Ah Ha!

Well, after reading more and drawing and painting two more sketches on my "commission"  I realized that:

1. It is helpful to shut down the analytical brain functioning.  I did this by putting on  Gordon Lightfoot ballads which helped keep my "left brain function" busy so I was freer. I have tried classical music and contemplative music, but the effects were not as good.

2. A detailed charcoal sketch was helpful for me to grasp light and dark.  This works in the studio, but I am not sure it is a good move outside, where the light quickly changes (as well as the scene).

3. The sketch, quickly done, is not tight (I would say "uptight") and fussy but full of life.  There were defects, of course, but it was greatly improved.

4.  Practice makes perfect!  I suspect we watch PBS, then wonder why we can' t do what the artists do.  Well, they probably don' t do that either, but have years of visual memory and hours of prep time involved before taping (I can' t imagine going on nationwide TV without some prepartion!).  So people think it is magic, but it is nothing but lots of hard work. I plan to complete an hour's sketch each day, sort of like I practice my guitar.

All this greatly encouraged me yesterday. Nice to be painting again!

Finally Getting an Idea

I have been commissioned by my son and his fiance to do a painting of the tropics.  Ok, so that's no big deal.  But the fact that they asked was enough encouragement for me, and I have been working on the project with considerable care.

The paint will be one of their favorite places, an idyllic albeit generic Carribean beach.  I finally had a small painted sketch of what I wanted to do last week.  Since, I have been playing with different types of pigments and have decided, once again, to venture another underpainting and layer the paint until I have achieved the effect I want.  Part of that is that although the sketch I did was satisfactory, it lacked the luminence of the ocean there.  It is a tall order they have given me.  I have no idea if I will pull it off, but, armed with my new selection of transparent pigments, I am off tonight on another painting adventure.

I have a sign here at my desk which says. "Do one thing every day that scares you."  This scares me.

Hoping "Artist's Block" is over

Well, I am not sure what you call it, but I call it that.  No ideas; brush does the opposite of what I wanted, etc, etc.  This has been going on since I tried my first showing.  Since that showing was less than successful, I'd say that it is a miracle I didn't give up and go back to, say, writing, which is another dicey, block prone art.

But tonight, as I reworked a piece I started several days ago, it seemed to fall into place in a sort of surrealistic way that I am inevidably attracted to. There is something about impressionism and surrealism that I really can't shake.   This picture was made 1000 times (at least) better by the use of dark and light and a disregard for the middle values.  I say disregard, but the painting does have them;    it is almost impossible for them not to show up when the other two are in place.

I am hoping against hope that the use of strong contrast is the answer.  I have been sick of the mud I seemingly always made with paints that was glaringly absent from the charcoal drawings I have been doing. 
There may be other reasons why the charcoal seems  to be almost magical while with paints I am a slow plodder, but the contrast is definately one that is vital to a good picture.

Frustration Weekend

This  has been a weekend of arrrrrgh in the studio.   I had started with high hopes, since my cone-flower watercolor attempt had actually inspired me to put down my charcoal and paint.

And I did paint, but the result, though accurate in terms of light and shadow and  was well drawn ended up being , in my estimation, stiff and dead.  I tried another work which was adobe structures against a turquoise sea at sunset and felt so confined, rigid and therefore frustrated that I stomped off to do the dishes that had collected over the afternoon.  At least I knew I could successfully complete that.

One of  my books said that cold press was the only way to go in watercolor.  Maybe that is the problem.  I would like to blame the paper instead of myself.  So we will see. They say the moment one gets excessively critical of what he is doing he gives up.  Hmmmmm.   Well, maybe things will look better tomorrow.

Inks and Hope

Yesterday was a search for new pens and proper ink.  The one think that has discouraged me in the past was that my artwork would actually turn green over time, like a cheap ring, destroying what I had done.  So even though I liked the medium, I dropped it. This time, however, armed with the Internet and my smart phone, I went forth into my community.

Now we are talking small town here (well, maybe medium town).  There are two craft stores and a host of office supply places.  I had done some research and had come up with several names of pens I thought might work: Koh-I-Noor, Rapidograph and (of course!) Prismacolor.  My first stop was at Staples.  For a one aisle arts department, they actually had some nice drawing/drafting pens, but when I checked online, I couldn' t find anything on these particular pens (Staedtler) other than to note that they were not the top pens this manufacturer made.  I made note of them and moved to Hobby Lobby, a few doors down.

There I hit the jackpot.  They had two packs of Prismacolor's premier line which I had read very good reviews on, and so, with reservations (after all, who advertises their ink turns green over time?) I bought them.  It occurred to me also that the greening may have been due to the paper.  It was acid free, but was not what I would call "top of the line".   At any rate, so warned and so armed I took my prize home.

In the evening, I got out the pens.  They were smooth, responsive and easy to use.  I sketched a sparrow with results that heartened me after several months of setbacks and failures.  Maybe I could do this, just in a different way and using a different set of tools.

As Winston Churchill is quoted as saying: "Never, never, never give up!"

Letting Art Speak for Itself

This has been a bit of a frustrating and frustrated time as an artist, and I find myself spending more time at the piano and guitar practicing than in my studio.Concrete encouragement has been a bit thin on the ground, but I find myself back to it this week, although a bit more subdued for now, and ready to bloom where I am planted.  It is a great fault of mine, I think, to overreach with any project, whether it be learning a piece of music or crafting a story or painting a picture .  It can lead to interesting situations, but I think that is about all it lead to; whether something good is actually accomplished is a totally other thing.

Step in, yesterday, in the midst of failed projects, an old book about pen, ink and watercolor.  It reminded me of several things I had forgotten:  that small things can be beautiful and speak of G-d's beauty much better than my own high flown symbolism;  that I love the medium of ink (except for the discoloration--I must get better pens!), and that I need to look at the good I can do here and now, and not worry too much about where it is going.  It is like setting one's self adrift on a boat not knowing where, exactly one will end up and not caring either.

So, beginning again, duly humbled and well aware I have encountered another of my seemingly endless blind spots, I have to wonder how much good I could have done if I'd just looked around and not listened to the voice in my head, telling me I needed a label of what I "do". (In my defense, it IS usually a great icebreaker in social situations and I have used it myself.)  So many pitfalls and so little time.

Off to find some pens with GOOD ink!

Sabbath Blues and Grays

After seeing my husband off to work this morning, I slowly got myself together to get out to the lake.  The sun had been coming  in and out behind the cloud banks; the green in the patches of light was brilliant from the several inches of rain last week.  But I had to go out to see if there were any sailboats on the lake.

I was trying a new park this morning and drove up with my year's pass, only to discover at the gate that my pass was for day use and this was a campground. As I looked in around the gatehouse, I saw it was a very full to overflowing campground, and, this being a weekend, probably not the best place to set up anyway.  I thanked the kind lady and turned around to go to my secondary location, only to find, it too was a camp ground.  By the time all that transpired, the light was gone, the clouds were gone and the morning was gone.

So, I am sitting in my living room wondering why on earth I didn' t get my stuff together last night, pack up the car and just go when he did this morning.  Live and learn they say, but I was also feeling the quiet peacefulness of the day, the slower and less driven rhythm.  After last week, maybe I needed the relaxation more than the painting.  And I did get some scouting done.  Now I know where NOT to go.