WIP - In the Swim of Things

 

Using a photo to paint in watercolor - with permission.  I have miles to go.  

I chose to paint this

because of all the lovely water swirls above the figure.

The figure has crazy foreshortening as it comes toward the camera and

I feel the water distortion has something to do with

that foreshortening, as well.

It looked challenging - and it definitely IS!

Using 8" x 8" Ampersand board treated with housepaint 

and Qor watercolor ground.

 

Work in Progress - Day 4

Havin' fun in the snow today.

I need to take that 'line' between colors in the sky OUT - next visit.

Sharing a Work in Progress - WIP

I am so excited to be working 

on a large painting 24" x 48".  

Large for me anyway - and I love it when 

I get to use my Sorg easel for one this large.

And I like using my OWN homemade canvas.  

This is a scene from right down the road, so to speak..

one frigid wintery/hazy morning - of the sunrise.

I am just barely getting started, but I have achieved the color 

choice correctly.  It was an amazing scene.

This is just the beginning, the underpainting is down..

lots more to go on top..

a lot of cornstalk/silage to add and get lost in.

ARTIST AT WORK

WORK IN PROGRESS

oil on 24" x 26" black gessoed canvas

I have had this photograph I took of my three dogs 

hanging on the fridge for many years.

The black and tan Herman, passed 4 years ago, so it's been awhile.

In fact this photo I am using was taken very soon after moving

from Colorado to Kansas.  It was that 'first' winter

and they were all huddled up on their 

dad's lap on the couch to get warm (and vie

for his attention - like a 'me - me - me!!').

I had to paint it, it was just a matter of 

that FEAR you get

when you wonder if you 

can paint it right --- looming

over my head all 

these years.

I have waited and waited and finally

something told me it was time.

I have the dogs likenesses and expressions 

down just about right,

now I just need to work on the 

fur, the light, the shadows...continue

tweaking - it will look so great

hanging in our bedroom

above the Weims crate.

Here it is on yesterday's studio time...

Thanks for stopping by!

Please come back soon to see it finished.

Work in Progress - Third DAY

Working on middle raven today...

color in.

LOTS of work to do on background, foreground - 

mucho details to be done on biggest guy on the right.

You get the idea..

Portrait Finished and more of WIP

"Libby"

9" x 12"

oil on Raymar board

I couldn't resist painting from this photo.  I had those great outdoors colors on my palette from mixing and put them to good use.

More progress on "Cottonwood" 12" x 12" (WIP #2)

I changed the sky on WIP #1.  In Kansas, there aren't too many days of those kind of perfect blue of skies 

so I lightened it. I like the effect I got by lightly touching between the branches in a sort of negative space.

There is a darker blue left around the branches..it took the hard edge off the tree limbs in a lot of places, also allowed me to slim them down and I like it much better now. I may darken the midsky up to top some. Amazing what the color change of the sky does to the sunlight/highlight on the tree.

WIP #2 (today)

WIP #1 ( a few weeks ago)

WIP and Working on Repairs

 While waiting in the Jeep on a hot day with the dogs in Frisco, Colorado for DH to return from the store  ~ I took a great couple of photos of a raven in a tree.  I loved the way the photos turned out.  Upon returning from our trip which was  last year, I got out a 16" x 20" canvas and sketched in the scene with acrylic.  I meant for it to BE an acrylic painting, but as it sometimes goes, it didn't get very far.  I didn't like it and in lieu of 'wiping' -because one really has to be fast to wipe an acrylic painting it dries so fast, I made it into a story.  Poor RAVEN - he was caught in a bad storm and was about to be blown out of the trees.  Nuff said, and I put it behind another BIG painting that has about the same dilemma.

What you see above is something that can be 

likened to 'scribbling it out'.

Today, I FINALLY got to the studio after being 'house bound' for a couple of days. We have had a MEGA ice storm in North Central Kansas..and this ankle STILL does not want to go across ANY ice right now.  However, upon arrival there today, I began to look through canvas and ideas and came across this one.

I think the truth of it was and still is, there was soooo much detail in the pine trees that he was sitting in...and without painting them - 

well, it just wouldn't work.   Also, the large surface area - needs some detail.

Today I felt like revisiting it IN OIL paint and tackling those trees - head on.

The raven would be fine, it was working, the trees?  Had to get that one going, and I think I did. Here is a photo on the progression today.  The 'wind' died down, of course.

I am liking it - it calls to me now - it will get finished.
I like the bold acrylic colors as an undercoat.

With that ICE and snow, we had MUCHO wind.  We have a great bird feeder

that was left on this farmstead when we bought it.  DH has mended it a few times..but the strong winds a few days ago took it right off it's mooring and it smashed apart pretty bad.   (There are more times than fingers of things the wind has ruined here - this IS Kansas, afterall.) 

My studio is adjacent to his shop..he worked on rebuilding the bird feeder today - using some of the old structure and adding to it with some new wood, staples and screws.

Below is the bird feeder one winter with a bird TOO BIG for it..

but you get the idea of where it has been and how it has been used.

