Author: Kelly

Building on the structure.

January 4, 2015

Each of the next few images are steps that create the flow of the viewer’s eye movement through texture placement. a sunrise 5The changes to the canvas at this stage are not always dramatic but I paint a bit and walk away for a bit. For me, because of life schedules and commitments, those time bits can be hours or days but that can actually be a plus. When I have the opportunity to sit down again it is easier to see what needs doing.a sunrise 6

In some cases I add elements and then come in and take them back out, or change the levels of the lines between parts of land and sky. It is a slow and serendipitous walk during this part of the painting. Slow is sometimes irritating and certainly tests patience as I can sometimes undo everything I did at a previous setting.

Seeing the direction.

January 3, 2015

Now begins the next layer of detail. a sunrise 4During this phase it becomes important to run ahead in my mind and see the layout as a whole. All of the structure that can be instrumental in making the viewer comfortable in the final work needs to be created at this point.

I chose cloud formations that you see sometimes in the morning that remind me of sand patterns on a shore. So the decision was made to make this a sunrise.

These first four phases were done through December. The first days of the new year have given me several more opportunities to work on the painting. Tomorrow I will post more process shots and bring you up to current if I can.

The next steps.

January 3, 2015

This landscape is going to be the first in a whole new series of drama moments in the Midwest. I love la sunrise 3ight and color, especially as is found in sunrise or sunset (both naturals for establishing drama) and clouds are one of my favorite elements to use for capturing that drama with texture and volume.

Join me at the easel.

January 3, 2015

Last month I decided to start a new painting as a running start for my New Year’s resolution of painting with more regularity. a sunrise 1
I also thought it might be fun to document the step by step working process, something I haven’t done for a while.

This first phase is simply laying out the canvas. I knew the subject was a landscape so making a horizon line and blocking out some sky gave it a start.

The next series of posts will be shots of the painting as it evolves.

a sunrise 2

 

Less technical.

January 3, 2015

Well my last post, the one to start my new year, certainly didn’t push through to the Facebook connections like it should. Here is another attempt to see if I can get that pipe cleared. Wish me luck. I’m clearly a better painter than I am a blogger.

A new year – a new beginning.

January 1, 2015

This is the beginning of the new year. It is the time for resolutions and commitments. I plan to be more diligent at writing here. I am also promising myself to paint more often. Thanks for sticking with me these last few years, and I look forward to to you joining me in the year ahead. You’re welcome to come with.

Next steps

August 23, 2014

This is an update to the saga of the painting we have been discussing earlier. Community of Women

In early August, I took the painting “on the road” so to speak to a reenactment in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I worked on it at  for a couple of days while in the public eye and gleaned additional criticisms that I could fix right on the spot.
I really enjoy working in public. It is why I set up my easel and paint at many of the reenactments and trade shows. Art is not best created in a vacuum. Art teachers assimilate visual and oratorical influences from their students and colleagues through classroom work and critique sessions. I miss being in that rich open environment of a classroom and find this method of taking work to the field or into the public eye, very helpful. The public becomes my ‘extra eyes’ and sparks dialogue, influences my perspectives, and helps me see my errors…or forces me to articulate a reason if I reject the suggestion.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing this painting develop. It is now a finished painting – ready to use on the cover of the magazine and make prints for those who wish them.
Happily, the original has already been spoken for.

A bit unnerving…

July 29, 2014

Well, I went back to the easel tonight and at close of day the lady on the right is now gone. Foliage has replaced where she was, the lake is resuming where she was, and the sky and clouds are falling into place where her face was. It is very hard – unnerving – to make a decision like I have while this far into a piece, but I think I did the right thing. I liked the image of the women and may repeat her another time. She just didn’t belong here.

New Eyes!

July 29, 2014
Using a quick and clumsy computer program on the jpg image to see if the critical observations were right.
Using a quick and clumsy computer program on the jpg image to see if the critical observations were right.

I love the idea that someone can walk into a room and immediately see the problem with a painting that I have been staring at and can’t see. My husband can often do that “extra eyes” for me and that is exactly why I put this painting out here for comment.

BRAVO for two of my viewers for commenting and helping me see what was wrong with the painting.

To test their observation, I quickly pulled the jpg into the software program PAINT and by snipping and copying bits of surrounding image, mocked what the painting would look if I painted out the tall woman on the right. Yes, I agree. THAT was what was bugging me as well.

Thank you for your “New Eyes” — I will head back to the easel this evening to do it with real paint. Onward!