Signed Painting and Work in Progress

Here's the signed "Bikes". Lesson learned here was how to render leaves on the ground without getting specific with each one. The other lesson was about how hard it is to use a palette knife to do bicycle wheels. An accurate rounded shape is tough! Should have learned that lesson with the "Grapes"!

This other painting is still really rough. I don't have the proper colors down on the flowers but just wanted to see some red on the canvas before calling it a day on Friday. I'd worked primarily on the drawing and background for part of 2 days and just did some smears of reds in about half an hour, to describe the flowers. I hope to work on it today and pretty much finish it. I also hope to give it to the friend whose photo I'm using for the inspiration. She doesn't know it, though, so don't tell;-)

I Just Need To Sign It and Name It!

Maybe it's Spring Fever. It's been a lovely 82 degree sunny day with nary a cloud in the sky and I have been worthless today. Well, to be fair, I did sit outside and read and that is worth something when you're used to working indoors all the time. Still, I can't stop the little nagging voice that said, "Get your paints out and PAINT outside".

I couldn't stop the other nagging going on in my head that said, "Just paint something...anything!" And since it's not too late, I may just go smear some paint on a canvas and play with color. Lots of good things happen when I do that.

So, I could call it Spring Fever, but I'm wondering if it's just the let down that happens when I finish a painting and think I've decided on the next one but am not totally enamoured of the original thought. I thought I wanted to paint a sailboat with sails unfurled. It sounded romantic and a chance to really do something interesting with white. But, I'm not chomping at the bit to get to it. A classic sign with me that I'm pushing too hard for an idea that's not working.

I have a new book about figure drawing and am not getting very far with that, either. So, what to do? Clean the studio? It's not in need of any cleaning. Look at art books? Not all that interested. I think tomorrow I will go to the Blanton and look at art in person. Sometimes that is the only way to get things going. Looking at really, really good art makes me want to be a better painter, better designer. It often inspires me to try a different way of looking at my subject, different color palette, even a different style. Something without bicycles.

The Play's The Thing

I have had a ball playing with paint the past couple of days. I had it in my head that I wanted to make some heart paintings and maybe make some of them into Valentines for special someones in my life, but I also had two special girlfriends with birthdays who I thought needed a heart painting. In no way was this supposed to be "important" like the thought of a gallery painting engenders, and because of the play aspect of it, I was able to have fun and learn quite a bit about paints at the same time. If I didn't like the compliments I was trying to put together, I could scrape it off. No harm done. In fact, the many layers from some good and bad decisions gave each piece more depth. I know that for a fact, because I was tempted to stop with the second layer on the second group of hearts I was working on; they looked fine with their underpainting of gold acrylic and purple acrylic. But, if I'd stopped, it would have meant that I was giving up on the idea of play and giving in to the idea of playing it safe. And when I stopped thinking of them in the Hallmark card genre, and started mixing the paints around, I think they turned out a hellova lot better for the play. Each one is 6x8 canvas. I bought a little sampler tablet of different canvases, 2 of each kind. Some are linen, some are cotton duck and all fascinating to work with. I learned that linen is really too smooth to use a palette knife with in the manner I'm used to. The paint just slides away with no resistance from the weave. My two most favorite I will give to my daughter and husband as Valentine cards and then ask them if I can mount them on boards to hang. That will be an interesting activity to learn about. What glues and what woods or other hard surface to mount them? This play has become quite the learning experience! Happy Valentine's Day!!!

"Bikes"

When I got up this morning, the sun was low in the morning sky but still very bright, shining its intense light all the way through the kitchen to the diningroom at the front of the house where this painting was sitting on the easel I have placed there to look at my work anytime I'm passing through.

I realized that the bright light really showed up the detail in the painting. I also realized that I should have better lights in the diningroom if I plan on using it as my space for viewing works in progress.

