Working on a Commission

The underpainting of this commission is done.
I am hoping to have this done by the end of the week.

Vellum Experiments

Today was a "play" day. After working on paintings for various shows pretty much non-stop for months now, I needed a day to just experiment and play without worrying about the finished product. Every once in awhile I need one of these days in order to keep my mind from going insane and to keep my work from getting stale. So far, nothing has come out of these experiments other than letting off some steam, although I am hoping that some day, one of these "experiments" will result in a new series.

I bought a pad of vellum a few months ago and it sat in my studio unopened. Today I decided to paint on it. My idea was to do quick paintings that were more expressive using the same two colors I have been using, raw umber and white. I didn't want to worry about the details so I tried to use my larger brushes. I don't know how successful I was about eliminating details though. Old habits are hard to break, I guess. At any rate, I started three paintings today. They are all 11"x14". I'm not sure if they are done yet, I'll evaluate that tomorrow. I did have fun playing with the vellum though.

SOLD

Newly Waxed and Finished

Here are the two latest waxed pieces to be finished. I know the Monkey Bars painting was actually done awhile ago, but I was still contemplating it for a few weeks so I didn't wax it until now.

"Monkey Bars", 30"x40", oil and encaustic wax on panel

"Laying on a Blanket", 30"x24", oil and encaustic wax on panel

I also worked some on the first of my 4x4 grid of paintings. I am now thinking that these will work better linearly. The last image, which isn't pictured, is an enlargement of just the men's faces. Basically, I am enlarging the image for each panel and getting closer and closer to their faces. After discussing this will a studio-mate (Thanks Kellen Breen for the advice!), I think it will work better in a linear format since I am getting progressively larger and closer, rather than in a grid format. I am also going to layer them will very thick layers of wax...just cause I like the way it looks and I want to.

BTW, I have no idea what they are holding in their hands...anyone want to take a guess? 

A New Format

I have a featured artist show coming up in October and the gallery thought it would be great idea to include some small paintings so that clients could have the option of some more affordable pieces, along with my larger work. Instead of just doing a few small panels, I thought it would be a good idea to have three sets of 2 by 2 grids. I thought I would do a grid with 6"x6", 8"x8", and 10"x10" panels in them.

Now, to make the paintings even more interesting, I thought I would paint the same image on each panel of the grid. Sounds kind of boring, huh? Well, if they were all exactly the same, I'm sure it would be. What I decided to do was take one image and enlarge it into four sizes and then crop them differently too. It would be the same image, but different at the same time. Making any sense? If not, I started the 8"x8" panel grid today. These are extremely rough and one panel hasn't been painted at all, so you'll have to use your imagination. Let me know what you think of this idea.

In case you're wondering, it isn't easy to do the same image three times and make them all look the same. Now, this is still in the underpainting stage so I still have a lot of work to do and they may end up looking more alike when I am done, but for now, not so much. We'll see how they look tomorrow. 

Barring a Mouth

Check this out.... My painting, "Turtle Race" (which is at the JoAnne Artman Gallery) is in the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot!

Meanwhile, back in the studio.... I finished the underpainting for another painting. The eyes are so pretty in this one that I am considering NOT covering the eyes. It could still happen, but I'm also considering Robin Luciano Beaty's suggestion of covering the mouth instead. I kind of like the message that it suggests...that pretty girls should keep their mouths shut. It reminds me of watching old "Kung Fu" movies when I was a kid. One, in particular,  had a Chinese princess, who was a beautiful woman that never spoke. The men would all literally fight for her, and when the man who won would get his "prize", she would start speaking and turn everyone off by her voice and senseless chatter. Suddenly she wasn't very pretty once she opened her mouth. I can remember my mom telling me I was like the Chinese princess and it took me many years to figure out what she meant (yeah, it wasn't a very nice comment). I may just cover the mouth of this painting in reference to that movie. We'll see.

I also worked on the other painting I started this week. I'm thinking one more day on this and I will be done.

Waiting for Paint to Dry

Today I finished the underpainting of the current piece that I started yesterday. My underpaintings are very thin layers of oil paint that enables me to figure out shapes and color, while "priming" the panel with some paint so that the next layers go on more smoothly. In addition, since I am working on a gessoed panel, it's usually hard for me to get a really dark brown on on the first coat. By doing an underpainting, the panel absorbs enough of the dark pigment so that the next layer goes on darker and less patchy.

I usually do three layers of paint: 1. underpainting, 2. second, more defining layer, 3. highlights and accents. I really need the underpainting to dry before adding the next layer, because if I don't, the paint just lifts off the panel when I try to add the next layer. It can get pretty patchy looking if I don't wait.

So, while I was waiting for the underpainting to dry, I decided to start the underpainting for a second piece. I can already tell I will be getting "hate" emails begging me not to cover the eyes of this next one...

This what I started with this morning.

Tehehe...floating head!

The underpainting completed. Final size of the painting is 30"x24". I
 really like having the large amount of white space on top.

Here's the painting I started while I was waiting for the paint to dry on the above piece:

This painting is 16"x16"...it's a small one!

Two Beach Paintings Finished and One Started

Here are the latest two finished paintings, freshly waxed!

"Tide Pool" 24"x30", oil and encaustic wax on panel

"Taking a Stroll" 30"x40", oil and encaustic wax on panel

I also started a new painting today. It goes along with my beach theme that I am currently working on. I like how the guy on the left looks like he has a really big mustache but it's actually the hair of the girl in front of him.