Experiments

“Art has always been the raft on to which we climb to save our sanity.” – Dorothea Tanning

| ssemchuk
March 20, 2017
Another Cezanne Lemon, Mar 18, 2017, Oil on Canvas, 10" X 10"
Another Cezanne Lemon, Mar 18, 2017, Oil on Canvas, 10″ X 10″
Only a couple of things to post this week. The first is a new copy of a master lemon painting. This one is from “Fruit and a Jug on a Table” as featured on the Museum of Fine Arts Boston site.
Colour Wheel 1, Mar 18, 2017, Oil on Canvas Paper, 12" X 12"
Colour Wheel 1, Mar 18, 2017, Oil on Canvas Paper, 12″ X 12″
I completed the next lesson in my Craftsy class – creating a colour wheel with Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Titanium White and Mars Black with a 50/50 mix of black and white standing in for blue. It was an interesting idea and I thought it turned out fairly well – especially as I avoided using multiple brushes by working with a palette knife instead.
Colour Wheel 2, Mar 18, 2017, Oil on Canvas Paper, 12" X 12"
Colour Wheel 2, Mar 18, 2017, Oil on Canvas Paper, 12″ X 12″

I liked this format for a colour wheel so much that I decided to go on and do another one using primaries and secondaries directly from the tube based on Betty Edwards recommendations in her book Color: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors. Colours used are Cadmium Red Medium, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Orange, Cobalt Violet and Permanent Green. I added Titanium White and Mars Black for the tints and shades. I could have done some smoother gradations on this one, but it serves its purpose all the same. And no brushes to clean!

“One must go on working silently, trusting the result to the future.” – Vincent Van Gogh

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March 6, 2017

February 1 & 2, 2017
February 3 & 4, 2017
February 5 & 6, 2017
February 7, 2017
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February 9 & 10, 2017
February 11 & 12, 2017
February 13, 2017
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February 17 & 18, 2017
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February 23 & 24, 2017
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February 28, 2017

So my February drawing challenge was to draw from photographs using black ink and grey markers. I had thought drawing from photos would be easier, and although the actual drawing was easier as everything is already flattened, I did not enjoy it as much. It was a pain to find images that I liked and I doubt I’ll do it again. The grey markers were to help me notice value more, but it wasn’t until the 13th that I clued in that I needed to shift how I was working and focus on the various values of the forms rather than drawing outlines in black and filling them in with grey. There are a few drawings that I like in the group, quite a lot that I don’t care for and some that I consider cringe-worthy. And that’s ok. It’s an experiment and it’s all good.

What I gained most in February was more ease in jumping in and being less precious about the result. I’ve reached the point where I care less about how each drawing turns out and more about the practice of drawing.

I completed the second and third lessons in my Craftsy class with the result of the third lesson below. And although I understand the point, I’m getting a little tired of painting the same subject over and over. Apparently I have a short attention span. We’ll see what lesson four brings.

2017 March, Paint & Palette Essentials, Lesson Three, 14″ X 11″
2017 March, Paint & Palette Essentials, Lesson Three, 14″ X 11″

“We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice.” – John Berger

| ssemchuk

January 16, 2017

My work from the last two weeks:

Panel 1 WIP, Jan 14, 2017, Mixed Media on Birch Panel, 11″ X 14″
Panel 2 WIP, Jan 14, 2017, Mixed Media on Birch Panel, 11″ X 14″
Panel 3 WIP, Jan 14, 2017, Mixed Media on Birch Panel, 11″ X 14″
Striped Lemon, Jan 14, 2017, Mixed Media on Masonite, 10" X 8"
Striped Lemon, Jan 14, 2017, Mixed Media on Masonite, 10″ X 8″

The latest in the 6″ X 6″ Circle Composition series:

Circle Composition 13 WIP, Jan 14, 2017, Oil on Canvas, 6" X 6"
Circle Composition 13 WIP, Jan 14, 2017, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

 

And my daily drawing challenge so far:

January 1, 2017
January 2, 2017
Jan 3
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January 15, 2017
When I did my drawing a day project back in July, I decided to use the same medium all month – black drawing pens and a bit of watercolour. I used a small watercolour sketchbook to work in that had 28 pages to which I added 3 more small sheets that I tucked in the back to contain the entire month’s work. I’m carrying both of these ideas over into this new project. I’m using a 2017 Moleskine planner set that consists of 12 small 3.5 x 5 soft cover books. Each has a different colour cover and a page for each day and they can all be contained in a hardcover. The lines on the pages don’t bother me, but the show-through from one page to the next does. So I’m experimenting with gessoing every second spread to avoid that. For the month of January I’ve chosen graphite as my medium. It’s been awhile since I’ve messed with graphite and I’m enjoying it so far. I’m not as fond of the way the graphite responds to the gesso on the pages, but I’m working with it and trying different things – sanding the gesso a little and using harder pencils, or just dispensing with the gesso and accepting whatever show through results. So far it’s going well. Two weeks in, 50 to go.

