Newest painting!

Once again I always try to hold things offline right after I finish them, especially before a show, but since I don't have a show date yet, I thought I should post something new.  The painting in the background is by another of my favorite artists; Robert Cottingham, called "Rising Star".  I have named my painting "Rising Stars" because my model Laura is young and beautiful, and also a rising star.  I love the way the star is placed behind her, and I love adding text to a painting.

NYC and PA

I just got back from a trip to NYC and PA, and it was a wonderful trip!  In NY I saw most of the tourist spots I wanted to see, and went to the MOMA and many galleries in Chelsea.  I saw a lot of wonderful art! PA is a beautiful part of the country, very green and "woodsy".  Very different from the west. We went to my brother's daughter's wedding in Williamsport, PA, and it couldn't have been more perfect!
I have decided that every family should have a wedding every five years or so, because there is nothing better than seeing little children, young adults, and older adults all dancing on the dance floor to the music of Rihanna, JLo, and Britney Spears, with a little Bruce Springsteen and Journey thrown in towards the end.

"Caley with Modigliani"

Here is a painting that I started painting on November 9, 2010, and showed the daily progression here on my blog.  Although a painting may go relatively quickly at the beginning, I have drying time between paint layers, or sometimes I just get "stuck"!  Also I start another painting while the paint drys, and I usually end up with about 6 or 7 going at the same time, and then I take a few weeks and try to finish them.
As I have said here before; I love to start paintings, and finish paintings, but sometimes the work in between is daunting, to say the least. 

I basically went back to my original background color, although it is more blue, to go with the Modigliani.  I also repainted the red, and took out the corner edges.  Someone recently commented that the pillow on the far right is still too big, so I am pondering that, and some of my edges.

New Painting

Once again I have been making great progress on finishing paintings.  Those final touches sometimes take months!  I am still keeping most of my newest work off line, but it's been so long since I posted anything new, I have decided to post one of my newest finished pieces.  I am calling it "Blue Laura" for now, but haven't decided on the final name yet.

Of course, until I sign a painting and it actually leaves my house/studio, I may still work on it.  I will actually always rework a painting if I see that it needs it.  I recently retrieved a commissioned painting I painted 8 years ago, and repainted it because I didn't like the way it looked.  BTW, it looks much better now, after all... my work has improved in 8 years...

Older Paintings

This week I have been cleaning my office, and came across many photographs of paintings that I painted over 10 years ago, that I did not have digital copies of...because they have sold.  Anyway, my scanner is working extra good right now (I don't know what happened to it?), so I scanned them.  It is nice to have a digital record of them, because they are much more easily accessed from my computer.  Here are a few of them.
I am surprised at how much I like them, but remember that the tapestry was very time consuming to paint.  I wanted to paint more "contemporary" paintings, but now think maybe I should return to painting a few "more traditional" still lifes.  PS  These are all watercolors.

Kaethe

This is how far I got on Day three, but hesitate to post it because I am not sure if I want to keep all the hair on the model's right side.  If I do keep it, I have much work to do to it to make it look....like hair.  Also I thought maybe a white background would work with Kaethe's dark hair, but now think I will go with a red background.  So....like all my progressions in progress, the paint is drying while I work on something else.  (White paint takes the longest, and red to dry...even in New Mexico.)

Kaethe, Day Two.

The painting is coming along nicely, and there is nothing I like better than to add color to the face, and "mold" it with greens, blues, purples, and highlights.  I can spend a day just adjusting and readjusting, blending, and reblending the skin colors. I am really happy with the painting at this point, knowing I still have detail to add (eyelashes), and some finetuning.

New Model...New Painting Progression. Day One.

I recently had a new model come over, named Kaethe, and I got some incredible shots of her, so I thought I would paint a "quick" portrait.  Here is the progression.....although I am still working on it.  If you have followed my previous paintings in progression, I always start out quick, and then hit some wall....this time the wall is the hair.  (lol, again!)

Tamara de Lempicka

One of my favorite artists that I only discovered a few years ago, is Tamara de Lempicka.  She was born in 1898 in Warsaw, Poland, and led an interesting and exciting life, that would be hard to match by anyone, least of all a female artist of her time.  I have read everything I can find about her, and am excited that I am finally going to incorporate one of her paintings into one of mine, as a background painting.  Here are a few of her paintings.  Enjoy!