I read somewhere that you can show a lot more texture in your paintings and reduce some of the glare if you set your painting at an angle from the light. It is so wonderful to have a good, bright light from our Springtime sun shining at around noon to 2 p.m. now. Makes it much more convenient for me to photograph what I'm working on. I took photos at two different angles and chose this as the good one for showing the texture and giving it some depth. Digital photography flattens the image otherwise.

Next step is to put in some suggestion of leaves blown up against surfaces and maybe brighten the bike colors some more, because that is what prompted me to paint this picture in the first place.

Signed and I'm Keeping It

"Flower" copyright 2009 30x30 on 1 1/2" gallery wrapped canvas.

The Great Grape Giveaway!

I was happy to have finished this in time for Nancy's birthday party last evening. She'd sent me two photographs last week and I really doubted that I could do them justice in just that short amount of time. But, fortunately, I chose a much smaller canvas (14x18) than I'm used to working on and I think that helped me get it done in time. I brought it to the party, still wet, and was pleased with her reaction. She said that she took some time selecting photos that had a lot of color in them. Unfortunately, the main color in the photo was green, so I had to fudge it a little by bringing out color and tones that weren't really there because of the bright light. Anyway, I'm glad to have it done so I can concentrate on the next great thing, haha! Well, you wouldn't say the next mediocre thing or the next not so wonderful but I'm trying thing, right? Gotta think positive (ly). I was also happy, that same evening, to take a painting off the wall and hand it to a friend who'd come to pick us up. He'd mentioned loving my first plein air painting (done at Inks Lake), so I was thrilled to let his wife and him have it for their own. Turns out they were equally thrilled to have one of *my* paintings. Aw, shucks. I am messing with the template and adding things, looking forward to some good instruction from Kate on how to work this bloomin' blog shtuff. Stay tuned.

A Little of This, A Little of That

I started the day with good intentions. It was going to be a painting day and then this evening go with a friend to Austin's West End for First Thursday Gallery Night. But.....

As with any good intention, you have to decide how important it is when faced with the decision of following through by any means possible or going with the flow. I chose to go with the flow and it's only now that I'm home from seeing other people's art that I realize it was for the best that I did not paint today.

Because...what has bothered me about this piece is that it really isn't very Connie-like. I have enjoyed painting my medium to large canvases with a palette knife in great swooshes of color, picking up the layers underneath and developing texture and depth. But this smallish (for me) canvas is not all that much fun to work on with a palette knife. In fact, if I could go back in time, I would have used a brush. But, since that's not an option at this point, I took it as a signal tonight when I saw lots of different work from artists I know and others I'm just getting to know, that I should at least be REAL with what I'm doing. What I mean is, just because I'm using a palette knife on this painting doesn't mean that it is my "voice" in this piece. It's almost just a gimmick. What I need the palette knife to do is what I do with the large canvases, mix those paints around. Give it motion.

Because this is a piece from a friend's photo and I'm giving it to her, I think I attempted to play it safe. I am so disappointed in myself for that. I know I am learning a hard lesson here and dearly hope that I can right enough wrongs for me to value this painting in the end.

I can't wait to get to the grapes tomorrow and give them some volume with the use of light. Hopefully no one will need me tomorrow.

I did want to share my excitement about my next intentions. I just got the book, "Henry Yan's Figure Drawing, techniques and tips" and can't wait to learn his methods for producing such luscious, full of energy drawings. In reading a number of art blogs, it seems that there is a growing trend toward drawing, sketching, getting the image down in your head before starting a painting. I did my first "best" painting using that method when I took a course from Noel Robbins at AMOA. And, just a year ago, I started going to his studio just so we could work on drawing. I don't know why I didn't stick with the drawing part. I did it for one painting and then I guess I forgot? Maybe I was just so excited about painting?

So, anyway, now I'm fixing to get back to drawing and sketching. I think that will help me work up my nerve to go to paint outs with the Plein Air Austin group, too. My issue is a strange one: I joined PAA last year, with every intention of taking my brand new easel and backpack out to paint outs. In March I had the worst episode of herniated lumbar disc I've had in years, right after using my backpack at a painting session with Austin Figurative Gallery and was laid up with muscle relaxants and pain meds for 5 days. So now I can't help but associate back pain with my wonderful backpack.

