J Wrapped in Pink

J Wrapped in Pink

January 25, 2009

16" x 20"

Oil on Board

J Wrapped in Pink was mostly painted during a model session I had at the studio on the 15th of this month. I loved the painting and it was an incredible model session. I went to look at the painting the next day with my husband. We both noticed that there was something lacking in the painting, that the painting had the potential to be more, but we could not figure out what was actually 'wrong' with it. I figured it out last night. I pushed the dark tones in the figure darker and therefore defining areas such as the limbs and it gave the figure more depth. I glazed over the blue cloth including the shadows cast in the background. This flattened the surface a bit, so that the texture in the blue cloth didn't take away or compete with the figure. Then I put another glaze over the pink wrap which gave it an intense vibrant feel, which is more true to the actual cloth ( you will just have to take my word for it).

This model was phenomenal! It was her first time modeling for me. During this model session I really felt like the minutes were slipping through my fingers. The poor woman, we lost track of time and she ended up holding poses for longer than we had agreed to. She was an incredible muse where I felt like I couldn't draw or paint fast enough. I became instantaneously focused. I usually do about an hour of warm up sketches and drawings of the model and then I do a couple of quick small paintings, not much more than 45min each. With 'J' I wanted to dive right into painting and my sketches were full blown intense drawings. She radiates an essence that I find very facinating. I hope to get the chance to paint her again.

A Taunting Group of Oranges

A Taunting Group of Oranges

January 12, 2009

16" x 20"

Oil on Canvas
$250.00 CAN

Yesterday I finished my bead painting and then I went and did my posting on this blog. Then I got surfing the web, jumping from one fabulous artist site to the next. I was so inspired that as soon as I put my kids to bed I went into my studio and painted the above painting of oranges. They have been taunting me to paint them ever since I did that drawing in my sketchbook (see previous post where I posted the drawing) this past weekend.

I find the internet a great tool to get inspiration. I find it just as good as art books, just less tactile. Though, I do find books easier to keep track of than websites. There maybe hope for me because I just started using 'my favorites' feature in my web browser to help me keep track of artist websites and blogs. I highly recommend taking a dreary afternoon and looking at some art online. You may truly be amazed at what is out there.

Finally Finished!

Untitled bead painting

January 12, 2009

20" x 24"

Oil on Canvas
$350.00 CAN

It's finally finished! I am quite sure I have put more than 20hrs into this painting. Though it is not that large it has so many different colors in it. It was the color mixing that really took the time. This painting really put my color mixing skills to test. It was not easy but I learned an incredible amount. I will certainly think again before picking subjects that are so colorful. I am pleased with the results. I love looking at this painting. There is so much to it. I picked the subject because it was colorful and also because by enlarging it's scale it reminded me of abstract paintings where the main point is shape and color. In this painting I paid as much attention to the beads as I did the negative space around the beads. it is the color and shapes that make it what it is. Though, you cannot experience it on your screen, the size of the work contributes to its abstract feeling. If it was a realistic size that was more true to the subjects actual size it wouldn't be as successful a painting. That is my personal opinion. I keep in mind that art is subjective. Speaking of opinions, my mom likes it. So it must be good!

New Pens = 5 New Sketches

From My Personal Sketchbook:

I went with my sister yesterday to the art store and bought some new pens and, well, that is just asking for trouble! They have this painterly quality about them. We couldn't wait to get into them. I came home and we sat down at the kitchen table and just sketched until we couldn't anymore. Supper interrupted us. Our partners wanted some attention and were getting sick of watching us tune them out while we were in the focused creative 'zone'. They are great tools to help communicate or jot down visual ideas. I bought 4 colors which the last 3 drawings are done in, with some help from a black pen. A blue-gray, burnt sienna, sand, and one called raw silk. How can you go wrong with something called 'Raw Silk'?

I had wanted pens like these for a while. Another sister of mine uses these types of markers all the time. She is an industrial designer and uses them to sketch out ideas for designs, mostly furniture design. They are a little daunting at first, and it takes a while to get used to their peculiar qualities, that is, they are not like any regular pen, crayon, or paint.

The above sketches are from yesterday and today.

I have been spending quite a bit of time in the past couple of months looking at two particular websites that are intriguing and inspiring:

www.startdrawing.org and www.urbansketchers.com . I highly recommend checking them out.

It's a New Year, Kick it off with a Model Session!

Happy New Year to one and all! I hope that everyone had a great Holiday Season. I certainly did. My husband, for the first time, had two weeks off work. So, we took the time to reconnect as a family.
I was tremendously busy. I had 5 birthdays this past month, and as if I didn't have enough to do I decided to make most of my Christmas presents this year. One of my favorite story tellers of all time has got to be Stuart McLean (writer and radio personality behind the Vinyl Cafe), and my favorite Christmas story has to be his "Dave Cooks the Christmas Turkey". No matter how many times I hear it or read it it always sends me roaring with laughter. It also reminds me that it is not just my Christmas that is hectic, chaotic, and often at times puts my normal life on hold. Every year I say it and never do it, well lets not break the tradition - "I really need to start making Christmas presents in the summer!". That is my explanation for not posting anything in December. Who had time to read any new posts anyways? December is always a right off for me.

Though I was working hard in Santa's workshop, I did find time to work on my painting. I could not even say at this point how many hours I have put into this painting. Really, I don't even want to count. I am enjoying it no matter how long it is taking me. I am learning a great amount from the experience. It is the painting that I had posted in it's unfinished state quite a while ago. It is of a necklace. It has very broad range of colorful beads. As a necklace it is on the verge of being tacky, I am sure that in a few years it will be. In the previous post it has a yellow background which is actually the under painting. I am close to finishing it. It needs about two more sessions for its completion.

I invite artists on Thursday January 15th at 7:00pm - 10:00pm to an open model session that I am hosting in Stony Plain. It is open to all artists. I do ask that you RSVP before the 12th so that I can reserve you a space and to make sure there are enough artists to make it a go. You can contact me by email [email protected] .
Also, I ask that artist not bring or use loose pigments. I have recently had a wicked experience trying to clean up loose ground charcoal and powdered green pigment from the studio floor. Well, it took me a week to rid the studio of that pesky substance. It seemed to transfer itself to all different kinds of materials. Which reminds me to add to the list, heat drying oil paint. That stuff just never dries. I tested the stuff out once. It took me a month to get rid of some ultramarine blue that kept on popping up out of the blue. It was like some weird alien goop that left a trail like a slug but I could never find where it was actually coming from. I would catch it adhering to my clothes, the bottom of my slippers, on books, and on light switches. Finally I found the culprit; a tiny spot on a large painting that didn't dry quite enough. I almost threw the whole damn painting out!
That said, I hope we can make it a go.