The Shift is in the Details

This painting I'm considering is loaded with details that make a boat his boat, a house, their house. They have to be noted, but they also have to be ignored, for they could mess up the painting. Simplicity and flow of the composition is the first consideration. Details should go in last. Determining which ones are important and which to ignore is the chore.

Since my cataract surgeries, details often get in the way when I'm painting. I like them, (I'm a architectural designer; details are what I do). The boat is loaded with them. The house is too. And no longer near sighted, I'm noticing them all. No longer blessed with eyesight that blurred out the pesky things, I have to constantly keep them from distracting me and downloading more than I need.

In the featured drawing today, I'm ignoring the safety rail that goes around the bow of the boat for now. I'm working from the background forward and will put that in as a suggestion last. Yesterday's featured drawing pointed out that the zig-zagging planes and roof lines of the side of the house needed a closer look. I took one last night and will probably take another for those details do make the house the house. Technically, this painting would be a portrait, not a landscape. It's a specific boat and a specific house on a specific piece of land. Details may be painted in last,but they really must be considered very carefully first to achieve the accurate likeness that the client is paying for.

Finding My Painting Voice

[WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BlOG IS ABOUT MAKING ART USING WATERCOLOR, SOME MAY FIND IT BORING].


Watercolor isn't it--as I've been suspecting. I just don't have the patience for it. I get a paint brush in my hand and I want to move fast, intuitively,spontaneously, drawing and correcting the drawing as I go. I do not want to layout the drawing with a pencil first and then methodically paint in the picture. I don't want to have to stop to use a blowdryer.

This watercolor is unsatisfactory as yet, but definitely has potential for an acrylic, which perhaps I will attempt tomorrow--maybe this afternoon--the tips of my sunflowers are browning. I've got to move quickly, my still life is dying--although dying flowers may be a more interesting subject matter for me? I'll still try to salvage it with some more drawing in on that center flower after breakfast, but no matter what I do, the paper, (90 lb. wt.), is crap.

Saddest of sads, the deer attacked the hibiscus I was nursing back to health. They ate all the leaves and the flowers that had finally come back after its terrible ordeal in the sun in this very hot, dry summer. I didn't know deer liked hibiscus? I'm bringing it in. I'm going to try to winter it indoors. Let the deer eat the holly, I like those bushes kept short. Meanwhile winter may be here? It's fifty four degrees, jacket, not jump in the lake weather.

A Terrible Storm

It was a lovely summer's day...then the storm hit and everything turned to mud.

That's what happened to Summer Shade. I acted out.


I couldn't stand that painting another minute...so black and white came out and began mixing it up together on the canvas in broad strokes. Large house-painter brushes. Heavy paint. Scrapers. An ice tea spoon--whatever I could get my hands on, I used to obliterate those pretty trees. That's not how the woods looked to me the day I took the photograph. The trees were menacing. The blackness of the shade made me angry. The trees seemed close together with a myriad of branches, the kind that scratch if you tried to push through. For me, it was an unhappy photograph. Summer Shade was just too happy. It had to be demolished. I hit it with everything I had.

Lashing out felt good. I felt confident about my decision to shake it up beyond recognition; I had been contemplating its destruction for three days. Now, with it done, I just have to decide how to clean up the mess?

The trash bin?
I'd be out of my mind--stretched gallery canvases cost too much to throw away. Besides, my destructive feelings towards the dishonest painting were honest.

Buy a gallon of gesso?
Maybe. Even the best of us have done cover-ups.

To go back into it and pretty it up again?
Absolutely not. It was a good photograph, taken by a woman who was angry about what she had been through. After yesterday's storm, I'm not. I'm positive I should never have painted it in the first place.

After painting a colorful, tiny flower under the leafless tree, a tiny, trite, symbol of a brighter future, I could sign it,date it 2009, stand it to rest in the closet, and get on with painting Chocolate Mice and Other Delights, a delectable subject demanding a delightfully happy palette. Feels good to me.

Long Drying Time. Do Whatever Comes to Mind Time

Same morning as yesterday morning without the hose. Painting on the floor with spray bottle in hand till forced to stop and wait for the layer to dry. A fan in the studio may be something to consider to speed up the process? Working wet on wet in acrylics, you wait for the paint to dry naturally--no hair blowers as in watercolor. Hair blowers blow the puddles and streaks all over the place. Indirect air may be an option for the impatient?

