'Tis the Season

The holiday season is always a busy one. It can be even more so when you are a musician married to another musician. My mate plays the trumpet in several bands and sits in on several more during the holiday season. Most evenings there are rehearsals and performances. This evening I went up north with my mate and did the grocery shopping while he performed at a rendition of the Messiah concert.

I completely missed blogging last week for pretty much the same reason. I always seem to get caught off guard by the sudden arrival of the holiday concert season!

So as not to miss two weeks in a row, I am doing a quick blog post tonight.

I started a new painting using one of my Inktober sketches for reference and inspiration. I have been documenting the work in progress. It is 24"x18", oil on panel. I built the panel myself! Here are three pictures of the painting progress. I still have a few more sessions to go before I set it aside to see if it needs a bit more.

Until next week, wishing for all to have a bit of beauty in your day.

-Renee

© R.L. Delight, 2018

© R.L. Delight, 2018

© R.L. Delight, 2018

Time Vault-W.I.P

I am approaching the finish on my latest still life, Time Vault. I decided to spread the work-in-progress over two posts. As I mentioned in my previous post, I am holding myself to following a specific painting process. It is a good way for me to learn a particular approach and expand my skills. When I feel I have a good understanding of the particular process, I will think about what I want to add, and what I want to leave off and continue on from there.

Here is the work-in-progress sequence in this post starting with a drawing directly on the canvas with paint, from life, adding the dark accents, shadow shapes, then light shapes. All throughout each step I corrected the drawing and value relationships. I am now to the point where I have added detail, texture, am checking edges, and yes, still checking and correcting value relationships and drawing. I will post those WIP pictures, and the final painting in the next post. I am hoping one more painting session will see it finished.

Time Vault, drawing in

Time Vault, dark accents

Time Vault, shadow shapes

Time Vault, light shapes

In the next post, I will not only have the remaining WIP pictures and final painting but why I chose these objects to paint and the story behind them.

Can you guess why I am titling this painting "Time Vault"?

Off to prepare for a busy week!

-Renee

Study Time

A few posts back I promised to post about how I study. First I have to mention that I absolutely love to study. Not only art, but a wide variety of topics from A to Z. There are so many fascinating things to learn about. I have always thought that it would be wonderful to be paid a salary to just be a student for the rest of my life. I suppose in a way I am paid a salary, it just isn't in the traditional form of pay. The upside to that is that it isn't taxed!

So, like so many studious folks I take a multimedia approach to studying. Most of it comes in the form of books. Even though I try to cull my books now and then, I still have a lot and they all over the house! Here a bookshelf that is next to my spot by the wood stove in our living room:

I love this shelf that my mate made for me as I can reach any book I need without getting up. As you can see, there is a number of art books on the left. Just a small selection from the total. There are also books on sewing, herbs, music, and cello playing. These are what I am currently referring to. There are also a few Plein Air Magazines tucked in there. I learn something from each and everyone. I always pick up new information whenever I re-read them too.

I also have several videos. I like videos but, by necessity, they tend to be a bit more limited in scope than books.

Of course, if you have read my previous posts, you probably realize that I do a lot of practical studies. About 99% of them are plein air. I have painted close to 300 in the past two years with 82 of them being wave studies. When I first started painting en plein air, I realized I was going to have to paint a lot and that many of them wouldn't be that great. I don't have a lot of extra funds so I tried to find ways to save money and still accomplish my goals. After a bit of research and crunching some numbers I decided to use canvas pads. The one on the right is mostly what I have used. The 12"x16" has been perfect. I can get 4-6"x8" canvas per sheet, or 40 per pad. I think it came to about $1.60 a painting. I didn't feel so bad if I messed up. Plus, I wasn't going to be tempted to sell my study if I got a good one. Since I don't use reference photos, these are the only reference material I have, along with any sketches.

After I cut the canvas to the size I want, I tape it with white artist's tape to hardboard panels I cut for that purpose. When I am finished, I remove the tape and pin it up on my bulletin board. When I fill the board up, I take them down and it is ready for a new batch. I am down to my last 6 or so cut and taped canvases to use. After the cotton ones are gone I have the Centurion linen canvas pad to use. The canvas is a lot nicer and I am thinking I want to mount the sheets to panels first so they will be more permanent. I am still thinking on that one.

I decided that when all of this is used up, which will be fairly soon, I will graduate to Centurion pre-mounted linen panels. They are fairly reasonable in price and I want to start painting more with an occasional finished plein air painting in mind vs. a study. I will continue to upgrade my panels as I can afford to. Here is my bulletin board just recently, before clearing it. It is on its way to being filled up again.

All of this is materials and resources so far. I also do practical studies with paint, pencil, and other mediums. These are value scales I put together to help me with paint values. I used Color-Aid paper, glued them to cardboard and coated them with acrylic gloss medium. I have been working on my values lately and am starting to see progress.

