July in the rear view mirror (almost)!

July has been a hard month over here. Aside from the very happy problems of getting used to a new work schedule at the NRSOA and developing my stamina for drawing three hours a day I have been beset by little things; the plumbing falters, the fan breaks, AC on the car on the blink, computer DIES, post dated checks are cashed early. You just duck and cover and wait for the next blow cause the hits just keep on coming. I thank the Great Spirit that it is not always that way. But because it is often that way I guess you just have to look at the good as hard as you tend to look at the bad. I am not a pie in the sky kinda person and in fact I struggle with severe depression which I have proudly spent the last seven years overcoming. I have learned this… that hope is real thing worth fighting for, that miracles happen all the time and that things could always, always be a whole hell of a lot worse. So I tend to look now at the good with the bad. It makes sense that doing this feels a whole lot better than dwelling on the bad all the time. Sometimes it comes down to a choice.

So I take a deep breath in and think about all that is good and the new beginnings in my life right now. The plumbing was fixed in a day, not a week. The computer was fixed the next day and under $50. I sold some books so had the money in the bank for the check and I now have a new fan. Most importantly today has been peaceful.

I did have a birthday this month in the middle of all the craziness. I spent it at a wonderful live Demo of sigh size sculpting by artist Jonathan Chorn and Lisa Silas, my love got me a cake just like I used to get as a kid and Lisa gave me some flowers.

I also made an important decision on Friday. I have been struggling with acrylics and then water soluble oils and have found no real solutions to the problem of replacing oil paints. I have not worked with oils for over seven years, since I moved into an apartment, due to the possibility of neighbors disliking the smell and the possibility of fumes interacting with the gas heater and going boom. Well I finally just had enough. I am going to paint with oils again.. period. I will use Turpenoid to avoid the smell problem and work small and with a fan to avoid going boom. My love, a number of artists and my landlord all thing this is a fine set up so I once again set upon the journey of painting with oils. I am going to keep doing pastels because they just come so naturally to me but I am going to focus my attention on oil painting. It goes without saying that I will continue my drawing discipline and studies. I can already see a huge improvement in my “seeing”.

So the bonus is that I had over $500 worth of artist grade oil paint and mediums in storage and canvases that were halted when I was forced to stop painting all those years ago. Even better, all the tubes opened up after over seven years of sitting in storage!

Finally, I in fact started two works in oils already. One is a simple egg study and the other a painting of a girl in front of a window. I already wiped out the girl a couple times. I am sooo rusty but having a great time!!!

August is going to be a terrific month!

Finished Two Studies Today

I called it done on two studies today. The first is my first ever pastel portrait. This is where the classical drawing will help A LOT. I can’t wait until I can draw a realistic looking face! I was interested in color matching my pastels in this one and also to do a flesh tone in pastel. I think the palette lacks subtlety because it was my first time. I got as far as I cared to go with the study, learned what I wanted from it and all in all I am happy with the result of the study.

The second is just a fun expressionistic study of some fire and ice roses on a bright Mexican blanket. I really wanted to have some fun with the colors in this one. Loosen up, see how much pastel I could push onto the paper and how the pastel acted at heavier applications. I achieved my goals and I think it is a alright in a quirky kinda way.

You have to do to learn and do lots. I have found it is good to have a goal in a piece. It gives you a signpost as to when to stop if the whole is not working. Not every piece is a work of art, but if you can learn something and better yet – know what you learned from each piece then it is a success. Both are 9″ x 12″ soft and hard pastel on hand prepared pumice paper.

On the easel today…

On the easel today — a painting of a woman with roses. The reference for this is a cemetery statue. It is a umber under-painting. The detail in the eyes and flesh will be worked in at the color phase.

I am using a new medium – water soluble oil paints. I just started experimenting with them last Wednesday. I like them very much more than the acrylics I have been fighting with for so long. They are buttery and work into a nice consistency or glaze when using the thinner and mediums made for it. They are not quite as nice as regular oils but it is real oil paint with a real oil paint feel. This makes me very, very happy and is a solution to a quandry I have had for a very long time. Next challenge – how to do multiple oil paintings in a tiny studio environment.

Also is a pastel I just started today of the redwoods in Henry Cowell park. This one has a long way to go too!

From the sketchbook this week…

A sketch from a photo of my Mom (miss her!) and a copy of a Burne-Jones sketch – from my sketchbook this week. Both are Conte Graphite on Paper. I am loving being back in school! I was hesitant about going back after so many years away. Now I am like a duck in water! It is the best choice I have made in a long, long time.

It is really getting me in the discipline of drawing and writing every day.  It is great to do what I really love every day. The more you do what you love, the better you get at it… and you get a very encouraging loop going on then. That loop is priceless.

from Burne-Jones

My Mother, Florence