This usually impatient gal exercised. I went through all the moves I learned in physical therapy. PT was a great experience. Not only did I learn what I had been doing wrong for the last ten years, but I learned what moves were right and good form. My therapist didn't like personal trainers when I asked if I should hire one. He said there was only one accredited program out there and only the trainers who had gone through that were worth their pay. I don't recall what the program was called, but the trainers had to be re-accredited every year via ongoing education, just like Chris--and me, a kitchen and bath designer. He didn't consider the majority of what he called hack trainers to be competition. Their clients usually became his clients. He waspretty sure of himself. I liked that.
As I finished with the light weights, I was grateful that Chris didn't think we had to kill ourselves with aerobics--stretches were the best. I always thought so. So I did twenty minutes on the elliptical using the handles,(because alas, I have no arm bicycle in my exercise room), and when I hopped off checked out the painting.

It still wasn't dry. I got dressed and went to lunch, camera in hand, with Honey to Birmingham, Detroit's movin' and shaken' Northern suburb where mullioned windows and therefore traditional art is favored. Maybe there'd be a good street shot?

No, all I got was the beautiful rose in the middle of our table at the trendy
Cafe Via, the quaint architects' offices along the way and a shot of Peabody's, a restaurant landmark for as long as I can remember. (This one would make a good colored pencil drawing,lovely subdued colors).

I missed the good city shots as we sped along Woodward where folks were staking out their spot in the shade with coolers and lawn chairs for The Dream Cruise weekend. Did see a hot Ford Thunderbird with a top notch restored silver and black finish, circa 1962 or so, with a pretty blond behind the wheel taking a test drive-- and enterprising restaurateurs setting up food concessions while the city set up comfort stations. The Dream Cruise weekend is a big deal for car enthusiasts from all over the country.I'll get a second chance today. We've got a lunch date in that area at the Beverly Hills Grill, another trendy spot for many years.

Anyway,the photos here aren't what I had in mind. I'll have to lose the car and Honey. For more on the Dream Cruise on Woodward and a bigger picture: Dream Cruise,Detroit News. (The painting was dry when I got home).

Cityscapes While I Wait

While waiting for Summer to dry and my camera to recharge. I looked through my photographs to find some city shots that might be worthy of drawing/painting time and effort. I found these four and put them together on a Publication sheet (since lining up photos with Chrome in that formation is impossible).

Two are from Greek Town in Detroit and two are from Puerto Vallarta. Of the four, I favor the street scene in Puerto Vallarta (lower left)second and the Liamon Cafe in Greek Townfirst. But I don't like mixing my cities when I'm thinking series. So camera outings will be scheduled. Over the next weeks, I decided to concentrate my attention in and around the Detroit area. City scenes will be perfect for the three twenty by twenty canvases waiting in the corner. Though not quite Labor Day, it isn't too early to line up fall/winter projects. After Pastries, Cityscapes makes two series. A total of six, seven paintings. A tad too ambitious--especially with Summer still in progress, but our winters are long.


Summer went through some interesting changes. After doing some work on it in the morning, I took it outside and hosed it off--too stark, too puzzle-like. I hit it with the jet stream and watched the morning splash into the grass. Then, dripping wet, I carried it back to the studio, laid it flat on the floor and began adding more dots, spraying more water as needed. I was painting wet into wet. The dots made with paint thinned with medium spread a bit and were transparent. They immediately softened the mosaic look as I knew they would. I worked in small portions, so there's more work to be done. But it was great being back on the floor. That's where the big boys (any size canvas three feet and bigger) belong.

Easel painting is new to me; I've painted on the floor my whole life, till my knees couldn't take it. Then, without a thought of anything but what I wanted to do, I just went back to it. It felt great. Continually circling the canvas checking the composition, I was in the picture. And the results of my new perspective were good.
Transparency over opacity was just the technique. I must have been ecstatic while lost in the doing, for Summer lost its shade.

Light Hearted

A lunch chatting and laughing with a friend always lifts the spirits especially when it's followed by a shopping spree where I found the black capped sleeve silk tee I'd been looking for two years and a very nice pair of Tahara leggings a size smaller than I wore the last spree. Lighter hearted I went back to the studio and the colors of sunlight grew lighter too. Still not totally satisfied, I'll keep at it till those canvases arrive from Dick Blick. Would you believe that nearly all of the gallery stretched canvas sizes are not in stock. Do people give up painting in the summer? What's up Dick?