Here are a few samples I painted using an artist's painting that I admire as value reference. I worked to match the range of values in the painting and gained quite a bit of understanding from the exercise.

Finally, I have a couple of online classes that help keep me accountable yet give me time to go at my own pace. The biggest and best by far is Sadie Valerie's Online Atelier. This gets me back to my roots of highly disciplined and structured academic art study. I have only done the introductory exercise and had it critiqued. Sunny days to paint and life's concerns have slowed me down but I am determined to continue. Michelangelo is reputed to have spent an hour a day drawing. If it is good enough for Michelangelo, it is even more so for me! Here is my first submission. It took 5 hours and is graphite on paper.

I know, not terribly exciting is it? It was done without a model, just in imagination. My next assignment is to draw ellipses (done), an outlines exercise (nearly done), and another value sphere like above. The point is to see improvement. Once it is critiqued and Sadie gives the green light, you move to the next exercise. It is progressive with one skill building on the previous skills. I will post these in their own posts in the future.

This is a long post. It covers a lot but not quite everything I do. So now, when you graciously notice the improvement in my work, you will know that it really has nothing to do with "talent" but just determination, hard work, willingness to fail, the wonderful artist people who surround me, and a pinch of good fortune thrown in.

I would love to hear what other people do to study, no matter what the medium or skill. Please feel free to post a comment!

-Renee

Tipping Point

© 2015 R.L. Delight, Tipping Point, 9"x12", oil on canvas

It has been stormy this week as front after front has moved through. Thankfully just wind and a lot of rain. I feel for all my East coast friends and family being buried in snow, so, no complaints here! However, it has been stormy enough to keep me in the studio instead of out on the beach. I am actually happy for the studio time. It gives me a chance to work a few things out. I decided to work on still life on stormy days. While I admire still life paintings with flowers and teacups, toys, and other household objects, I realized that I prefer to paint natural objects found on the beach, for now. I have a collection of interesting pieces of driftwood, rocks, and the occasional feather. I will be using these in a series of still lifes.

I have decided to make these still lifes fill in a few purposes. First, I wanted them to have a slight environmental narrative. I also wanted to use the painting process to work on my technique. Believe me, it needs practicing on every level! This still life is just about finished, in spite of the signature.  When I took it into the daylight, I didn't like the yellow color in the lightest areas of the rocks. I am putting this aside to dry and then I will go back, take another look, and if need be alter the color in spots. When I got it to where I am mostly happy with it, I will put it up for sale. I am also changing the light over my easel to balance the color out a bit better.

Tipping Point was painted alla prima-ish. I painted it over 3 days (including set up time). I decided the next still life will also be alla prima but this time I am going to use my notes from the workshop I took with Kathleen Dunphy and follow the process she taught us. After exploring and experimenting a bit, I want to home in on a painting process. Kathleen's makes sense to me so I will start there.

As soon as I took this off the easel, I cleaned my palette and brushes and then set up the next still life. I like to play around with the set up and then leave it overnight or longer if possible to think about and look at. If the weather improves for tomorrow, I will be heading out to paint plein air otherwise I will be starting in on the next still life.

Here are a couple of pictures from the painting sessions. I will do better on getting work-in-progress pictures on the next one.

© 2015 R.L. Delight, Tipping Point, first drawing

© 2015 R.L. Delight, Tipping Point, WIP

Stay warm and dry everyone!

-Renee

Helping Others

"A culture...which fails to understand that the measure of a civilization is its compassion...condemns itself to death..."

-Chris Hedges

The quote above is excerpted from one of many books by Chris Hedges. To see the full quote, which is a great deal graver, click here. I have read several of his books but not this one, yet. They are not light reading, but give much food for thought, and action.

I believe the recent storm Sandy, which is still churning in the Eastern US and Canada, has been a good reminder amidst a grim political circus to show us what is really important. 

I don't think I have to tell anyone how hard folks have been and are being hit by this storm. I am but a humble artist at the beginning of her career (although not at the beginning of adulthood!) and I do not have a lot of funds to donate but I do have a couple of paintings I can donate the proceeds from to help out. 

I have a new Daily Painting widget on the blog that will take anyone who is interested to a special auction where 100% of the proceeds (less shipping and payment fees) will go to Guardians of Rescue.   

So why did I pick them? I know there are plenty of people in need. I also know that help for animals is a bit harder to come by yet no less urgent. Those of us with pets know exactly why other pet owners refuse to leave them in the event of a disaster. Animals are important to us. I follow many animal rescue groups. Several of which have mobilized during the storm to save not only animals, but as in the case of the Natural Disaster Search Dog Foundation, people too. Watching the storm from online and Facebook, I saw that some of the folks in the Guardians of Rescue organization were out during the storm looking for animals in need and making sure that the ones they shelter were safe. Some of them had to pull trees off their cars to try to get the hurt ones they found to emergency care. I already know this group is a hard working and highly dedicated non-profit organization. I wanted to help out the New York and New Jersey chapters as they were the hardest hit. 

