Drawing with a little paint

So ,next week's Art group is looking at drawings with a little colour/ paint. In the group these often happen when someone just hasn't time to finish the work.But it  defo adds a little more interest when there is clearly a drawing with only part of it painted. Mine, of course , don't go like that because I am actually not drawing anything specific when I start off.....

So , I used heavyweight cartridge so it would take the paint and set off drawing.....,mine generally end up landscapes / trees/ abstracts, or any combination of those. I used water with the graphite, which I love, scraped pencil with a knife and played. Lots of light lines but often that's what there is in the woods.....added in a colour mixed from burnt umber and black. Love that colour......and system 3 's burnt umber is just georgeous,transparent , warm brown....

The size is 42 x 21 cm.It's ok.

The one below is shavings of graphite worked into the paper with the back of a spoon ! Then I wet it all, put on some washes of watercolour but didn't like the watercolour, wanted to use acrylic. Size 36 x 20 cm. I wanted to vary the size and shape of the pieces this week to shake it up a bit....

No 3 below was graphite, water and the acrylic paint dripped in....I liked some of the marks.Want to try darker though and always want to go into gold ! But resist this week, just keep to graphite and paint.

More Dailies. Same techniques, but maybe used more paint. I think it might be a good excersise to transfer one or some of these images into big paintings .mmmmm

Had a play around with abstracted trees. These are 14 cm sq. Always enjoy the smaller ones.....but is there an element of churning them out ? Maybe.......but what does it matter. They are individuals.

Weekly paintings ..so hard ( weekly no 4 )

It's a massively different approach painting the bigger pictures, the weekly paintings. I can't be as spontaneous, there needs to be a little bit of a plan. I can't actually paint the whole of huge board at once almost.And because I work at home, there are restrictions. I can't fling the paint about as much as if I had a studio. ( not that I want a studio again, I like to be comfortable and warm and I like to live with my paintings so I will have to find a solution.

This morning then I tried to work from a small Daily and translate that piece into a bigger painting. These are the stages and as always the painting goes it's own way. A big disadvantage for me is that you have the image in your mind before you put down any paint and that's not how I work with the smaller pieces. But, I know they are different, I will sort it.

Initial inspiration, small 14 cm daily.

First stage, after 5 coats of a dark brown acrylic mixed from red and black. I have enjoyed painting over a dark ground, but it's not so good for me knowing what I am going to paint.

Stage 2 . Painting over the areas I don't like, leaving the ones that I do like.

Stage 3. There are some lovely marks on it. 

Below ......last layer..... Need it taking away so I can't fiddle !

Weekly painting no. 4.

Well questions to answer.....is it too simple ? Does it work at this size 33 inches sq ? Does it need more texture towards the front of the painting ? ....is it finished ?  Will I carry on layering ( fiddling )

So looking at the painting, what words come to mind ......gentle......simple.....pastoral......beautiful.....empty......a little poignant.....the tree is maybe the wrong scale for the size of the painting , but not really bothered about that....

Upcycling Bank holiday weekend

Had an a Upcycled Bank holiday weekend in the Art lounge ( well back room . ) Bought a wooden wine rack at Emmaus and made cardboard boxes to fit the bottle holes. The boxes are 14 inches long so hold brushes and all kinds of bits and  then built a reclaimed timber lamp. Love it. Then the second photo is the first stage of a slip cover for a wing backed chair ! That was torture and I won't be doing that again in a hurry ! Get back to the painting......

Light in paintings

Ok.where do I stand on the subject of light in paintings? Well it isn't a term I use or think about in my own paintings......I paint what I want and the look at the outcome simply in terms of colour, tone and composition......I might then say I need to nudge up the lights  or darken the darks, but it is tones I am referring to rather than light.

Light is a term that maybe viewers use when they are looking at a painting. Researching painters that maybe are classed as painting light brings up, Turner, Monet and the Impressionists, Thomas Kincade ( American, chocolate box painter )

So, I looked at some of my paintings in terms of light and it was a very useful excersise. Will try it with the Art group . As an Artist you are required to be a doer ( as in doing the paintings ) and a viewer ( as in viewing/ critiquing  your work )

As an artist , I was thinking about light whilst painting this piece. Something in the paint suggested a hazy light in my meadow so actually I was trying to achieve that feeling , which I did to my satisfaction on the day. I never normally think about light. It defo made me want to do a series about light in my woods, of course.

As a viewer ( very hard when it's your own painting ) I see patches of light and mainly light, not much dark.

Next one

As a painter, I didn't think about light. The tree images appeared and I worked on the lights and darks to help the form be realised. When I look back at this painting , I remember that joy when I achieved what I wanted to achieve, without knowing what it was ! Mmmmmmm

As a viewer, I see a difused light that surrounds the case or clump of trees. It helps give a feeling of atmosphere.

LIGHT INABSTRACTS

Just the same, I think.....

I was with this one primarily concerned with the texture and the mark making. Light never entered my head.

