday, hair today. I finally got the chutzpah to jump into my portrait of the two children with oils today. Still a bit edgy about attacking the skin tones, I began with the easy things like hair and background. Moving cautiously, I keep thinking about something Georgia O'Keeffe said. She starts at the top corner of a painting and works her way down. If only painting was that simple. We all know that's not how it's done. The whole process is a balancing act.

The little spots of white you see is the glistening of the light on the wet oils. If I waited for the paint to dry, I'd have nothing to show for today except the edges of a lot of gallery canvases that I finally painted mahogany. What a boring job that is! But we had a snow day, and I still needed to fool around before I picked up my brush to forge ahead on the painting I've been side stepping all week.

I have a new follower I want to introduce. She just started painting. From the looks of her first finished painting, she's natural born, but not a stranger to paint. Her name is Inge Van Rees. I was her first follower. She was my seventieth. Thank you Inge. All the best.

Have a nice weekend everybody who is getting ready to have one. If you're in it, I hope it's going well.

Whisper in my Ear

This is not a detail. This is a close up and serious study of an ear done in oils. It's "pasty white" and the form needs perfecting, but I'll keep working on it over the weekend. I want Erin's ear to look like an ear that hears and not just an impressionistic suggestion that she has one.

Meanwhile lend an ear to a song written by Benny Cash and performed by Evil Twin playing a wonderfully bluesy guitar and singing in a dining room. The video only had 97 views on YouTube, but it deserves to be heard.

Sidesteps Aside

I'm not a sidestepping politician, yet I've been dancing a little sidestep around the portrait I promised to do--first doing the hand study, then doing a close up of the two heads, then getting reacquainted with oils by attempting a portrait of Erin.

I procrastinated again yesterday when I rejected the canvas I had ordered; it was too big. So I went back to working on Erin till I couldn't stand my sidestepping another minute. It was late in the afternoon, but I went to the supply store anyway and bought the appropriate size. By the time I got home, I was out of studio time and excuses, but all set to move ahead in the morning.

This afternoon,the cartoon has been made and is ready for some washes, (yet I sit here sidestepping again). While my get acquainted studies have paid off, I'm still nervous. This is the first portrait I'm doing of children who are not my blood and who have parents who think they are the most precious,most beautiful kids in the world. I do hope I can do these babies with the same feeling of tenderness I have for Erin.

A Rocky Road to Erin

I CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT AN OIL PAINTING IS IN PROGRESS IN MY STUDIO?

Success is lined with failures. And this weekend was fraught with bumps in the road as I stumbled along relearning oils at poor Erin's expense. How shall I count my blunders: 1) Painting on an old canvas already occupied by a very poor painting of the kid; 2) Not whiting that painting out entirely with an oil based primer before beginning this one; 3) Using brushes that have been used for acrylics--making them unfit for acrylics and a trip to the supply store immediately necessary; 4) Not buying a large container of odorless paint thinner/brush cleaner when the clerk suggested it when I picked up the first tube of oil paint I've bought in decades; 5) setting up shop in the neat section of our lower level; and 6) Being too cocky and not putting my smock on as soon as I opened a tube of the stuff that won't come out in the wash.

What is really making the road hard is doing drawing corrections as I go. Instead of beginning with an accurate, relatively monochromatic painting done with thin oil washes, I chose to start with what was--and it just wasn't good enough!

But oopes aside, Erin is progressing. She is losing weight. Her eyes are her eyes. And her hair, ear, mouth, chin, neckline will fall into place the more my hand follows what my eyes see and my heart feels. --You do realize that this return to oils is another study I'm doing before beginning that double portrait--those babies are crying for the softness that only oils can do.

Oil Paint? Have You Got A Couple of Extra-Strength Aspirins?

Having found that untouched beginner's set of oil paints I bought for some reason or another the other day, I decided to try them out while on break. The last time I painted with oils was forty something odd years ago! I stopped because they stunk. Pure headache.

