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Tag Archives: Painting
Pansy Tea II
Rose Tea I
Pansy Tea I
Forget-me-not Tea I
Painting Pansy Tea for Two
I couldn’t resist painting another Pansy Teacup and Lesser Goldfinch combo. I decided to keep with the ring theme too. I think it adds to the symbolism of the pansy – “Think of me”.
There will still be pattern in the background but I painted in the base first, after my outline sketch. Notice how the hue is warmer closer to the light source then gets progressively cooler and darker further away.
I painted in in the male Lesser Goldfinch right away – I like to make sure I get my main focal point right before I go too far.
The female Lesser Goldfinch is my secondary focal point. Having more that one focus helps to move the eye around the painting.
Roughing in the flowers and teacup and ring. Throwing caution to the wind with my use of whimsey!
The trick from here on out is to balance refinement with freshness. I had to call it a day here and hope that I don’t wreck it tomorrow!
Painting of Rose Tea
It all starts with the teacup. I like a vintage piece with a fabulous form, a little iridescence or gilt (for the light to play on) and, most importantly, a flower or fruit that I have either in my garden or someone else’s!
Then I like to to a bird that compliments the still life. Here I thought an Anna’s Hummingbird would be the right scale and it’s plumage echoes the golds and greens and roses of the cup.
I took many shots of this teacup and rose and while there were aspects about each photo that I liked, in the end I chose this one because of the dramatic side lighting and the fact that there was a space the made sense compositionally for the humming bird to land on the rim.
My initial loose oil sketch tells me if my composition is working or not – I was concerned with this big rose off to one side, but the bird and handle should balance it out well.
I really liked the gold outline of a rosebud and leaves on the saucer and since it doesn’t really show up in the painting, I thought I’d use it as the background pattern.
Building up my darks in the hummingbird and teacup.
Building up the mid-tones.
Working the volume with highlights and shadows.
Filling in the background, hoping the dark color and flat pattern won’t overwhelm everything.
Pulling up more highlights to make sure everything pops against the busy background.
As I continue to work the painting, I try to balance realistic polish with a sense of painterly spontaneity. There are hits and misses along the way as I work on.
I decided to loose the big white rose painted in the background, it was too confusing and distracting. I also decided to put in gradient lighting that would make sense with the light source. I also worked a lot on the teacup and hummingbird, my goal is to really make them glow.
Hey, that saucer’s looking great now! There are elements that I miss from the previous version though, the pink glint on the back feathers and the more dynamic posture of the bird. I kind of like the darkness left in the gold leaf pattern in the background too – It’s less realistic but more interesting. How “real” do I need to be with a hummingbird on a teacup anyway?
Making Pansy Tea
Those wild birds simply refuse to join me in the studio but through the miracle that is Photoshop I am able to integrate my birding photos with my still-life set ups. I can use my magic lasso and drag them about with my mouse, scale them up or down and even flip them if so required until they find their place in the composition. So immediate, so satisfying! Here’s a tip though, make sure your light sources are coming from the same direction of you’re going to have to make it up on the painting side.
Now which one to choose?
Female Lesser Goldfinch
The overlapping of the pansies in the foreground help to anchor the bird in the space. I’m going to look at more reference photos for standing feet but this is enough to get me started.
Male and Female Lesser Goldfinch.
Cropping of the subject is a nice modern device and can balance out the male’s tail in the composition.
I love how this one is all stretched out and peering beyond the image but will need some legs though as there is no longer a perch available.
Forget-me-not Tea and Feathers WIP
A little birdie told me to get out my tea cups again! This time it’s a bluebird of happiness alighting upon the forget-me-nots plucked from my garden and an art deco teacup I found at a local antique shop.
I began sketching with my brush and thinned oils directly on the 12 x 12″ canvas.
Sadly, my sweet little drawing was off center and it’s important to me that the tea cup remains dead center in this series of little square paintings, so I wiped it out with a cloth and began again – this time measuring out my center point with a little dot.
Happy that I had my tea cup centered, I began to develop its volume using warm and cool hues and light and dark values.
Next I wanted to make sure my bird was going in a good direction, and blocked the blues. I started to work in bits of the background and flowers, working the composition and color story.
Not forgetting the forget-me-nots, I began layering them in behind and over he bird and draped over the edge of the saucer. This helps to develop the illusion of a depth of space. It’s pretty and light with bits of white showing through.
But I want to sculpt the image with shadows, anchoring the objects with a sense of gravity, so I layered in some darks. Tomorrow, more highlights!
Oh I’ll be thinking of a title too – I have the working title of Forget-me not Tea and Feathers, but maybe I’m also thinking along the lines of Souvenir of Happiness, or Remember me Blue….
OK, I didn’t see this coming yesterday! Today I woke up and wondered what my bluebird would look like with the rust breast of the male. It was a brave decision to make as I was pretty in love with the very simple color palette going on, but I thought this color break in a sea of blue might add a focal point and help the bird pop. Maybe I’m not so brave – it’s only paint after all!
All Work and No Play…
Yes, all work and no play makes my eyes fall out of my head. An antidote to obsessive detail work is the great outdoors! So while my abalone painting may not be conforming to my dreamed up schedule, my body and soul is much happier with a well deserved break!
All of that enthusiasm for life goes unseen into a painting like this but it’s what carries you through it!