I'm blown away by this new blog I'm following and you really should take a look: Acrylic and Light by Alvin Richard. This guy's acrylic paintings are a knock out.His style is photo realistic. And he started me really thinking about buying a projector.I can't believe this style is done totally free hand; this painting and his others are so perfectly detailed his photo has to have been projected onto a screen and then meticulously drawn and painted from there. I'm not really all that curious of what technology he used. While I am searching for one style that satisfies me enough to do it the rest of my life,(which seems important in the art world unless you're Picasso), Photo Realism isn't one of them. I just appreciate the artist who has that kind of patience and concentration. Mr. Richard's work is awesome. Do give him a minute.

My twenty minute sketch (an idea I got from The Twenty Minute Challenge), of a woman laughing isn't photo realism or awesome. I did it the first twenty minutes of Poltergeist, until Honey said, "They're here," an hour later, and we switched to Dark Blue. Wednesday TV sacks, I can certainly work in a twenty minute session if not some real prime time.

Contemporary is for Squares

I spent yesterday contemplating what was bothering me about Summer Shade. All day long I paced in front of it hoping the answer would just pop into my head. It did not. The problem nagged at me. I should have removed myself from the studio and read a book.

Instead, I went back to the original photograph. It was a rectangular photo of a clump of trees--a landscape. It was a traditional, rectangular landscape that I chose to paint on a contemporary square canvas and had done so too traditionally, too timidly to boot.

When I look out at my woods, all I see are dots, dashes, short broken lines, and solid forms that have been slashed apart by color/light, (they're one of the same, you know. You can't see color without light). Summer Shade needs more slashes, dashes, dots and the illusion of lines. I started in with it again this morning. The bottom portion hasn't been touched and is still too solid and dark. The left side isn't airy enough yet either. As much as I would have liked this painting to have been history in March, it's still in the works and not ready to leave the nest.

Whenever and Ruby Louise

Much to my surprise, whenever was yesterday for this landscape. I had pulled down Summer Shade from the wall a week or so ago to darken it up, but that didn't do it for me; it went dead. So I took another turn at it.

It still needs work--dots and dashes--mottled sunlight--forms made soft by the rays of light shooting across them--lots of colors-- complete ranges of dark and light playing against each other. So I'll just keep at it. It's going to be a slow go. Lot's of paint, a whole palette. I probably just thought the first finish was the end because it was a happy painting, looked like the woods with the wild flowers,people would like it, so GE, let it be.

But I couldn't. The more I looked at it, the more I thought it lacked depth. As much as I'd like to be able to knock off paintings, I can't. They have to feel right to me. This one didn't hold up after five months. What I'm aiming for is to have no desire to do another thing to it when I see it. I want to get it to the place where I'm amazed that I did that. The danger in wanting to feel self satisfied is I could either underwork or overwork a piece. Both conditions are what I call false finishes. I hate them.


Ruby Louise isn't going to be a done deal just like that either. She's leaning to the side from her waist, then twisting forward; her head is leaning and twisting further forward as well. But, there's a lot of evenings to listen to TV while working her out. (Last night I really liked The Big C; it hit home and Laura Linney was wonderful). The drawing will just take time. It's the peculiar pose of the body that makes me want to do this drawing. It's a life drawing challenge. Right now,she's just looking like a munchkin. Grid system here I come.

These artists knock a multitude of artists out of the ball park with their talent. They definitely know when their work is finished. Take a look at their hand made paper sculptures: http://www.popgive.com/2009/03/most-amazing-paper-sculptures.html Click on Indians.

BTW Project Search

I have a serious double portrait project, that will probably drive me crazy, ready to begin as soon as that d@@n canvas is delivered, (any time now they say). And a triptych I'm looking forward to doing and will begin immediately. My Backyard landscape series will remain on a back burner for whenever. Now,for the BTW portrait project--a pencil portrait of a kid, done in the evening distracted by the TV,(I like distractions; they stop me from thinking and encourage pure response).

Drawings of children, done in graphite or color pencil, are very calming done in the evening before bed. For that purpose, I began scouting out who's next. I thought of my grandson Zac having just seen him last Wednesday. I've only done four drawings of him over his fifteen years, (almost). It's time for another; he's a full two inches taller than me and shortly won't give us the time of day.