I was on break from Baby and wanted to do something different, something colorful. I had a canvas that I had used to experiment with some water soluble oil paints; so I pulled it out along with the reference photos and went to work. If you look closely at this crude beginning, you can see the eyes and some lines from the first painting in the little girl's face. She still needs a lot of work. But my nose was stuffing up and my head was starting to ache.

Even though I had an odorless solvent, my objection to oil paint after an hour of use remained the same: They give me a throbbing sinus/allergy headache. They stink. I used to think it was the turpentine, but it's the paint too. Too bad. The finish is beautiful. I didn't build up much coverage, but I did correct the previous drawing to a point so should I get the appropriate brushes and tackle this little portrait again, I'll be closer to a likeness. Meanwhile the painting is back on a shelf drying--however long that's going to take?

Thinking about why I chose to take the chance of getting ill, I concluded: I see Le Nourrisson, (the infant),(nice title. better than Baby),done in oils. The obscure line between the two needs smear.

I checked this trial painting before I sat down here with my coffee this morning and the darks picked up--I used the odorless solvent as the thinning medium making me think old fashioned turpentine may have been a faster drying agent? No way. Acrylics first. Oils where needed.

The Pencil Moves Oh So Slooooooooooowly

Over the last three years, I've been running away from the pencil medium. Now here I am with one in my hand and it’s moving oh so slowly. Taking the values down to the darkest the 6B pencil can give is tedious work. Lots of breaks are needed by this impatient soul who draws with her nose at the expense of her neck and shoulders. Pummeling the shadows to get the right blend, my knead eraser is invaluable—as is the stub. This is how I was taught.

In life drawing classes, which lasted three hours, the students would knock off several charcoal renderings while Russell Keeter, their instructor, worked on one square inch of his drawing with an HB pencil. He said you can’t rush it. I believed him. I’d seen his work. And you did too in my last post. Break's over. Back to work!

Russell Keeter, My Most ValuableTeacher

PAGES FROM MY SKETCH BOOK, FROM RUSSELL KEETER'S ANATOMY CLASSES
The only artworks I kept from my student days.

Anatomy and life drawing went hand in hand in Russell Keeter's classroom at the College of Creative Studies in Detroit. I was fortunate to have been in his life drawing and anatomy classes. He taught life drawing from the skeleton to the fully clothed. He taught the two most important classes in the Fine Art curriculum as they should be taught: together. Russell passed away in 1991 and Wikipedia didn't have a word to say about this remarkable educator. From what I found on Google, only the college knew his contributions--and me and hundreds of others.

A smile comes to my face when I remember Russell. Russell liked the ladies and the ladies liked him for his Bohemian rough good looks, well filled out jeans AND most of all, his dedication, his passion, his remarkable paintings with articulately executed figures. He was a fun guy at coffee breaks, lots of laughs, but a strict task master in the classroom.

As I'm doing this drawing of the infant with barely visible features, I've been thinking about him--glad I had him as an instructor--glad he was demanding--sorry his work didn't get the recognition it deserved. The following are two of his paintings with no ambiguous slashes or dashes. He knew his stuff. And one of the things he knew was: life drawing was meaningless without a thorough understanding of anatomy.

A Heavy Handed Hannah Explores Etsy's

Watercolor is justnot my medium. I am a heavy handed Hannah with this paint. For me, watercolor is for travel, is for sketching. In the studio, acrylics is my choice for painting. Pencil is my strongest suit. You've got to realize at some point what you can and cannot do.

In between painting my new bouquet of flowers,(what a friend of mine calls my default subject, and she'sright), and working on my infant, I explored Etsy's.

I've started to register for a "shop" on Etsy's" three times over the last couple of years. Each time I couldn't carry through and give them my credit card number. I'm not ready. I don't do uniform sized, small paintings that would fit in a standard frame. I don't know what a Giclee print is--but it appears to be what is sold when the shop owner doesn't want to sell the more involved original piece. The one artist's shop I spent a lot of time in sold very nice original watercolors on Arches 140 for $35.00 and the Giclee prints on premium paper for twenty four. Shipping was extra. All of his works were 8" x 10".