Luster Lust
Here I am driving myself crazy! Each shell is shifting universe of light, changing every second. Much too subtle, much too elusive. It’s easy to get lost chasing the detail and miss the magic. Hoping to catch a rainbow…
Spring Awakening
Isn’t she lovely? This is the Pacific Art League‘s card for this month’s exhibit, Spring Awakening featuring Hesperia by Skye Becker-Yamakawa The show was juried by two great local artists Maralyn Miller and Ed Lucey and I’m delighted to have two pieces in the show!
The first is Lily of the Valley with Cows, an oil painting which certainly feels like spring to me.
The second is Dancing on Yellow – A digital photograph that I took this year – springy in more ways than one!
The show runs from April 4-24, with a reception this Friday, April 4 from 5:30 – 8:00pm.
Painting Point Alones Abalone
Ah Abalone!
I’ve been wanting to attempt a large scale painting of abalone for some time now. I’m stunned by how this once plentiful mollusk, so vital to an equally struggling sea otter population, had become so severely depleted in less than a century. I don’t want to simply paint the masses of shells that use to litter the beaches but I also want to introduce other elements that would symbolize a bits of the history of this decline. I was stumped for a while, but the more I looked into it, the more possibilities arose. In researching the topic, I learned that while the native Ohlone people always harvested abalone, it was the Chinese who first began to fish it commercially. As early as 1853, a Chinisese fishing community started up at Point Alones in Monterey, next to where the Monterey Aquarium stands today. They recognized the abalone as a delicacy and shipped it live to San Francisco and smoked to China. Once their success was apparent, they were pushed into harvesting squid which was also sent to China to be used as fertilizer. Wide sweeping racism seemed to coincide with the burning of many coastal Chinese communities at the turn of the century and when fire broke out at Alones Point in 1906, the Chinese who had been leasing the land were not allowed to rebuild. Actual artifacts from this community have been dug up at this site including pieces of period pottery, shards of which I will paint into my this, my first work, little fragments of a mostly buried history.
Articles I’m using for reference include:
Graduate Student Uncovers Hopkins’ Immigrant History, Stanford Report, August 17, 2010
Monterey Excavation Reveals Chinese Fishing Village, SF Gate, November 5, 2010
History of Abalone Fisheries: Indian Fisheries, Calishpere, University of California
Chinese Fisherman, Explore Monterey County California
Edible History: Abalone, Edible Monterey Bay
My perfect circle of pottery shards is all but lost in this clutter of abalone shells as I play around with the textures and colors. It should resurface as I build up my highlights, luster and sheen.
I’ve decided to fill it all in and go back for the detail. One more day should do it and then the real work begins!
The Perfect Stretcher
I think what separates the art student from the professional artist is the quality of their stretcher. (OK, so maybe that’s the least of it ), but it certainly feels that way sometimes.
As a student it was all about experimenting with materials, with the image. These paintings were often ephemeral – try something and maybe paint over it and try something else. You didn’t really worry if someone was going to buy something. You didn’t loose any sleep over stretcher that might torque out of shape eventually or maybe didn’t have that great a shape to begin with.
Now it’s different, now quality is an issue and you want your work to stand the test of time. It needs to be square enough to fit into frames if required. It needs to be solid. You want your clients to feel confident that it won’t twist out of shape on their wall.
While there’s a certain amount of pride to be had in making your own perfect stretchers, I’m all for buying pre-assembled canvasses so I don’t waste time in construction but can get straight down to painting! However there are still those custom pieces where I need to dust off my carpentry skills (such as they are), haul out the miter saw and get busy.
Such is the case now that I am returning to my favorite 64″ x 64″scale for some “shell field” paintings. I must say that in the time it took me to prepare this perfect beauty I could have done a stack of paintings! I’M ALL FOR OUTSOURCING! Bring it!
Blackberry Tea I
Silk Threads
Painting Orchard I
I don’t care what the calendar says – once the trees start blooming it’s spring! I just have to set aside whatever it is that I’m trying to will myself to do in honor the season. This week I was inspired by both a trip to a stormy orchard in Saratoga and a landscape painting demonstration given by Karen White at the Los Gatos Art Association. She has a stylized approach to landscapes, not a slave to local color, simplifying forms and rearranging elements at will and using large, flat brushes foe bold gestural strokes.
Well, inspiration is just that – you may start with all kind of big intentions and in the end lead your self down quite a different path, most likely one that’s very familiar. My brushes were not as big and flat as Karen’s but I was thinking in terms of texture and gesture. That is, until my love of the image overcame my desire for spontaneity.
And that’s what makes each artist unique – even when you are curious about someone else’s path you will inevitably follow you’re own!
New Work at the Gallery
New work was just hung at the Los Gatos Museums Gallery and it looks great! I’ll take you for a quick spin with my camera, but you really must go in to see it in person as my photos do not do any of the work justice!
We’re located at 24 N. Santa Cruz Avenue in Los Gatos, California we’re open Tuesday through Friday: 10-5:30, Saturday: 10-5 and Sunday: 11- 3. The next art exchange will take place at the end of April.
Dahlia Days
Dahlia Days may be half a year away but today I was able apply the finishing touches to a portrait whose lovely expression remained elusive for so long!
Dahlia Days
