Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Lean

"Lean", Acrylic on Panel, 18x24"
And yes...another predominantly purple painting.  I'm planning on swapping out my colors for the next one.  :)

I love this pose - so gracefully awkward.  She seems to be looking through the gap in the tree - like something interesting is happening just outside the frame.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Path

"Path", Acrylic on Panel, 14x11"
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I find that I tend to use whatever colors are on my palette at the moment, so I end up with a string of painting with similar color schemes.  This one was done from the same palette as Lean Back then Mist and I have a figurative work on my easel at the moment that is going to end up with the same greens and purples.

A gallery owner once told me that customers don't buy paintings with a lot of purple.  This was disappointing because it's one of my favorite colors.  It hasn't held me back (much) from using purple.  I especially like it up against yellow/green.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Mist

"Mist" Acrylic on Panel, 11x14"
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This is another reference I captured on the Midwest tour earlier this year.  The tree was down in a shallow valley and the mist was covering everything.  It's a difficult thing to capture...but here's my best take.  I couldn't bring myself to blur the whole image - I like the contrast.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Lean Back

"Lean Back", Acrylic on Board, 24x36"
I don't seem to be able to make myself do the daily paintings when I have a big painting in progress on my easel...  I need to find a way to overcome my reluctance.

In any case, I like this new one.  I called it "Lean Back" because I recently listened to "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg. I was conflicted about reading it because I have some lingering guilt about opting out of the corporate world.  I ended up liking the book quite a bit - she spoke to many of my own experiences, being one of few women in a male-dominated industry.

I have to say though, that it didn't make me second guess my current life choice.  I love doing art full-time and find it more challenging and rewarding than my previous roles.  I suppose from the outside, someone could say that I chose to lean back, but I'm working harder than ever before and I think the results are beautiful. :)

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Wolf

"Wolf", Acrylic on Panel, 12x9"
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Last year I had the idea of doing some paintings that played around with the concept of modern fairytales.  To that end, I got this cool wolf mask on ETSY w/the intention of using it for several paintings.  I did do a couple, but wasn't happy with the results... and since this was before my blog, the results were never seen.  During my most recent photo shoot, I decided to have the model play around with the mask.  I'm happier with this one than my previous attempts.  I especially like how she's looking directly at the viewer - a bit menacing.

The style of these recent paintings is different from my previous figurative works.  I've been playing with a strong line around the edges.  I like the way it makes the figures stand out from the backgrounds.    In this one, I especially like the luminosity it lends to the skin of her arm.  

Monday, July 22, 2013

Flotsam

"Flotsam", Acrylic on Board, 36x24"
In addition to the daily, I've uploaded my most recent 'big' painting.  I'm pleased with how it came out.  I particularly like the dramatic pop of color via the dress.

I came up with the title because she looks like she's been shipwrecked - a dying dryad.  Given the drought and the state of many trees around here, it's apt.

Strut

"Strut", Acrylic on Panel, 5x7"
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Yet another peacock to start the week....

I'm thinking that I might try some of the Daily Paintworks challenges, just to give me some ideas for subject matter.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Look

"Look", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"
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I couldn't resist taking a few more pictures of the peacocks.  The ones at Mayfield are so amazingly unafraid of people. This one came up to me as I was sitting at one of the picnic tables.  It was clearly looking for food and for a moment I thought it was going to climb up in my lap.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Dove

"Dove", Acrylic on Panel, 5x7"
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I was back at Mayfield Park doing a photo shoot for my tree/people series and spotted this guy.  He was there amid the peacocks and somehow their brighter colors made him look more beautiful - with his subtle colors and the bright pops of color around his eyes and on his legs.  I 'think' it's a wood dove, but I'm not great w/bird identification....apologies to the ornithologists out there.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Span

"Span", Acrylic on Board, 48x60"

I got distracted with my big painting again and neglected my dailies...  This one was fairly enormous and I just couldn't make myself stop until it was finished.  I'll try to get back on track tomorrow.

I was also thinking that it might be interesting to do a series of pictures of one of the larger works in process. It's something that I've been meaning to do for a while and this is as good a place as any to share it.  I'm a little nervous about seeing in pictures the stages a painting goes through to arrive at a final state... which is probably a good indication that it would be a useful exercise.

I don't know if I've written about this in the blog (apologies if I'm repeating myself), but I really like giving my paintings titles that are both nouns and verbs.  I like the implied action... and ambiguity.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Lizard

"Lizard", Acrylic on Panel, 5x7"
This one didn't turn out so well - probably for the same reason that I chose to paint it in the first place. 
Several times when I've been at parks with my kids I see one of the these lizards darting around.  When I try to point it out, my kids can never see it (too well camouflaged) and then it's gone. 

I managed to get a picture of one and thought I'd paint it to show my kids what it looks like.  But then, the same camouflage made it difficult to paint in a way that made it distinct from the background.  I guess I should have made it bright blue.  

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Bench

"Bench", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"
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Summer in Austin make it very hard to paint in the afternoon.   Today it's right around 100.  Even with a wall AC unit, my studio (a converted 1-car garage) is sweltering.  It's a good thing I've cultivated a bizarrely early morning work schedule, or I'd never get anything done. :)

This image is another inspired by our trip to the mid-west.  I like how the tree leans over - as if trying to eavesdrop.


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Pose

"Pose", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"
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Here's a little sketch from my new series.  I'm reusing some of the boards from my earlier daily paintings are really like the extra depth and texture from the extra layers of paint and gesso.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Ducky

"Ducky", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"
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When my husband and I were first married, we tried to think of something to collect when we went on trips, etc.  We settled on rubber ducks (though I don't remember why) and proceeded to accumulate quite a few of them.  In the intervening years and the addition of children, most of the ducks went missing.  Over the weekend, I finally got around to purging all of the old, 'baby' toys from my kids rooms and found a lot of ducks.  Somehow they had migrated to the kids toy boxes - go figure.

Monday, July 8, 2013

View

"View", Acrylic on Panel, 36x24"
Lest you think I've just been goofing off, this is my latest 'big' painting that I finished this morning. It's a bit more 'posed' than I want for the series, but I like the way her face turned out - a bit of a Mona Lisa smile.  I'm going to try to find some models with darker skin tones next.

 I was actually half-way through a new daily painting when I got a call to pick my daughter up from school...sigh.  Perhaps I'll have time to finish it up tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Summer

Apologies for going dark this week...  My son is between camps and with that and the 4th holiday, I'm just not getting much done.  I'll be back on track next week. :)