One of the sweet PAA people suggested that I just bring a sketchbook to our paint outs and I think she deserves an award for creative problem solving. Why I did not think of that is beyond me. Guess I was too focused on what I couldn't do to figure out what I could!

Two photos of two things I'm working on. After the Blogging 101 workshop I'm taking 3 weeks from now, I should be able to put captions under photos, create paragraphs and post blogs that I follow. I'm not a total idiot, but I do tend to give up if it looks like I'm going to be at it for hours problem solving.

Show and Tell

It's been a while since Camille or I brought our work to jazzercise for a little "show and tell". It's a pretty good place to do it because there's a great long ledge to place our work and a vast, expansive room from which to view it. The lighting is kind of "eh", but it's daytime so there's that.

It was such a convenient way to show friends what we've been up to, instead of scheduling a time to come over, which has it's own hassles since our studios are in our homes and there is still a modicum of housepride beneath the oily veneer of paint in our psyches that says we need to clean up the place before we have people traipsing upstairs. I'd rather paint than clean any day!

Second best to seeing it in person is to post a picture (or two or three) online. The experience of viewing in person is so much better because you get a great feel for the space and dimension and texture that just doesn't come across in a little photo; especially if you don't have the photographic skillz, polarizing lens and Photoshop to present it in its best form. But, mainly, it's the 2 dimensional, flat aspect of a photo viewed on a computer that takes away half the power of an in-person view. One of the reasons that I like to visit art galleries and artists' studios.

So, boys and girls, what I have to show today are three paintings, in various stages of completion. There is the Grapes painting that I began blocking in the other day with a palette knife. It is from a friend's photo and will be a birthday present to her. I am in love with the colors, especially after working in such muted tones for the past couple of months. The colors will get toned down, but I like to work dark and intense in the beginning and layer lighter, more muted on top. Probably comes from my beginning of fine art drawing with Prismacolor pencils and the wonderful effects you can get from layering them, but I do love working that way with oils and acrylics. More depth for one thing and I think everyone enjoys seeing the underlayers peeking through.

Then there's the completed (or so I am thinking at the moment) bigass flower. This particular composition is a cropped version of one I have painted twice before as an exercise in color and light. The original rose is from a photo my daughter, Sami, took at Zilker Botanical Gardens a few years ago and it's a bright fuscia. When I painted the first one, the assignment was to take a black and white photo and create your own color painting. I worked and worked and could not get it to become a yellow rose. Ultimately it ended up a brilliant red and I called it done.

The second one that I did (don't know why) did end up with some yellow tones, over browns, and much more loose and fun. That was nearly 2 years ago.

This one was begun with the idea that it was going in my daughter's friend's apartment, to be done in shades of cream and purple. I guess I'm fortunate that she was in a hurry to decorate her apartment and found something else for that wall because I have had a lot more fun doing this painting in everything *but* cream and purple!

Lots of lessons learned about chiarascuro and color, so this fun painting has been very educational.

I took the photo for it yesterday when the sun wasn't quite sure if it would stay out. The wind was a little threatening, too, and I did have to pick the painting up off the patio after it took a nosedive. Proof that using well made canvases is a good thing.

One Down and Many More To Go

I had some great success concentrating on my painting Tuesday night at Noel Robbins' studio. I'm glad that I can tune out conversation around me and work well. Maybe that's what I needed last week when I was the only student!

I was able to pull together all the disparate spots and create the cohesion and finish that it needed. I feel satisfied that it's the best I can do. Sometimes that is where you land, sometimes you come out of it euphoric.

Then there's this other painting that I started to distract me from my misery. It's been fun putting on the initial bright colors and then going for various purplish grays (Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna) that made it really entertaining. But, color won out in the end and what had started as just a little bit of yellow ochre in the flower's middle, ended up a full blown change to the whole canvas. It's lost some of it's depth and the thing going on in the top left is very distracting and unexplainable. So, onward I go, learning so many things along the way that this is still considered a fun distraction.