I know that times are hard for many of us and the future uncertain. Even if the time isn't right for you, if you know someone who might be interested, please tell them about the Daily Paintworks Hurricane Sandy fundraiser. If they don't like my paintings or who I am donating to, there are several others. The individual artists are able to pick where we want to donate our relief efforts.  

Here are pictures of the two paintings I have on the fundraiser auction:

© 2012 R.L. Delight, Sweet Tea, oil on gessobord, 6"x6"

© 2012, R.L. Delight, Pumpkin Sage, oil on gessobord, 6"x6"

 Here on the left coast we are experiencing our own stormy weather, gale force winds and heavy rain. Great for working in the studio! I finished my copper painting and will have it on the next post. Until then, thoughts and prayers going out to those in the path of the storm. Stay warm and dry!

-Renee

Painting on Copper and Plein Air Recce

©2012 R.L. Delight "Glass, Metal, Wood, Stone", 6"x6", oil on copper sheet. Painting in progress.

I finally have a chance to try my hand at painting on copper. Here is my painting in progress. Like any new-to-me media or technique, it has its challenges. I have to admit, even with the challenges I am finding it very enjoyable and I am liking the results. At this moment in the painting I have things blocked in and am starting to add refinements. The oil paint takes a bit longer to dry on the copper, specially in the cool stormy weather we have been having lately. The background looks blotchy in this picture because some of it is still wet. I love this little copper pot I picked up at the local thriftstore. It has a really beautiful and fun shape. It will be satisfying to get the detail on the pot and turn and render the form. 

I am new to painting on copper and have had to stop and let the paint dry a bit to continue on. I have mentioned Susan Renee Lammers' website and blog before but she has a very nice article on painting on copper on her site here. I admire not only her painting, but her dedication and hard work as a professional artist. I find her very inspiring. Her blog chronicles her daily painting on the East coast of the U. S.  and the sweet and funny antics of her two Golden Retriever rescue dogs, Duke and Daisy. Definitely worth reading and checking out her beautiful work.

Due to the longer than expected learning curve on the copper painting, I have delayed my own daily painting by a few days to work on this. I also have to add that I did a few things differently than what Renee Lammers suggests on her website. As a vegan artist, I did not want to use the sable brushes she recommends. She did not have a good experience using synthetic brushes on copper but I found some that work more or less. I used Utrecht's Series 235 Sablette synthetic brushes. They worked well once I got the hang of them. I haven't really tried to use them with an alla prima approach though so will have to experiment some more. I am building the painting as I usually do, layer by layer. I am also looking around to find a source of reclaimed and more ecologically sound copper sheeting.

At the foot of Neahkanie Mountain.

In addition to daily painting, I am committing to going out to paint en plein air once a week. The weather will not always be the best, but this time of year the light, skies, and waves are stunning and dramatic. I did a recce today at the foot of Neahkahnie mountain to not only scout out possible painting views but to test out my foul-weather gear. My gear is old and is not perfect but it will do for now until I can earn enough to buy some better gear. The beach was beautiful and it was raining but not a hint of a breeze. It is the wind and wet that concerns me the most. I plan on going out tomorrow morning an hour or so before the high tide so we shall see how it works.

That is it for today! This weekend I will be masquerading as Tweety LaRoux, doing the sound effects for a local play my mate is directing. It is the final weekend of the performance and I will be glad when it is done. Sunday I will be playing with our band for a local fundraiser which is always a joy. 

Stay safe and warm!

-Renee

The Cello Scroll Blues

 

@ 2012 R.L. Delight, Duet painting in progress, close-up

I am moving into the color portion of the painting and since I felt I needed to get a handle on painting the cello scroll, I started there. I would normally start with the bigger and darker shapes but decided to approach this painting a bit differently. It is going agonizingly slow. Even though I drew the scroll and painted it in the grisaille, I still had to do a lot of adjustments. There is still more to be done as well but I will be leaving it here for this first pass with color.
I had a lot of struggles with the scroll which led me to post the following on Facebook the other day:

5 things I learned while painting today:
1.Cello scrolls are freakin hard to paint and make my eyes cross.
2. Fear likes to sneak up behind you and put you in a choke hold.
3.Being an Aries/Taurus mix means that I will stubbornly hang in there until the fire within can toss Fear off.
4. Cello scrolls have a subtle intricate beauty that can take your breath away.
5. Cad. Orange is my friend.

