Sunday, July 28, 2013

 
This weekend I'm attending and assisting on TLCWorkshops Dan Dos Santos book cover workshop.  We are learning Dan's process which works digitally for all of the preliminary stuff, ie thumbnails, value studies, color structure and final mockup.  Then switches to tradition oil painting for the final product.  Being "digitally challenged" my prep work was all by hand but I'm learning so much it's fantastic. I'll post the final product as soon as it's finished.

Friday, July 19, 2013

The steps so far...

Here's a step by step of this painting so far.

Thumbnail (2"x2 1/2" approx)
Full value structure drawing 
Toned canvas with charcoal drawing
Lay in of shadows
monochromatic underpainting (with a bit of color because I forgot to photograph it before I started the color layer, oops)
1st pass color layer.

Kind of fun to see it all at once.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

A peek at what's coming in Dec.

I'll be teaching a Miniature Oil Painting workshop in Dec at Cole Gallery.  The photo gives you an idea of what the process will be.  When I have the finished painting I'll post it.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Making progress...

 This painting is coming along.  The purpose of this layer is to model each object with color trying to get it as close to finished as possible.  There will be another layer of fine tuning, then one for glazing.  My biggest challenge is not to rush this stage.  Especially with the complicated shapes such as the drill.  I start with the overall shape then work my way down to the finest detail, trying to describe the turn of the form in space as the light travels across it. The other challenge as always is not to overpaint the shadows, they have much more punch if left somewhat transparent, allowing bits of the underpainting to show.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

A glimpse into my studio...

Here's a peek of my easel set up and the underpainting in progress.  I paint with the easel facing a north window so the light is consistent all day.  The still life is lit with a single lamp which gives strong shadow shapes.  This stage of the painting could take up to three four hour sessions.  While creating an underpainting may seem like double duty to some, I find that it makes the color stage much easier as you can mix the colors to match the value of each area and the integrity of the value structure is preserved.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Monochromatic under painting and meditation...

Today I spent most of my time in the studio working on this layer of the painting.  First I mix a string of values using raw umber and flake white.  Then lay in a the values as I see them, trying to retain transparency in the darkest areas.  This is an oddly satisfying process.

In fact, life is quite stressful at the moment, and it's the time spent at the easel that I am reminded how lucky I am to be an artist.  The act of painting often takes my mind to a calm meditative state.    No matter what is going on around me I can find some peace and contentment there.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Next step in painting process


Here is the next step in my painting process.  With raw umber thinned slightly with OMS, the charcoal lines are painted over and major dark masses filled in.  This is allowed to dry for a number of days.  Next I'll go in with raw umber and flake white to create a monochromatic underpainting to fully establish the value structure.

Home again

 A few more photos from our road trip and the second pass on a small painting started on the road.

  It was great to get out and see some new scenery.  We discovered a few things about travel:

Hot weather sucks!  My hubby and I love it right around 70 degrees.

Driving everyday is tedious, no more road trips for the sake of seeing lots of places.  We like to park ourselves some place and explore over a number of days.






Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Brief intermission from the still life painting progress...

Here's my first attempt at plein air this summer.  The sun shifted on me after about 45 minutes so this is it for now.  Hoping to get out by the lake in Coeur d' alene tomorrow. 

I'll resume the still life saga when we return from our road trip.