On The Road To a Better Plan

Sometimes you have to tear it down to build it up and that's what I began doing on Tuesday night. I'm having troubles understanding what my teacher was trying to tell me, but having it sit on the easel in the diningroom where I can look at it every day will help me figure it out.

Latest Evolution

It feels so close to being done that I can taste it! Camille likes to see the evolution of paintings, so this one's for her. It was decided that I should lose the definition and color in the lowest quadrant because it was vying for attention when I'd intended to play down that area. It took 2 glasses of champagne for me to totally lose the red tone and make it a lovely shade of gray, but I did it! I am proud of myself for not clinging to something that was only yummy in my mind.

I'm Thrilled!

I am thrilled with what I got done on this painting today because of what it was before that. I only posted the beginnings of it, so y'all only saw a bit of how far from my original vision I had gotten. Too many details got included when I should have just been blocking in. I know that I always tell my teacher that I put the details in so I know where they're supposed to be, but I got way too attached to them and then unhappy because of it. When I first saw the photo which inspired this painting, it was the light and the contrast that attracted me to the subject, not the actual people in the photo. So, I've been letting it sit in the diningroom, on an easel, waiting for me to finally work up the nerve to paint out that which was making me unhappy. First, I painted out the lady in red. I thought that was enough, but the whole feel of the painting was wrong. Today, I did a purple wash over the entire painting, followed by a greenish gray and some bluish grays. I worked over every part of the painting, getting rid of the guy on the left and really losing a lot of detail. Which was a good thing. And now it has the feel that I was going for when I began thinking about this painting back in September. God loves me.

I started this last night at Noel Robbins' studio. It's a mishmash of photos from two different tropical storm events, Fay and Ike. The canvas is 30x40, which is a lot of area to cover with oil paint. I started with painting in the drawing, but have been doing all the blocking in with a palette knife. I just find it an easier tool to use when covering large areas. The figure on the left has to be reworked...he's like a mini man. Not a problem; I'm still blocking in.

"Walker"

http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/

Another challenge from Karin Jurick's Different Strokes From Different Folks. I enjoyed it so much that I couldn't just make it an exercise, so it's a full fledged painting 16x20 oil on canvas and up on my gallery site at www.ekaweeka.com/568

"Roostertail"

I finished this last night at studio time. It's 18x24 done in oil on canvas with a palette knife. The tools are getting easier to use with each painting. Notice I didn't say easy.

This is my handsome hubby, by the way. Still the athletic stud at 52. It was a lot of fun to be able to document his prowess on a slalom ski.

What to paint next? People keep sending me photos which I'm sure they're hoping will be an inspiration for a painting. I sure appreciate their generosity. Plus, they take some damned good pictures! I am blessed.

Done, done, done, done, DOOOONNNNNEEEE!!!

Signed it and painted the sides a nice burnt sienna. Now, I just have to wait a couple of days for it to dry some more and I can put a retouch varnish on it. Then, wire it, wrap it up and drive it to my brother's new house in Grand Prairie and we're set. Big sigh.

New Work and Work In Progress

I know that most people only post their finished work, but if I did that, you'd only hear from me about once a month. So, here is one finished work and two in progress:

Outdoor Photography

I took this photo just a little while ago, when the sun was behind the houses across the street. I find it interesting how many more blues show up in the daylight than when I took the other picture last night in my studio with a flash.

My New Rug

I went upstairs to look at my painting and decided to photograph it while I was at it. So, now you can see my new rug! Not only is it pretty and cushy, but it doesn't bunch up and I haven't tripped over it at all! What a nice improvement from the floor mats that skidded all over the place. They're still under the rug, but the weight of the 5x8' rug keeps them in place. It was a bear to haul from the house, up the stairs and roll into place; my back reminded me of that yesterday.

Lots of palette knife work today. I doubt very many cactus leaves escaped paint today. It's becoming more cohesive in its form and style and hopefully nearing completion.

