my morning face

Stitched the canvas yesterday, stretched it first thing this morning. Took the photo before I was fully awake.
By now it is gesso'd and tomorrow - underpainting!

The walls...

...are full of works in progress!
Like these:



Feels like I'm finally getting used to working without the *toxic* alkyd medium! The new glazes take a bit longer to dry, but starting with a more complete underpainting helps to balance the slow drying time.


And then there are some very small things, like these:

this one's about 9x12"
I'm thinking it's finished now.

Side view - there's always something around the corner!


And a few new starts. These are all 8x10:

thick paint

thin paint

more thin paint

Got some ideas, wanna try small versions first. Here we go....!

Here And Where

oil on 6 stitched canvases
18 x 102"

each one measures 18 x 17"


this one keeps changing... wonder if it'll ever be finished?


and here I am with 6 underpaintings.

1.2.3.4

Can I do a little more?

before:


after:




Tweaked this a bit. Liking it.


Really liking this one!

over & under

Ecosystems #4

before:


now:

So that's the underpainting.
When the glazing is finished, the stitching will still be visible as a sort of raised drawing that seems to float just above the surface of the canvas, but is actually underneath the colours.


Ecosystems #5

First glaze: quinacridone magenta. Liking how it mixes with the various colours of the underpainting.

switch

My hubby's out of town for a few days and what do I do? Immediately switch to working nights - 7pm to 1am suits me just fine!
I've been feeling inspired and productive.

First I did another underpainting.


Then I added light green lines to these.


Same green added here.


Yet more of the same green! Ok, I mixed too much. But it does seem to work nicely on the various paintings.

Tomorrow I have to be at my job, luckily not until noon.

thin line

Underpainting:

oil on canvas
35 x 62"


Overpainting:

acrylic on canvas
10 x 10"

little tweaks

So I'm thinking these are finished now.

Resonance I
oil on stitched canvas
24 x 30"

Resonance II
oil on stitched canvas
24 x 30"

the new and the old

Two beginnings:





And a renewal:

Calgary Artwalk 2009

Day 1 over. Whew.
I love having the open studio during Artwalk, but also very glad it happens only once a year!

My little wall display of "City Sketch" paintings. I've never shown them all together like this before, and it was nice to get a bit of appreciative feedback.

zip zing zoom!

Sub Culture

oil on stitched canvas
37 x 58"


Interplay

oil on 2 stitched canvases
75 x 45"

imagery & imagination

Autumn is coming and I love the quality of the light! So I stand in the street and take photos like this:




And the following are works in progress.

these have some way to go yet:




this one is looking quite good, maybe just needs a few tweaks:




loving the colours here, but not sure where to go with it - it will have to just sit for awhile:

A Clear Stratosphere

no, really, it's finished now...!

oil on stitched canvas
34 x 60"

beep-beep!

only three more to stitch now...

34 x 67"


35 x 62"


26 x 57"


41 x 71"

On The Grid

acrylic on stitched canvas
12 x 12" each

So I'm thinking these are finished.
Liking them hung in the grid formation - like city streets.
The colours are so unusual for me. I do vastly prefer a brighter palette!

Still, however, this has been an interesting excercise: working with photographs and also working with acrylic paint.
I discovered that acrylics work better for me on raw, unprimed canvas. Also learned a few things about depth of space.
Most importantly I learned that trusting in the sponteneity of my imagination is a lot more fun than adhering to a pre-developed image!

constructions

ok, so I'm sticking with it.


First I draw them out like this.
Then I will paint them with watered-down acrylic on the raw canvas.

There are 10 little canvases in total for this series.
:)