Rocks, Water, Trees and Sand

We just returned from an all too quick family vacation to Yosemite National Park in California. We had three idyllic days there, visiting friends and taking in all the grandeur. Yosemite is one of the most amazing treasures this country has preserved. I have had the great fortune to see it in winter covered in crisp snow (my favorite time to go), in spring while in full bloom, as well as in summer during peak tourism season. I usually would be bothered by all those other people, but for some reason, in Yosemite I am more willing to share the vistas (this place definitely brings out the best in me). The National Park Service has done a phenomenal job of controlling the congestion that once filled the valley floor with diesel fumes, by installing Hybrid buses with efficient service to all destinations. No longer are lines and lines of tourist buses stuck in traffic while circling the valley floor for those postcard perfect shots of the falls. We were able to rent bikes (with trailers for the kids and the gear) and were therefore able to see much more than if just on foot. We hiked, we swam, we ate delicious picnics, and I did get to paint... one small painting.

While the kids played on the beach and in the water, I got to listen to their sounds of joy, while creating a little bit of my own. I'm always humbled by nature and trying to represent it justly. I've heard tales of what artists must endure in nature to try to capture it's beauty (mosquitoes, lightening, cold, rain etc.) but I don't think I've come across a story of bandit squirrels and children with fists full of sand. I set up my (new) pochade box in a shady corner of the beach near a rock outcropping. Instead of looking out at Mirror Lake, this spot offered me a chance to look back at the beach and shallow waters of the shore. Living in this rock outcropping were a couple of pesky ground squirrels. They had absolutely no fear of humans. Unfortunately, these rodents have become quite adept at opening backpacks and stealing bits of sandwiches and apple cores. While I was sitting there, they had no problem coming right under my leg to check out what I had in my Ziploc bag (paints). They obviously know these bags usually contain food. So for awhile I let them investigate, thinking they would go away when they realized there was no food involved. But after many distracted moments (thinking they were going to crawl up my shorts... uggh) I finally gave one of them a light whack with the handle of my brush. It was surprised, and they didn't bother me after that. But then, the children on the beach (my own and others) often would wander up to see what I was painting. Children have a different sense of personal space. They dripped water and sand into my paint while getting their noses as close as possible to the painting. Their questions were fantastic and I didn't want to stop their own discovery, so I just made do and excepted these small bits of nature as part of the experience. But then, my daughter, who always try to be so helpful, saw a squirrel approaching me from behind. She scooped up two fists full of sand and thew them at the approaching varmint. It may have worked, if my face, my pochade box and painting were not in the way... Now there is more grit in this painting than I would have intended, but c'est la vie.

Rock at Mirror Lake

oil on panel (and sand)

8" x 10"

Away...

I will be away for a bit, while I enjoy the beauty and fun of Yosemite with just a taste of sweet San Francisco.

Life Drawings

The two drawings above are charcoal on 18" x 24" paper. All of the poses were approximately 25 minutes long. I took flack from my husband for not even suggesting the face of the lower one. Besides myself, he's my toughest critic. It's ok though, because it keeps me improving. His life drawings are to die for when he gets time infront of a figure (and actually uses real media and not a computer).

The two drawings below are done using Derwent Watercolour pencils (Burnt Umber or VanDyke Brown, which I bought individually, not in a huge kit as the link suggests) in my sketchbook (a moleskine) which is approximately 9.75" x 7.5". Water will hopefully never touch these pages as the paper is too thin to handle such abuse. However, I like the idea and may experiment with some gestures on heavier paper with these and add water.

I really love the last pose. It expresses so much emotion. I think I will try to investigate this pose again soon (and for a longer period of time). I also like in this last drawing how much your eye fills in on its own. Economy of lines is working well in this one (in my humble opinion).

Cross Pollinate

I wanted to let all of you know I am now a Contributor over at the wonderful Women Painting Women blog which was created by the uber talented Sadie J. Valeri, and my friend and fellow Masshole Diane Feissel also contributes. If you have some favorite contemporary women painters, who paint women, I'd love to get your ideas via email (links help greatly). Enjoy perusing the wonderful paintings; comments are greatly appreciated and encouraged.

The Saga Continues...

