"SPAO"

NFS - 24x20x1.5", acrylic and mixed media on canvas

I'm really enjoying using the cardboard. It gives wonderful texture, especially when glued down and then ripped off. Also, sometimes it has a stowaway, such as white paper on the reverse, or tape that's left flapping (which appears in this piece). Mind you, I'm a little cautious of being trite. There are textural effects that are used too commonly, and cardboard might be one. We'll see. Speaking of effects, I do like the one you can see on the right of putting tape down, adding paint, letting it dry, then pulling it up. I don't think I've done that since college.

Compositionally, this was a bit of a conundrum. You can see it if you use your hand to hide the block in the lower right corner. The painting then becomes more amorphous, consisting mostly of dripping colors. The block gives it structure. But after I put it in, it still seemed too obstructive and obdurate. Eventually I added the circles, and that helped. The fact that they're not in a straight line, and, in fact, that they mimic the curve of the cardboard across the top, adds a bit of swirl to the picture.

My husband says his eyes keep returning to the spot of red at the bottom, left of center. I actually like leaving a bit of raw canvas. It seems more honest.

And, FYI, if you're wondering where the name comes from, it's a bit of text in the upper right quadrant (see the picture, below; you might need to click it). I like the name because names are hard. They can limit a picture by telling you what I meant you to see, which forces you to interpret it a certain way. This was just handed to me and leaves it wide open. I hope.

"Erupt"

6x6", oil on canvas board 

So, mostly I do large abstracts and small still lifes. Don't know why. It's what feels right and that's how I've chosen to paint: Doing what feels right. 

But recently I decided to try more small abstracts. I figure I'll still get the benefit of the small still lifes: You do more paintings, and thus get more lessons, in a smaller period of time; and you're not risking much in materials or personal judgment because there's not much investment. But, strangely, I also like them for a couple of other funny reasons: I get to hold the board with one hand and move it around and turn it, and the brush or knife with the other, and they interact like you were putting frosting on a cupcake. It's very satisfying. Also, I use up paint on my palette. I even find that mildly dried-up paint can give good texture.

And this is one such, with wonderful areas of texture: paint, scraping, dragging.

Finally, another thing I like about the small paintings is that I can go overboard on the color. A big painting full of hot colors can be overwhelming. But a 6x6" balances the color with the size. I'm imagining this one at, say, 48x48" and it could take over a room. Of course, maybe that's good...

"Traces"

24x30x1.5", acrylic and mixed media on canvas

So, while I've been working on the small skill-builders, I've also been doing some work on my larger textured abstracts. I don't really know how the two styles relate to each other. I figure that I should do what I feel inclined to do, and that varies. This one has sand or stucco patch, cardboard, and some lines created by putting white glue on the cardboard and using it sort of like a stamp. I think I also used some marble dust to give it that matte look. 

I set this up to be extra large because the texture really is a huge component, and it's harder to see in a photo. Below is a detail from the upper right corner that shows all of the elements. You can click it to see it even bigger.

To be honest, this one sat there in a near-finished state, quite patient, really, until I decided it was time to finish it up. It was fun.

"Ethel and Myrtle"

6x6", oil on canvas board 


This felt like a step back after the last one. Hmm. What can I learn? Perhaps the white flowers give me problems? Maybe that I'm being too detailed in the petals? Hmm.

"Just Chillin'"

6x6", oil on canvas board


OK, two in a row that I really like. The flower is surprisingly simple. It has a tan color for the shadowed areas, and a brighter yellow for the areas in the light, and I simplified the shape a lot. I added a bit of red to a couple of the petals. 


I'm really getting to where I love how the water creates little bits of light where it meets the container.

"Full Speed Ahead"

6x6", oil on canvas board


OK, something worked right here. I could argue with the drawing on the flower, but I don't want to touch it. I love how the water looks in the pitcher, and the brush strokes on the outside of the pitcher. I do see a lot of improvement from the posts a couple of weeks ago, which is encouraging. Can I keep this up?

Strangely, if I compare this with others, I still broke the rule about not making two things the same: The background color has about the same area as the pitcher. Hmm. I'll have to think about that.

"Hide Behind Me"

6x6", oil on canvas board


I was charmed by the little bud hiding inside the vase, hence the title. OK, how's the painting? The focal point has some pop. The painting is pretty loose. I'm doing a few in a row that are OK. Modified yay. But this one still doesn't sing. Why? Ah! I remember something in Alla Prima by Richard Schmid... Here it is, page 14 (which is a really good page), in a section called "When Things Go Wrong." It contains good stuff, some of which is this:

The next question is what exactly am I doing wrong? For the answer to that, the process of elimination must continue. I already know that there are only TWO possible errors in working from life. (Remember that.) To put it neatly, they are:

1. Painting something that is not there in a subject.

2. Not painting something essential that is there.

I also know that those two errors can only occur within one or more of the four visible elements: Color, Values, Drawing, or Edges (or some combination of those).

AND NOWHERE ELSE. 

Color, values, drawing, or edges. I guess they make up the composition. I'm not going to change the drawing, and I don't think it's edges. But, in recent posts I've written about at things that are the same, since similarity creates boredom. If you think of  paintings as having three values, maybe I have the same amount of medium as I have dark. If I play with it in Photoshop, what happens? [Runs off to do so.]

I think this is better. Still not completely happy with the flower, but the background is now darker and cooler. It no longer tries to pull focus from the flower, which pops more. And there's more mystery in the edges on the vase. I might have to do this to the original painting.


Onwards!

"Look Over There"

6x6", oil on canvas board


Continuing with using the neutral colors. Yes, with earthier tones the paintings seem richer than with with the primaries and secondaries. It's funny what can be a neutral. I just has to be less electric than what the focal colors. So a mild blue or purple or orange could be neutral. But in this painting the blue jumps out. And, dang it I still seem to have the friend egg effect: The vase is real close to the middle. As I recall, I also wrestled with getting the angles on the lip correct. They really are accurate. Maybe it's the foot of the vase.


And it's looking like the rule that says "Make no two things the same" really is extremely important. Amazing how much you can learn when that's your main goal. Too bad I keep making the same mistakes.

"Going Solo"

6x6", oil on canvas board

UPDATE: I reworked this as part of my goal to learn about using neutrals. I appears later in this blog. 

This one was hard because the values in the flower are dark, and it's sitting on a dark background. It's possible that the yellow is the focal point; at least, it pulls your eye. But the composition works, the horizon like is off-center, and the glass has good reflections. But I think my favorite part is the shadow across the center of the flower. Really makes it look dimensional. Still learning. 

I think the big issue is courage...

"Where Are the Bees?"

6x6", oil on canvas board

At about this point I wanted to start using more neutrals. Now, in a small painting you can use a lot of color, since it won't feel as overwhelming. But I felt like I was using too many primaries and secondaries and wanted to learn more about neutrals.

So, given that the current exploration is for education, what can I learn from this? It's rather sweet. The execution is OK. The composition could have been better. Hmm. Partly, I think too many things are similar: The space above and to the left of the flower are about the same, and the square footage of the flower is about the same as that of the vase. And you could almost fold the painting in half on the diagonal, and the two halves would match. I don't know that that's bad, mind you, but worth noting. And given how much background there is, it could have used a bit more variety. And if I wanted more drama, I would have had a broader spectrum of values. But it is kind of true to the nature of the flower, which has tidy, contracted petals. Stay tuned.