Blossom Art Show

I have written about this show a few times now, but after viewing the slide show of all the paintings that were accepted, www.blossomartcompetition.com/ I am feeling humbled to have been accepted.  The work is amazing, and it will be interesting to see who wins the $25,000.00 grand prize.  I have narrowed my favorites down to about 6, (including my own.....positive thinking), but it is hard to say whose painting was painted by whom, since the names are not under the paintings.  I did recognize a few painter's work, like Daniel Greene, and Jane Jones.  I really liked one painting of Iris', and there was a close up of a blossom with waterdrops all over it, that I really liked.  I guess we will all find out when they annonce the winner Feb. 9, 2011....

Day 11...

Yesterday, I added a frame around the Modigliani, but because I wanted the frame to be small...it's already pretty close to the bed...I made a small black frame instead of the gold larger frame I had planned.  I'm still not sure if I will keep it.  Then I darkened the background, and repainted the red sheet, maybe a bit darker.

I also paint the edges of my paintings, even if I don't use a floater frame, because it makes the painting, as a product, more finished, and I like that extra bit of ...quality.
So it is off to dry once again, and then I will decide what else to do with it.  I can say right now, that I don't feel the painting is finished.  I think I will work on the body some more, and the right hand needs some help.  It will take at least a week to dry, so although I only have 11 actual days of painting, it sure seems like longer.  :)

Welcome 2011!!

I haven't posted anything for awhile, and while I have quite a few paintings in progress, I really hate to post them before they are finished.  I haven't continued to paint on my painting progression of "Caley with Modigliani", because I have been working on some other paintings, but will continue it soon.

Last night I saw on fb that the "Blossom II- Art of the Flower" has their catalog online.  Because one of my paintings was accepted to the show I clicked on http://blossomartcompetition.com/ and was excited to see my painting, but noticed it was a different one than I was told was accepted???  I still don't know which one is in the show..."White Cattleya Orchids", which is in the catalog, or "Pink Cattleya Orchids", which I was told was accepted.  The Blossom show people are now trying to figure it out.....

I finally got an email telling me "Pink Cattleya Orchids" was the painting to send to the show, but then a few hours later, the Blossom people called and said it was the "White Cattleya Orchids" that was accepted to the show....better get it to the framer.

Painting progression continues...

After letting my first layer of paint dry, I started in on the background.  I added a Modigliani painting; "Nude on a Cushion" (1917), and then darkened the background wall color twice.  After the initial light background color, I knew I had to go much darker, but I am still not sure that this will be the final background color. I have been wanting to try a nude painting behind one of my nude models, but it is kind of tricky, due to the (famous) painting's actual dimensions, as well as just the choice of paintings that I feel will work with my composition.  I am planning on darkening the painting, especially behind my model's foot, as it is rather confusing with the similar skin colors.

Happy Thanksgiving!  (I had to edit this post, because the photos somehow disappeared??? So I'm not sure if these are the same photos I originally posted.)

A week for paint to dry.

Because I started to get in the habit of posting something everyday, I thought I would post what I am doing this week.  Because I have 7 paintings now that are in some state of progress...most have no backgrounds, I am painting backgrounds this week, waiting for the first layer of paint to dry on my demonstration piece so I can continue to work on it, and post my progress.

Last Friday I was notified, however, that my painting "Pink Cattleya Orchids" was accepted into the "Blossom- Art of the Flower Competition" that will be held next February in Naples, Florida.  The reason I entered the competition, is because the grand prize is $25,000.00!!  That is an unheard of prize for a floral show.....but since I have been "re-visiting" my love of painting flowers recently, I figured why not?  I am keeping my fingers crossed!  The whole show will be able to be viewed online after it opens, so I will post a link to it.  For now, here is my painting.

Day Five....

OK...now it is plain to see that I have to repaint the whole painting!  When I reach this point in a painting, I think: "I should really tone the canvas next time.."  ha ha!  Anyway, if I had kept the sheets white, the skin wouldn't look quite as pale, but against the red, the skin looks white.  Also I way misjudged the back wall color, and made it too light, but instead of going back into it when it is wet, I know from experience that it will be easier to paint darker after this layer of paint has dried.  You might also notice that I have left a space open, where I will paint a painting.

