Archive for April, 2010

Figure Drawing

More figure drawing with the open figure drawing studio in Frederick. The model was new, at least to me, but seemed to understand that modeling is more than just sitting still but about finding a pose that can challenge the artist. I found that small gestures this model made, like  the arm wrapped  hugging tightly around the shoulders or the way the foot bent backwards on the stool, made each pose unique. I started with these areas and slowly worked out from there.

Getting Back on the Path

This is a revision of a previous work (see February 12). I had painted over the original with large ‘x’ like shapes that looked like freeways. Mostly I did this out of frustration hoping that if I did any crazy thing that that something would come out of it. Of course it looked crappy. But I had kept a photo of it at an earlier stage  and after a while thought it didn’t look so bad. So I just repainted it to match the original, making improvements where they seemed to make sense. Hope you like it

Painting en Plein Aire

Just a small sketch done along the C& O Canal on a 10″ x 10″ square canvas executed mostly with palette knife. Its funny how all the trees lean inwards towards the canal to reach the light. I plan to do a lot more of these small canvases with simple compositions focusing mostly on color. They had a sale on this size canvases anyway.

Viewing the world through yellow-tinted glasses

The subject is a view from the backyard. Though most of the year the forsythia looks scraggly and doesn’t do I good job of blocking the view of the neighbor’s yard, they justify themselves in early spring when they explode with color. One very brilliant spring day I was impressed how blue the rest of the world looked through the brilliant yellow blooms. Spring is an odd time with strong contrasts, some places still look wintery and other places like summer is in full swing. I started this painting several years ago but left it unfinished but this time around it seemed to finish itself.

Hanging a Louie

A recent painting from a source photo of downtown Bethesda. I worked out the composition first using graphite powder on a large sheet of heavy paper, sealed it, then added several layers of acrylic paint using both modeling paste for texture and painting medium for glazing. Except for a few changes for the purpose of composition, the photograph was followed closely and portrays relatively accurately the view north on Wisconsin Avenue approaching East-West Highway. I like to think that the yellow building in the background is posing a dilemma to the viewer entering the painting, veer right towards the darkness or left towards the light? And from the signs posted it is clear there is no turning around.