Ah, the fear part. I was struggling trying to get it to look right when I stepped back a moment to evaluate why I was struggling. I realized I was nudging it around and getting nowhere because I was afraid I would lose what I already had and would never get it back! I realized that I really needed to wipe out part and rebuild the shapes. I took a deep breath and did just that and things went a lot smoother. I tell you, fear can really trip you up if you aren't careful! The vigilance never ends either.  I will get a bit more time in on the painting this week and then I will need to get another painting started next week so progress will slow down even more.
It should be an interesting week. Hard to believe it is already the middle of July.
Hope all of you out there are staying cool.
-Renee

The Silent Ones

© 2012, R.L. Delight, "The Silent Ones", oil on canvas, 18"x24"

Here is the promised finished painting, at last! The title of the painting is, The Silent Ones. The painting is as finished as it will be at this point. I honestly can't tell you what I think about it at the moment either. I know it reflects a lot of the skills I have built up so far but it also shows how far I have yet to go.

The painting is going to a show in Portland called, "Bearing Witness: Healing Pregnancy Loss and Infertility Through the Arts" 

On a personal note, and I will keep it short, I have lived with infertility and miscarriage for the past 27 years or so. I will also say that I have a wonderful life and have been able to do many things that would have been difficult or nearly impossible had we had children. I, along with my husband, have been mentors and Auntie and Uncle to many children throughout the years. I think this position in our culture is not valued enough. It once was. 
I have had the idea for this painting in my sketchbook even before I went to art school. The call for entry came along just about at the time I need to stretch myself and jump in. Funny how those things happen. Losing children doesn't mean they leave your life in every way. They are still there, just on the other side or in a different universe. This painting reflects that idea. Mine have grown up, in a misty sort of way, throughout the years. My oldest child would be about 26 and my youngest about 10 had they survived to live in this world. This was a challenging painting to make on many levels but I am very glad I did. Here is part of what I wrote to hang with the painting:
 

"I see them in reflections, I feel them in warm rays of the sunlight, and hear them in the sound of the sea when she whispers on a calm, cloudy evening. They have never lived on this side of the veil. Their presence brings me comfort and joy, and sometimes sadness. They are the Silent Ones."

  

I will be spending the week getting paintings varnished, frames made, props built, and the studio cleaned before diving into the thick of things again. Drawing and sketching are ongoing as always. 

-Renee 

 

Almost There...

© 2012, R.L. Delight, painting in progress

I am getting close to getting the painting finished. I kept thinking that I would have it finished by the end of the day but I forgot that every time I complete a section, I have to go back to a previous section to make corrections or to meld it together. I also find more areas that need to be worked or fixed every time I come back to the easel. The time the painting is taking aside, I do love the process. It is very rewarding to see the progression even though the process can be so frustrating at times. As always, I am learning by leaps and bounds. I am not only learning the technical stuff but a lot about the philosophical process that goes into a painting. Learning all this makes me admire the painters I already admire all the more. I will talk a bit more about the details and the process once it is finished. If all goes well and to plan (I know that can be tempting fate) the painting should be finished by this Friday. It will be a week later than the time limit I set but it will still work. I will be working hard and keep my fingers crossed that I will have the finished painting to show-and-tell on my Sunday post.
-Renee

Get to Work!

© 2012 R.L. Delight, Twill

Here is Twill giving me a look that reminds me to get to work! Actually, I have been working very hard which is why I have fallen off my blog schedule. I am working hard to finish up the painting I have posted about. April has arrived and I didn't have it completely finished. I got stuck a few times. One issue was that I needed to have some photo references of children. I found some online but I really prefer, and I think now require, my own photo references. I was wondering how I was going to accomplish that as we don't have many small children in town. In fact almost none unless it is vacation time. Fortunately for me, the Spring Break crowds arrived as well as a small break in the weather so I could snap pics of children playing on the beach. 
I didn't need a lot of detail for the pictures, just the unique gestures that kids have when they play with sand and water.  So now, having obtained the pictures and hopefully leaping the final hurdle, I will get the painting finished. Fingers crossed that I will be posting the finished painting on Wednesday. Back to the studio! 
-Renee

The Trouble with Tilly

I had a wonderful day of rest and reflection on Thursday and was back in the studio on Friday cleaning up and turning things around for my next few compositions. I am starting work on a painting I am calling The Silent Ones. I will be filling in the details as it develops over the next couple of weeks. It is a composition I have had in my sketchbook for a few years now. Part of the composition involves a figure bending down and reaching toward a reflection in the water. When I was at one of the life drawing sessions, I asked the model to take the pose I had in mind so I could sketch the mechanics of what is going on in the body when in the particular pose. The model was a trooper and managed to hold the pose for nearly five minutes while I sketched like mad!
I had my husband take a few pictures of me on site, and clothed, in the same pose for photo reference. I know that I will have to do most of this painting using the photo reference as my guide. I am a little nervous about that as most of my experience is in drawing from life and I am not sure how to translate some of the challenges that painting from a photo reference presents. Fortunately, Terry Strickland recently posted a wonderful pro's and con's list on working from photos here. I found it very helpful and the timing was perfect for me! I have read about the problems with working from photos in various articles but thought her post put it succinctly and addressed some of the solutions.
I had one more trick to try to make the pose as much from life as possible...Tilly. Tilly is what was often referred to in the past as a lay figure, or what we would now call a drawing manikin. Tilly is sort of life size. I say sort of because she is not entirely an exact replica of a woman. She is about a foot taller than my 5'2" self and weighs in about 35 pounds. She has articulated joints that can be posed in many positions. James Gurney did an interesting series of posts on the historical use of lay figures starting here.
Alas, Tilly is not going to work out. I spent most of the day wrestling with her. She was most uncooperative and she even lost her head at one point. I was tempted to take a picture of her sprawled on the floor, headless, but restrained myself. Here is a picture of her striking the pose, or part of the pose I was trying to get her to model:

She is wearing my pants and jacket. Her hips are a bit wider than mine and her rear end is well, flat. Would it seem a trifle silly to admit that made me smile? I almost got her in the position I needed, the torso that is. I just couldn't get quite the right twist and light angle in the small space I have. The head and neck area has a lot of limitations. We are far more flexible in that area than a manikin can ever be and I couldn't get the angle I needed. The feet and legs I gave up on entirely and are not even close.
When I knew we would be moving out here to a relatively isolated location, I used some of the money I had planned to spend on tuition and got a few things I thought I might need in the studio. Tilly was one of them. She has yet to earn her keep so I am doubting the wisdom of such a purchase but perhaps in the future.
Well, to wrap up a bit of a lengthy post, I decided Tilly wasn't going to work out for this painting. I got her standing quietly in her corner and, exhausted and sweaty from lugging her around, decided to call it a day, but one final photo:

Tilly (left) and a tired and disheveled me.

By the way, Tilly is named after a lighthouse that stands out to sea on the northern Oregon coast. The lighthouse is officially called the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse but the nickname is Terrible Tilly due to the rather extreme and horrific conditions there. To give you an idea:

Image from: http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=135

If you are curious, the very informative site from where I got this image is here at Lighthouse Friends and has the story and history behind the lighthouse.
A bit of interesting history from our neck of the woods.
Back to work in the studio tomorrow!
-Renee

Manzanita Teatime

© 2012 R.L. Delight, Manzanita Teatime, 12"x9", oil on canvas

I finally got this painting finished. Well, as finished as I intend to make it! While there is definitely room for improvement, I am satisfied with the painting. In spite of the challenges, I did enjoy painting it but I am also ready to move on. I took this picture minutes after I had finished so when it is a bit dryer, I will take another one with some better lighting.
I am going to change things up again. As I mentioned in a previous post, I will be giving daily painting another try. I have learned a few more things and will see how it goes. I am also working on a larger piece for a special event. I will have more about that as it develops.
I will not be online tomorrow so any comments on this post (always appreciated!) will be delayed by a day. Tomorrow is my father's birthday. He would have been 72. He has been gone for four years now and I miss him dreadfully. I am going to take the day off for rest and remembrance, beach walks, working on music, and other uplifting activities. I will be back in the studio on Friday rested up and ready to get started on the next project or two...or three!
-Renee

When a Painting Goes Bad, It Goes Really Bad...

Nope, can't do it! I just cannot put a picture of my current painting in progress when it apparently has a mind of its own and it has gone very wrong. So...deep breath...what happened? It started innocently enough. I decided to try a new-to-me technique (fate temptation number one) with the expanded teapot set-up I took a photo of a couple of posts back. I was feeling fairly confident (fate temptation number two) after painting just the teapot, lid, and candy in the small quick painting from the previous post. This time I did a drawing of the entire set up and transferred the drawing to a 9"x12" canvas. So far, not so bad. The drawing looked accurate even after I set it aside and came back to it. After transferring the drawing, I started painting...and things fell apart from there! Suddenly things are not looking like they are in the correct place and the teapot, my god the teapot has...expanded...and...it looks like something sat on it!
OK, I know when things take a sharp turn to the dark side it is time to take a good break. I took Twill and headed out to the beach for a lovely long and very chilly walk. During the walk I reflected on what I have learned during the past couple of years about what to do when things go wrong in the painting/drawing department. So, step back, look at the whole. Yes, yes, somehow things have run wild and have gotten off kilter. I know from experience that just shaving a bit here and adding a bit there doesn't always work. Actually, I have found it usually doesn't work and makes things even worse in the long run! So, upon returning and looking at said "whole" I can see a few things that can be done and lessons reinforced along the way.
I believe I mentioned in a recent post that I see things better when painting than drawing. In the future, unless there is a very convincing reason, I will not be starting a painting by transferring a drawing. Drawing with paint, yes. Painting a drawing, no. It was a good thing to try though and now I know, not for me. I knew that things could go wrong even with an accurate drawing that had been transferred but wow, what a wreck!
So, I will be setting the painting aside as I have a special visitor coming for a day or two and want to do some sketches of her. I will be going to life drawing on Sunday too so I won't be getting back to the painting until next week. I might have a sketch or two to post and I am still working on the composition for a very special painting I am starting. No, I will not be doing a drawing and then transferring it! I will do a few more composition and thumbnail sketches though!
Well, I feel better. Worse comes to worse, I can always have at the canvas with a sharp knife and weave the shreds into something pretty...!
OK, I know you all have your own creative disaster stories, it goes with the territory. So, have you ever recycled a mess into something triumphant? Please do share!
-Renee