Mother Reading

oil on panel

20" x 16"

And so the painting continues. As I've said before, there is still much to do on this one. It seems the more I do, the more I see to do. This painting was not supposed to take this long. I started this on a whim to keep both my mom and I occupied while the little folks were at preschool. However, this painting has developed into more of a family portrait, than just a single portrait of my mother. In the background there are things that reference both of my children, my husband, and of course myself. When I started this painting, I noticed for the first time, a beautiful nest just outside our window. It ended up having two eggs in it, which while my mom was posing both hatched. We so enjoyed watching these ugly little beings turn into full fledged mocking birds. Their mother worked tirelessly to feed them and protect them from a curious squirrel. In fact, she did too good of a job with one, who got too fat to leave the nest. When he (I say he, because I think of him as similar to my brother) finally flew from the nest, he didn't make it far. He hid in the bushes on the opposite side of the house and she continued to be his full service meal cart. I know I am anthropomorphising big time here, but I can't help to see ironic similarities.

As you can see, there are several books (I am addicted to them) on the shelves. When we moved into this house, I organized this wall of shelves to be both pleasing to the eye, as well as orderly. Therefore, the top shelf is filled with my husbands graphic novels and such, the next shelf down has Art History books and a stack of women artist books (one which is titled 'Seeing Our Selves, another irony?), and then toys, lots of toys. Also, you see I've included two paintings. The robot painting on the top shelf is one of three paintings my husband and I bought for our 10th Anniversary a few years ago. The other painting is of our daughter when she was 5 weeks old. It was painted quickly from life, on a wooden box for my husband's first father's day. I've included images of both of these paintings for you to see. I don't think I'll add too much more detail from these to my current painting since I think it will detract from what's supposed to be the main subject; my mother reading.

I know I must seem like such a sentimental fool. So be it. I don't want to paint hardship or psychologically (negatively) charged portraits (anymore). There was a time when I looked for the uncomfortable in my sitters, but now there is something that has changed within me where I don't feel that urge any longer. I have no need to show the world anymore ugliness. There is all ready enough of that, now isn't there?

Mike Tracy Monster #32, 2007 acrylic on canvas 8" x 8"

Sienna at Five Weeks

oil on wooden box

5 3/8" x 6 3/4"

Painting Perceptions Interview

Well, I am so honored to announce that Larry Groff has asked to interview me for his Painting Perceptions blog (which you may know, is a favorite of mine). This site is filled with wonderful works and insight. I am humbled to be included and I'd like to thank Larry greatly for the interest. Hope you enjoy the read.

Kitchen Window
oil on panel
48" x 36"

Mother Reading still in progress

This week has been a tough one, but I still have managed to get a bit more time on the Mother Reading painting. For the figure, I still need to work on her hands and arms. Her hands got a bit too big and clumsy and the color on her left forearm got too muddy. I also have much of the background to work out still. You can see some of the books have found their place, but even the more fleshed out books have missing details, that painting from life (since this is my living room) can afford me to get into. I'm trying to remain conscious of the focus of the work and I'll try to not let these details overpower the figure. Also, some fun things to see out the window (and the structure of the window). Oh and straight edges are hard! So, as you can tell, I'm still working on this one. Have patience... it's getting there.

Mother Reading

oil on panel

20" x 16"

Taboo-B

Aristide Maillol, Flora (French 1861 - 1944) 65 x 19 x 13 1/2 in. Bronze Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene McDermott

I want to share with you a bit of insanity. This is from an article that I came across that was printed in 2006 in the New York Times, so perhaps this is old news. But I fear we have not come far in the past few years.

Apparently, an elementary Art teacher in Frisco, TX, was dismissed from her classroom and banned from teaching anywhere in the county, because she brought her fifth graders into an Art museum in Dallas that exposed them to Nudity. She let them pass by "the marble torso of a Greek youth from a funerary relief, circa 330 B.C.; Auguste Rodin’s tormented “Shade;” Aristide Maillol’s “Flora,” with her clingy sheer garment; and Jean Arp’s “Star in a Dream.”images and sculptures". Wooooh. Can you imagine eleven and twelve year old students put under such duress?

Is this why the average American adult has an Art's education up to about the 6th grade level or is this the result? I'm so disappointed by our society. How can we allow images and videos of guns and violence to permeate this age group and then complain about their exposure to Fine Art that celebrates the human body, human condition or beauty?

