Pop Goes the Artist!

I’ve been heinously busy lately–busier than I’ve been since probably high school, back in the days when I actually did things with my time. And apparently this semester I’m doing more things with my time than I realized.

But I’ve also been painting in the past couple days, thanks to A) a snow day and a half (university closed early yesterday) and B) a paper due tomorrow. Because there is nothing that increases one’s will to paint like an English paper that needs to be put off. As a result of all this motivation and free time, I’ve made a lot of progress on “Blue Lucy,” the painting that’s been in progress since November or so. I still have to do her feet and the bottom part of her mouth, finish her ears, and touch things up, but the bulk of the work is behind me.  (Click to see it bigger.)
Painting with an easel has been much more of an adjustment than I’d anticipated. At home I have a drafting table much like this one. The adjustable angle means it can be set flat for altered books and “crafty” things, at a slight angle for drawing, and at a steeper angle for painting. It’s a bit sturdier than my easel and it’s much easier for me to rest my not-very-steady hand somewhere while I do finer details and lines. So there’s been a learning curve, plus a lot of accidentally smudging wet paint and going back over shaky lines.

I’d like to get this done by spring break (which is at the end of this month, go figure), because I’ve got a couple ideas–another painting and a series of drawings–that I’m eager to start.

“I will post 2-3 times a week!” I said. “I will sketch a lot!” I said.

Then I went a week without doing either. Nice work, self.

But tonight I’m doing both, plus putting in some work on “Blue Lucy,” one of two major projects I’m working on right now. (The other is the super-secret project from a few months back which I can finally reveal: an anniversary gift for my parents in the form of a drawing of them from their wedding. Their anniversary was at the end of November. The drawing remains unfinished. I am a terrible daughter.)

The sketch really isn’t anything special. I warmed up by doing an absolutely awful blind contour of my hand in the same position, then moved on to a regular drawing. The proportions look a little funky and the foreshortening in the fingers is off (hence the “awkward” caption), but on the whole it’s not too bad. Then I doodled the red-orange border and realized only too late that it makes the whole thing vaguely reminiscent of a communist propaganda poster. But maybe that’s just me.

And then I did some work on my Lucy painting. It’s progressing slowly, but so far I’m satisfied with how it’s turning out. As you can probably tell, I work mostly color by color and progress from big shapes to details. I’d like to have both this and the drawing done by the end of the month, but realistically, it’s one or the other–and I should probably try to finish that drawing first.

(Click either image to see it larger.)

Last night, I finished the painting of the dachshund that I mentioned in my previous post. I’m a little astonished at how quickly it went–I painted the entire thing, with the exception of the background and shadow–yesterday. I’ve always worked fairly fast, but it’s rare that I have the patience (or the time) to spend nearly all day on one project. Even when I’m enjoying it, I get restless.

I’m pleased with the way it came together. This is the first time I’ve painted a dog that’s all one color (actually, it’s the first time I’ve painted any dog other than Lucy, a tri-color beagle mix), so I was worried about whether I’d be able to handle the form of the dog’s body satisfactorily. I’m also fairly pleased with the composition– squares are unusual and I wasn’t sure if it would look right, but I think it turned out ok. However, I’m afraid the dog’s tail might have to go– I feel like it leads the viewer’s eye out of the picture and is just a distraction. I’ll think about it a little more and perhaps post it for crit on WetCanvas. Some fresh eyes might lend a new perspective.

The reference photo from which I worked, as I mentioned before, is not my own. I got it from the reference library at WetCanvas, so I’m using it with permission, but I still felt funny about painting from it. The painting is my own, but the image, I feel, is not, which means I definitely won’t try to sell this painting. That just wouldn’t feel right. I might give it away, if I find someone who really wants it, or I might just keep it for myself (and put it where?). Anyway, I just wanted to make it clear exactly what’s going on with this painting. I’m not guilty of plagiarism or copyright violation, but I don’t feel that this painting is entirely my own creation either. It was, however, an excellent exercise in mixing paint and everything else.

(”Purple Dachshund” acrylic on canvas, 24×24″)

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I’m taking a brief break from painting for the next few days, while I work on the altered book that I made for James last year. I’m adding two new spreads, as well as touching up the older pages. Some of the collages need to be reglued and in places where the pages have stuck together, little bits of paint have been pulled up. (That’s the biggest problem with acrylics–slightly tacky even when dry.) I’ve been told that Dorland’s Wax medium, designed for use with oil paints, makes a good topcoat to keep pages from sticking and to protect them. (Certainly it makes for a more elegant and inviting presentation than wax paper layered between the pages.) So I’ll have to order some of that from Dick Blick and give it a try. Once I have those new pages photographed and posted in the Webshots album, I’ll make a note of it here.

This is the portrait of my boyfriend I was having such trouble with the other day. For whatever reason, things came together a bit after that rant, and against all odds, it actually looks like him. It’s not perfect–the skin tones need an adjustment and the chin is a little too rounded–but considering that my initial sketch resembled no one so much as former Bill Clinton, I’m satisfied. It’s not the first time I’ve painted James, although this effort was considerably less ambitious–only 9×12″ on canvas board. I did it for fun/practice and so I’ll have another portrait to put out in my upcoming display at the library. My next painting will tentatively be a similar portrait of my brother. I’m not sure.

For the moment, however, I’ve set aside my paintbrushes and picked up a pencil for the first time since I’ve been home for the summer. The other day I was fooling around with my camera taking pictures of myself and I came away with a few interesting shots. I uber-cropped one of them, blew it up a bit, and am now working on a 3.5×8″ drawing of my eyes. It’s going ok so far, but it’s a little intimidating, since it doesn’t have lines so much as it has areas of value, plus it’s a little larger than life-size. We’ll see how it turns out.

May I present the third in what will be a series of four Lucy paintings (blue is next, but not for awhile, I think). By now you’re probably all sick of seeing paintings of Lucy and I’m (almost) sick of painting her, adorable and photogenic as she is. Actually, what I’m most sick of is not her cute face, but rather the colors I’m using. I have burnt sienna oozing out my ears! It’s not a bad color for an earth tone, but still–brown is brown. And brown is not a fun color.

I like the composition on this a lot, the off-center focal point with a lot of background. The yellow background is absolutely glorious (it’s a little brighter in real life) and I would love to see all three of these paintings hanging in a row on a wall. Perhaps if we ever finish our basement? That said, I’m not sure if I’m entirely pleased with the painting as a whole. I feel as though it’s lacking something, but I couldn’t begin to say what. Perhaps it’s that it’s a little bit simpler than the previous two, or it could just be that I’m bored and have spent too many hours staring at it. Either way, although I’m tentatively calling it finished, I think I’m going to post it for crit on WetCanvas and see if anyone there has suggestions.

I find I have less and less to say about these paintings the more of them I do. They’re great fun and I’m loving the results I’m getting, but they’re also on the self-explanatory side. (”Yellow Lucy” acrylic on canvas, 20×24″)

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My initial plan was to do a pencil still life next, to hone my life drawing (rather than photograph drawing) skills, but I have yet to find a grouping of items with any sort of interest. Instead, I think I’ll try out both the Colourfix paper and my new Rembrandt pastels in a rendering of this photo of Muckross Abbey I took in Ireland. I haven’t picked up a pastel in more than a year, which is odd, since they used to be my very favorite medium. I’m looking forward to going back to them.