This may appear like a lot of work, but it seems this is the way I always paint a painting. (Hence the tentativeness of posting a work as it progresses.)  I can visualize the end painting, and think it will work, but this is the disheartening point.  I now have to leave the painting to dry for a week....hopefully not longer, and then begin the process of finishing it.

Thanks if you have been following this blog.....and check in in a week or so, and I will continue.....

Day Four...

Yesterday it seems like I didn't accomplish much.  I decided to start putting in the black and white striped material, but because the stripes are so small, I decided to paint the black stripes first, and then I will add the white stripes after the black dries.  This will save me much grief with dealing with the paint accidentally mixing.  The b&w material right now has no depth because I haven't yet added the darks and lights in the white stripes. Today I plan to fill in the rest of the background....

Day three.

Yesterday I finished my first layer of paint on the figure.  I think the reason I like to paint the whole figure first, before incorporating it with the background is....I like the way it looks just with a white background.  (Again, probably from all my years painting in watercolor.)  At this point it has a Vargas feel, which I really like!  Because I had a little time left in the day to paint, I started to paint in the pillows.  Today I should be able to get a good start on the background.  Keeping in mind, after the whole painting drys, I will repaint it in more detail, and the colors will be more true to life...hopefully.

Day Two..

Yesterday I continued working on my model's face; blending and then adding more colors here and there, along with highlights.  You have to bear with me at this point, because there are many adjustments to be made before the painting is "finished".  Like I said, I already know that when I add the red sheets, the skin colors will totally change.  But I still continue to paint the body separately from the background....I just like to....

I started to add paint to the body, and then out of the blue, around 5:00, I got a migraine!!??  Because they start with an aura, I couldn't paint.  Took my miraculous Imitrex and by 8:00 I went back to clean up my brushes, and managed to paint for another hour.  So I didn't get as far as I had planned, and the body looks like white paint....I will work on that today, and probably start to fill in the background.

Painting Progression.

Last week I attended an oil painting portrait demonstration.  I won't say who the artist was, but he is an exceptional artist and teacher whose work I admire.  Here is what I discovered, after watching him paint for 3 hours.....first of all, I paint pretty much the exact opposite of him, and second, I didn't care for the finished (and I'll use that term lightly) painting.  (I don't think a painting can really be finished in 3 hours..)  It seemed way too dark for me.
There is an interesting "rivalry" developing between painters who paint from life, and painters who paint from photographs.  I watch the discussions on facebook, and find it interesting that artists are judging other artist's, not on the work, but on the process.
I generally like work that is done from life, especially from the experts like Daniel Green or Jeremy Lipking, but I also love the work of Alysa Monks and Pamela Wilson, along with many of the photo realist and hyper realist artists like Charles Bell and Pedro Campos....just to name a few.  Of course my works run more towards the photo realism genre, but I am amazed to watch people paint from life, because it is a talent that I don't pursue.  I did start out painting and drawing from life, but I eventually, not that many years ago, started to paint exclusively from photographs, mostly because of time constraints.
I feel like having a photo shoot is where I can really come up with many different ideas, and then weed out the photos that wouldn't work as a painting.  When a model comes over, I am paying her by the hour, so I try to use that time to the best advantage, and get many different images I can use.
Because I am a self taught artist, I learned by, as they say: "putting miles on the brush".  I painted in watercolor only for so many years, that it was not in my nature to paint dark to light, so I start my oil paintings the same way as a watercolor painting; light to dark. 
I don't think there is a wrong or right way to paint, and I think labelling a painting process as right or wrong can have a detrimental effect on an artist that is just starting out.

Having said all of that, I thought I would post some pictures of one of my paintings in progression.  The painting is named "Bananas", and behind the model is one of my favorite paintings by Janet Fish named "Yellow Bananas".

"Pink Cattleya Orchid"

I just finished painting this pink cattleya orchid......and I am still deciding if it is finished.  The pink is so pink, that I think I prefer painting white flowers.  I have been taking a break from painting my figures, but am anxious to get back to them.  A change of subjects is always great to renew the spirit.