I was standing on a swivel stool to take this photo. I like to challenge my balance, I guess, because earlier this week I stood on a kitchen stool to hang a painting.

Agave Changes With More To Come

This is what I got done on the weekend, but I have since worked on it two more days this week and find every time that I'm bringing it closer to what I want. It has photographed very light on the right because of the lights in my studio. I'm going to invest in another standing light and bulbs to even out the lighting. The changes I made were to increase the values on some of the agave leaves and make the wall darker with a more orange tone to it. And the pavement on the right now has a more golden hue. And, as always when I'm working with a palette knife, all areas of the canvas got a little attention. I'll try to photograph it tomorrow so you don't have to guess. I'm feeling closer to the end each day.

Almost Done

I just realized that I haven't updated Pierre in quite a while. It's oil on linen and the light bouncing off of the canvas and paint is driving me crazy. I need to search out a good photo editing tool to help with that.

Anyway. About Pierre et Ballon de Football...it is nearly done. When my painting instructor says that, I get a little heart flutter. But, when he says things like, "Have you considered contacting some galleries?", I get something more like heart palpitations. So, I'm thinking that "no" should be the answer for now. In fact, I've promised myself that I'll wait until after the first of the year so I can just concentrate on gallery paintings and getting faster and better at what I do. I just have this little feeling that some of the control that I feel now with selecting my subject matter and how I'm going to go about portraying it may get compromised by showing and selling. And if that doesn't change, it's very possible that the pace will! And I love going at my own pace, choosing to paint on whatever painting suits my mood that day, no deadlines or commitments. Just a little old hippy painter.

One thing I might want to change back on this painting is the highlight that was on his sock. Noel had me take it out because it didn't fit with the light, but I've analyzed it and realized that I needed to move the soccer ball a bit, so that the highlight makes sense. And I think the highlight is something worth fighting for. It gives definition to the area around his feet that I find important. I could be wrong, but it feels like the right plan.

I'll miss this little guy. Sami is going to give me his mother's email address and I'm going to send her a *good* photograph of this painting. It's my desire to give it to his family in thanks for having Sami there this summer, but I'd prefer to feel her out about it first. I find that sometimes people can be very weird about the gift of a painting. And this one, she'd be obligated to frame herself because I think shipping this to France, alone, will be pretty costly and bulky without a frame. I hope the offer is well met.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I painted for 5 hours yesterday and feel like I got the light key spot-on, but wonder why this piece doesn't sing to me. Is the palette of reds and greens too limited? Maybe the weight of the composition is too heavy on the right? Is it too Photo Realistic?

All I can say is "GRRRRR!"

"Angelic Pumpkins"

I had the best time with this painting. Doing a white study is always a good idea. It really trains your eye to see all the tints, tones and shades. To the point that I was actually continuing to do it for the rest of the evening, painting things with my eyes. I love that!

"Angelic Pumpkins" oil on board 12x12

Moving Right Along...

So. Moving right along, we have another session with the bigass Agave, putting more information into the picture and adjusting the background. For some reason, I decided to put some squiggles of pink in the trees and that grew into flowers, but I haven't worked on it for 5 days, so it's been begging me to deal with some outstanding issues. Don't worry; they'll look great soon, haha! If I didn't leave a flaw in the painting, I might not be motivated to work on it. The flaw keeps drawing me in and irritating me like a loose eyelash in your eye.

Here's my latest version of Happy Bigass Agave. And tomorrow, I hope to post a photo of "Ghostly Pumpkins", a 12x12 oil on board that I painted for a cool painting concept blog, called Different Strokes From Different Folks. http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/

I've been meaning to do one of the inspirations for weeks, but always get busy with my two paintings here at home. But, David O. put in his AFG enews that Connie and Camille do Different Strokes, so I couldn't make a liar out of him, right?

It's a lot of fun to know that I can't take a couple of weeks on the painting, that it has to get done within a week of the photo being posted. With ACL this past weekend, I was sure there'd be no time to work on it. And I'm supposed to be packing for camping! And our revered Ms. G passed away today. I thought of her the whole time I was painting today. Those thoughts and the numerous phone calls and texts were barely a distraction. I guess I don't need absolute peace to paint anymore. I create my own peace.

