Sunday, November 21, 2010

One Day I Will Laugh!

You have to let yourself giggle at your first attempts at just about anything. There are exceptions of course but when creating or learning anything new, a sense of humor is necessary. So, what am I chortling about lately? My very first attempt to paint with color. Here it is, still in progress:
Is it going well? Well, it isn't a total disaster. Am I learning a lot? You better believe it! The colors are close but not spot on. I took this picture in a totally different light situation than what I am using to paint with so it would be very hard to tell from this picture exactly what is going on but the general idea is there. I am enjoying myself tremendously, even when I get tangled up in frustration. I know I will get to where I want to go. I will be keeping this study. I want to pull it out one day a few years from now so I can see just how far I have gone. What I want to paint is so very complex compared to this but the simplification is necessary at this point. In fact, this needs to be simplified even more as I am still learning how to put the paint on the canvas let alone the color and all the other complex stuff. I am so very glad I have spent the past year drawing intensively.
I am still drawing, both figure drawing and cast drawing. I have set up a cast to work on in fact, and here it is along with a view of a cramped studio. It is cramped but it works just fine. I can move around almost as much as I need to and I can leave things set up.

I am working on the mouth of David. I have been alternating between a day of painting and a day of drawing. So far it seems to be working just fine. 
Yesterday we had a break between storms and the day was wonderfully sunny but chilly. We decided to drive 5 minutes up the road to the state park on the north end of our town and hiked a short path in to Short Sands Beach. It is a local surfing spot and breathtakingly beautiful. My husband took a picture of me, with our faithful dog Twill, sketching waves. 
Twill is actually lying on a blanket over flat rocks. We were there at high tide so there wasn't much sand but the beach got bigger as the tide went out. The sun felt wonderful and I was eventually able to take my coat off. 
This week we will be taking a day off to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. I have a lot to be thankful for and will be enjoying a modest meal with my loved ones in quiet celebration. 
So what am I thankful for? I am thankful for good health, the abundance in my life, family, friends, and the freedom to choose. 
Wishing everyone the same, 
-Renee

5 comments:

robyn mckay said...

thanks Renee - I like knowing what you're up to with your art.

Theresa said...

It IS amazing how fast a studio fills up isn't it! The color work is dang hard, I can only imagine with a palette full of choices where to start to get the correct colors. A melding of science and intuition. The sun looks heavenly, love the sparkly quality everything has in that picture, and Twill looks quite comfy on the blanket. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving day yourself!

R. Delight said...

Thanks Theresa and Robyn! Theresa, I have to add that I can credit my work with dyeing fiber to giving me a huge boost with color studies. I know what color I am looking for, my unfamiliarity with the medium is getting in the way at the moment. Time and practice will take care of that.
Robyn, I love your work with creativity and gifted kids, not to mention the Modern Goddess classes. So important. I am adding your website and a few others to my Art/Creativity links. I will have to do a post soon about all these links!

Karen Martin Sampson said...

Renee, I would say your "very first attempt to paint with color" shows a lot of promise! May I suggest another approach which helped me so much back in my art school days? Paint the still life as if it were a mosaic of colours...small squares (like the colour mixing sampler you are working on)and don't worry about blending everything together. Even a so-called "local colour" has variations if you look closely, one spot of colour placed next to another can show the subtle change in value or intensity.

R. Delight said...

Thanks for the suggestion Karen! I must admit I did start out that way but moved out of that mode too fast. I really do appreciate the advice and will try again keeping your suggestion in mind.

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