Sunday, May 27, 2007

Laundry Day-2


This is another 5 x 7 study of the same scene but this one was based only on my impressions and drawn from memory, not photo reference. I think this is a great exercise which was done quickly using a small palette knife on everything except for Koda, who was painted with a small liner brush. The high key(light) palette expresses my feelings of warm, bright sun and the breezy fragrance of freshly washed sheets. The colors used are very close in tone value and hue that resulted in a grisaille type painting(usually done in grays or browns). The image is recognizable and the light source has been defined well enough.
I'm starting another small study ..this next one will be quite different...

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Laundry Day

Ahhh...There's nothing like the smell of freshly washed sheets that've been hung outside to dry in the breeze. Koda, who is a little over six months old now and eager to help with domestic chores, triumphantly marched off with my clothes pin bag. The photos for this painting were taken just a week ago on the first day of real summer like weather. Koda supervised as I did some much needed yard work.
The composition in this 5 x 7 study falls short of my original vision, however. Because of the space between Koda and the clothes line there seem to be two subjects in the painting instead of one. The clothes basket needs toning down to push it further into the background and I'd like to bring the horizon line down too.
Stay tuned as I work through this process...

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Perspective



This is a photo comparing the size of the study Shadow Play(see previous blog) in relation to the brushes, palette knife and a few other materials that are used in my work. The pastel sticks are standard size and broken in half, but even so it would be difficult to use them for paintings of this small scale.
I find that swishing around with a wet medium is a refreshing change from dry pastels. It stretches my brain because the approach and applications are so different...I have to mix colors and think backward!
One of my upcoming blogs will show the step by step process of a pastel painting based on these studies. Any comments along the way would be appreciated!

Friday, May 18, 2007

Carry A Big Stick & Shadow Play

I'm continuing with the postcard sized(4 x 6) studies of our young dog Koda, in preparation for the Dog and Pony Show that opens in a few months(see previous blog). I'm using casein on gessoed mat board. A very special artist friend turned me on to this medium, which is an ancient milk based paint. Caseins have a tough durable surface when completely dry that can be buffed to a soft luster, varnished or put under glass like a watercolor. It can be applied thick impasto style, thinned with water or a casein emulsion medium for layering with glazes. All of those techniques were used in these little images.
My favorite studies will be used as guides for larger pastel paintings that will be submitted for entry in the show.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Just Walkin' the Dog


I've been invited for the second year in a row to exhibit in a show that will feature paintings, sculpture and photography of horses and dogs done by artists from across the country. This is great timing because we decided to get a new Golden Retriever puppy a few months ago. Her name is Koda and she is the perfect subject for the paintings I'd like to do. I will talk more about the "Dog and Pony Show" at the Skyline Farm and Carriage Museum, as I work through more studies of Koda and her life with us...
This is a 5 x 7 casein study of my husband Steve taking a morning walk with his new best friend....quite a nice pair.