No Art Degree Required
May 2, 2011
I struggled with the composition of this floral scene that I painted from a magazine advertisement for perfume. The flowers are not as voluptuous as I had intended, and I wondered if the lighter shape on the left resembles a rose. Perhaps if I had attempted to reproduce a larger section of the bountiful bouquet of flowers my final product would be more effective? Regardless, this scene is bright and festive for our entrance into spring and summer.
February 19, 2011
This comforting dessert scene is far simpler than my frustrating attempt at capturing the faces of Mount Rushmore, without white paint. It might be a great theory to eliminate white from a painting palette but I am better off including it. At a dinner party last week I was surrounded by ladies who were talking about cooking and passing down family recipes. This scene could have been a perfect illustration for my family cookbook published in 2009. Perhaps it will make the cut if I produce another…
December 27, 2010
“Drink tequila and let go!” was the feedback I received in early December from Ricardo Mazal, a professional artist from Mexico. My December began with my participation in a weekend painting workshop taught by this abstract painter. The group of predominantly abstract artists in the workshop agreed. Ricardo is inspiring, both in his painting process and approach to life. His mention of tequila became more regular as the workshop drew to an end on Sunday afternoon, and I left eager to experiment!
This exercise in letting is a pretty successful effort. My color choice for the faces of Mount Rushmore is quite different to that of my usual palette saturated with pinks and purples. I eliminated white to avoid pastel hues, and instead attempted to create light values by mixing in green and yellow.
Bearing Ricardo’s advice in mind I will continue to “let go” on my journey towards further abstraction in 2011…
November 1, 2010
I just reread my pos
t titled “A New Series for September” which took the length of October to complete due to my busy work schedule. Several of my critics prefer my pastel drawings of the rock formations I experienced in the Badlands of South Dakota over my paintings of them, however I think the series is successful. I completed drawings of three different scenes at different times throughout the morning which is evidenced by the light and shadows present. I completed my first drawing (left) at approximately 7 am, the second (below) at approximately 9 am and the last one (evidenced in the previous post) at about noon. Although I struggled to maintain organic shapes and curves in the second piece, I did capture effective color and value contrasts. This end product is my favorite because the shapes appear more natural and so does the blending of color and value. It was also the easiest piece to paint.
Next week I head to New Orleans for a work conference which will hopefully allow me the opportunity to take some photos of the interesting, lively city which I have yet to experience!
September 28, 2010
September was a month of fun and travel. Between climbing mountains, a family road trip to South Dakota and a weekend trip to run the Chicago half-marathon, I managed to complete a rendition of a Zimbabwean stone sculpture located in Cape Town’s Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. I took a series of photographs of similar stone pieces that are scattered throughout South Africa’s haven of flowers. Table Mountain and its wispy tablecloth of cloud fill the background. I struggled to maintain the value structure in this piece, and it was tough to capture the three-dimensional subjects’ facial features without them appearing too angular. I think I will keep this painting because I like the end-product and color selection of the African piece.
I have recently been working to reproduce a painting of a pastel drawing that I completed while visiting the Badlands of South Dakota. I took my set of pastels with me and spent one morning capturing several different views of the unusual rock formations decorating the canyon. This is the first of a series of three that I will attempt. I anticipate the next two will be more challenging to reproduce because my pastel drawings are not as good as my first drawing. A successful drawing results in a successful painting… (I hope!)
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