Definitely  NOT YOUR SIZE sir...

And here it is in the shop today

getting a rejuvenation.

Lid open..

lid closed.

I think Winter is not coming back anymore...I am crossing my fingers.

The next moisture we get should be only 'rain'.  But Kansas

is alot like Colorado (lived in the 'Golden' area)...change of the seasons, you don't know what you will get.

In Colorado, it depends on what comes over the mountains..here it's about the 'highs' or 'lows' that come across the plains..usually from the north...and if storms creep up from the south, you have fair warning.

Tornado season is starting now, OH YAY!!

Pastel Work in Progress

Work in progress 

in pastel on Canson pastel board -

large-ish -

haven't measured it yet.

While cleaning out some portfolios and loading things into my flat files, 

I found a piece that I started many, many years ago.  

There was a reason I held onto it.

It had a vision from the 'get-go'.  

I loved that mad chicken.  

It makes the painting.

So, I got 'back to it' a few days ago, 

knowing that I would eventually 

be left with painting that lovely handmade basket.

Not a problem, I know baskets -

my mom taught me how to make them, 

also many moons ago.  

It's just going to take some more days to get it done.

Bad news - I had to almost RE-DO the commission of the drummer -

see a few post ago.

I attempted to varnish it, 

knowing quite well it was not ready for it.

It schmeared some of the lighter colors across the surface.

Not good on that dark background and lighted figure.

Been there, done that - 

mad because I knew it would.

But glad today I fixed it back to it's original colors 

and it's now - even better - than it was.

Now it just needs to dry AGAIN.

Oil paint drying time can be very unpredictable.  

I have started using Liquin mixed with the oil paints

IT HELPS WITH DRYING - 

but hadn't done it on this one ~ but I have now!

Learn by doing - learn from mistakes. 

Cowgirl - WIP

Work in progress 

I used a "Morguefile" photo for this portrait. Morguefile is a great place for artists to USE photos - this is one of diggerdanno's photos.

On My Easel

Reaching out of my comfort zone and painting something very different for me these past two standings at the easel.  It's good to photograph and post these paintings to get a sense of what needs work and what needs correcting...I see a lot! Not even close to done on the left half of the painting yet.

 ~ Work in Progress ~

Cat Portrait - WIP - in Acrylic

Work in Progress

While visiting my daughter I remember her mentioning ~ "With all these artists in the family, you'd think that somebody could paint my cat!" 

Not wanting to mess with pastel right now, with wheezing and the sneezing going on, I chose to paint today and got going on an acrylic

painting of 'the cat'. 

I have a long way to go, He is a Maine Coon, therefore, lots of stripes and more colors than you can imagine. 

He has lots of fat white whiskers, that I will save to do as a hint of, at the end.

The meds I am on have my hands fairly shaking, so I quit for today.

Just noticed this photoshop wasn't too good on the skewing it to fit the rectangle...

What's On the Easel and More Stacks

Work in Progress/pastel of my grandaughter and her friends catching grasshoppers - not to that exciting stage yet...can't seem to breathe life into it for right now.  Many of you know what I am talking about.  Time will tell.

More stacks...

Cookbooks had to spill over into the studio recently...

about 1/100th of the (eclectic) CD collection we have...I love loading up the 5 CD changer and 'going for it' at the easel until the shuffle has shuffled it's last tune.

A Work in Progress

Very first today, I want to thank those "followers" that have returned and been visiting this blog lately.  When someone stops blogging for awhile, you wonder what is going on??  Are they done?  Are they away for who knows how long?  Are they lazy?  or are they just so busy with other things right now.  Thanks for not giving up.  Life happens - we got busy, believe me I yearn to paint ALWAYS - but other things take over.  It seems to be seasonal for me this year.  I paint because I want to and can think of nothing else that is that satifying to my soul. 

Today on the easel...

Acrylic - not sure of a title yet...will have to see it a little more completed.  I am liking the purple over the red..

A Work in Progress

This is what I am painting today (8" x 10"), in conjunction with helping hubster revamp/renovate our 1950 (yes, that's old) Chevy grain truck. We are working on redoing the instrument panel...and he is rewiring the whole entire truck - lights.

A big job...and a hot one.

I think he is ready to give it up for today,

where I have the air conditioned studio - and oh it is so nice in there,

he is working out in the heat.

This painting is being done from a photo of turnips that our neighbor brought us last year.

I am enjoying the triad colors with the cool and warm purple of the turnips.

The Thrilla in Manila

"Dad in the Phillipines" - WIP (work in progress)

on Canson paper

Near the end of WWII, my dad was stationed in the Phillipines.

He was in the Army.

Mom and Dad have these great sepia colored photos of him in their albums. I borrowed this one...and had to give it a try today. I have lots more to do, but I like the way it's going.

I think, although I am using black and white charcoal pencil, I will fill in the sky with a grey blue and the treeline with a shadow green - we'll see.
Caution - don't eat a handful of Frito's and then work on your pastel. My left hand left grease marks at the bottom. Argh! It will be covered.