Venetian Pear in progress, 48 x 48”
Sometimes I decide something is done, then come back later and see something I didn’t notice before. I thought this grisaille was finished, but when I looked at it thumbnail-size (as opposed to the four-foot-by-four-foot original), I saw something that might need fixed. What do you think?
“Time of Reckoning”: magazine collage, art journal
Venetian Pear in progress, 48 x 48”
Almost done… just the leaf and stem and right side of the pear still to do on this big grisaille.
Venetian Pear in progress, 48 x 48”
I’ve been working away at this grisaille. I still have to do the pear and the fabric in the bottom right. Admittedly, I have not been painting or doing art every day. The time slips by with day trips, house-hunting, following the crazy news, Raptors games, and other activities filling up the hours. I must recommit to my daily art before I get too far down the slippery slope!
Watercolour and cut paper collage in my art journal
My friend Arthur Wenk, inspired by some of my recent paintings, sent me a selection of photos from his travels. One of them cried out to be made into a cut paper collage.
“Family Trees”: pastel, 11 x 15”
My sister Alison could tell by all the question marks in yesterday’s post that I wasn’t quite satisfied with this piece, and she could see why. She gave me some very helpful feedback that took me back to the studio to make improvements. Here is the final result.
“Family Trees”: pastel, 11 x 15”
Finished this one off today…. I think?
I started on another Venetian Pear grisaille, a big one — 48 x 48”. But the heat was a problem again today (paint drying too quickly) so I switched to pastels and started a 12 x 16” landscape. These two current series (large Venetian Pears in acrylics and small landscapes in pastel) are so different from each other! Artistic split personality?
“Willow, Bay of Quinte”: pastel, 6 x 8”
A while back I did a watercolour sketch of this scene near my parents’ house. Today I finished a more fully rendered version in pastel.
“Market Bouquet”: ink and watercolour, art journal
The other day, mum and I went to the farmers’ market in Belleville where we bought a gorgeous bouquet of fresh-cut flowers. Today I got around to sketching it.
“Over the Crest”: pastel, 6 x 8”
I recently bought a supply of pastel paper, including a brand I hadn’t used before (Premier). I gave it a try today to do this little landscape. I like it; it’s got a nice toothy surface that accepts many layers.
Venetian Pear in progress, 30 x 30”
I’ve been working away on this grisaille underpainting in my little cabin studio. I’m declaring it ready for the colour glazes!
“Jeni’s Good Day”: pastel, 8 x 8”
During the current heat wave, my little cabin studio is comfortable enough with a fan going, but acrylic paint dries too quickly for the careful blending my Venetian Pear pieces require. So it’s back to pastels. Last fall, my friend Jeni Armstrong posted a gorgeous photograph on Twitter, and I asked her if I could paint it. Today I finally got around to it.
Work in progress
I currently have five “Venetian Pear” paintings on the go, at various stages. Today I started on the “grisaille” layer of this one. It’s 30 x 30”.
“Reef Man”: CAA Magazine Challenge collage, art journal
I tore a bunch of pages out of this CAA magazine, but I kept coming back to two of them: the front and back covers of an insert, one featuring a picture of fish around a coral reef, and the other the mirror image of the same picture. I cut them into symmetrical pieces and was playing around with them when suddenly this grotesque face appeared.
“Evening on the Bay”: pastel, 6 x 9”
Today I made this little pastel painting from a photo I took one evening when I was out for a walk on the path behind my folks’ house on the Bay of Quinte.
Over the past week or so, I have spent my daily art time working on this painting at my little cabin studio. I decided not to post daily work-in-progress photos, but it seems worth posting this one: the finished grisaille (black and white underpainting). Next come the transparent colour glazes. This piece is 36 x 36”.
“Sarah’s Sunset”: pastel, 4.5 x 2.5”
For years I have been saving a tiny piece of pastel paper (it was a free sample, I believe) to use eventually for a miniature painting, and today was the day. A photograph posted on Twitter by a writer I follow, Sarah Kendzior, was the perfect dimensions. The painting is about the size of my iPhone screen.
“Angry Birds”: doodle in graphite, art journal
With no plan in mind, I pulled out a box of various graphite tools (pencils, sticks, bars) and experimented with making different kinds of marks by pressing, twisting, etc. When I looked at the end result, the title sprang into my mind. There are quite a few shapes reminiscent of birds, and at least one of them looks quite pissed off.
Work in progress: another piece in my “Venetian Pear” series
I have rented a tiny cabin on the property of a friend of mine who lives nearby here in Trenton, close enough to ride there easily on my bike, and I set it up as a little studio. I spent a couple of hours there this morning working on this “Venetian Pear.” It’s been a while; I’m a bit out of practice. But with such a pleasant spot to go to paint now, it will soon come back to me, I think.