Sunday drawing session

Sunday at The Canvas our drawing group was able to have a model for 6(!) hours!

 One of the best models ever but she is leaving to go study nursing in Arizona.

Many good wishes to her. 

First photo shows midway thru and set up

Yep, didn't get to colored paint this time.

Model       15.75  x 12.75 inches      oil on panel

K River - 6

Storm at the Divide      6x6 inches    oil on Arches oil paper

 

 

 

ha - this b&w looks a bit like the pastel sketch, only more distinct

K River - 5

The study sketch, using white pastel pencil on the black gesso ...

... and then adding a little oil paint.
For some reason, I love doing paintings on black.

Like this one, for ex:

Tamarind & Pear  

from November 2011 while I was in Wyoming.
 6 x 8 inches, oil on black pastel board.

And this one (same size) that sold at my Silverbow Gallery show:

We Are Persimmons

K River - 4

Pencil sketch for the next study.

These little thumbnails are actually about 2.5" square.

I had meant to do the last small study with black gesso, but forgot.
So this scene, (I am calling it Storm at the Divide)
will be done with a black gesso surface on Arches Oil Paper.

K River - Day 3

 Began putting some dark paint on the tussock shadows.

Headwaters (Tussocks)   6" x 6"   oil on Arches Oil Paper

Well, this study turned out ok ... wonder how it will be at 4x the size??? Aaack...

K River - Day 2

I remember this was the hardest walking of the trip. 

The tussocks were wobbly so if you stepped on top of one, 

it bent and your foot twisted and slipped off. 

But, if you stepped in between them,

 it was wet and mucky and you sank and your foot got wet.

Charcoal with alcohol wash to set image    6" x 6"

K River Paintings - Day 1

After thinking about this for MANY years
 i have embarked on a new painting project

... one that has deep meaning for me ... 

i will work with my poor quality photos and
the journal i kept on the trip

i look forward to re-tracing our steps
because the whole thing was rather bold

for now i'll call it K River - Journey On Foot

*

first it was in our minds
then it was with our feet

a journey not many like us had made before us
but many have done it since
(usually the other direction using river power)
not foot power

re-living it by seeing our photos
reading those journals

and

bringing the trip to life still again
in a painting or two (or more)
!

- first sketch, pencil -

Tussocks and Eriophorum   about 2" x 2"

So, this is my first thumbnail sketch, but not the first in actual chronologic time.

 I am going to do some six by six inch little studies on Arches Oil Paper, in oils.

I am going to paint in square format for the "real thing"
which are about 24 x 24 inches.
 A fairly good size ...

Virtual Paintout - Liverpool, U.K.

Liverpool Sidestreet     11 x 14 inches   oil on Arches Oil Paper

I do like the way this painting turned out. Really thought it would take longer than it did!

Hoorah!

Watch for it on the VPO facebook page!

... or on the regular VPO site.

Still life for Easter

Easter = Spring     6 x 6 inches   oil on panel

Happy Easter!

Painting on the UW campus

Only got one day to plein air paint. 

We went to the University of Washington campus and I set up near Mary Gates Hall.  

 Glad I had some hot coffee, cause

it was chilly - windy and spitting a little precip.

Literally hundreds of students would get out of classes and stream by and only about

4-5 people came over to ask what I was doing.

Matt found some Bald Pate (American Widgeon) and Ring-neck ducks 

down at the big fountain!

 

 

Cherry trees on campus (UW)        8 x 10 inches  oil on canvas board

Below are the ducks at the fountain. I think those are the Widgeon.

Liverpool - Day 3

More progress ... and tomorrow I leave for Seattle for a week.

 

So, no more until I get back.

What color shall I make the figure's jacket?

Liverpool - day 2

VPO - Liverpool (day 1)

"I say, ol' chap."

The Virtual Paintout this spring-y month of April

 is in Liverpool and north to Lancaster, England.

I am giving it a go.

Husband as Abstract

Abstract

 

-->

From merriam-webster.com 

- expressing ideas and emotions by using elements such as colors and lines without attempting to create a realistic picture

Medieval Latin abstractus, from Latin, past participle of abstrahere to drag away, from abs-, ab- + trahere to pull, draw

From en.wikipedia.org
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world.

From connoisseurimages.com

Abstract art can be divided into two distinct categories:
Objective abstract art
Objective abstract art is an art which depicts the concrete physical object in simplified, or distorted, or exaggerated form; the depicted object may only constitute an indirect reference or an allusion to the original natural subject.

Non-objective abstract art
Non-objective (non-representational) abstract art is an art which emphasizes color, form, structure and composition, and which is completely dissociated from representational art.


So, my Serendipity painting was getting a bit abstract - got me interested in doing a totally abstracted, non-representational painting.

untitled as yet       8 x 6 inches      oil on Arches oil paper

Tentative titles for this painting: "Matt as an Abstract Painting" or "Dissociated Matt".

You are probably wondering why.
Well, I used the very cool painting app/tool, Artrage, and took a photo of Matt and abstracted the shapes and colors. This is the result which I transferred into real paint.

Thanks for viewing my adventures in art!