Sweet Tea

Sweet Tea, oil on panel, 6"x6", R.L. Delight

Here is a recent "daily painting". I am getting faster, sort of. This painting took four hours but I spread it out over three days and worked on other drawings and paintings as well. This is only a portion of the still life set up. I will be moving on to painting a larger painting of the entire set up. I thought it would be fun to do a "quick" painting to start with thinking that it would be a good warm up as well. I have to say, painting the sugar crystal candy is fun! The hardest part of this little painting was keeping the time limit down which meant it isn't as finished as I would like it to be. It is good to loosen up some of my expectations a bit.
Yesterday I had such a full schedule I was not able to post on this blog on my usual day. I plan to build up a couple of reserve posts to take care of that but I really do like posting as I go.
This post is a short one as I am spending today catching up and getting everything lined up to go in the studio. It will be interesting to see the difference between this and the larger painting which I will be spending a bit more time on. Once I get it underway I will have to see if I can make a space for another daily painting set up. I am trying to get the time down to three hours or less.
The winter weather is back which makes for good studio time but I am also getting things in place to be able to go out the door with ease for when those sunny days arrive.
-Renee

Changing a Challenging Challenge

Ahem... A while ago I put up a challenge for my 50th birthday coming in the year 2012. At the time, I had just started painting with oil and was intrigued with the "painting a day" idea. I thought I would challenge myself to paint 50 paintings. Well, I have decided to revise that challenge! I picked the number 50 for obvious reasons. I actually could paint 50 quick paintings but I want them to be paintings that not only have meaning to me but represent my best effort at the time. At this stage in my development, I don't have the speed and skill to paint 50 with that criteria in mind. I have decided that painting my best is more important to me than painting 50 paintings. I don't regret throwing that number out there though! I am still thinking that I would like to have a showing of some sort but I believe I will make it local and invite my artist friends to participate. I would also like to have a portion of the proceeds go to a worthy organization such as our local United Paws of Tillamook.
I am thinking over if I want to add a number of paintings to the challenge. I could do 5 paintings, one for each decade. Perhaps I will just not focus on a certain number but focus instead on joyful meaningful work. I must admit I like that better. Any thoughts?
After taking a couple of days off to rest and sort of catch up on the work of everyday living, I got back to the studio and finished my seal painting. I have named it "Newly Borne" and here it is:

Newly Borne (oil, 9X12)

This is my first formal painting of the sea. I am still learning how to paint the ocean and I am fascinated with it. I used my own photo reference to paint the newborn seal and an oil sketch I did that day as a reference for the waves and color. I was glad I did the grisaille first as I would have been lost without the tones already mapped out. I am pleased with the learning experience I had from painting this piece.
Life drawing yesterday was quite interesting. I am still processing the recent workshop I attended. I definitely see its influence in my work.
I would like to take a moment to thank all of you who commented on my recent posts during the workshop. I am going to try to update the Blogger and see if that will allow me to comment on my own posts again!
-Renee

Progress and "Herstory"

I have been working away, honestly! I just didn't post last week. As I have mentioned before, this is taking me longer than I thought it would and it has been a  true learning experience. I thought about posting my progress last week but the painting was in a very awkward spot. So, here is the last picture I posted of the painting's progress:

 

And here is the latest:

I have got the first layer of color in on the whole painting. I am doing a little experimenting now and also going back over and refining forms and color. I would like to think that I will be stopping once I have done another go through. This is supposed to be a study, not a masterpiece. I really am anxious to move on. It has allowed me time to think things through though. I have been thinking how to continue my studies and what direction I want to go. I do have a final goal. I want to acquire the level of skills I need to be able to paint anything I want to depict. The skills will always be added to even when I am satisfied that I have reached my goal. 

I am not going to say anything more at this time. I will wrap up my thoughts when the final picture is posted on this painting. 

In the meantime, I came across an interesting comment on an article about women artists and why they are not proportionally represented in our society compared to male artists. It isn't for lack of female artists as many articles report that the number of women graduating from art programs are greater than the number of men, yet only a small percentage are represented in galleries, art shows, and museums. I would add trade magazines and books to that list! I am not going to talk about the actual numbers here as there are more informed resources out there. The comment that caught my eye was actually a challenge. It pointed out that even female artists who blog often have long lists of male artists they admire and few, if any, female artists. The comment is a challenge for us women to start finding and exposing others to the many female artists both past and present that are out there. 

