W is for Woman in White

It feels like winter today - clear and cold. But, this is a special day. We are celebrating the third birthday of my favorite boy.

Today's image is Woman in White. I mentioned in an earlier blog that I have been playing with torn paper collage. This wide-eyed woman is built on a drawing I sketched onto canvas (18"x24"). I especially enjoyed creating the swirls in her eyes and her curls. I added warm colors to the background. Looking at it now, I wonder why.


This is the birthday boy. He tells me he will be very tall when his birthday comes. Today's the day.

D is for Dabble

dab·ble

1. • become involved superficially:
2. • to have a casual or superficial interest in something
3. • splash: to paddle, play, or splash in water
4. • dip something: to wet something by dipping it in a liquid

Synonyms: experiment · try your hand · dip into · play at · putter · fiddle · toy with

 

I have just begun a new class, Monotype and Collage at Multnomah Arts Center. The first session was a wonderful demonstration of the tools, the press, the inks and an introduction to the possibilities that can happen in a print studio.

To finish the class, we were introduced to a very simple process, Trace Monotype. This is done by covering a Plexiglas plate with one color of oil based ink, laying thick paper on top, and simply drawing an image into the paper. No press is involved.

 

When the paper is removed from the plate, the image, and lots of background texture appears on the back of the sheet. Because time was short, I did a quick fish in the water sketch, and it looked very cool. However, when I brought it home, I decided to experiment (dabble, see above), with the image by adding some color.

My first idea was oil pastel - that didn't quite work, so I switched to dry pastel which blended and mixed beautifully on top of the oily ink of the image. This was just an experiment, but I like the softness of the color over the dark of the background. Most of all, I learned something by simply allowing myself to play.

 

 

 

Variations on a Theme

In the Red Room, Variation One

I am now in a new painting class, Painting in Series. This feels like a personal gift - just what I need. As I wrote several times in the past, I have been struggling with finding a voice and a direction. This class specifically addresses these issues. My assignment is to create at least five paintings on a theme, repeat some elements, and explore where this process takes me.  

When I knew I would be taking this class I began to think about what I wanted to paint, and think and think. Outside my window, flowers are blooming in a riot of colors and shapes. In my sketchbooks, I find dozens of random drawings of flowers, my photography features flowers and plants from every place I have ever visited, and from the gorgeous gardens of my green-thumbed neighbors. The paintings I have done that seem to get the most positive attention are of flowers - was this my theme? And how about abstraction?

In our first class, Illa Guttman (teacher extraordinaire) provided at set of criteria to follow when determining a theme. The list included this statement, "when working in series, Paint what you like best because ... one needs a strong emotional attachment to the subject matter.  ...  It's really great if the subject continuously feeds your emotions and makes you feel good. Plus you never get bored with a subject if you always paint what you like best." I guess that was my answer - I am never bored with flowers. So, how to begin.

First, find a title. Then, the list says to "find an obsession." I did, day and night, pencil in hand or staring at the clouds. I considered how to simplify flower shapes. I drew the flowers I saw, seeking geometric shapes that would allow me to simplify the images. Then I began to play with shapes alone to build them into flowers, nextI tried putting them together in different ways. One other criteria I kept in mind was the size and shape of the paintings I was going to create. And always, I was thinking about color. Finally, several decisions made, and an open mind to what might appear on the canvas, I began to paint - combining all these ideas, and listening to the small voice in my head that keeps repeating "red walls." 

So, my series is called Variations on a Theme: In the Red Room. This is the first of three paintings I have completed. Is it 16"x20" on canvas in acrylics. More to come .... 

An Experiment

One of the most intriguing techniques I have learned in my painting class is image transfer - laying printed material face down in gel medium, drying it, and removing all the paper and leaving something behind. Frankly it is a tedious process, and I am not sure I am doing it correctly, but it is intriguing.

All week I have been thinking about transferring a floral image from my laser printer completely onto a small canvas. So I did. The transfer left much to be desired (left lots of the image off the canvas), but there was enough to inspire a color palette of reds and greens. These made me think of poppies and bright colored abstract flowers and leaves. I had a great time painting this little canvas - just playing with the color and the paint and the shapes. I am delighted with the simple painting that results. The image beneath the paint is now just some darks and lights that show through, and a texture - subtle, but definitely a presence within the image. I want to play with this technique again.

Exploring Variations: Finding Ideas

Evening in the City 

In the last post, the image, Koi, was painted with a deliberate plan. The painting is for my son and his wife. He asked for something that somehow "went with" a beautiful Japanese image of a large orange Koi fish.  It was  easy to find my inspiration for this piece - colors, layout and size were all "givens."

This painting, though clearly related to the last in style and composition, began with no plan except a desire to play around with a pallette knife. I am currently reading and working through Painting Abstracts, by Rolina Van Vliet, considering the images, techniques and approaches. As a result of what I am learning in the book, I knew I wanted to combine larger areas with smaller ones - but had no vision of where I was going (I hate that.) I started by using the palette knife to lay down a multicolor layer, experimenting with textures, and combining light and dark,colors. Ugly - but an interesting background.

I am still enthralled by the abstract trees I've been painting; I love the outlines and individually defined shapes. Oh, and also, I have a great fat new brush that holds lots of paint and creates wonderful texture. So, using the new brush, and laying colors directly from the tube, I began to paint a pattern of squares. Soon the trees appeared, (good, I thought that was to be the plan) and then they went away.  A city scene appeared ... at least to me.

I so often struggle with knowing what to paint, especially when I am on my own and not in a class. But today's project, in which I did not stop when I hated the results, and just kept on messing around to see what would appear, is a success.

Not because it is beautiful (is it? I can't tell yet, but I know it gives me that good feeling) but because I allowed it take its own shape and I learned in the process. This is the reason I believe it is important to work regularly, and as often as possible, and to work with no particular outcome in mind. I find it so much more difficult now that I am working in the abstract mode - because in my more realistic working past, I always could find a photo to guide me. This is different - a photo can contain some of what I want to appear - but a lot is now needing to be drawn from imagination and abstraction.

What do you think? What is the best way to build skills? What inspires you to just jump in and paint? How do you handle "artist's block?"