Katsu Aoki's online shop expenses are peanuts. Etsy's gets a (hanging/display/rental) fee of twenty cents per piece--and when the piece sells, Etsy's gets three point five percent of the price--peanuts. The artist had forty six pieces on display, costing a whopping $9.20. He sells a thirty five dollar watercolor, He keeps $33.75. The artist also has a shop on eBay and a web site. Now, I'm very curious about his online turnover. From what I could tell, Aoki is a freelance illustrator--though his online portfolio looked limited to motorcycles, which he does quite well. His work looks good enough to be in a gallery, but I didn't see one mentioned.

Conclusion: You want to sell your art? You have to cover all the bases.

NOTE: Giclee is a sophisticate inkjet printing method. You can read all about it here.

In The Studio, My Working Flap-Mat

FOR VICTOR ERRINGTON OF VIC'S ONE A DAY: MY STUDIO FLAP MAT:

FOAM BOARD BACKING JOINED TO WINDOW MAT WITH A DRAFTING TAPE HINGE. The artwork has been positioned and taped to the back. The window in the mat has been covered with a piece of acetate, which is optional*.

A FLAP-MAT IS A PROTECTIVE "BOOK".

WHEN THE BOOK IS CLOSED, THE ARTWORK CAN BE STORED SAFELY.

* Acetate protects the artwork, but not the mat. It also collects dust specks, so it has disadvantages. A piece of vellum, tracing paper, taped to the back of the foam board and then flipped over the front mat will protect both the artwork and the mat. I use this "working" flap mat in the studio to check out composition to see how I'm doing. So far, I've managed to keep this mat pretty clean.

Shipping artwork to buyers. I would position the artwork on the foam board with drafting tape, place the window mat over that (without hinging the two together) and then sandwich the acid-free artwork sandwich with thin cardboard. Slide it into a padded envelop that fits just right and it would be safe for mailing. Postal padded envelopes, in case you haven't guessed, is what determine the size of artworks on paper and then the finished mat size. One would want to work no bigger than what would fit into the largest standard shipping envelop.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTE:

I went to Amazon yesterday to look at a book they thought I'd be interested in, (now THEY are good salespeople); I was. It was on acrylics--300 tips. I love tips. So I decided to buy it. Going through the motions, I was invited to have a photograph displayed with this book whenever somebody goes to that page. I put in Winter 2012, and priced it and wrote a line or two. This seemed to be an opportunity to advertise on Amazon--instead of Amazon advertising on my blog? I'm going to check it out today to see if I understood the deal correctly. But I figured what could it hurt to spread my name and show what I do? If business is where I'm headed, self promotion is as important as production. I don't think this is the ultimate way to promote yourself, but what-the-hell!

WELL BACK TO BABY: What you see here is two hours spent laying out the grid and drawing in the outline of my subject. I'm going to go for a fine finish on this "study". It will take a few days; I go slowly on pencil renderings. It's how this old dog was taught.

Biking is The Only Art I've Mastered

After a morning spent poking the feasibility of the online sales of works on paper, I did hit the studio. All that busy-ness of my post, must have bummed me out, for getting anything done in the studio was a disaster.

All I was able to accomplish was to convince myself, free hand was out and a grid was in for the commissioned portrait. The pencil study above is way out of whack. The hand is okay, but the two heads are not jiving. The chiarascuro section between them is the challenge and will be a bigger challenge when I start to paint with acrylics; I'd like to get a better handle on it.

