Mums on the Table
“Mums on the Table – 6.5″ x 10” (approx.) – watercolor
Purchase from the artist
Being in Southern California, even with occasional cold days, my chrysanthemums don’t know when to stop blooming. They start around late October but there are always some stragglers that manage to put out a few more blooms unless I cut them back – hard – in December.
Our oak dining room table is becoming one of my favorite places for a still life setup. You’ve seen it in the eggshells and in the black and white study of the pear/grape and bottle … and now the dining room window provides the rimlight for these blooms, casually tossed in a glazed ceramic vase we picked up a few years ago at a garage sale.
Communicating Pairs – Illustration Friday
“Communicating Pairs” 9″ x 7 3/4″
Watercolor and mixed media on board
$150 + shipping …
Purchase from the artist
For Illustration Friday on the theme of “Communication.”
Valentine Tulips
Spring Tulips – 5.5″ x 9.25″ – NFS – prints available
My dear husband surprised me with a beautiful pot of tulips for Valentine’s Day. Now that he is participating so much with me in my art activities, he has developed an quite an eye for things I would like to paint. I have always loved tulips, and carried them in my wedding bouquet, but being able to paint them just doubles the enjoyment.
OK, a few art notes about this. After I painted it I realized that it is really a painting made up of just one color and its complement – magenta and yellow green. The gray for the background is something I’ve heard described as “palette gray” – you mix together the various bits of red, maroon, dark green and yellow green and it produces a soft neutral that works well with the bright colors.
On another note … I’ve gotten quite a few emails that people are unable to leave comments when they try – and last night I was getting database error messages from my host when I tried to publish. Please drop me a line and let me know if you’ve run into the same problem, and what system, browser you’re using. Something is afoot but I’m not quite sure what it is. Thanks!
Bronze Nude – Getty
Torso after Maillol – 9 x 12 charcoal on toned paper
In the sculpture garden of the West Pavilion are several Maillol bronze nudes, two of which I had time to draw. In many ways this was more challenging than the interior marble sculptures because of the dazzling bright sunlight and the dark reflectivity of the of the form. For this surface I switched to a vine charcoal to suggest the contrast.
Recently on the everyday matters list a question was asked “what do YOU do to really get yourself going when you feel
stalled?”
I guess I’d say I take a preventive approach to that question. I don’t usually get to the stalled point because I’m constantly changing gears in what I hope is a spiral path of growth. Here’s what I wrote in response to that very good question:
When tired of drawing in a sketchboook, draw on some big sheets of paper
If you usually paint big, paint small.
When you’re tired of using watercolor, try pastel or acrylic.
Always work in color? Try black and white.
If you’re getting bored painting landscapes, paint people.
If you usually paint people, try a still life.
Always draw with pencil? Try charcoal.
If you always draw with a dip pen and ink, use a brush pen instead.
When you get weary of doing finished works, do a series of quick studies.
If you always paint tight, loosen up.
If you always draw on white paper, try drawing on toned paper.
Always gravitate to bright colors? Try a subdued palette.
Too weighed down with reality? Try a fantasy scene from your imagination.
Tired of realistic representation? Have a little fun with abstraction.
Everything feel like same old, same old? Go to a museum or some
galleries and get fresh inspiration.
Try an old subject in a new technique.
Try a new subject in a familiar medium or technique.
This ‘shake things up’ approach may not work for everyone, but it keeps me from ever feeling bored. Give it a try!
Juno – Daily Drawing
“Juno” 9 x 12 drawing on toned paper – charcoal and white chalk
Here’s another in my figure drawing expedition from Friday at the Getty. This is also based on a work by Joseph Nollekens was drawn from the same low sitting angle as yesterday’s Venus. Because this statue was much closer to me, I opted to just concentrate on a portion of her torso. This was about a half hour drawing. Taking longer might have helped avoid many of the mistakes, but I wanted to experience a number of different works, so that’s the compromise I made.
If you like to practice draw people, I strongly recommend visiting museums and drawing from the statues. Unlike live models they don’t need breaks and they are happy to hold the pose as long as you require. The lighting is usually wonderful, the better to understand the volume of the form. I would imagine that this experience is not unlike the drawing from plaster casts which classic atelier students did, and still do.
When I visited the Getty villa for a drawing class several weeks ago, our instructor advised us that when drawing folds to not try to draw every one, but to simplify the form, so I’ve tried to apply some of what he shared with us.
The Getty is a great treasure for learning and pure enjoyment. My gratitude is renewed every time I visit.
I have two more drawings to post, based on sculptures by Maillol … coming soon.
The Stories They’d Tell – Daily Painting
“The Stories They’d Tell” – 5 1/8″ x 7″ – oil on canvas mounted on masonite.
Among the homeliest objects in our home are this old pair of scissors and a wooden “Clarks” spool. Both are probably from the 40s or 50s, judging from the look of them. Occasionally we’ll go to estate sales in our area, and inevitably there is a sewing basket with old scissors, spools and papers of pins. I like to think about their years of service and all the jobs they’ve done – a hem raised or lowered to suit the fashion of the time … a collar taken off and reversed to save buying a new shirt during the Great Depression … a Halloween costume made. Perhaps this thread and scissors patched up a hole in Santa’s jacket before it was packed away for another year.
What stories would your scissors tell, years from now?
Hilltop Haven – Daily Painting
Hilltop Haven – 2.5″ x 3.5″ watercolor on illustration board with watercolor pencil accents
I like painting these miniature scenes of rural peace. The small size forces me to simplify the message.
I spent the remainder of my painting time yesterday working on a bigger oil painting 11 x 14, which I hope will be finished tomorrow.
Chapparal Road – Daily Painting
Chapparal Road – 2.5 in x 3.5 in – ACEO – oil on gessoed matboard
This miniature oil painting was inspired by our recent trip up to Idyllwild. Along the way we passed through an area of chaparral, at the edge of the pine forest. Within a few hundred feet this sagebrush and scrub began to give way to tall pines such as those I painted earlier in Idylllwild Slope.
One thing that I’ve discovered by painting oils this small (the size of a sports trading card) is that it prevents me from getting too fussy with tiny details. I suppose it would be the equivalent of painting with large brushes on a 9 x 12 canvas. It’s all a matter of scale. Painting this small forces me to make decisions about broad shapes and values, and not to paint every leaf on the tree. (Well, some of them, but not all.) It would make a swell over the sofa painting if you had a very small sofa!
Here it is approximately actual size. Fortunately I am very nearsighted, which makes it easier to paint closeup than far away.
Power at Sunset – Daily Painting
“Power at Sunset” – 8 x 10 inches – oil on canvasboard
Last weekend we drove out to Palmdale on business and I rode along because I couldn’t resist the skies full of incredible clouds. On the way home, after the sun had already set, I saw a glowing building and asked my husband to pull over so I could investigate. I gathered from all the high voltage signs that this was some sort of power distribution center, and of course I took a bunch of photos – the strong contrasts of colors inside the building and the dramatic sky were just too tempting. One of these days I’m probably going to get busted for suspicious behavior. But sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
Pepper Trees – Daily Painting
“Pepper Trees near Lake Piru” 7.5″ x 11″ Watercolor on 140# paper
For sale
Almost as common as eucalyptus are California’s pepper trees, which, in the summer, are heavily laden with pink peppercorns. These tall fluffy trees are especially common along highways, and scent the air with a spicy fragrance when the fallen peppers are crushed.
After I painted this I thought it almost verged on the abstract with large bands of color, shape and texture but no real center of interest.