I have been thinking along those lines for quite a while, even before I started this blog. There is a huge gap in our art history courses when it comes to women artists. As the documentary "Who Does She Think She Is?" mentions, the person on the street is hard pressed to name even five women artists. I have been studying on my own and am starting to find more and more remarkable and overlooked women in the arts in our history. I decided to add a little variety to my blog by featuring a female artist, if not every post, frequently. I am going to start out with women from our past history, or herstory. As this post is plenty long, I will be starting these posts next week. In the meantime, in the "Artists Who Inspire" sidebar on this blog, you will also find many links to contemporary female artists. Yes, there are a few men too!

Finally, today is Memorial Day here in the U.S.A. I want to send thoughts of gratitude to the women and men of our armed forces and their families. I also want to acknowledge all the wonderful service and rescue animals who are also heroes in their own right.

-Renee

Let the Color Begin

The color is slowly trickling into the painting. I am having a lot of fun too! I do love to experiment and I enjoyed spending time playing with every combination of every red and blue on my palette to get the colors in the fabric. Well, almost every combination. I did try to keep the color temperatures separate so that I had a nice range of cool purples and warm purples to play with. I am slowly darkening the background and am still getting the first layer of color over the entire painting.
I must admit this painting is a little more involved than I had intended. In addition, the progress has been slow  because I also work on studies both in painting and drawing to continue to build my skills. I will be working on several short color study/still lifes that are much simpler. The studies are pretty mundane but I will post a few of them next week as part of my purpose with this blog is to show the progression of a beginning artist. I want to show that an artist must build skills as much as any other profession. So many people I talk to assume that art is a talent that one is born with. Ha! Talk to a well established, seasoned, successful artist and they will be the first to tell you that it takes blood, sweat, and tears, not to mention endless practice. Of course, all of that work is deeply joyful and highly satisfying. It has been so far for me.
The studies I do such as gesture sketches over and over are like practicing scales on a piano or any other musical instrument. Not glamorous but necessary for true mastery.
Today I spent a dark and stormy morning at the local life drawing session. Not a bad way to pass the time!
We have some beloved guests coming on Friday to spend a few days with us. I am hoping to have my friend hold a few poses that I can recreate with my manikin in addition to a few quick gesture sketches. I am also expecting an early birthday present that will be a big help in getting around with my plein air easel and sketchbook. If it arrives in time, I will have some fun pictures to show.
Here is hoping that Spring will show her beautiful warm face soon!
-Renee

A Tiny Bit of Progress

First I have to say, I know this is not a good photo of the painting. I had a heck of a time getting a decent shot. I will eventually have to get some sort of set up to take decent photos of my paintings. There is quite a bit of glare and I tried taking it in all kinds of light at all kinds of angles, etc. I even tried to play with it a bit in Photoshop but to no avail. The general idea is there. Things are in place and, in spite of what it looks like in the photo, the general tones are almost balanced. In fact, now that I look at it again, the photo has distorted the tonal balance quite a bit. The two pitchers are darker in the painting. The bit of white in the mix really reflects the light. Well, I guess you all will have to trust me on that.
Last post I was trying to decide whether or not to continue on to color on this one. I decided to go ahead. I am going to set up a better and simpler color study this week though. After looking at the float set up for a while I decided it did not fit the kind of study I was looking for so I will take it down. The floats will be used in future pictures.
So, I have finalized my plans on the workshop I hinted at last week. I will be taking a workshop from Rob Liberace on The Dynamic Figure: A Classical Approach. The workshop will be held in late August on Whidbey Island, Washington at Whidbey Island Fine Art Studio (WIFAS). The link to the workshop and venue is here. I will also post a link to the art studio in my links page as well as the web site for Rob Liberace. Needless to say, I am very excited about the workshop and I have my work cut out for me getting my skills to the best they can be going into it.
A bit about my thoughts on workshops. I don't take them very often. I think workshops are great for improving skills one already has, for learning new approaches for these skills, or to sample new mediums and techniques. I don't think workshops are the best place to learn completely new skills. Classes and longer term instruction are best for that. It can be easy to become a workshop junkie (or it would be if they weren't so expensive!). I think most people would agree that it takes consistent work behind the easel to develop skills. That said, I am looking forward to adding to my figure drawing skills. I feel I am ready for a bit more knowledge and instruction.
Whidbey Island is near where I lived, before moving to Oregon, for 23 years or so. It is a beautiful place and we have many friends in the area that I hope to be able to see in between class times. I also hope to do a little plein air painting of one of my favorite spots (it is around the Ebey Landing area for those who know the island). I have a story to tell about a certain spot there and this will be my chance to get some oil sketches in, weather permitting. I will have an extra day there outside of the workshop to do this. The weather is also usually quite lovely that time of the year too.
Speaking of Whidbey Island, I have added a new link to a wonderful artist who lives there. Please check out the art work of Sandy Byers. I have to fix the link on my side bar but will do that right away. She is doing what I will be doing with my work, using her work to support animal causes. I found her blog and web site very inspiring.
I am all set to work hard this week. I am changing a few things around to organize my study time in the studio. Until then, here is hoping spring will give us a peek soon!
-Renee

