Elder Range, Central Flinders "WIP" four

Gosh I had forgotten how long it takes oil paint to dry in my house during winter.

To save confusion I will keep the post separate for the two paintings I am working on.

The rolling hills under the mountain range have been worked on along with some touches with tonal adjustments in the middle ground. I didn’t want to fiddle much in the light areas as the paint is still quite wet. I was able to put the darks back in for the trees and shrubs as the underpainting was reasonably dry and transparent and allowed me to apply further paint.

The foreground also had some darks scrubbed in ready for me to lay the grasses over the top once dry.



Technorati tags: oil, landscape, artist, art,

Rawnsley Bluff "WIP"

Oil on canvas
Size: 995 x 450 millimetres


I always start my skies first when painting with oil.

I did intend blocking in the sky and mountain today but all I managed to do was transfer my drawing onto the canvas. The under-colour isn’t dry enough, which will end up turning my sky green when applying the blue.

Oh well not to worry as I ended up spending more time on the drawing itself.




Technorati tags: oil, artist, art,

How long is a piece of string?

Well I don’t know the answer to that question. Nor do I know the answer too many curious questions that viewers ask of my work.

What had me thinking about this came about today when preparing my next oil painting; organize a canvas, research my scene and do a drawing.

Some sample questions are:

• How much did it cost to paint that painting?

• Why is it worth that much, you would be making a lot of money?

• How many paintings do you do in a year?

• How many pastel sticks did you use?

• How much oil paint was used?

• How long did it take to paint?

There are so many variables to answer these questions that I can never give a clear response to them.

To create and sell a painting there is running around costs with wear and tear on a vehicle as well as fuel, accommodation, framing, paper, printing, drawing supplies, marketing (that one is a killer), entry and commission cost if sold through a gallery, paint, canvas or other supports, transport fees and hey not lets forget the poor artist is supposed to make a bit of money out of this.

Did I say a bit of money? Well that is why it is worth that much! I like to think my experience as an artist is worth something; just wish I could make a living out of what I love to do :-)

Painting numbers vary from year to year. Size influences this along with sales. I can only cover so much canvas or paper in a given time along with how I may develop a painting. Ahhh and of cause that can control how much pastel and oil paints are used.

When someone asks how long it takes to paint a painting my thoughts are this person is only thinking of the application of paint to the support, not the hours traveling and preparing to paint the scene in the first place.

Maybe it would be easier to work out how long is a piece of string! :D


art, artist, how much

Elder Range, Central Flinders "WIP" three

Highlights were added to the mountain range in the background and maybe reviewed at a later time.

The middle ground is now taking shape with a second layer of paint applied.

There is more work yet to be done with trees and shrubbery laid into this area along with more highlights for the grasses.



Technorati tags: landscape, oil, art, artist

Web Update

Due to painting so much I have been slack updating my website. That is now rectified with three additional gallery pages.

Head on over by clicking My Website and you will see the links marked new in the index column.

Elbert Hubbard:
"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one"


Technorati tags: art, artist, website, quote, web

Elder Range, Central Flinders "WIP" two

Not sure if it is the wet oils not showing the depth up in the sky but it is there.

Some additional lights were applied to the right side of the mountain range. I would have liked to have done more work on the mountain range but the paint was still wet, which does not suit my technique. I will leave it now until the paint becomes tacky.

The remainder of the canvas has been covered with darks and is now ready for the next layers.

Cheers!

Oops the dark shadow at the top of the canvas is from the easel support. Note to myself to remember to lift it higher when taking photos.



Technorati tags: landscape, oil, artist, art

Elder Range, Central Flinders - WIP

Size: 850 x 450 mm
Medium: oil

I felt like a change with my next painting and decided on this one. The mountain range isn’t finished yet.

One thing I did notice that I am mixing the same colours that I use in pastels. Although I have had a long break from the oils, creating these colours isn’t a problem. Must be like riding a bike, once learnt it is never forgotten.

If you are wondering about the yellow background; the whole canvas is painted this way. It tends to give the work a warm glow once finished. I painted my last two oils this way with pleasing results.

Click on thumbnail to enlarge. I had to post a smaller image as the medium size posted a full size image messing up my blog page.



Technorati tags: Art, oil, painting, landscape,

Window with a View - WIP Completed

With all the excellent feed back that I have received I did make some adjustments. My heart wasn’t in my mouth while making these changes but my husbands was. Once done he could see that it was the right thing to do.

Ok what adjustments have been made!

* The base of the branch coming from the peppermint box tree was thickened plus some lights introduced into the foliage and limbs. That tree is what is throwing the shadow across the foreground.

* Some blades of grass were added to the foreground.

* I darkened the row of trees in the middle ground. Also I scraped some pale lemon across the paddock behind this same strip.

* I greyed off the reds in the stonework, especially the right hand side.

* The darks in and around the stonework was smudged with a mid value while the bottom lighter areas were scraped with a dark.


