Switching paints and changing positions!

Progress! Yeah, it is so wonderful to have some of the prep out of the way and be able to tackle this thing. I was having difficulty with the drawing of the first person I wanted to put on the mural. I was just spinning my wheels trying to make it work, as I had a good upper shot  but the couple I had to complete it were all wrong; the pose, the clothing, the position!

So, I changed the game plan.........and selected a new person to start with that had great photo reference all in one shot! Nothing to invent..........whew! OK, so now I was ready to start.

Having changed paints also had slowed things down but I knew it was the right thing to do. I am now using Golden Acrylics along with their GAC 200 Medium.

  It is still a learning curve working with these acrylics, but they are much closer to ones I have used in the past in their workability.

Having the large glass palette to mix on and a razor to scrape with is a definite help!

Not being able to 'float' my shadows and highlights in, is making it a bit of a challenge, for now I am doing a lot of dry brushing. The murals I studied in person recently, used an almost black for the outermost lines and a dark brown narrower line for interior lines, so I am working somewhat with that in mind.

Here is number 1 model complete.........Margie Croft....as the 'storyteller' 

( a great image to start off with!)

I AM IN TEARS!!!

                                                    tears.....................of great joy!  ( drum roll please!)

My painting, Illumination, has been selected for the SAS show in Scottsdale...

.

 "Best and the Brightest" !

 

What an honor...........when I saw the email, I was preparing myself to see that    'there were so many wonderful works but.....'

(You know how it goes)

I am over the moon with joy! Guess that is a good thing in missing the deadline for the miniature show in Florida because now I will be headed to Scottsdale in January for the opening, rather than Florida. Now there is no schedule conflict.     Happy to have a friend come along if any of you are so inclined, let me know!

Opening is January 10...........CHEERS!

# 24...Fear not your failure

Tonight I received an email with an article regarding the philosophy of an artist, Greg McHuron. Unfortunately, the artist is no longer living but his legacy lives on as it appears he touched many lives while visiting here on earth. I was not one of the lucky ones to have met him but his quote, "Fear not your failure.!" is an appropriate one for me today.

So although, I feared this painting would be difficult and that I would struggle due to the poorly lit model, I forged ahead. Failure, indeed! As sometimes is my weakness, my facial features kept growing and got out of kilter and no longer represented the person I was wanting to depict.

Since I produced another'failure', that puts me closer to a really good painting! With that in mind, I photographed this one for here and then wiped the face off. I will give it a try again; maybe tomorrow or later.....but it sure felt good to paint anyhow.

Fear not your failure...............forge ahead.............who knows what you may produce!

# 12 Velvet Hat w Brooch

What a challenge! Trying to paint something that is black and show interesting contour and color variation  is difficult. Rather than rely on the number of tube blacks that I have, I chose to mix one. For one I mixed Rembrandt Blue Green ( similar, I think to Pthalo Green) and my favorite, Grumbacher's Perylene Maroon. When I mixed a few different chromatic blacks, I got some very interesting, yet very different hues. The one appeared much more red and I liked it when I started brushing it on the canvas for this hat, so I chose not to go for something closer to black.

It was very dark but yet gave me some variety and even more value variation than I could see in the photo, but knowing the light source and strength, I could make a pretty accurate guess.

The hardest part was the background and keeping it simple and IN the background. I still want to hit my highlights again and tweek the background but for now I will consider this one ready for the drying rack!

                      #12 Velvet Hat w/Brooch           

                                                 12 x 12"       NFS


As always, thanks for looking...........Ruth Ann

# 11..... of 30 paintings in 30 days 2013

Wow...I can hardly believe it is already day 11! Last year, it was getting to be a bit of a struggle by this time and this year, I just feel like I am getting rolling. I am really having fun the last few paintings. Not sure if it is because I am going back to portraiture or if it is because these have been in the planning stages for some time. You know, the long, long list that seems to just grow....it is great to start checking them off and watching the list shrink for a change!

I feel like I am learning more this go round. I now think I need to do this more than just the month of January. I still have a bit of travel planned for this year but maybe I will do small ones when I travel if I don't paint plein air!

Here is today's effort.........again, I struggled with a few things and think I need to go back and punch up a few darks....

 

# 11 The Yellow Hat

12 x 12" NFS

 

I appreciate feedback regarding what you think about this; should something be changed??

 

I look forward to your comments...

 

As always...........thanks for viewing....Ruth Ann

Painting #10 "It's a long ways down..."

Where does the time go? I really plan on behaving and getting to work right away on my painting but I got distracted by a number of things in the studio. Putting things away as I hunted for that one little "must have" for in my still life set up. Never did find it.

The sun was shining and Sedona demanded to get to go for a walk. I never argue with a chance to soak up some sun, esp. in the winter. That left little time for my painting so I elected to paint from a photo I took earlier this week. Sedona is afraid of going down our stairs, in spite of the fact she goes up them like a streak of lightening!

I was interested in challenging myself to forget warm or cool and just try to look at value and not over think it; just respond and pick up paint, put it on.

"It' s along ways down..."       10 x 8", oil on matboard   

I will paint many more of her. She is a great model. Snapped a few today as she lay on the studio floor, bathed in sunlight...

Thanks for looking.........