Picking Up Lunch

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Here's another oldie that just needed a few tweaks. Also today I went through my "bad" pile - paintings that did NOT work out, regardless of tweaking. I have been keeping them in a cabinet that I generally only open to add another one to the pile, so I mostly don't see them (unless I am moving and need to decide what to do with them). Today I remembered why hiding them is such a good idea. Why? Because seeing each one of them again makes me feel TERRIBLE! And that just makes me more afraid to try things, which is the opposite of what I want if I intend to grow as an artist, which I do.

So be kind to yourself, and clear out the stuff that makes you feel bad. Throw it away, OR, if you plan to save the surface to paint on later, hide them from yourself until then. But also remember, that the "bad" pile is important, because it means you're working and experimenting, and even the professionals do bad paintings on a regular basis! You just don't want to SEE it on a regular basis. Keep painting, and keep looking forward.

Water Channel

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I struggled with this one. Actually, I painted it, wiped it off completely, and painted it again, all in one day. These little people paintings are taking longer and longer it seems. Why? It takes forever to get those tiny little faces right! Even when they are very "suggested." And I guess my standards are going up. This is me feeling very frustrated right now. This is me calling it a day and pouring myself a drink. Bye.

Colorful Lanes

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The reference for this (taken in NYC) was a bit dull, color-wise, but I loved the composition. So I opened it in Photoshop and tried increasing the saturation. Normally I don't like to do this, because it blows the colors out TOO much. But for this it was perfect, and totally inspired me to paint it. I especially love the little pop of greens in the far background.

Who Needs a Taxi!?

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So, ok. I tried something new for this one, but it's actually something very old too. And I'm embarrassed to admit it, because it's something I specifically do (and teach) kind of the opposite of. But humility is good for us, right?! So here goes.

For this one I put down the darks first. Crikey! Actually I made a pretty thorough value study with just one dark (a mix of red, blue and yellow), painting in the darks and wiping out the lights. Then I painted on top of that. I think it worked well because 1. it's a dark dominant painting, and 2. there aren't any super saturated colors that I needed to keep "clean." I don't think I would try this method for many of my still lifes, but I will definitely try it again for this kind of scene. I'll explain the benefits in my next post.

Take You Anywhere

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This is another scene from NYC. I took the picture for this as I was walking through a crosswalk. I will admit I was almost run over a few times in the city because I wasn't paying attention (and those guys are aggressive!) but my friend Lois saved me every time - thanks, Lo!.

Starting tomorrow I am very excited to be taking a 4-day workshop! It's a spring-tuneup plein air workshop, and the teacher is Gene Costanza. If I have any energy left in the evenings I may still post. We'll see.