dum-de-dum

A happy and productive studio day today.

The little 8x10's are progressing. The first colour layer took about a week to dry, not as long as I thought it would take. Still painting with no mediums at all, just pure paint brushed out to create the effects. I am liking this technique quite a lot.



Now I wait another week or so, assuming these colours will dry at a similar rate to the first layer.


And a couple of the big pieces in progress... finally I can see them! It always seems to take so long from beginning to end; sometimes it feels like I am painting with blinders on my eyes for that long middle stretch.

underpainting:


up to here:




underpainting:


up to here:

Wheeee!!

pyrography

So I got this little woodburning kit and look!

These are birch panels, 12x12", with plain linseed oil rubbed into the wood after burn drawing. Not sure how to paint them now, but I do want to add a little colour - maybe just using earth pigments?

The burn drawing goes around the edges, too:

What fun!

keeping on keeping on

some new city sketches just begun
using only linseed oil to thin the paint here - we'll see how long they take to dry.


and progressions on a few of the big canvases:

looks like something...

I can see it now!
Yes, it needs more work, but suddenly now this one has a recognizeable form which can be worked with.
:)

experiments

I have decided I want to learn more about oil paint - the inherent qualities of the various colours, their drying times, relative transparency and body.

In the following works-in-progress, I first laid down the ground colour using a bit of mineral spirit for quicker drying. Now I'm painting on top using no oil or solvent mediums at all, just purely paint.






Blues seem to move differently from yellows.



And here I started with a fairly opaque underpainting:


It is possible to create some glaze effects with transparent colours, using no oil or solvent medium whatsoever! I am quite excited with this discovery.



A wall full of experiments!

'nother underpainting

Remember that canvas I just stitched? Well, it's no longer white!

subtleties

Each layer creates subtle changes:

death and life

The current incarnation:

...too much, too solid green in the middle bits. Gotta deal with that, plus a few other tweaks...

The stiched "drawing" that had to die:

...but is still visible when viewed from an angle!

The drawing is underneath everything, but appears to float on the surface in the end. Intriguing trick, that.

studio table

I'll bet if I chopped up my table the resulting "paintings" would sell for a lot more than the stuff I slave over every day, haha!

my morning face

Stitched the canvas yesterday, stretched it first thing this morning. Took the photo before I was fully awake.
By now it is gesso'd and tomorrow - underpainting!

The walls...

...are full of works in progress!
Like these:



Feels like I'm finally getting used to working without the *toxic* alkyd medium! The new glazes take a bit longer to dry, but starting with a more complete underpainting helps to balance the slow drying time.


And then there are some very small things, like these:

this one's about 9x12"
I'm thinking it's finished now.

Side view - there's always something around the corner!


And a few new starts. These are all 8x10:

thick paint

thin paint

more thin paint

Got some ideas, wanna try small versions first. Here we go....!

Here And Where

oil on 6 stitched canvases
18 x 102"

each one measures 18 x 17"


this one keeps changing... wonder if it'll ever be finished?


and here I am with 6 underpaintings.

1.2.3.4

Can I do a little more?

before:


after:




Tweaked this a bit. Liking it.


Really liking this one!

over & under

Ecosystems #4

before:


now:

So that's the underpainting.
When the glazing is finished, the stitching will still be visible as a sort of raised drawing that seems to float just above the surface of the canvas, but is actually underneath the colours.


Ecosystems #5

First glaze: quinacridone magenta. Liking how it mixes with the various colours of the underpainting.

switch

My hubby's out of town for a few days and what do I do? Immediately switch to working nights - 7pm to 1am suits me just fine!
I've been feeling inspired and productive.

First I did another underpainting.


Then I added light green lines to these.


Same green added here.


Yet more of the same green! Ok, I mixed too much. But it does seem to work nicely on the various paintings.

Tomorrow I have to be at my job, luckily not until noon.

thin line

Underpainting:

oil on canvas
35 x 62"


Overpainting:

acrylic on canvas
10 x 10"

little tweaks

So I'm thinking these are finished now.

Resonance I
oil on stitched canvas
24 x 30"

Resonance II
oil on stitched canvas
24 x 30"

the new and the old

Two beginnings:





And a renewal:

Calgary Artwalk 2009

Day 1 over. Whew.
I love having the open studio during Artwalk, but also very glad it happens only once a year!

My little wall display of "City Sketch" paintings. I've never shown them all together like this before, and it was nice to get a bit of appreciative feedback.

zip zing zoom!

Sub Culture

oil on stitched canvas
37 x 58"


Interplay

oil on 2 stitched canvases
75 x 45"