The full size digital photo I spent quite a bit of time editing the colour and values with a freshly calibrated graphics monitor where I couldn’t say the image looked different to the original painting. Of cause once the image is shrunk for the web, some changes do take place. All the same this image is much closer than previous postings.

So there you have it, signed, not sealed with a buyer yet but hopefully delivered one day soon. :D


Technorati tags: pastel, art, calibrate, monitor,

Window with a View - WIP six

I now have reached the stage of “more look than put”. It is so close to finished now that I am already thinking about my next painting.

A couple of close-ups so that you can see the stonework and hat clearly. If you look at the band on the hat you will see a tiny kangaroo; have to have it looking authentic....wink!

What are your thoughts; can it be improved on with an alteration? I do think I need to check the darks in and around the stonework at the bottom as they look darker in value than I want them.

Window with a View - WIP five

Well they say things come in three’s…….. if one is to believe it, the day before yesterday when throwing a ball for my husbands working dog I broke a light globe under our veranda. (Just as well my husband Malcolm thought it was funny as he had to replace the light socket as a piece of plastic broke off). Secondly, yesterday I dropped a saucepan lid and broke part of the knob off. Thirdly, I have just now knocked a dish of pastel dust onto the studio floor. Does this mean I am safe now!

I do think the tides are turning as I found two piece of Unison pastel stick that I had dropped quite some time ago and given up trying to find. Low and behold I just found them a moment ago stuck between the sliding section of the easel legs; one in each front leg!

Now onto the work in progress, as you can see the second prop is now starting to materialise. While the wattle is flowering I am taking advantage of this Australian native.

The stonework is slowly taking shape. They are tedious with the tonal values varying so much. There is no roof on the hut which helps bounce quite a bit of reflective light around.

So far I am happy with the progress of this work.



Technorati tags: pastel, art, wattle, tonal value

Links and more links!

I started tinkering with my blog while eating my lunch and soon all thoughts of painting today were well and truly removed from my mind. Well it is cold in my studio; the laptop and blog was a better proposition by the fire in my rumpus room, that’s my story and I am sticking to it!!!!

I tried ideas on my blog, deleted some of them but have now settled with a few things moved around in the right column, as well as added links which I hope some of you find interesting. I will expand on these as time permits. For now the links will correspond to books, DVD’s, video, magazines, photography, marketing, societies, Australian Galleries and general interest.

Um…… some of you with Feed Readers will wonder why in the heck you have received updates of older threads from me today. Sorry about that. When I previewed my changes, what looked correct wasn’t the case when republishing my blog, consequently had to be fixed and republished

It doesn’t seem that long since I ate my lunch but now it is time for me to think about what to serve up for the evening meal for my husband and myself. Maybe something with home grown mushrooms…… then again perhaps I should sketch the mushrooms first…. Naaaa there will be more mushrooms to draw at a later time.

book, DVD, magazine, photography, marketing, society, Australian, gallery

Window with a View - WIP four

As I had a break from this work for a few days it took me awhile to get motivated today but eventually settled down to applying three light layers to the stonework. There is still work to be done molding the shapes of the stone around the window. That will happen as pastel is applied with additional layers.



Technorati tags: still life, landscape, pastel

Window with a View "WIP" three

I didn’t get much work done on this today and nearly didn’t post an update. I did a rethink and decided to post anyway as it is after all a work in progress.

The timber frame at the top of the window is now completed unless of cause there is a need to alter something at a later time.

I have started on the darks in and around the stonework. I will be adding warm colours in these areas as the work progresses. I placed the lights in the stonework as well.

Window with a View "WIP" two

As you can see more work was done on the landscape. I worked on my husbands Akubra hat though won’t be working on the next prop until near completion of the painting. I am grinning thinking about the next item wondering if anyone will guess it. :D



hat, window, art, painting

Window with a View "WIP"

Mix of pastel brands
Storm Blue AS Colourfix paper
33.5 x 47.5 centimetres

I enjoyed the Flinders Range Wattle still life so much that I thought why not combine a still life with a landscape.

There is an old building on the family property that I have often thought about painting a scene looking through a window and thought it would suit a landscape and still life combination.

After considering a few ideas I have now settled on a couple of props to make things a bit more interesting. Hopefully it will give an impression of someone nearby contemplating what life was all about many years ago for the people who once lived there.

I am aware that the horizon line is near the half way mark of the paper. I want a big Aussie sky, as the scene from the window is of a great expanse of blue, hence did not want to take away any of the sky by raising the horizon. By lowering the horizon it seem to cramp everything near the bottom of the window. I thought I would go with how I have drawn it up. I can always crop it later if need be if the horizon line does not work.

