A Glimpse

Doe, A Dear

This work began as reference photo shot deep within the woods.  The animal was barely visible, his own self-protective camouflage coloring working as it should.  The background was, of course, filled with texture....leaves, leaves, branches and leaves.  What I have done here is, in my own opinion, to create a better painting than what was provided by my reference.  I know what I like....and any attempt to alter it has been discarded, repainted, and, perhaps, discarded again.  I have absolutely no interest in painting hyper-realism.  (I am probably unable to do it anyways). 

In looking at the work, and trying to understand a few of the major decisions that made this work personal, I found:

- The value of the deep woods in the background was maintained, while eliminating the texture. 

- Some shapes were simplified and made two-dimensional, to further simplify

- the largest major shape (deer torso) has been broken into, primarily because I wanted more interest     in the face and head

- and, as always, values were slightly pushed to a blackish-violet in some areas to further rhythmic        viewing and focal point description

These decisions were made intuitively....it is only when finished, that I try to understand why things happened as they did.

Although my final work reveals more than just a glimpse, I am happier.

Nude Leaning

Nude Leaning   watercolor/mixed   12.25 x 9.5

We hired a life model a couple of weeks ago for class painting.  My painting was fairly regular in its description...but the work lacked pizazz.  First I experimented with painting a loose, mid-value background.  Still pleasing.  Still boring.  I wanted texture to oppose the smoothness of the model's skin.  I wanted opacity to oppose the transparency of the figure.  After cutting a template to cover the figure, I used relief ink to print onto the background area.  The small dots were actually happy accidents....bits of dried ink that stuck to block and prevented total coverage.  What a hoot!

Experimentation doesn't always work out well.  But it always provides a thrill!

We are what we eat...

Cabbage, Carrots, Garlic and Red Onion   watercolor   9 x 13

and we paint what we are....yes....I believe that to be true.  Every stroke reflects the maker.  Every stroke reflects a decision made by the maker that, in actuality, could probably not be repeated by another.  So, for the most part, my paintings become somewhat predictable in that they reflect my own problem solving skills that repeat themselves over time.  And yet, this one surprised me!  It is tighter than usual.  Normally I paint the background in one or two layers with perceivable strokes.  This time I tried something different....a background comprised of multitudinal washes of transparent hues..rose madder, raw sienna and raw umber...in no particular order except what directional I perceived as a lack.  (it needs to be warmer.....etc......add sienna)  Normally, I am not that patient.  In this case, I feel that the flat reflective background plays against the textural painting of the vegetables and even plays up the power of that element.

I love to eat vegetables.  I love to paint vegetables.  I am satisfied with this work.

And yet....I am surprised!

Now you see it...now you don't

Hidden Symmetry   oil/canvas   48 x 24 x 1.5

Illusion is what painters do....the illusion of a 3-dimensional object on a 2-dimensional ground. My community of Brimfield is probably like many semi-rural communities in that it is being invaded by commercial ventures such as WalMart, Lowe's, Dollar Tree, Appleby's and Kohl's. Things are changing rapidly. A beautiful barn on my road was always a stand-out due to it's two dilapidated but beautiful spires. I always hoped to paint them. A couple of years ago, I finally had an opportunity to produce a painting of each one. Whoa...........within a few weeks of completion, the spires were removed and disassembled, despite local rumors that the owners were going to completely refurbish the structure. I feel lucky. My goal in "Hidden Symmetry" was to juxtapose the extreme texture of the shingles and old wood with a complete smoothness of the background. As always, easier said than done. My normal painting style is full of texture and strokes. Painting the background was most difficult, what with trying to hide and smooth out brushstrokes. "Hidden Symmetry" can be seen in "The View From Here", currently on exhibit at Second April Galerie in Canton.