 

“Let frustration fuel inspiration.” – Sonia Boyce

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January 2, 2017

Panel 1 WIP, Jan 1, 2017, Acrylic on Birch Panel, 11″ X 14″
Panel 2 WIP, Jan 1, 2017, Acrylic on Birch Panel, 11″ X 14″
Panel 3 WIP, Jan 1, 2017, Acrylic on Birch Panel, 11″ X 14″

This is a group of three panels that currently don’t look like much, but will hopefully evolve into something interesting. I want to play a little with shallow space, text and layers. I’ve started them in acrylic, but will shift to oils with cold wax medium to see if I can work with translucency as well. I have a lovely vision – time will tell how close I manage to come to what is in my head.

With the beginning of the new year, I’m full of ambition. I want to make 2017 a more prolific year than I’ve had for awhile and I am focussing both on developing skills and on experimentation. This isn’t anything new, but I have a renewed energy to bring it about. I intend to draw daily this year and post at least some of the images to Instagram and some here as well from time to time. When I look around my studio I see too many unfinished pieces, so I will be trying to finish work on them. And I seem to have developed a habit of painting over canvases and boards repeatedly if I’m not fond of how they look – again – this idea of layers that I find intriguing. We’ll see what other trends come out of the year. It’s a new year and I feel there are endless possibilities ahead. We’ll see how they unfold…

“To embrace luck, you have to enhance your tolerance for ambiguity.” – Twyla Tharp

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December 19, 2016

Circle Composition Six, Dec 17, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6” X 6”
Circle Composition Six, Dec 17, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6” X 6”

I managed to work on three different pieces this weekend. This one was looking so much like a bullseye that I decided to add the eye.

More Reclaimed Pears, Dec 17, 2016, Mixed Media on Panel, 11” X 14”
More Reclaimed Pears, Dec 17, 2016, Mixed Media on Panel, 11” X 14”

Possibly too colourful, but I thought I’d try a different approach and this is where I ended up.

Seven Apples, Dec 17, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 48” X 36”
Seven Apples, Dec 17, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 48” X 36”

And I have decided that this is now finished. Unless of course I decide to come back to it at some point. For now though, it’s done.

“There is no learning without having to pose a question. And a question requires doubt.” – Richard Feynman

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November 1, 2016

Reclaimed Lemons, Oct 29, 2016, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas, 14" X 14"
Reclaimed Lemons, Oct 29, 2016, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas, 14″ X 14″

 

Circle Composition Four WIP, Oct 29, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6" X 6"
Circle Composition Four WIP, Oct 29, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

 

Circle Composition Seven WIP, Oct 29, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6" X 6"
Circle Composition Seven WIP, Oct 29, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

Another reclaimed canvas – this time with lemons. Again, not that pleased, but it is what it is. I played a bit more with my 6″ X 6″ canvases too. And I think those went a little better…

“Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” —Aristotle

| ssemchuk

October 10, 2016

The Box, 1994, Acrylic on Masonite, 22.5" X 24"
The Box, 1994, Acrylic on Masonite, 22.5″ X 24″

 

Venus Averaged, 1995, Acrylic on Canvas, 33" X 45"
Venus Averaged, 1995, Acrylic on Canvas, 33″ X 45″

 

I spent the weekend out of town visiting family. With no time at home to paint, instead I’m posting two paintings from long ago that I found hanging on the walls of my mom’s and my sister’s homes. Both of them make me think I should play with similar ideas again.

The top image was an exercise in rendering shallow depth and a variety of textures with a still life built in a pizza box. There are so many things about this image that leave room for improvement.

Venus Averaged was one in a series of images inspired by the work of Chuck Close. My take on it was to break Venus up into a grid and then lay down the average of the colours that appear within that grid onto my canvas in the same grid location. Once complete, is the image still recognizable as Venus? Pushed further, at one point does the image become unrecognizable? It’s a little like seeing someone you know from a distance – how much detail do you need in order to recognize them? There were a few other canvases in this series but I don’t recall if I ever formed any answers to these questions.

Back home today I was able to spend a little time drawing and making notes about shadows.

a bit of practice working on creating volume
a bit of practice working on creating volume

 

“People need trouble – a little frustration to sharpen the spirit on, toughen it.”

| ssemchuk

October 3, 2016

“People need trouble – a little frustration to sharpen the spirit on, toughen it. Artists do; I don’t mean you need to live in a rat hole or gutter, but you have to learn fortitude, endurance. Only vegetables are happy.”

– William Faulkner

Geometric Shapes, Oct 2, 2016, Oil on Birch Panel, 16" X 12"
Geometric Shapes, Oct 2, 2016, Oil on Birch Panel, 16″ X 12″

With an adjustment to a new job and a longer commute, I decided to take some time off from painting. And there was also that complete loss of inspiration to create any sort of artwork I’ve been experiencing. But back in my studio with the smell of linseed oil and the Russian birch panel in front of me I realize that I missed this. Regardless of whether I love or hate the product of my efforts, I need to keep coming back.

This painting is an exercise in rendering geometric shapes. I am hoping to focus on these shapes as my subject matter this month and see if I can’t develop some skill in creating the illusion of volume. Fortunately for me, it seems I have a lot of room for improvement…