For those that remember me painting the Mt Remarkable area; the mountain is in the far distance of this work.




landscape, still life, pastel

Doodling

I have been preoccupied today and found myself doodling on a scrap piece of paper. I don’t know what it is but thought why not share it. Maybe it will make me famous! ;)


Technorati tags: Doodling, drawing

Relaxation

No this isn’t the new painting my brain is working on as mentioned in my previous posting.

Have a go yourself by going to the following address. Jackson Pollock by Miltos Manetas

Draw by moving the mouse around. Left click on the mouse and a new colour will begin. Refresh the page to start over again.


The image I have posted here is from a monitor screen print showing you the fun I had. Quite relaxing with no “real” work getting done today ;)

Oh yeah…… I decided my next painting will be a combination of Landscape and Still Life; without a vase!!! (said with an evil grin)



relaxation, drawing, landscape, still life

Flinders Range Wattle WIP (still life) Revisited

Using Art Spectrum Blue Grey I very gently scraped some colour on the porcelain handle and knob of the lid and now “fits” much better with the rest of scene. I just wish it would show up on the image that I am posting but instead you will have to take my word for it.

It was suggested to me that I put some shadow on the table cloth on the right hand side to take away the sharp edge. I did this and promptly brushed it off again. It didn’t do anything for me as I felt that I couldn’t justify why that shadow was there plus I personally liked this area as a restful part of the painting. What I ended up doing was blunt the sharp edge off by lightly blending some of the colour from the table into the wall and vice versa. I also added a gentle rise in the fabric as if the cloth had been disturbed and made untidy at some stage.

On the left of the table I did add some shadow against the wall plus a few faint light areas on the wall near the table. I also blurred the edge of the table in the same way as the right hand side.

Even though the adjustments are minor they still make a big difference with the final end of the work.

I would like to thank you for your patience; this long drawn out WIP is now signed and finished. My brain (right side of cause) is already working on a new painting and there will be no further revisiting of this one.

Cheers!!!!

Do you know about Bloglines?

I now use Bloglines to organize my RSS & XML feeds so that I can view them quickly at anytime I am online. I don’t even have to be on my own computer to do so. It is an online service that makes keeping up to a favourite blog so much easier.

One neat idea is the Clippings option. If I have left a comment on a blog, I clip that blog for awhile to remind me that I have left a message for the blog owner. I will delete the clipping once a reply has been made or time has passed. It can also be used to bookmark a favourite story.

I have a button now in the right hand column that makes it easy to add my blog to your own Bloglines. There are also other tools that are useful at bloglines. I am still exploring them and may make use of them at a later time.

Click on Bloglines here and have a look what it is all about.

Technorati tags: Bloglines, clippings, RSS, XML

Graphite Drawing of Goblet

The last few days have been full on for me but a lot of fun as well. I hosted the Painters of the Flinders Ranges AGM and general meeting in my home yesterday. As the acting secretary I found myself busier than usual with a paper trail of work in the office and less time for my art.

It was great to have the meeting where my peers could stand in front of my latest works and listen to their comments and critique. Because there was a couple of things still concerning me with the painting and now been confirmed by others I am now going to make a couple of slight changes. All will be revealed in the next day or so.

I had a little bit of spare time up my sleeve today and draw this tall goblet that belongs to my son. Nothing like a bit of practice drawing objects that maybe used in another still life…… oh dear did I say another still life!!!! I think a landscape will be on the agenda first to revive after this last one…..wink

Flinders Range Wattle Still Life "WIP" Completed

I think this is finished now although still happy to make adjustments to improve on it.

I would like to say a few things about what I have learnt while working on this painting.

• Make sure the drawing is correct before applying your choice of medium or there is more work to do during the painting correcting it. I put my hand up to my drawing not correct when I started this project.

• Don’t be frightened to ask for help and do some research on how to draw/paint props of your choice..

• I found I was constantly squinting to see the tonal values, more so than when I am painting a landscape.

• A still life ain’t easy to do!!!

• A feeling of immense achievement once done; might be because it is something new that I have tried.

I am convinced it will get easier with practice and do plan on doing more. Testament to my recently purchased fabrics for back drops and so forth are sitting in my studio.

My husband is going to make a tall table to hold a still life. I need to do a bit more research before it is made. The table will also hold a still life stage that can be dismantled for storage. He has ideas how to make it out of foam core with corner brackets that will connect it together, simple he says. I will post it once it is ready to use so that you can see what it consists of.

Flinders Range Wattle Still Life "WIP" nine

Spent a lot of time sorting out the kettle and can’t believe how long it has taken me to do it today.

I can still see that the base is a bit off on the left hand side as it protrudes more than the other side. I will fix that tomorrow.

The sides of the handle are not finished though the porcelain part is just about done. The image is showing it as white although I have used quite a bit of the Australian Grey in it. Also some blue shading along with a bit of Burnt Sienna for the reflective lights that are bouncing up from the bottom onto the handle. The copper sides of the handle will not be matching as the poor kettle has seen better days. If it looks weird, then I will redo it