My Barn Burned Down

Raymond Logan's Use of Warm/Cool Yellow

I troll around on a lot of artist’s blogs (for a free education) and one I keep going back to especially is Raymond Logan’s. After attempting the “Whistler style” a few posts back, and in working with color mixing exercises, the use of value and temperature is,  of course, in the forefront of my mind now when looking at artworks. The surprising thing about painting and drawing, to me, is not that we CAN do it, it’s that often the reason we can’t is that we don’t really see what’s there. Nor how to study what is there. This link to Logan’s post on warm/cool use of yellow is a great example. I keep going back to it to study because I know I don’t yet really grok warm/cool in painting and this painting is helping me break through that. Hope it helps you, too.

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Well, I’ve neglected my blog for long enough and wanted to prove that I AM, in fact painting still! Have been doing color mixing studies with the  Learn and Master Painting Course and I won’t post those but they are absolutely fascinating to DO. Had to then turn my attention to Christmas and luckily for me, my grandkids all want paintings! Well, one asked for one, one wondered to his Mom why he couldn’t get one, and the others were suggested by my daughters. Joanna had a great idea: each of her children owns a plush pet (no shedding, no pooping) that is their ‘comfort zone’; can’t sleep without ‘em. She thought, you know, one day these loyal dudes will be in the trash heap and wouldn’t it be great to have a painting of them to remember them by?  They don’t read my blog, so I’m sharing here where I am so far.

Leah owns Jaguar, a well worn floppy guy, and her favorite color is yellow, as is her bedroom, so here is Jaguar:

Little Garrett has Bear (now that I think of it, not sure that’s his name), which is a “blankie” and stuffed toy in one. A marvelous invention if your kids want an animal but love to feeeeeel the satin on a blanket:

Sorry for the glare from the flash. Will get a better photo during the day:

And in progress, Two BooBooBears. Have the background done and the bears are only blocked in. Here it sits on my easel with Bear – working on them both at the same time:

I also finished a ROCK DRUMMER painting for another grandchild and am partially finished with a ROCK GUITAR painting for the other.  I’ll post those when I can get them outside to photograph without flash. When those are done, I will pack up my acrylic paints and set up to work in oils. I have one ocean beach painting for the granddaughter who requested it and two dog portrait commissions to finish in the next month. So I am not slacking off!

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Sorry I’ve been neglecting the blog.  I have been painting, going through this fabulous Learn and Master Painting course (see the box up there on your right?) , and working on some commissions for pet portraits that must be done for the holidays! But honestly, most of my time has been spent the last few weeks on focusing in on my desire to build internet sites for e-commerce: my pension as well as to be able to spend more time painting and practicing my meditations.  The really fun thing about the last two weeks is that my 14 year old granddaughter “gets it” about the internet, is way more savvy than me, and she and I are going through this course together! I’m so proud of her: despite her full school schedule and commitment to volleyball, she has built three sites so far and is constantly researching more products. The goal is to get six sites up and linked together for the Xmas shopping season and then we’ll see how well it’s working. It’s really fun (for us) but for most people, they’re raising an eyebrow and wondering why I wouldn’t rather be painting. Well, I would. That IS the point.  I know it may take a few years to get really successful, since we’re beginning at the very newbie stage, but I do believe it’s possible, and now that she’s doing it, too, I’m so thrilled that she will learn this skill set that will serve her into the future. Wish they taught this in high schools!

Will post some paintings this weekend and update you on how our budding business is going. I read recently that Benetton started over a kitchen table with one knitting loom and now they own two airports not to mention a multi-billion dollar business! Small steps, big dreams. Never too late, I say.

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Van Gogh letters

Came across a fabulous site today that allows us entry into the very personal observations and working life of Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, through reading their correspondence and seeing their working sketches. The 120 letters are on exhibition, alongside the works he writes about,  at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam until January 3 next year but this site brings it to us.  I was very moved reading these letters and reminded of the fact that in his lifetime, Van Gogh only sold ONE painting!

The photo above is one example and you can read the full letter online.

That reminded of the quotation I read somewhere that “Art is painting, not painted.” The letters give such a strong example of artists doing the work for the love of the work, the love of the play of light and line and form, and the insistent urge that simply pushes its way out from within. In one of Paul’s letters to Vincent he mentions some sketches he’s working on of something he “glimpses” is important, and to come, but not here yet. I think most creatives will understand that deeply.

Enjoy the Van Gogh letters!

PS-Something I learned recently that I did not know: we always hear Vincent’s name pronounce Van GO. He decided to sign his paintings just Vincent because people (in the south of France) could not pronounce his name correctly. He was Dutch, so it sounds like Van Gough as in ‘cough’.

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Landscape a la Whistlers limited palette

Making art is such a great lesson in how to live life. On about.com:painting, the October project was to use a limited palette, mixing neutral grays and in the style of Whistler create a landscape, urban scene, whatever. It was an interesting project to work on because in the Legacy painting tutorials I am also working on mixing grayscales, color value charts, complementary value charts, etc. and so translating those skills into an actual painting, I thought, would be fun. Fun does not describe it. It got darker and darker and I couldn’t seem to mix the proper gradations of value to maintain some semblance of a scene that I could see in my mind, but was unable to translate to the canvas.  “Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em” kept going through my mind until, AT LAST, the deadline came (today) and I had to force myself to fold ‘em on this one. But I did like the practice it gave me and plan to try again at some point. I learned that sometimes the simplest looking paintings are actually very difficult to execute! More importantly I am learning how many value jumps happen within a small space that translates through our eyes to our mind to discriminate ‘form’. I now understand why we must observe nature directly, not just photographs. So many gradations are lost in photographs.

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