I sectioned the reference photograph and discovered incidental adjustments will have to be made when I move to canvas. I'll do another pencil study today to get the relationships right. Then I'll forge ahead with the cartoon. Being that it's a commission, I feel an urgency to get on with it and deliver within a reasonable period of time--before the kid's third birthday. The reference photo isn't the best; it's soft. It's blurry--even translated into black and white. It's a beautiful photograph, (which I did not take), suitable for matting, framing and hanging, but I can't read the shadows very well. I'll blow it up.

My warm-up watercolor came out so-so too. Probably because I warmed-up AFTER I worked on the pencil rendering and became distressed. It's not very smart to jump right into serious work before loosening up. At the Brauhaus School in Germany, the art students used to do calisthenics on the roof every morning to loosen up prior to class. (I think I read that in Ben Shaun)? Maybe I should reschedule my biking sessions--make them first rather than last? The exercise may be more productive than fooling around with a medium that just isn't me. Yesterday, biking was the only thing I got right. I just jumped on and pedaled and got to twenty minutes without knees burning. That's an accomplishment.

Landscape Artist Get the Most Google Searches

--Did you know that Lee Rowley,(author of the book I was telling you about, wrote that the art category for the most Google searches was landscapes! So why am I knocking myself out painting all these flowers? Because flowers are delightfully colorful and paint is about color; they are also the easiest to have around the studio in seasons where plein air is out of the question. This maybe the last flower painting, maybe not? The roses my son and family sent for my BD live on limp and dry. The water evaporated from the vase three days ago. I'm finding them to be a nice relief from figure drawing. Dead, they are still the gift that keeps on giving paintings-- till the weather changes and landscapes become more attractive. I hung Winter on the observation wall and the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees! That's enough winterscape for me.

Have a lovely weekend everybody. Spend it doing something you love with someone/something you love. I'm spending mine with a gorgeous, strokable charcoal paper that just arrived UPS. It's time I move my figure beyond the study stage. If I don't, that sweetheart could be a toddler when I feel satisfied enough to reach for the canvas.

Hand Jive

I used to avoid drawing hands--in life drawing class I merely "suggested" them and the suggestion most often resembled oven mitts. Then I got curious about palmistry, (a thumb that can bend outward is the sign of an over indulgent personality is all I recall), and decided to sculpt my left hand for a journalistic paper cast I had in mind.I began the project by doing many drawings of hands, carefully observing the joinery of the phalanges to the wrist. The studies paid off. The paper cast came out okay. I titled it Tenacity, because day by day, sticking to what seems to be the same old, same old routine is exactly the routine that produces the new and exciting. When I went through my art photos, I noticed drawings of children showed up the most--yet none of them were newborns, the most cherished of them all. I decided to add a drawing of one to my portfolio.

New born hands are precious and at the same time ugly--bluish, pinkish, amazingly wrinkled twig-like forms with long skinny fingers topped with teeny tiny fingernails that need cutting but nobody wants to do it for fear of making them bleed. This drawing is a first get-acquainted effort.

Johnny Otis's Willy and the Hand Jive seemed silly in 1958. The tune made this seventeen year old crack up trying to follow along with the do-wah sisters. Years later, I need to seriously jive with these hands a drawing or two more, before moving on to the full figure. The expressiveness of the drawing is in these tiny hands.

NOTE: Johnny Otis passed away six days ago in California at the age of 90. Jivin' with his hands tickled him a nice long life. Laughter is key.

ONLINE ART BUSINESS? RAM REQUIRED

OVER A WEEKEND OF SINGLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES

Plein air was out of the question. "Par la fenêtre" was how I did this little sketch, House in the Woods, in between gathering RAM. The little painting was supposed to be a dash off, but I was abstracted by downsizing the picture file on my computer to increase open memory on my hard drive. "How to Market and Sell Your Art Online by Lee Rowley, the book I was supposed to take to Cancun, but decided it was better read at home near my computer, had gotten me started.

IF I should choose this form of marketing--which the author highly recommends,(what a shock given his title), one of the first things I need is a computer with lots of RAM. I had one, I thought. However, upon inspection, it appeared I did not. I had to clean up my C drive (of the multiple photographs of my works in progress, which I neglected to delete).