Then there's my niece's child Ruby Louise. (Don't you just love that name)? I have never met her,but she's extremely adorable and very photogenic--looks just like her mom, whom I'm very fond of.


I have no current photos of Zac that I consider worthy of time and effort. He's not camera shy. He just wants to remain NP. So be it. Ruby Louise wins.

A couple of years ago, I did this drawing of a kid I didn't know either. Her expression interested me, particularly her mouth; so I spent some time with her and my colored pencils). Any child is a subject matter that interests me no matter who they are. I've always liked kids. they're totally upfront. Innocence in it's best form. And very difficult to draw--they're soft and mushy, have no fully developed features that require hard lines for definition. They're not studied in art school. I'm studying them now.

RUBY LOUISE. FIRST STUDY. FIRST MESS.

I chose a great photo, taken by either her mom or grandmom, of a child in a difficult pose. Kept me struggling straight through Mad Men and Leverage; and was a real contest between my knead eraser and the drawing paper. Tonight, I plan to blow up her head with The Closer.



POSTSCRIPT:

About Mad Men. Whoever is researching it, is out of their mind. I was in my twenties in the sixties, the time period of this show. I was the same age as those "girls" working in that office. I had no idea of how to make coffee and if someone wanted a drink, they'd better have gotten it themselves. I do not recall any of the working women I knew behaving that wimpy way. I don't remember not speaking my mind or holding my tongue. And when I got pregnant, I said I was pregnant. I did not say "I was with child" nor did Honey describe that condition that way. We did wear stupid clothes-- Merry Widows, garter belts and girdles--and spent way too much time on our hair. But gave it all up well before flower children were dancing in the park half naked . Hair was written in 1964, the same year I bought my first bikini--low cut wired cups, lots of belly. The musical was about the hippie movement where hair was in big time and 116 pound bodies needed no restraints; nipples were hip. I maybe missing the point of this show about a world totally oblivious to what was really going on twenty seven floors below their offices--but it sure is a backward comedy to me. It would be interesting to hear the views of corporate women my age.

Coconut Cream Tarts

PRELIMINARY DRAWING TRIPTYCH TWO:



UNIT THREE OF THREE:



Aside from the extreme attack of hunger while drawing these pastries, they really made me happy. Not only could I have my cake and draw it too without gaining a pound, but the drawing shows me that the painting will be a very pleasant working experience.

I loved doing the pentykch, Out of The Closet; I'll love doing Chocolate Mice too. Working in units with forms and color, nearly completing one section before going on to the next, is very satisfying. Then having options on how coordinate the units and install them makes this multiple way of painting even more attractive;it plays to the designer in me who likes to push around the elements till pleased by the whole.

The itch of the matter is: I don't have this size canvas on order.(But I will when I'm done here). I do have one coming for my double portrait adventure, (still back ordered though); and I just received my box of twenty by twenties with no recall of how I wanted to use them.

So I've added my camera to the usual purse junk and have been out searching for subjects suitable for the square format. I should review Andy Warhol. Photography played a major part in his work process--as did the silk screen printing technique--albeit, a series of templates applied in a certain order. Aside from Jane, Liza and Marilyn type multiple head shots; he did do multiple flower assemblies...Humm.

Nora E, If You Hate Your Neck, I Loath Mine!

All the way home from physical therapy I kept playing with my neck to feel what was going on when I tilted my head and twisted just a bit to the left. At home, I made the horrible mistake of investigating more thoroughly. I took this web cam photo. OMG! Look what nearly seventy years of life has done to a neck that was once long, lean and lovely--just ask my mom. Cover the mirrors guys! A chicken neck is passing by. But I got the picture.

Some adjusting was needed. My gal's head didn't need to tilt quite that much. I lessened the tilt, firmed her jaw line and lengthened her hair. (A key light with reflective umbrellas, in the photographic stage, would have taken care of her neck problems. But for me, the photographer would have had to go all out with lens filters and...and gauze. Maybe a prop? A bee keeper's hat comes to mind).

In the painting, the heads won't be nearly the size of the preliminary drawings I've been doing. So lines everybody wishes they didn't have are really not going to be a problem. I just like to be very familiar with the subject and know in front what to look out for. Slouched and twisted necks over-shadowed by a tilted head being just one area, her blurred hand with pointed finger clutching a tissue, the other. Snapshots make the worst reference photos. Particularly of people moving through their lives oblivious to the camera watching. But these are the shots that intrigue me the most, so I persevere. I'm happy enough with this drawing to move on.