Grisaille in Progress

Here is my progress for this week. This is very much still in the rough and beginning stages. I am getting the canvas covered and all the elements in place. I am just beginning to refine not only the shapes but the tone. There is not much detail at this point either and that is pretty much what it is supposed to be.
Once the grisaille is completed, which means the shapes, proportions and tone is working right, I will start in on the color. I am using this method of working mainly because this is what was being taught in my school. I might not always paint in this manner but for now, and for a time to come, I will.
I am also slowly but surely getting a routine going. I have a certain amount of hours I want to put in the studio a day. I also want to have a balanced healthy life which for me means getting enough sleep, eating well, exercise, meditation and play time. I have been keeping a time journal, much like keeping a food journal. I document what I do in roughly half hour increments. I am sure I don't have to tell anyone how easy it is for a huge chunk of time to disappear with little to show for it! Television and now, the internet, are huge time gobblers. I would have to add books in my case. I could spend all day curled up with a good book or a few new art magazines!
Today I took a much needed day off and tomorrow will be an errand and chore day. It will be good to be away from the painting for a couple of days and come back to it with a fresh eye. I also have another still life set up which is much more simple. I will start on that when I need a break from the one above.
Slow and steady progress, which reminds me about something I read in Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers known as the "10,000 hours rule". Gladwell claims that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours. Doing the math, and depending on the number of hours one puts in a week, that would mean it would take about 6-8 years to become a really accomplished painter. That is basically the number my teacher told me as well. Just for fun, since I am keeping a time journal anyway, I started a 10,000 hour countdown. The fun thing about that number is after the first hour you lose a digit. So, after the past couple of days, my count stands at 9,985 hours to go...
One last thing to mention, speaking of time sinks, Google has a new project called The Art Project. It is like Google Earth for art museums. It is a fun site so check it out, when you have a bit of time!
More progress to report next week!
-Renee

Visual Words and Wordy Visions

Happy New Year everyone! As I have said before, I believe 2011 will be an outstanding year. I just have a feeling... Of course, that doesn't mean I won't have to work really, really hard to make that happen. The past three or four years have been ones of great change for me personally. I believe the only major life stress I didn't experience was, by some miracle, divorce! So when asked what my "word" for 2011 was by several people, I searched my mind and heart and easily came up with 'Root." I knew we would like it here in our little beach town as the ocean is in my blood going back several generations. I have to say though, we love it here. I in particular have fallen quite hard for this area. It is the first place I have lived in all my adult life that feels like home. It isn't an easy place to live in but the beauty of the area and the wonderful, colorful people that make up this village community are incomparable.  Here is where I want to put down roots. So, on that level root is a good word. It is also a word that branches out, so to speak!
When I gave my word for 2011 to Dr. Robyn McKay, she upped the ante by daring us to express that visually. I had already been toying with that idea so I took the dare and painted my word. That is the picture above. It was a larger painting than I should probably do at this point as it is roughly 14"X18". I recycled an older canvas that someone didn't want to keep. It took a bit longer than I had intended because I have been finishing up the Sketchbook Project which is nearly done.
I am also working on a vision board this year. I usually like to do it sometime between the Solstice and the New Year. This year, due to a couple of projects, and a new challenge, I am a little late but it will be done soon. I decided to spare you the wordy visions and will just post a visual, with a few words, when it is finished.
Finally, I have a surprise, which was very much a surprise to me too! One of the many authors I read and highly recommend is Daniel Pink. He has written Drive and A Whole New Mind. One of the exercises in Drive was to create a sentence that sums up what you have brought, or want to bring, to this world. He put a challenge out to make a video of that exercise and send it to him. Weeeelll, I thought it a good exercise and made my video but almost didn't send it. It is a little out of my comfort zone to do that. But, because it is a little out of my comfort zone to to that, I did it. He had hundreds of submissions and could only pick a few to put into this video. I had forgotten about it. Imagine my surprise the other day when the video was sent out and I found myself staring at me in the video! There was a problem with my name though. It isn't correct but that is actually ok with me. A sort of pen name, or perhaps I should say, screen name. Here it is! My first attempt at adding a video to my blog.

 Next week I will be in the next challenge and will have the Sketchbook Project pictures and hopefully video to go with that too!
So, dear people, what is your sentence?
-Renee