Painting

“When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss Art. When artists get together for dinner, they discuss Money” – Oscar Wilde

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October 17, 2016

Reclaimed Pears, Oct 15, 2016, Oil on Canvas Board, 11" X 14"
Reclaimed Pears, Oct 15, 2016, Oil on Canvas Board, 11″ X 14″

 

Sketchbook Orange, Oct 11, 2016, Graphite & India Ink on Paper, 10.5" X 13.5"
Sketchbook Orange, Oct 11, 2016, Graphite & India Ink on Paper, 10.5″ X 13.5″
Sketchbook Pear, Oct 14, 2016, Charcoal & India Ink on Paper, 10.5" X 13.5"
Sketchbook Pear, Oct 14, 2016, Charcoal & India Ink on Paper, 10.5″ X 13.5″

This week I spent a little time drawing fruit and then painted more fruit on the weekend. I reclaimed a canvas board that I’d previously been playing around with and decided to incorporate what was already there into the new image. I like this idea and may have to try it again soon. It somehow makes it all seem less precious – probably because it’s not a blank canvas that I’m beginning with. And maybe the fact that I’m recycling something that wasn’t really anything to begin with. (if that makes sense) I took a few pictures along the way. Lots of glare on the finished piece – hopefully I can get a better shot of it down the road.

Reclaimed Pears Underway 1
Reclaimed Pears Underway 1

 

Reclaimed Pears Underway 2
Reclaimed Pears Underway 2

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

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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.”

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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…

“The life so short, the craft so long to learn.” – Geoffrey Chaucer

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September 12, 2016

Circle Composition Four WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Circle Composition Four WIP, Sep 12, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Circle Composition Five WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Circle Composition Five WIP, Sep 12, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Circle Composition Six WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Circle Composition Six WIP, Sep 12, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

I’ve added another layer to each of these pieces – all being a mix of Paynes Grey and cold wax medium. And these really are about layers. This is all about playing with the cold wax medium and transparency and I am trying not to get attached to anything along the way. The trick is going to be deciding when to stop.

Untitled WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Untitled WIP, Sep 12, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

When I looked at this one again, it seemed to have lost a lot of it’s brightness and I found it quite dull – so I decided to add a lighter colour and pull out the grid pattern a little more with a bit of Naples Yellow mixed with cold wax medium. And I dulled down a few areas with Paynes Grey mixed with cold wax medium. Looking at it beside last week’s version I’m not sure it’s an improvement. Too late now though. And I still don’t know which way is up (with the painting that is). I think today’s orientation emphasizes the cross that is emerging a little too much. I will try something else with it next week and see what happens.

 

“No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.” – Oscar Wilde

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September 6, 2016

Abstract oil painting
Circle Composition Five WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Abstract oil painting
Circle Composition Five WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Abstract oil painting
Circle Composition Five WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Abstract oil painting
Untitled WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

This week I decided to play some more with cold wax medium and created a first layer on two 6″ canvases, and added a layer to another two 6″ canvases to repurpose them in a new direction. I don’t think any of these are finished though.

“To me, beauty appears when one feels deeply, and art is a by-product of an act of total attention.” – Dorothea Lange

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Oil painting in progress of a two lemons in a vase
Two Lemons WIP, Aug 21, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 30″ X 40″

 

Oil painting in progress of abstracted books lying open
Open Books WIP, Aug 21, 2016, Oil & Wax on Birch Panel, 12″ X 16″

 

August 19
August 19

Three images this week. The glass of my lemon vase slowly develops, open books gain some definition and I manage one of my three drawings for the week. And ‘manage’ is a term I use loosely… It’s been an odd week though – hopefully this one is better.

“No artist tolerates reality.” Friedrich Nietzsche

| ssemchuk

August 15, 2016

Oil painting in progress of two lemons in a glass vase
Two Lemons WIP, Aug 13, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 30″ X 40″

 

This painting slowly inches along while my weekly drawing challenge has become a quest to find a medium that I like using with this TerraSkin sketchpad I’m using. The paper itself is made from stone and can handle pretty much any medium, but they behave differently than on conventional paper. I would be happy if I could find something I could tolerate. Perhaps this week will be better than the last.

August 11
August 12
August 14

“Art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those willing to take risks.” Mark Rothko and Adolph Gotllieb manifesto

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August 1, 2016

Oil painting in progress of two lemons in a glass vase.
Two Lemons WIP, July 30, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 30″ X 40″

A little more progress on my latest lemon painting, and the completion of my July 31 Drawing A Day Challenge!

July 26
July 27
July 28
July 29
July 30
July 31
What I learned from my Daily Drawing Challenge:
  1. It’s the commitment that makes the difference – the commitment to post publicly on Instagram and the commitment to each drawing while I’m drawing it. I’ve drawn daily before without publishing and would often start and then scrap the drawing if I didn’t think it was going well. This time I didn’t have the luxury of time for that. Instead I kept going and figured I’d make the best of it. And some of those drawings are my favourites.
  2. I realized awhile ago that if my finished images look nothing like what I was working from, it doesn’t matter because no one else knows what it was SUPPOSED to look like. With this project I decided that even if the drawing clearly doesn’t reflect reality – as in it’s obviously not proportioned correctly, etc – that’s not actually irredeemable. It can still become a sweet little drawing if the character of line is interesting, and a bit of colour is added with care.

So my intention is to continue drawing regularly – but not daily. I am committing to three drawings a week published on Instagram and here with my weekly post. Let’s see what comes of this…