After downloading thousands of photographs,I had a smidgen of RAM left. Rather than rush out and buy a new computer (when I've sold absolutely nothing online), over the weekend, I've been eliminating duplications, the poorly taken, the what-the-hell-is-that photos--and the huge fool around video files I've stored. I've opened up some space on the hard drive, but no where near what Rowley would consider adequate for doing business online. 500 gigabytes would do it. I have 9.28 GB free of 99.4! I gained 2 point something GB over the weekend. I really should have concentrated more on the painting and less on this over-the-hill device!

Rosezugashplotz: The Roses Are Dying...

On Welcome Back Kotter, (the television show that earned John Travolta the lead in the hit movie Saturday Night Fever and launched his successful career), Horshack's name meant "the cattle are dying." Rosezugashplotz, means the roses are dying. --And so they are just four days after I received them on my BD. The flower of love cut from the bush has a short life space--even when you cange the water daily and move the whole bouquet to the laundry room where the temperature in winter never gets higher than sixty. As much as dying roses make me sad, however, I still like painting them--maybe more so--for a dying rose could be metaphorical for dying love.

I wasn't loving my blog title; it was no longer true. I've grown over the last two years and am painting more and drawing/sketching a lot less. The name of the blog had to be changed WITHOUT STARTING A NEW BLOG. So I deleted Drawing-of-the-Day in settings and typed in the signature I use to sign my work. I do have a website URL: www.lindawroth.com, but that seemed too business like. The Capricorn that I am did think of Linda Paints, but L.W.Roth is what I'm putting on the canvases, why not here.

I didn't mean that I was quitting blogging; blogging has been good for me. I said I was shortening the posts and doing watercolor sketches not strictly scheduled. As you can see, I lied. (I'm female. By gender, I am wordy and always have something to say).

What I was trying to say and said it poorly was I was having a where-are-you-going-from-here moment of uncertainty and a bit of anger at being undecided. I think I have to do more for my art than just blog. I have to get it out of the house--to market. I've felt that way for quite some time, but I'm not sure how to go about it. On the other hand, I'm reluctant. I've always been afraid that going into the business of art would kill the joy of making it. All this probably sounds stupid I know. But I reserve my right to be artistic and stupid whenever I want.

Meanwhile, it's started to snow on Winter, the painting above. It'll snow a bit more over the rest of the week and next. It's going to be a gloomy painting with quiet colors--exactly how I feel this time of year, exactly how it looks this time of year.

Good Week That Was

Even though I didn't get as far as I would have liked with the "Big Winter of 2012," I'm giving you a sneak peek at the 36" x 36" canvas I'm working on now. I haven't gone as dark as I want as yet. And it hasn't snowed on the canvas as yet--perhaps today, maybe tomorrow, probably next week. I've given myself to the end of the month to finish. --Victor E. yes, this is a painting in progress. (Big ones move slower than little ones--just like in life). I know I said I wouldn't show it till finished, but some folks like to see how paintings develop over time--me being one of them. Seeing it translated into photography is the farthest step back I can take that will give me an idea of what's needed next, (gray the violet). Photographic translations are a wonderful art tool.

As for the little stuff:

THE BEST OF THE WATERCOLOR EXERCISES IN THE DAISY-LIKE RHYTHM CATAGORY:

THE BEST OF THE WATERCOLOR EXERCISES IN THE SANS GUIDELINES CATAGORY: DAFFODILS
from last week's bunch. The painting is simple and gives the impression of effortlessness.

Different flowers inspire different strokes, different responses to their rhythms. My brushes jumped with the daisies and waltzed with the daffodils. I'm interested to see how they will respond to the roses that arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I appreciate roses, but the delicate flowers of love do require a lot of loving care--they are very high maintenance.