Maybe I Should Have Left Well Enough Alone?

After some consideration, I decided that to leave the background and foreground in their abstract state denied the painting the cohesiveness that I'm used to bringing to my work. The lack of cohesion gave it the look of what I term "wall art", which is my decorator term for those things that you'll hang on the wall to decorate but can't be considered Fine Art. Another term, "Sofa Painting" is one you're perhaps more familiar with.

So, to keep this in line with my body of work, I decided that the agave should be planted in its garden and this is the beginnings of that.

More to come

Something Else Fun I'm Working On

I'm calling this "Tequila Sunrise", cuz it's an Agave cactus and you know agave has two wonderful uses: huge ornamental landscaping and really good tequila making. Imagine drinking tequila while gazing at an Agave...would that be as bad as eating a hamburger in front of a cow?

By the way, this painting is 48x48", which qualifies as Bigass.

And....We're Off!

It's time, ladies and gents, to move on to another great adventure. Please welcome my newest start, "Pierre et Ballon de Football", begun Tuesday night with a drawing and underpainting of Transparent Red Oxide, which is a very burnt umberlike red, and block-in continued yesterday with cooler colors, lightest lights and darkest darks. More blocking-in to come, but I'm so thrilled with this start that I wanted to share right away. Here's hoping I don't have another 3 month long painting on my hands!

"Canyon Waterfall: Nature's Font" '08 oil on canvas 36x36

I have had a great time using a palette knife on this painting. I feel quite comfortable with it now, except the part where I'm figuring out how many cents' worth of paint are getting gobbled up every time I have to squeeze out more. Old Holland isn't what you use when you're painting thickly. I went into studio time last night with one question: how can I really define what I see as the light shining warmly down into this canyon so that it makes sense for the boy to want to slide down that waterfall into the cold water below. The photo I was working from was taken in February and I can feel that it is the pale Spring light, yet my brother told me it was probably in the 80's that day (much like what we get here in Austin in February). Noel and I discussed how the cooler sections of light on the water were a reflection of the sky, the warmer sections were reflecting the light on the rocks. I needed to make all of the canyon walls darker the way the iris would shut down when it is hit with too much light. And lastly, put some reflected light (bounce light) in the canyon walls that has elements of the color of the rock it's bouncing off of. I managed all that in 2 1/2 hours and he said, "Sign it! You're done!" And now he's eager to see what I will come up with for my next project and how I'll use the palette knife. Not sure the palette knife will get much use in the next one, but I could be wrong...I often am.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

I was reading a book the other day, "Living The Creative Life", by Thomas Kincaide. In one part, he describes how a friend was deeply worried and one thing or another kept piling up on top of the stresses she already had. Finally, she said, "Lord, what should I do?" And the worry went away.

Sami often comes to us with "What should I do?", but I don't often think to ask that of myself, of God. I just muddle along, sure that things will turn out right eventually.

But, I had some worries in the past week which were starting to affect how I acted with my family, how my art was working. I know when I push too hard at Life, Life pushes back, so I decided to try this lady's method and ask my higher power, "What should I do?"

I feel better now. My painting isn't sucking. My thoughts about selling my work are rearranging themselves to the point that if you want to buy something of mine, I'm willing to have you donate to my paint supply/framing fund. I don't want to deal with quarterly tax payments, getting a tax ID, itemizing when I have way more expenses than I suspect I will have sales, so I won't technically be selling right now. But, I will let them go to new homes.

And anything done in '07 can go for free if you're a good friend or relative. That way I have visiting priveleges. I just won't do what my grandmother used to do, take it home again to work on it!

My biggest goal, besides improving on my abilities, is to have a body of work that I feel is good enough to approach a gallery with. That means a whole lot more painting! I only have 2-3 that I would think could be considered. And that's probably flattering myself too much. Once I feel finished with this piece, I'll do an evaluation of the pieces I'm considering. It may be that, as usual, I only can consider the one I'm working on, since my work matures with each painting I do.