Snap, Crop, Zoom, Adjust, Sit, Click, Draw, Draw, Draw

I'm getting closer to the mom. The drawing is still not on the mark,but closer to the truth. Note the study lines for analyzing what relates to what where. Very Important. Then there's the shading--depicting volume. I'll tell you about that later.

These other head studies were drawn prior to the finished drawings I had in my mind. You can't draw enough to get thoroughly acquainted with proportions, crucial points and precise definition lines that come together to make an acceptable likeness of a person--especially when working from a snapshot. Actually trying to get a decent portrait from a snapshot is a joke, a fool's game,nonetheless...

A snapshot taken on the run during some event, seldom...no, rarely comes out with everybody looking their best in their opinion and maybe your's too. The exposure won't be right; there might be an unwanted hot spot bouncing off some reflective item or a tree growing out of somebody's head, and of course the usuals --red eye,handshake, environmental lighting...but you know the pitfalls of getting a good picture; they're in your family albums.

That's why,if you're very serious about getting a good shot, you take a zillion pictures hoping one will be the perfect one--and sometimes that happens, but mostly it doesn't. If you're really very serious about getting a good shot of a person. You get them to come over and you set up the lights and the backdrop and the reflective umbrellas and fool around with those things for an hour or so before squeezing off the first shot from the tripod---and then squeeze another and another. A good shot is a lot of work, a lot of time. And you're not done.

Then comes working with the photographs. TG for our computer photo programs and such tools as crop, Zoom, exposure, vividness, sharpness, color and convert to black and white adjustment options. All aids help clarify the features and familiarize the artist with their subject. And you're still not done.

Volume (indicated through shading),is an important issue in portraiture. The truth of it can only be studied with the subject in front of you in the studio.Photos flatten us out and put on pounds,10 to be exact. I learned that when I modeled. I was too fit to be a still life photographic model--at 125 pounds, I was ten pounds too fit. Disappointed, but rather healthy than ugly, I worked live shows and training films instead.

All of these preliminary drawings came from snapshots. I've never been able to get anybody to sit for me. So GE is all I can hope for in portraiture, while I work on my photographic skills and become an absolute pest at family gatherings. Everybody say cheeseburgers.

Freezing, Filthy Butterfly

I finally made it back to the studio. It was freezing and filthy. The air was artic. The sink was full of little dishes and larger palettes. The drain was totally closed with dried acrylics. And all the mixed colors in the closed wet-palettes had dried unusable. I rolled up my sleeves and went to work proceeding to get my doc's coat soaking wet--too wet to wear for some real painting. I hung it to dry and retreated to my much warmer watercolor station (bar) and worked on Mom and Teenager, the one I started on canvas board. The session went very well--well enough that I will continue with this preliminary sketch. (Doesn't look like much yet, but I'm going slow on my perhaps overly ambitious second portrait painting).


I was very pleased to discover that washable markers become set and non-washable when left to dry for an extended period of time. I didn't have to worry about those lines at all later on when I applied the acrylics. They would not mix in nor pick up; and I would definitely have a strong ghost drawing. The session ended when the marker died. I went up and out into the heat to water my parched garden.

Where I found a butterfly I've never seen before on the Butterfly bush I was thinking of ripping out:





Frustrated I had been unable to catch the insect full spread with her back to me, I fussed with my camera and Honey last night seeing if my Minolta even took continuous shots. It does. And now I have a series of pics of Honey flexing his fingers--particularly his middle one.

Paint Sports

Rather than test out paint supports to see how washable washable markers are, I'd rather do an hour on the elliptical trainer sweating off those obnoxiously stubborn five pounds. Before hitting the studio for possible failure, I ordered a stretched canvas appropriately sized for Mom and Teenager. Stick with what you know, I thought. Plus: On the one and a half inch deep support, my daughter in-law and son won't have to have the painting framed should they like it and choose not to hide it in the attic.

This drawing was done on primed stretched canvas, the support I've used my whole life. I used the water soluble marker I've been using for M & T. And I observed that the longer the drawing marks set, the more solid the lines, the more permanent they were when I wet them again and wiped. It was like stains on your favorite tee: the longer a stain sits, the more likely it going to be with you forever. This was a laundry problem. (I have half a mind to rinse the canvas one more time to see what happens after it's been siting over twelve hours, but how long am I going on with this)?