Flowers Beget Flowers

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2012: WINTER DAISIES #4:

I reached for my white acrylics automatically for this one. When no pre-drawing is done, the desire to over-paint to balance composition comes naturally to this painter. I've always liked mixing it up with people, activities and painting mediums.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2012: WINTER DAISIES #5

AND LOW AND BEHOLD,THE FLOWERS I'LL BE PAINTING NEXT WEEK were just dropped on my doorstep! Thank you Lansing Loved Ones. They are a glorious kick-off for the first day of my seventy second year--even the armadillo turned around!

A Painting is Leaving The Nest

GAILLARDIA, 36" X 36", ACRYLIC ON PREMIERE STRETCHED CANVAS, 2003

After hanging on my "Works in Progress" wall since I finished it in 2003, Gaillardia, Honey's favorite, is leaving the nest for the destination I had in mind when I finished it. I didn't send it back then--I wasn't really sure I had gone as far as I could go--and shipping this size canvas is nothing to be sneezed at. So it hung around for a few years.

My kids have been hanging around together for a few years too--long enough to have a couple of fabulous, gorgeous, highly intelligent kids. Their twelvth anniversary is coming up on the 26th. I think it's time to ship it off. Of course, this is a risky move. Will they like it? Will they want to hang it anywhere in their house? Gifting one's art is risky business. Maybe I should give it a second thought?

God Bless Dog Lovers!

SO YOU SAY YOU WERE IN MEXICO?
YES, HOW CAN YOU TELL?

My first attempt at this watercolor needed some help. On inspection this morning, the painting was too static. I ran it under the faucet very quickly holding it level, blotted quickly so as not to pick up much and let it dry. Then I went back into it with watercolor on the dry surface, let that dry, and then went in with pastels. I probably should have left well enough alone, but the first attempt was lifeless; the forms were just sitting there motionless. I shook the "under-painting" up and "over-painted" while someone played the maracus.

These were busy days this last short week adjusting to working at art. Spontaneous, warm-up watercolors are a delightful way to spend an hour, even when they turn out so cute you could throw up! My other studio hours are being divided between another "big boy" canvas of my woods, winter of course, and a commissioned portrait. You will see the "big boy" painting when it's finished. (I'm going for foggy). You will never see the portrait. The commission was given by a very private person who really loved her pup who was sadly run over by a texting mom in a black Hummer late to pick up her kids from swim practice. My client doesn't want to share her pet's image with anyone, but me. God bless dog lovers everywhere!

Have a good weekend everybody. I'm going to see the Rembrandt Exhibit at the DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts). I was never much of a fan, but the landsman painted a lot of pictures of another landsmen of mine who is revered by many world-wide. I thought I take a look.

ADDENDUM: A WEAK WATERCOLOR GETS OVER PAINTED

Having never been able to tolerate weak work, I went back into a floral. Darker looks better to me--it's still a wrapping paper print, but it has more depth. It wouldn't have had if I had not been confined to my studio by my housekeeper who had torn up the rest of the place and given me no where else to go! Sometimes it takes a Swifter stick in your back. How about you? Do you give up on poor work and trash it or see if something else can be done?

Daffodils in Winter? You've Got To Be Kidding!

Yet, here they are.

I spent the weekend contemplating my new year's resolution. I concluded: More paintings on canvas this year--twelve would be reasonable given I completed eight in 2011. My plan was not to post anything till I had a finished painting to show you.

Then, what do I do my first day back in the studio? This watercolor of daffodils from a photo of mine that I grabbed from a stack that should have been filed away months ago.

I was straightening my watercolor cabinet. A piece of blank watercolor paper was inviting. I grabbed the photo and did this one using both the tubes and the pads--and my favorite watercolor style: wet into wet, no pre-drawing, very spontaneous. On this second year anniversary of this blog, the little painting, approximately 10 x 10 inches, marks a new direction. I started the blog to commit myself to doing a drawing a day; It seems I've moved on to painting watercolors spontaneously and acrylics more seriously. And so we grow.