As a viewer though , I can see a light in the piece, but by seeing the light it is making my eyes look at the work as a puzzle almost that needs workng out. I can see it as a landscape. Mmmmm. 

Try some more.

Try looking at other peoples work in terms of light.

Can you have light without shadow? Mmmmm

Can you use the same rules for the direction of lights in abstracts. Think some more but also think 

about light when I am painting today.....

All interesting. 

Looking at Joan Eardley and David Tress

So, behind with the Dailies and will be for the next few weeks while I have work done in both the studio and Art lounge as well as try tying to change direction in paint. Massively missing the 52 cm sq Dailies but you know, give it a chance with the small Dailies and weeklies. I might just surprise myself......

So Art group looking at Joan Eardley and David Tress ( haven't told them yet...... )

Joan Eardley

Joan Eardley's paintings.....strong, 3dness coming of the page.....luscious.....often dark in content......intense......abstracted......

David Tress......texture.....layers......masculine......wild......wondrous........expressive.......energetic.....

Disjointed......uses different colour background.......uses ripped bits, maybe of old paintings........

Paint now.....

Had a lovely paint this afternoon. Caught up with the Dailies, not in the spirit of Daily paintings I know, but needs must....used stuff like texture paste, paper, scrunched up toilet roll,matching tools, thick paint.......hated the texture paste at first but came round to it all in the end and put the paintings up in a corner of here studio.....

Above used texture paste mainly......over an old canvas

Again texture paste but grated a graphite stick in....theses canvases I made out of cassette tape cases. I   love the chunkyness of these. Try more....

Used mainly ripped up paper, old paintings, thick paint.

Used masses of thick paint but it needs modelling rather than painting.

Above...for the tree used the crunchy bits of paint that dry at the top of the pots.Mmm

Above....worked over an old mixed media piece that had lace and tissue in it already. Added paint, 

Above was the pallette that turned into a painting. 

Displayed some of these in a corner of the studio . Loved the different sizes, thicknesses, shadows.Mmmmm. Will see what the Art group do on Wednesday......

Light in paintings

So, have painted over and over the last weekly paint. So much so, the canvas is bagging. Will wait for the paint to dry and then spray the back with water to help tighten it up. Oh dear......

This is weekly painting no 4 , ' patches of light coming through the paint,' acrylic, 33 inches sq.

Lots of reworking, scrubbing, glazing, angsting, dripping.......

I like it .......today.....

I hope that a viewer can see a kind of abstracted landscape, a fleeting moment of a hazy Day in my meadow ( well not mine really ) 

One of the Art group asked us to look at , ' light,' in a painting. It's not really a term I use at all. I think in tones, so I think , ' light, ' is more likely to be used as a word by a viewer . I can remember reading somewhere that Turner was considered a painter of light. Need to research.

This is the Art group from yesterday. We were drawing on gesso with charcoal then using oil pastels melted with liquin. On top of that, if needed, we used chalk pastels ( ugh , I hate them, the chalk pastels that is not the Art group's images )

Weekly painting no 4, 24/5/15.

Found an old canvas to reprint. 33 inches square. I prefer to paint on board or canvas stretched over board. I don't like the bounce of the canvas.........

So this is this weeks weekly painting so far.......not sure what next.......

I wanted it to be abstracted but yet have a feel of a landscape ......tick

I wanted it to have an element of space........tick

I have rusty fingers with big paintings but keep going ..

It's not as easy to paint intuitively on this scale....might need a little bit more of a plan or a visual
image or work from one of my paintings.......keep going

I like it but think ....is it too sketchy? Is there enough detail in it ?

ART PLAN

Work on small dailies from 52 cm dailies, so be more planned.

Make board for next Weekly....

Sign and paint the backs of the weekly.....

Relax....

Next layer .... This is what I do ....fiddle... Only like a lot of artists I know.....

Ok so it's about a lot of things......Spring....my meadows ( not really mine ) ......the atmosphere in the meadows....a memory.... A fleeting memory of something passed. Mmmmmmm.

Actually loved painting on the canvas......I liked the first layer better than the second ......I am only going to take one picture at weekend to avoid seeing the earlier steps that I might like better.......there isn't really any distance or depth in this one ....try again.....

Well, it feels as if it could be finished now , after a lot of visitations. Try another. Need to reorganise the studio space to cope with the bigger paintings......

So it's Thursday morning now and I have painted over the canvas again ......I love how the tooth in the canvas fills up with paint over time and becomes smooth. Well the image has been lost and found and lost again this week. The paintings are not yet working for me at this stage. Try again ......

Well this is it today. I need maybe to limit the time I spend on them ....oh dear......

Display 2 and 3 of the small dailies/ instants

This mornings work continues with looking at ways to mount/frame/ display the small ,' instants.' Or small,'dailies.' I made a mount, just out of thick cartridge paper to try the look of the small pieces in the Ikea frames.