Like Buttah

I've been working with a palette knife for a week and thoroughly enjoying the experience. Yes, it does take a bit of bravery to work thickly over something that was already on its way to being wonderful, but you have to take an attitude sometimes that will allow you to take chances. It's hard to grow as an artist if your goal is to "not suck". I have a friend, who was once my fine art drawing teacher, who says that is the lesson she's learned from me. Just go after it and know that the outcome is going to be good because you will have learned something.

This painting is all about learning. I'm learning about perspective, light, cohesion, edges, blocking-in, design and intent. And how to handle palette knives.

Then there's the problem solving that is part of the learning process. I'm not entirely certain, but it seems that one of my problems may be the actual paint that I'm using.

When I decided to start painting in oils, I started looking through the selection on Jerry's Artarama website. The Lucas 1862 brand had a lovely write-up and sounded like just the thing. Plus, the price was manageable since they were on sale. But, of course, I didn't realize that they're on sale more than any other brand. I also didn't realize that the beeswax that purportedly gives it its buttery texture is what they call "filler" and this messes with the refractability of the pigment in the paint. They often put filler in student grade paints so they'll go further. And while I *am* a student, I don't adhere to that idea of using a poorer grade of paints for students. I think it's actually quite a drawback.

Not having used oil paints since I was 13 years old, I didn't know any better. I did notice that they weren't behaving as well as I'd like them to. They'd dry darker than anticipated. But, the weirdest thing is that some paint would dry with a sheen, but other parts would be totally matte! A lady customer at Jerry's pointed that out to me last week and it pretty much went over my head until I brought my painting to class Tuesday night and we both noticed just how off it was.

My only hope now is that I can put some retouch varnish on it to even out the sheen and hold it together, because the other problem with beeswax in paint is that it might crack! Imagine! All the fat texture I've been "buttering" my painting with, cracking off. I'm all for learning lessons in painting, but this one hurt a great deal.

I have to finish off this painting with the Lucas 1862 paints and then not use them anymore unless I paint on a solid surface, like Ampersand board, that won't give at all and the paint won't be liable to crack. But, my next painting is going to be done in my new paint: Old Holland. No more experiments in paint for me. I'm going with tried and true. The ultimate upgrade. A paint so saturated with pigment that you don't have to use a ton of it to get the results you want. A paint that comes in 40 ml. tubes instead of the standard 37 ml., so while it is an extremely expensive brand (the Cadmiums' price gave me heart palpitations!), it's like buying the premium brand as opposed to the discount brand. You know when you do that with paper towel or dishwashing detergent, the premium uses less and does the job better than the discount brand.

I may not yet be a painter worthy of the premium brand paints, but I will be someday. And just so you know that I haven't gone crazy, I only bought 6 tubes: Titanium White, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Ultramarine Blue, Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna.

Dick Blick's has the best price I've seen, but you pay shipping, so I bought mine at Jerry's and used my Plein Air Austin discount card (20% biatches!!!), so it came in under $100, gah!

Anyone wanting to give me gifts for the next year can do it with paints. I have a feeling that if I do sell any paintings this year, it's all going to get turned into paints.

Now What???

This is how the painting looked on Monday. By Tuesday night, I'd taken a palette knife to the rocks and they now have some luscious texture. Of course, that means that I have to bring more texture to the rest of the painting and I'm okay with that, really I am. It's just kind of scary, since I thought I was so close to being done and was happy with how it was going.

I am excited about this new lesson I've created for myself. I bought three new palette knives today at Jerry's Artarama and I've already pantomimed how I'm going to use them on the painting, so I know they're a good investment. Wish me luck!