I didn't bother to try the canvas board panels I gessoed. I bought those specifically to use for Drawing-of-the-Day instead of drawing paper. Should I decide to sell the drawings I do daily, (they do tend to pile up), the boards are made acid free for "archive work", yet cheap and light weight. They require no matting, are easy to pack and inexpensive to mail--perfect for net sales.

Have a lovely weekend a bit early. Mine is going to kickoff tonight with the first of many activities planned with dear friends.

Two Birds

Two birds pointed out I've made a huge mistake with Mom and Teenager maybe a couple of them? I decided to use canvas board instead of the stretched canvas I've used my whole life. And I'm using a water soluble marker instead of pencil to do the cartoon drawing. I do not want to use fixative; fixative causes thin first layers of acrylic to bead. And I like keeping the chemistry of a painting simple.

I don't know what I was thinking. I don't think I was thinking at all. I should have remembered that the drawing paper I've been using with the markers has tooth and that's why the water based markers wouldn't entirely erase when wetted and wiped. Errors always remained a ghost on the paper. That ghost drawing is what I'm after. It didn't happen yesterday. These birds flew the coop leaving the board whistle clean.

As I write, a gessoed canvas board is drying in the studio. I'll try again. If today's experiment fails, back to stretched canvas...better try the marker on one of those too. No matter what happens, I have to begin M & T all over again. Very disheartening. Senility would pop to mind if I wasn't so good at Suduko.

And if I have to gesso every one of the canvas boards I bought out of curiosity sparked by so many net artists using them, (lighter weight, they're cheaper to ship; standard sized and thin, they fit in padded envelopes). That's enough advance prep time to prompt trying birch panels as well, if I continue to be interested in the internet business of art.

T & T In Progress

I finally got back to up scaling T & T. I proceeded a bit faster than I should have and have errors to correct.

I really do have to curb my impatience and tendency to cram too much into a day. By the time I got round to the drawing, I was in a hurry. These transfers can't be rushed. I was also cold. The AC was necessary for Honey's comfort upstairs; down in the basement, I needed a parka.

I'm not actually doing this on the easel. I'm doing it at my bar...otherwise known as gift wrapping station...otherwise known as framing station...otherwise known as the buffet table...and now in use as drawing table. When rescaling a drawing, I like to work flat and up close. the process is more drafting than drawing. My errors occurred when I forgot that in my rush to get somewhere with this figure,go upstairs and warm up.

No harm done. I'm using watercolor marker. It's removable. In the back of my mind, is the question, how much? All? Or is there a faint remnant that's strong enough to still serve as guide lines for the painting? I don't want the color of the guide lines tainting the colors of the water based paint when I get to that part of the process. A test is in order,something to do for tomorrow's drawing of the day. Two birds.

Moving On With Britney

Britney's coming along. Artistic license is very much the order of the day.

I'm going to do a wallpaper background, (below are the samples I'm considering. Of course, I'll be changing the colours to suit me). I'll also be exaggerating the push of her body into the deep upholstery of the couch cushion. Her hair is not orange. My couch is not fuchsia--nor is it overstuffed. And I haven't a single roll of wallpaper hung in my house. But as the artist; I get to make it up as I the picture suggests. Do you see how I have the welting of the couch on the same line as her bangs and her eyes? These elements all play up her eyes, her best feature and what I want to be the main points of interest in the drawing.



I'm still not thrilled with Derwent's Coloursoft pencils. They're still too soft. Honey's not too thrilled I've moved my colour pencil supplies into the breakfast room; I'm cluttering up the house. He's has no idea that out of chaos comes great art (order)--if I was a maven on the coloured pencil techniques. This is my seventh or ninth attempt with the waxy medium that leaves little room for corrections.

TGIF. Have a lovely weekend. I'll be spraying my roses for blackspot--after a night on the town dining on gourmet Eurasian fare worrying about the salt. Try not to be too envious.

Britney: Scaled Drawing, Another Approach

Yesterday's charcoal of Brit was done free hand.I looked at the reference photo and just sketched it as I saw it, noting strategic points as I went. Today, I got more serious.