If you look at the photo , you can see that I mark the mount , go round the marked area with biro, just to score the paper making it easier to fold back. Cut the paper and fold it back just securing it with tape. The folded back paper then looks a little like a bevelled edge that you would get with a professionally cut mount. I never cut my own mounts because, although  I can do it, I find it soooo hard.

Below....Although the displaying of small pieces in a very large, oversized mount, is popular. I love 

it. It elevates the importance of a small piece and focuses your eye on the piece itself. I have in the

 past just got the mounts cut then used Ikea frames but I don't like doing that because, always there is a little black spot when you turn over the mounted and framed piece, so you have to I undo it all ! And , I end up doing it for the Art group too.

Below, just trying the idea of making a tray frame , painting it and then hanging it without glass. Need to try it.

Below is the piece made from cut up old paintings. I want to I try and mount the small pieces in a different way, again to elevate the pieces and to try and make them seem more relevant,  less traditional looking........ Try them this week....

ART PLAN 18/5/15

Try making 20 small pieces mounted on card ( I did call them sketchbook pages but they are not that really..... Think of a name too....

Make a board for the next big painting

Make the Small Dailies

Revisit one 52 cm Daily from last year

Paint the boards for the Art group ( we are painting with charcoal and oil on gesso panel, with Spring as a theme..)

Had a lovely studio afternoon continuing with the small Dailies/ Instants. I mounted them on rectangular pieces of card, trying to alter the look of them . I think it's successful ( well today ) one of my Art friends has a problem with square work displayed in rectangular mounts and vica versa but I much prefer the look of these than when the square instants are displayed in a square mount.

These below are just blue tacked on the Art lounge wall. I like them and I like the display ( well today, I do ) Wonder what it would look like with a whole wall covered ? Try it ....... Maybe

Third big one

Ok so this week massively missing the Dailies, not painting enough and then the two strands of the paintings ie the small ones and the big ones.....

Small ones......15 cm sq. Ones that are absolute a pleasure to paint, instant, no thought, intuitive, love em......

Big ones...... The first two were two foot by four foot. Pressure, pressure, pressure......I keep thinking that I don't know what to paint.... The intuitive painting doesn't work as well as on the small ones or the Dailies ( 52 cm sq. ) it takes masses of time to make the boards ( 3 coats of primer, 2 coats of acrylic .) All hard. So, it may become easier each week and it's a good discipline. Maybe I need to allow myself just an hour to paint these paintings so I don't get so hung up on them, otherwise I blend them into non existence.......well maybe there's a little artist's exaggeration there ! Get over yourself and carry on !!!!

This was this morning's weekly painting. Agony. This was the inner dialogue.
What if I can't make a painting ?
What if nothing comes ?
Just put the paint down in colour and tone until something comes.
Feel rubbish ( nothing to do with the painting )
Don't want a landscape.
Want blossom.
Don't want blossom.
Looks like a sky.
Want space.
Defo want space.
Be bold.
Something's happening.
First hour....use the towel ( it's an old towel that I use to make some texture on the paintings.)
Need lighter passages.
Looks like a landscape.
In and out of the painting.
Feels a pressure.
Do I want a vertical line.
Getting a sky again.
Let it dry...........

So, what do I think now.......it's dreamy, romantic, warm, is there distance ?, does the front plant work ? Does it need to be more realistic ? Live with it for a few days, finish off the back of the first one and continue with working on displays for the small Dailies...........

Maybe try a square large one to try and get away from the landscape . The very board size, two foot by four foot just immediately says landscape........

Had a lovely studio day. Finished off the wood frames for some small Dailies and played around with some displays. This was the first one.... The small Dailies don't look their best. I didn't really like the small Dailies on the boards either. You know with paintings, you are only as good as your mounting , framing and display. In a way though , I hadn't expected to like them so get over it......

Small Dailies over the top of 52 cm sq. Dailies on a studio wall.

Display of 52 cm Dailies over small 15 cm sq. I certainly liked this display the best of have three so far..........get over it and carry on........

IDEAS

Paint some 52 cm sq. based on the small Dailies....

Try different frames in the same colour......

Try different frames full stop.......

Research displays of small paintings......

Small daily canvas

Ok, so the plan is to concentrate on the small 15 cm sq. paintings, to acknowledge them as a body of work, albeit, individual pieces. Make some different frames, put up a display in the Art lounge ( back room .) If I make 2 a day then it should take me about 10 days to make enough to put the display up.

I have made these from mountcard with a thin wooden frame on the back. It takes just a few minutes to make these . I can then stick my small paintings onto the boards.

 Below first batch of small boards with images stuck on. I can continue too work on these when they are dry. I have painted the sides and back with emulsion/ primer or gesso, whatever is to hand. Maybe the sides are a bit bright. Think on that. Mmmmmmm

These two above are pastels I did in the Art group yesterday. I ate pastels but can see that artist's whose work I like ie Karen Margulis and Loriann Signori use them . I liked the pastels I did better when I rubbed them off ! The second one was an old painting, a mixed media piece with pastel over it. Could see the potential but still hate the pastel !