You Can Copy and Learn

There actually is a time in your life when copying will actually help you learn. That is when you are copying a master painter, which is what I did today in conjunction with the Impressionism workshop I attended. I've actually copied this painting before, a year ago, when I was taking an acrylics class through UT Informal classes. It was using a whole different technique than what Cezanne used to paint the original, but I still remember feeling like I was learning something about how he painted by copying his brushstrokes. It happened again today. A year later, and using the same oil medium that Cezanne used (or close to it since science has definitely changed oil paints and mediums since then), I felt much the same as last year. I discovered that it's very possible that Cezanne has colors on his brush that mixed together on his palette just like I did. I enjoyed painting with energy and lightness in my short strokes. And the best part is that last year's painting is hanging on a friend's wall, but this one I get to keep! Woot!

Ten Days Later...

"Canyon Waterfall"

Ten days later and I'm still blocking it in, but it's getting closer to what I want it to say. You can almost feel the anticipation of the youngster about to go over the falls in what I would guess is some cold, cold water.

After the blocking in, I get to work on all parts of it to bring it into harmony in value and color and tone. And I need to work on the perspective so that you can feel the depth.

My independent study teacher is so excited about this painting. He keeps saying, "It's got good bones!" and assures me that it will be a magical experience. He may even be more excited about it than I am, but then that's because I know how much learning and work I have ahead of me while he just has the joy of showing me the way. It's delicious torture.

And We're Off!!

"Waterfall Cavern" Quail Creek Canyon, Utah

Off on another painting adventure, we are, my paints and me. After much hemming and hawing and fussing and kvetching, soul searching and soul rending, I decided to do yet another landscape. Will I learn something new from it? Don't know. Will I have fun? That is an unqualified YES...so far.

I got in a good sketch and blocking in of the lights and darks that need little adjusting at this point. The next step...dun, dun, dun...are the spots of color that signify light, shadow, atmosphere, distance. I can hardly wait! And yet I've put off painting for two days now. Life gets in the way sometimes and if I want to make it in this career I'm entering into, Life is going to have to step off and let me paint! Ya hear that, Life? This is Connie talkin' to you! Better watch out or I'll get my brother to beat you up!

Phew! I can tell that it's time to paint, at least for sanity's sake if nothing else.

Got 'Er Done!

"Lake Austin View"

This painting was going to have another name, but I think the working title works. I can just have some artist notes that explain what was going on.

I just love that I painted a $4 million dollar view (that's how much the house cost that has this view) on a canvas someone was going to throw out.

I also love the frenetic texture underneath this placid landscape. They don't go together at all, creating an interesting tension that mimics my life so well.

Tension? Moi?

Ready To Move On

Sami left for Paris today. She tours with her University group for about 5 days and then they all head to Lyon for 5 weeks of study and touring. To say that I'm jealous is an understatement, so I need to totally immerse myself in a painting to get back to my bliss.

This painting is getting there soon, and that means that I should be getting a new canvas and planning out my next painting. Bigass canvas for a big painting.

I have some inspirational material from the photos my bro, Joe, took on a few treks to Utah. I'm also thinking of checking with my other bro's uncle-in-law about setting up my easel a few days in a row overlooking the Llano river at his ranch. But, it's so hot right now that I wonder if I could stand to haul myself out there to do it. Then, there's the third option of painting something from photos that Sami will be sending home. We got a Blackberry International plan so she can email with us, which means she can send photos she takes with her Blackberry. Woot!

If I can't be there, painting what she's seen is the next best thing, right?

It's really weird that I was the one looking into a trip to Arles that's just finishing up right about now. It was a painting trip with a teacher whose work I just love. But, with a kid in college...

Kid graduates in 2 more years and then will hopefully get some sort of aid to attend grad. school, so maybe then Arles will be in the works for Frank and me. Maybe.

I had my mom visiting for a week, so no work got done until yesterday. I'm heading upstairs to work some more, but wanted to document the progress. It's been fun and reminds me of why I love landscape painting so much. I think the month of June is going to be dedicated to some large landscapes and *maybe* a figure or two. Brother Joe has provided me with a ton of inspiration material from Utah, so I'm stoked! Now I just need to find the funding for the large canvases I need to purchase. Anyone want to buy a painting?