For an accurate likeness, I used the scaled grid system,the same system I'm using for Mother and Daughter. I put the photo in a acetate sleeve and divided it into measured units. Then I divided the paper into the same size units.I could have enlarged the units or made them smaller if I wanted to blow up the drawing or scale it down. It's a very old method. I stuck with reproducing the actual size of the reference photo. The top drawing is a close up of the lower drawing. I wanted you to see the units and how I subdivided some of them to get the precise location of the eyes,nose and mouth. If I needed more precision, I would have divided the smaller units the way I did the larger ones.

Of the two diagrams, I think I'm liking the top one best. It focuses on her best feature,her eyes, and is the same horizontal format that I used for the portraits of Erin and JD, her half brother and sister. I'm thinking of expounding on the area around her--adding the back cushions of the couch (with piping detail) with a dark monochromatic wallpaper pattern on the wall. These measures will explain her hunched shoulders by giving the impression that she's slouched on the couch, which she was.
All of this means, I'm going to have to blow her up again.

Britney

I really appreciated all your kind words and the pushes to continue what I started here. And after all the encouragement, you knew I would have to draw something. Britney was it.

My daughter in-law's birthday is less than a month away.So I got busy with a get acquainted charcoal sketch of her oldest daughter. I got a close likeness, but didn't smoke any cigars. I'm not crazy about her hair or the position of her shoulders. Hunched up, they look huge. They look like it's the seventies when we all wore what amounted to football pads to show the strength of WOMEN POWER. They've got to go into history where they belong. If the background is blackish, then the shoulders can stay where they are as they are and I don't have to worry about correcting the neck. The dark background will obscure the size. Let the hair, skin and those fabulously mischievous eyes be the focus.

Her smirk is going to be a challenge too. Whatever happened to colored lipstick? It gives lips a definite shape. --I think that this rush project is what sent me over the edge. This portrait was not on my agenda--not that I'm not flexible (as stainless steal) you understand.

I don't really know Britney or why she doesn't wear lipstick. I've only met her a very few times and the room was crowded so no intimate chat developed. I do know that she's an excellent cook and a talented photographer. Instead of pursuing one of these abilities as a career, however, she's working at Jo Ann Fabrics part time without benefits or hope for benefits. Just in her early twenties, the waste of her talent and college opportunity is annoying, (painfully reminiscent, actually). Culinary School or an apprenticeship to a photographer is what she should be doing.Economic independence should be her goal.

--I have to be very careful these feelings don't show in this drawing. And really, it's just a portrait after all. What is it my business what she does with her life?
I'm her step grandmother.

Well now. Apparently I think that portraits painted by a family member by request can rake up a lot of personal crip that may affect the success of the piece? Maybe it's best to paint strangers?

What a Mess!

It was bound to happen sometime. This morning was that time.

I started out drawing spring wood one more time from reference photo one and I kept going and going and going until it was a total mess. I got so disgusted I yanked the paper out of the pad and ran it under running water chanting "Out, out damn spot I say," to no avail. So I ran my car over the thing to blot the excess water. Did I get carried away by the yellow? You bet. As soon as it's totally dry and tearable, (isn't that the appropriate word), I'll shred it.

Like great chefs say, 'you have to break a few eggs' on the way to gourmet. As we gals say, 'you have to kiss a few frogs to find your prince.' So it is with making art. A lot of paper gets trashed on the way to getting something decent. The artist can't be stingy.

Well, I am. Why let good paper and color go to waste? So I often shred failed attempts and reconfigure them--like the piece up top made the other day from a shredded pastel and the bristol board I used to get just the right amount of paint on my brush for Linda's Closet. (I decided to change the name of my pentyck to the factual truth--the multiple piece painting is a portrait of sorts). I find the sculptural effect and interrupted colors,images and lines--well, sculptural. And I like sculpture. Drawing Spring Wood #3, once doctored just might get juried into my new Trash Paper Sculpture Series?



I still needed a win to make myself feel better about abusing the drawing. So I took a baby step with Mother and Daughter. After shortening up the flower box with white-out,I divided the study into a grid and did the same on the canvas board. (I use the grid system for enlarging drawings rather than transfer paper). Now, the real drawing begins; it's labor intensive--no sketchy lines allowed. It's a fine looking grid don't you think?



With my small success, I'm off to the garden to cut down the g-d most awful looking bush I let my landscaper pan off on me last year. This is the morning for it. It's taking over the world out there bullying the butterfly bush and the hydrangea, and I can't stand it any more. With destruction being my style of the day, my machete is the tool.