Therapy

Lichen

I found a terrific lichen-covered branch to paint, continuing my series of bark paintings. These paintings look abstract, but they're not; they're a representation of abstract-looking natural textures. I don't do pure abstract paintings. I've found that if I stand in front of a canvas and try to paint out of my head, nothing much happens.

Here's the branch:

and here's the painting so far:

The canvas is 18" by 36", which is about 6 times life size. I might have bitten off more than I can chew ...

A Video

I just finished my first-ever video, showing the process of my latest painting! Take a look!
The music is by Nino Rota, from the movie "Roma", by Federico Fellini.

Really Done

Okay, I tweaked the top section a little more and I'm now officially done.  I couldn't tweak it any more if I wanted to -- the painting has to be dry to submit to the upcoming PAFA show.

Done (I Think!)

Whew!  After a marathon painting session, I believe the painting is finished.  Fortunately, I can still take a couple of hours tomorrow morning to tweak it if I need to, and it'll be dry in time. 

Nearly Done

I'm planning to finish this painting tomorrow.  That way it will be dry in time for the PAFA show!

Lion, or Christopher Plummer?

Part of my still life is a little reproduction of one of the lions outside of the Art Institute of Chicago.  The more I work on the lion's head, the more it reminds me of Christopher Plummer.  What do you think?

Hourglass, Globe, Lion

Queen, Beads, Coins

Skull, Watch, and Coins

Sneak Peek

Inspired by my friend Anne, I'm planning to make a video showing the evolution of this painting.  I've been documenting the process with lots of photos.  Anyway, here's a sneak peek —

In My Garden

... a rare two-headed golden-crowned kinglet!

Of course, the bird had one head; I was trying to take photos with insufficient light and this is how my digital camera tried to solve the problem. Multiple exposures have been around since photography was invented; it was a widely-used technique for producing fraudulent "ghost" photos.

Here's a somewhat better photo:

A small flock of these lovely little birds were busy in my front garden (they especially liked the seeds of the garlic chives), but by the time I remembered to get out there with a camera, it was twilight. I keep hoping they'll show up again in better light, but while I'm waiting, here's the photos I got.

Completed Still Life

I hope to get better photos when we have decent weather!

Wednesday Life Drawing

Saturday Life Drawing 5

The model is a retired dancer who takes wonderful poses.  How he managed to hold this one for 20 minutes at a time is a mystery.

I didn't get too far with this drawing because I had it pretty well-developed, only to discover I was about to run the head off the page (again!).  I wiped it out and started over.

In My Garden

a black swallowtail butterfly caterpillar.

Saturday Life Drawing 4

Wednesday Life Drawing

Saturday Life Drawing 3

When you get the figure right, it seems to relax on the page. I was happy with this one.

Saturday Life Drawing 2