The Upside of Painting

My most recent effort is a largish painting of my favourite town, Fernie BC.  After some repeated attempts to paint in a more loose, impressionist fashion and having little success, I decided to try something challenging on the opposite end of the scale.  I have been plugging away at this for over a week now.  I was finding it difficult to paint the detail in the close up store windows, so I used the old trick of turning my picture and painting upside down so that I would just see shapes and paint what I saw not what I thought I was seeing. The upside of upside down painting is that it really helps!

Impressions

I am back at the painting with a vengeance. I have completed 2-3 since Christmas but was losing steam.  I painted this little one today in a more impressionist style which is a style I personally love and would like to improve at.  So I think there will be more in this style for awhile.

9x12 oil on board

Cozy Christmas

Soooo...I haven't been painting very much lately.  I was working almost full time, teaching at the Art Gallery of St Albert.  Then I got on a needle felting and wool sweater upcycling rampage for Christmas after work each day.  I made about 12 needle felted penguins and snowmen ornaments.  A few years back, my now 100 year old Grandmother knitted my children some lovely, but itchy wool sweaters.   I re-purposed them into toques for their big heads, something they can wear for a lot longer now.  I also upcycled a few wool sweaters into felted wool mittens.  Everybody's gonna be cozy this year!  Merry Christmas!

Warm Woolies

I am taking a little break from painting and am working on some Christmas gifts.  I purchased a number of used wool sweaters from Value Village and have 'up cycled' them into wool felted mittens.  You can check out my Instagram page for a brief clip showing the needle felting design on one of the mitts.  You can find TONS of videos on Youtube, on how to alter an old sweater into new mittens too.

The pattern and the back of one wool mitten with the needle felted design.

An innocent bystander

The completed mittens, wool felt with a cozy fleece lining.  WARM!!

Cleaning Up

Following a great webinar I took part in last week, by Brenda Malkinson entitled How to Choose what to Lose - Editing your Artwork, I got to work editing all of my materials and supplies that I do not use any longer. This may help me to stay focused on a couple of mediums and methods, rather than being pulled off in different directions.  She recommended iHuman Youth Society in Edmonton to donate, good art materials that are cluttering up your studio.  I spent a couple of days packing up my still useful supplies I don't use and brought them downtown.  I had a great tour of iHuman from Steve, the Artistic Director - thank you!  Check it out and then donate supplies or money!

On the topic of cleaning up, I also found this awesome brush cleaner in the makeup aisle of London Drugs recently. Works like a charm on my paintbrushes!  I don't have any makeup brushes (maybe I should) but I am sure it works well on those too!

Scrubba-dub-dub

Hangin' Around the Rosies

I really ended up liking this painting when all was said and done.  Initially I had painted in the purplish, dark bushes behind the roses but took them out and liked that better.  I am now questioning the purple hill in the background, but will let it sit for a week or so before I make any drastic changes.  Nothing I like better than fresh laundry off the line.  This particular clothes line was in White Rock BC, taken when out for a stroll.

11x14 oil on canvas

Let's talk about your values...

I am focusing more on my values lately - not the kind that make me a better character but the light and dark values of my paintings.  It has been said by many an artist instructor that if your values are correct then you can paint whatever colours you like.  So I am working on the iconic fall trees - from a photo I took while 'camping' in Banff when it snowed in September.

IN PROGRESS - 48 x 36 oil on canvas

Learning ...Always Learning

I love to read and love to learn and I finally broke down and bought Richard Schmid's book "Alla Prima II".  It is an AWESOME book with tons of information for the intermediate to advance artist.  It costs a lot of money, BUT when I think about all the information - way more than you could get in a workshop - AND the fact that I paid more for textbooks in University... worth it.  I ordered it directly from his website as it was at least $100 cheaper than Amazon prices.  Save your pennies and get it!  Richard Schmid's Books

Another favourite book if you are into landscape painting is Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting.  It's old but very useful - unfortunately in black and white - but go on-line and google some of his paintings.

Chugging Away

I am trying to paint almost daily right now, as my part-time teaching job is quiet until November.  Then it is almost back to full-time teaching and less time for painting.  I have put the finishing touches on the two paintings below.  The top, Bagel Shop, is part of my show in Fernie next year.  The bottom is one for my niece of her beloved cat.  Fun to mix it up a bit.

Bagel Shop - Oil on Canvas 12x12

Oil on Board - Myles

Purple with a Purpose

I was so excited this morning to hear that my painting, 'After Work Walk', went for $500 at the Purple with a Purpose fundraiser for pancreatic cancer.  Thank you to the person who bid on it!

This fundraiser is especially important to me as many of my family members are affected by this type of cancer. My Dad passed away from pancreatic cancer and the family carries a genetic mutation that causes this type of cancer.  The money goes to pancreatic cancer research - which is really needed as this is one of the mostly deadly cancers out there.  Donate at this link to help with pancreatic cancer research!

After Work Walk - Oil on Board

Loosey Goosey or is Tighty Righty??

Just when I feel like I am getting closer to a preferred 'style' of painting, I do something different and start to wonder.  For example, I am in the midst of painting the two pictures below.  The landscape was fairly loose and fast with colours that were not quite what I saw so I ramped them up a little.  The building is very tight and controlled and the colour is pretty true to the photo I was painting from.  I enjoyed doing both.  Hmmm.... I think in about a year's time after I get another 100 paintings under my belt I might be closer to the answer.

Lazy Painting

Lately I have been working on some paintings I am doing for a series.  The very large one of the barn and mountain was going along nicely until I got to the foreground.  Everything has 'ground' to a halt. HA!  I had put lots of thought and effort into most parts of the painting, but hadn't thought about the foreground, since, when I drew this out, it seemed like such a small portion of the painting and therefore insignificant.  WRONG!  It has been wiped and repainted 3 times and now the painting is in a back room so I can't see it.  

Black and white photo of large oil painting

The problem being I got lazy.  I planned everything else out pretty good.  (I do see some parts that need tweaking)  Since I put too little thought and planning into the foreground area it now stands out as a weak part of my painting.  It must be fixed before it goes anywhere! I will wipe again and work on it soon.

 Moving on to my next painting.  I felt I planned it out fairly well.  Considered different layouts, laid in all my darks and began painting.  Of course I attacked the foreground immediately and felt that it has a good start.  Current struggle is with the colours in the background ... aaah!  However, I now feel that I can go back to my large painting and tackle that foreground with more knowledge and hope that it will work out.

I say all this to say... you just can't be lazy in any part of your painting.  Proper planning and preparation (value sketches, colour studies, etc.) are what help your painting turn out.  I spent the last hour or two at Outdoor Painter website re-reading about values, composition and tonal drawings just to refresh my memory on why it is so important.   I have heard it several times now from many respected instructors, just need to keep following through.