Please share your thoughts. Perhaps, you have suggestions of how we can help to change this for the betterment of our society.

she's still going...

Mother Reading

oil on panel

20" x 16"

Flesh Tones

There are so many ways to get flesh tones, but I thought perhaps I could share my flesh tone palette with you (who are interested). My two strongest mentors in school were Stephen Douglas and Wade Reynolds (as far as I can tell, Stephen doesn't have a website, and his current work holds much less sway on me than his paintings from the era when I was his student, so I've included a picture from a catalogue of a show that was at the Arnot Art Museum at the end of 1999). These painters have extremely differing approaches to painting the figure and differing palettes as well. But as often happens, I used what I thought was best from each and tried to make it all combine into my own.

















Stephen Douglas, The Artist Advances Toward Middle Age, 1998 oil on linen 88" x 33"















Wade Reynolds, Seated Figure, oil on canvas (size unknown)

In one of the previous posts I mentioned the colors I place on my palette, but I didn't say how I mix them. As a reminder, here are the usual colors on my palette in the order placed counter clockwise on my palette (note this time my white is different from the Flemish White previously mentioned, and unless otherwise noted, all colors are manufactured by Old Holland):

Lead White with Mica (purchased from Robert Doak),
Green Earth,
Lead Tin Yellow,
Yellow Ochre,
Raw Sienna,
Burnt Sienna,
Vermilion,
Manganese Violet,
Raw Umber,
Burnt Umber,
Cobalt Blue

(occasionally I will add Cad-Red Medium, Olive Green, or Vine Black)

So off to the mixing... I use a palette knife to pre-mix my flesh tone starting with a mid-color-value. That approximately consists of 1 part Raw Sienna, 1 part Yellow Ochre, 1/2 to 1/4 part Burnt Sienna (depending on the ruddiness of the model). Without cleaning my knife I then start making tints of this by adding white to separate pools of this mid mixture. I also then add Green Earth to this mid mixture to aid in neutralizing some areas (bottom left mixture). I then clean off my knife and start my shades. Again, using the mid mixture, I add about 1 part Manganese Violet (for warm shadow masses), then the next puddle is that plus about 1/2 part Raw Umber. The next puddle is that mixture plus a tiny bit of Cobalt Blue and then the last puddle is that mix plus white. This also gives me a cooler neutralizer which doesn't affect value in the mid to light areas (as much as if I were to use the darkest puddle). These pre-mixed puddles act as a starting point. Once I get into the painting, I often add colors to these mixes using my brush. I find having these puddles at the ready speeds up my process greatly. It also gives the painting good color unity. The Lead-Tin Yellow is a really strong beast but is a clean yellow which I can add a tiny amount to my light flesh tones if needed. I use Vermillion in the same way.

And voila... now go to it and see what you can do!

Mother's Day

Seems only fitting that I should post my progress on this painting today. I was hoping to have more done by now. I've had one more 2 hour session from life and then another session (longer, but I lost track of time, so I can't be more specific) using photo reference. There is obviously much to be done still. Happy day to all the Moms out there!

Mother Reading, detail
oil on panel
20" x 16"



















Mother Reading
oil on panel
20" x 16"

More Family

Maybe it's like when you have a crack in a large dam, holding back the nourishing flood waters. Or maybe it's just a coincidence or strange timing, that has opened me to the idea of painting my mother. She is visiting from Boston this week to celebrate a birthday. Although now she gives much support to me being an artist, she wasn't always so enthusiastic. She's often warned of the hazards of pursuing a career in the Arts (that I would become a perpetual waitress). Her scientific mode of thought and her fear of what the future may hold, has until recently, prevented her from seeing the value of a career as a Fine Artist. She once told me that she NEVER wanted me to paint her portrait, because I make people ugly. To be fair, at the time I was in college and I was really pushing the psychology I found in my sitters (although I never considered that to be ugly). Having recently finished the portrait study of my son (and I am still working out the larger full figure composition), I must be more open to painting those I love because I got up enough courage to ask my mother to sit for me. Much to my surprise she complied. This is the first pass (about 2 hours in). I hope to get her to sit at least one more time before she leaves and then finish the background on my own time.



















Mother Reading
oil on panel
20" x 16"