Crazy Head

14 x 10 WC

Another magazine-head-warmup-painting. Still knocking around, looking for a "look" I can call my own. Or, a/k/a work-avoidance. Still haven't moved forward on any of the other paintings posted recently. Maybe I should rename this blog "Sometimes Janart."

Today oldest son finally threw up an image on the website I've held for 7 years that has been "under construction" all that time. Next week: a home page with actual buttons/links? A contact page? Woo hoo!

Note to those of you getting these in your mailbox; please let me know if you want to take a break and let somebody else delete all the fun!

Progressions -- still in progress, but further along..

22 x 30 Watercolor

Wondering if I'm ADD? I believe I am, which is plenty rationalization for working on 4 paintings at once. Back to Peter again, not far from done. I was thinking of entering this in a show, but I became frustrated with so many little pickyune things that I had to set it aside for a while. I need to tighten up a few areas, and loosen up a few others, make some value and edge adjustments. As stated previously (January?) I have worked with this image off and on in several paintings, and I want to do it justice. So no half-baked rushing to the finish line. I think this is a function of working larger than the usual 14 x 11 size I prefer; with those, I can work start to finish all in one go, in one state of mind, with one impetus. These larger pieces (the last two posts and the one to come) cannot be slogged through, at least not effectively. I run out of steam and have finally learned to put the brush down, let things sit, but it means having to gather up "the force" for each session. Contrary to my scattershot nature, and that's why it helps to have several going at once. Also why watercolor is working better than oil these days.

That Restaurant Near Peggy's Place (Venice)

30 x 15 Watercolor

I stumbled across somebody else's paintings of Venice in which they had used this long tall format, which I thought so beautifully suited the narrow canals of Venice; hence this and the previously posted painting. First and second wash represented here. Really avoiding the water for now, I want it to be one simple mass eventually. It's decision time on the rest of it, whether to push the mid-values and how (dis)connected will the darks be? Guess I'll figure it out when I get there.

Bellagio Cafe 2

5 x 30 watercolor

Here's the first application of color, kind of spotty but I'm trying not to overthink this and just use it as a warm up for the day. I have no plans for it, so no pressure and I can just wander through. So far it looks like I am setting up color triads.

Bellagio Cafe

Two posts on one day! Woo-hoo! Speaking of which, posting sort of helps me keep moving along when I don't feel like doing art, lets me break projects down into increments that are less overwhelming, and the bs I write about them actually helps me figure out problems before they become permanent. Right-brained as I might wish I was, the left brain organizes my scattershot efforts.

This is done from a photo taken in Bellagio, Italy at lunch time when the cafes started to get crowded. This town on Lake Como is known for its wealth, shopping, and that George Clooney has a villa there. The streets are quite steep and narrow, making this seem an appropriate piece for a long and narrow piece of paper. I don't usually draw things out in this much detail, but my plan is to be more out of control when painting it. We'll see how that works out....... to assist me in this effort, I will be using for the first time (drumroll) my new paintbox from Craig Young of England, which is a luscious maroon color, and my floppy big red brushes from Alvaro Castagnet of Australia. So, I have handicapped myself in at least two ways in order to keep this painting from getting too tight....good luck to me.



You can see this is meant to be held in the hand, and there is not a lot of mixing space in the palette so that has to happen on the paper -- alla prima.

Progressions

22 x 30 Watercolor

This is an image I've had in mind for some time; I've done little sketches of it, and even started a large oil which may or may not be taken further. It is, of course, youngest son Peter; the photo was taken 4-5 years ago as he was begging to quit the violin (Gasp! After 12+ years!), and his interest was lagging in piano, all in favor of his new love -- jazz guitar. Pete eventually made me see that it wasn't about the instrument, it was about the music, and that would definitely be continuing, progressing. Double entendre with chord progressions. Triple with the stages a boy goes through at age 15 while on his way to becoming a man.

As for the painting part, it is still in the ugly adolescent stage -- when you want it to go to its room and come back all finished. I have been removing paint from the face, as it became too colorful, and I wanted the shapes stronger. The parts that look all speckly are covered with masking fluid, something I don't normally use, but I wanted that big dark to have solid mass and not be too brushy or putzy, which would've happened if I had to paint around all those lighter shapes, frantic to get it in before things dried.

14 x 11 watercolor

Beach Bums

22 x 30 Watercolor

This didn't exactly turn out as expected, but that's what I get for diving in before I have the background figured out. One of my teachers always admonished us to incorporate ALL shapes in a painting, as everything needs to relate and fit, and leaving something go until last was not the best idea. As I view it on the computer, I see a dozen things I would've done differently, and would change if I could, but it the deadline came and now I cannot touch it until I find out whether it is accepted into the show. Which it will not be, I fear, because the photo is not all that great, either. For better or worse, it is done. The obvious moral to this story is "don't procrastinate." Because then somebody might have had time to fix, fiddle, change, figure out, start over, and come up with a catchier name...

Anatomy of a Painting - Part 5

First, let me apologize for all those posts ending up in one day's email yesterday. That's what happens when I have to catch up all at once. Since I'm going out of town next week, I suppose this will happen again, but I'll do my best to paint and post while on the road.

The painting has begun. Not a bad start, nothing I want to run to the sink and scrub out. So far the color is clean and fresh, if timid. I am trying to let colors bleed together, as this helps to avoid boring, flat single-color itemization of forms. BUT, I keep forgetting to paint through the outer boundaries so as to weave the subjects into their environment. That's the problem; I can't quite figure out what shapes will be where, and if I don't paint outside the lines soon and let the figures bleed into the background, they'll end up looking pasted on. I must be hoping that a bolt of lightening will strike and guide my hand somehow, and intuitively the background will just paint itself. Huh.

The next goal will be to try to get some darks in there somewhere, so that I have the full value range represented, and can key future decisions based on more than the wimpy first layer. At the same time, I want to avoid my customary ham-hand, reckless throwing of too dark, too bright color; I want it to LOOK that way, but I want to do it more slowly, more intentionally. So that's tomorrow's task. This thing is due no later than Weds, or Thurs. if I pop for express mail.

Anatomy of a Painting, Part 4

OK, now I'm in trouble. I'm sure it is understood that this phase is not about acuracy of forms, it is only to try some color combinations. But clearly I don't have a clue about color here. The top one was my first attempt, and I had this idea about the Italian flag colors, etc., and ended up just being way too literal with the colors that things actually were, instead of putting on the artist hat and taking charge. So then I tried again, limiting myself to some blues, greens, ochres and only a few warm reds; belatedly I remembered (!) that my intention was to leave a majority of the paper light. How easy it is to forget when you're messing about with wet paint! I am a slow learner; I have to keep pounding away at an idea in order to really get it into my head so that I remember what I was about. I guess it's lucky I didn't start on the "real" one yet. But tomorrow is the day, no matter what.