ongoing

A finally finished painting:

Beyond The Gates
o/sc
23 x 53"



And a couple of portraits of co-workers:

M at the computer
acrylic & pen on matboard
14 x 18"

J reading a book
acrylic & pen on matboard
16 x 19"

at day's end

Worked very hard all day on the cities, then did this portrait which I think is just awful! She looks quite lifeless, doesn't she? But what the heck, I'm posting it anyway:

where to from here

before:




after:

oil on stitched canvas
23 x 40"

...finished? perhaps...

edit - added a bit more yellow & red:

from here to where

from here:



to there:


Yesterday wanted to be in the studio all day but life intervened... then after dinner just went in for a couple of hours & voila, good work. Not sure it's entirely finished, but now very close.

edit - small further changes:

busy bee!

A very good studio day today.

First C came to the studio with her cello and I did some quick sketches:


and a rather awkward painted portrait:

china marker & oil on canvas
20 x 20"


Then I worked on this city a bit, it's getting quite close I think:




And then with some leftover green I did this, just as easy as pie:

"Beyond The Violet Rays"

oil on stitched canvas
24 x 24"

I love it when a painting finishes up seemingly effortlessly. This one has been languishing for some time, then yesterday I put on the light purple sky, today a bit of dark red and that green and it just feels like a great big "whoosh" with a smile.
:)

Spanner

and another

red & black china marker, yellow oil paint and clear oil medium on canvas
approx. 12x18"

real live portraits!

the portraits I did of M. during our 3-day exchange, appearing in the order they were made:

oil on canvas, 16x16"


oil on canvas, 13x14"


pen and acrylic ink on matboard, 14x18" approx.
this one was made while we simultaneously drew each other


photoshop'd a little


china marker and oil paint on panel, 20x20"


china marker and oil medium on paper, 20x24" approx.

this last one - it is not as pretty as the others, but there is something about the technique that interests me, the way the medium dissolves the drawn lines, taking the thing somewhere between drawing and painting...
wonder how it would look on canvas?
hmmmm.

exchange

My co-worker wanted to do an extended figure painting, and I have become increasingly interested in doing portraits again, so we agreed to do a posing/painting exchange.

For this project we used the Untitled Arts Society gallery space, which has a "bare walls" open time between scheduled exhibitions. Artists can apply to use the space during these between times to work on individual or group projects. This creates a more dynamic community gallery feeling, and reduces the amount of bare wall space in between exhibitions!



3 days of this was very intense and exhausting! But the results were worth it:

3

Into The Light

oil on stitched canvas
25 x 46"


A Day in the City #8

oil on stitched canvas
19 x 20"


Neighborhood

oil on stitched canvas
29 x 31"

think I got something here that was lost when I worked over it.

out of the blue

oil on canvas
15x15 and 14x13"

new beginnings

and some interesting words I found in the dictionary:

CATACOMB - a series of underground galleries and chambers with recesses for burying the dead.
CATALEPSY - a condition in which the patient maintains his limbs in any position in which they are placed.
CATALOGUE - a complete list of articles, e.g. library books, pictures, museum exhibits, or goods for sale, usually in alphabetical order, or under special headings, and often with descriptions of the articles.
CATALYST - a substance that alters the rate of a chemical reaction and is itself unchanged by the process.
CATAPLEXY - a condition of transient immobility without loss of conciousness as a result of shock etc.
CATAPULT - a machine for hurling stones etc., worked by a lever.
CATASTASIS - the part of a tragedy when the action is heightened to its climax, following the epistasis and just before the catastrophe.
CATATONIA - a set of symptoms involving muscular rigidity and mental stupor, with alternating excitement and confusion, most often found in schizophrenia.
CATCH-PHRASE - a striking phrase intended to arrest attention, usually often repeated (e.g. in publicity or political propoganda)

all those "cat" words... rather dark meanings when considered from a certain perspective.

catacomb

48 x 48"
getting to an interesting place here
still not finished, but getting close perhaps.

objects of play

2 new starts

25 x 39" and 24 x 24"

Trying to paint with acrylics... it's a struggle but today I am feeling hopeful.
Stay tuned for further progress on these!

Heaven and Earth

oil on 3 stitched canvases
72 x 30"

A few little things

These are not finished, but I'm posting pics anyway.



I've been trying to make glazes without using the evil toxic alkyd medium which has been giving me headaches lately.
Linseed oil with a bit of odorless mineral spirit for increased flow - still toxic, but pretty mild compared to the alkyds. Takes a long time to dry, though,even when very thinly applied. This is a definite drawback.


Found some paper which gives a nice texture. These are my "minimalist" paintings, haha: colour field with texture.

Two neighborhoods:

oil on stitched canvas
29 x 31"


oil on canvas
8.5 x 8.5"

blue sky smilin' on me

oil on stitched canvas
22 x 68"

Probaably not finished yet.... but getting close!