Sunday, January 30, 2011

Mondrian's Nightmare III

Mondrian's Nightmare III
6"x6" oil on canvas panel

Mondrian's Nightmare II
6"x6" oil on canvas panel

Mondrian's Nightmare
6"x6" oil on canvas panel

Adding color to Mondrian's Nightmare is an interesting exercise. In my first try (MNII) I felt that the blue was too dark and the yellow patches on the bottom were too symmetric. In my next pass (MNIII) both the blue and yellow are lighter and the yellow and blue pattern is different. Better? One thing that has sunk in is that the painting needs to have weight at the bottom, like if you dropped it, it would land with the bottom side down, because it's heavier. I think it has that weight.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Sketching People from Photos





I like to sketch people from life, and try to do that whenever I'm sitting in a place where I can do it unnoticed. I do the same thing with my camera. I sit or stand, panning the camera around, taking lots of shots, and no one pays any attention. Here are a couple of women walking in the town center in Uzes, France. Each sketch only took a minute or two, but that's still more time than you have when they are walking by!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

"Mondrian's Nightmare II"

"Mondrian's Nightmare II"
6"x6" oil on canvas panel

Here's my first attempt at adding color to Mondrian's Nightmare. It was harder than I thought it would be! Without the black and white version I would have been lost. I'm feeling that the yellow on the bottom is a bit too symmetric.

Now I'm planning the next one.


Friday, January 21, 2011

Sketch for "Near Rasteau"



I often do a sketch before starting a painting, especially if the composition is complicated, or I want to try multiple compositions from one reference photo. This is the sketch I did for "Near Rasteau" and the original photo taken from the passenger seat.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

"French Farm"

"French Farm"
8"x8" oil on canvas panel

For this painting I jumped ahead a couple of steps in my journey into abstraction and added both color and a recognizable subject. You might say I going backwards, since the previous two were more abstract. Is this my journey out of abstraction? Maybe. I wanted to paint more abstractly and thought that perhaps it would be easier to do if I went way out there and then worked my way back. I'm certainly enjoying the process.

I'll be teaching my Daily Painting and Blogging workshop at River Arts in Damariscotta, ME, again this year on the weekend of April 30 and May 1. Check it out here. I'd love to see you there!

Monday, January 17, 2011

"Composition 2"

6"x6" oil on canvas panel

This is my second painting for the River Arts Black and White show, due mid-February.





So where did these abstracts come from? Once I decided to use a sort of Mondrian approach (though with non straight lines) I experimented on paper trying to find pleasing compositions. I've left out my first two attempts, which were too symmetric and boring. I found that the key is the placement of the small versus large "squares" and the values to create a center of interest. "Mondrian's Nightmare" came from sketch 1 and "Composition 2" from sketch 4.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

"Mondrian's Nightmare"

"Mondrian's Nightmare"
6"x6" oil on canvas panel

I've been thinking about how to approach abstraction, and the upcoming Black and White show at River Arts in Damariscotta is a good excuse to try something different. Thanks to Bob Feldman for the title.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

"Mineola Blues" in the Works on Paper Exhibit at River Arts

"Mineola Blues"
gouache on paper, framed $200

My painting, Mineola Blues, an early blog entry from 2009, was accepted in the Works on Paper Exhibition at River Arts in Damariscotta, Maine, opening this Friday (opening 5-7PM). The exhibition continues through February 18. Suzette McAvoy was the juror for this show, and I thank her and all the wonderful people at River Arts for making this possible. I've only recently started entering juried shows, and so far I'm 2 for 3. I can only imagine how hard it must be to judge work for exhibitions!


Monday, January 10, 2011

Tweaks

La Calade after tweaks

La Calade Tourtour as done on site
6"x8" oil on canvas panel

Getting ready for our French show, I had a few paintings done on site that needed tweaking. This one is my favorite from the trip, looking at it takes me right back to the spot I stood while I painted it. But others weren't able to see the wall at the end, or the road going around the corner. So I adjusted the shape of the cypress shadow, and added the bright spot of green beyond it, brought the wall around on the left and lightened the sky. Better?

Saturday, January 8, 2011

"Near Rasteau"

"Near Rasteau"
8"x8" oil on canvas panel

I think this is my last French painting for a while. I couldn't resist this scene, taken from the car as we left Rasteau and headed for Gigondas. What a day! I'm already looking forward to my next visit.

Monday, January 3, 2011

"Rainy Day at the Market"

"Rainy Day at the Market"
6"x8" oil on canvas panel

I enjoyed our visit to the market in Lorges when we visited Provence. One thing a rainy day brings out is colorful umbrellas and rain ponchos.