Indicating patterns and bas-reliefs

Painting away on the pattern in the oriental runner, and the gilt carvings and bas reliefs around the throne. Very loose for me.



A detail of before


And here's after.


Stopping for lunch and to remix paint colors.

Face In the Mirror

After a little time off (painting the church interior), I returned to the triple self portrait.
By the end of the morning, the image in the mirror is closer. Much to do on the hair and knit top, but I know I can get there from here. Here's a close up -

The wet paint is reflecting light, but you get the idea. I added a layer of detail to the mirror frame and the central figure's hair. Put another layer of paint over the background.

I'll work on the pattern of roses on the coat this afternoon. Next up will be painting the sixty year old face on the canvas. I may try painting directly, without more of an under drawing than a few guiding chalk marks. It may be looser than the mirror image. Still thinking about it.

To Chandelier or Not to Chandelier

Finished the first layer of the two big paintings on either side and the painting over the throne in the center. Two of the figures on the left hand side are angels (the halos gave them away- their wings are very faint and almost translucent) The rest are shepherds with a distinctly Greek look. The center image in the oval frame depicts Christ crowned, with God overhead looking down from a cloud.

Now I have to decide whether to include the crystals of a chandelier that dips into the top of the painting. I know what it is, because I saw it in situ, but will the viewer who comes to the painting cold know? Do they need to know? I like it, especially like the way it's just a glimmer that's off center at the top.

I was the source of general hilarity yesterday, when I explained to some friends that I'm doing this painting as a break from the rigors of portrait painting. But it's the truth.

Painting Saints and Shepherds

Working on the two large paintings in either side of the throne. John the Baptist is on the right, and and the figure on the left is a shepherd holding a ewe. The blue robe belongs to the Virgin.
My autodidact art education includes time spent absorbing the extraordinary artworks that fill Italian churches. That, plus a Presbyterian childhood steeped in vacation Bible school, taught me to recognize the symbols that identify the saints.
My favorite part was getting to paint that lapis lazuli blue. So so gorgeous. I'll post closeups after I've developed the painting a little more.
Spent an hour searching (thanks Google!) for the name of the church - it's the Greek Orthodox church of St George in Vienna.

I can resist anything but temptation

Couldn't resist going back and working on the under color for the oriental runner. Also suggested the carving on the chair atop the dais, which I think of as the throne.

Tweaked proportions here and there, and did a bit of detailing on various frames. That's technically cheating, because my method is to cover the entire canvas with a layer of paint before I move into details. Again, I couldn't resist. Ah. temptation I can safely succumb to.

Here's closeup of the lower left corner.

building form, waiting for saints

Added the columns and the marble wall that reflects sky. plus more of the wooden paneled seats on the right hand side.  The forms are beginning to emerge. The two blanks on either side are larger than life size paintings of saints.

This will go in the drying box for the weekend, and I'll pull out one of the portraits to work on. I see adjustments of volume and angle I'll need to make and a drier surface will serve me well. Can't wait for the pop of the red and purple oriental runner, and the incredible lapis lazuli bluesin the three paintings, but don't want to worry about smearing the wet surface with a careless swipe of the wrist. This is the main reason I keep several canvases going at once.

because you have to start somewhere

Started a new painting, working title Sanctuary. Mixed colors this morning, and put paint to canvas this afternoon.  It's small -  16x20"- and intense. No big fields of color anywhere, more like painting a mosaic. And not a face in sight (I don't count the two saints in paintings on either side of the dais, and God on a throne in a oval painting in the center). It will be a welcome distraction from the portraits.

 

Here's the initial drawing on toned and gridded canvas. My reference is a photo I took in Vienna.  That's our auxiliary puppy Maddy wandering through the studio.

 

Roughed in the marble floor, left side mahagony seat, corner bit of red carpet, and steps up to the dais.

To come - marble columns, carved wooden columns, marble walls, three paintings within the painting, a chandelier, gilded frames and moldings and an oriental runner.

Cabbage roses, striped sleeve and background

Mixed colors for the background and put the first layer on - I intend the right side to be darker than the left, and a sort of warm medium/dark green with brown swatches. This is still pretty transparent but I'm happy enough with it to keep going with that background palette.

Worked on the coat sleeve and the rose panels. Tweaked the nose of the mirror image. Just cheerfully plugging along. Looking forward to developing the bronze mirror frame. Considering changing the knit top in the mirror image to something that resembles the coat.
The big challenge will be painting the 60 year old face on the canvas with the right amount of distortion for the angle.

puddles vs portraits

Worked on faces and hair, but mostly the water's surface.  Love painting water. Next time I do H2O, I'm leaving the pesky people out.

Portrait of the artist

Here's the start of the triple self portrait. The mirror image - taken from a photo of me 40 years ago - is far from done, especially the hair and no background at all as yet. That's a little bunch of flowers made of fabric pinned to the sweater. I look forward to doing the detail on that.
I'll do the portrait on the right from a photo of me taken last week. I painted the linen canvas, because I'll leave it partly unfinished.
I worked on the coat today. Red, pinks and oranges in a sort of scumbled abstract, with cabbage roses.

Haven't decided about the background. Instead of a generic dark, I'm thinking it might be a mid value of burnt sienna with some sap green mixed in. Or I might go with ultramarine blue grayed down with cad orange

water abstracts

Worked mostly on the bodies under the water - like painting little abstracts.  Feeling good about it but longing to get far enough along to do the shimmer on the surface of the water.

Death Takes A Holiday

Death Takes A Holiday. Concentrated on the walkway and and shoes, pushed some darks and lights in the shrubbery. Varnish will make a difference in the darkest areas. Might give the sky one more layer.

detail -

progress on two portraits

I ended up painting another layer of water yesterday morning. Next time out I will begin the scumbling, and the time after that glazes. At the very end I will make those delicious fractal patterns of light on the surface. Meanwhile, I'll also plug along on the faces.

Yesterday afternoon I worked on the skeleton suit, skull mask, jeans and sneakers of Death and the Lion.

I'll be painting details of the ground cover alongside the sidewalk today, and add to the texture of the sidewalk itself.

Gene Pool Roulette, or Undertow

This speaks to me about the maternal - the womb where it all  the begins. Robin, who's wearing goggles and underwater, suggested the title Hereditary Undertow. Hmm.
Did one version of the face on the upper left and then scraped it of
 Really struggled with Emily's face in the upper left. I had to wipe off the first attempt completely. Put in a shape that seemed so wrong. Once it was dry I re-drew the chalk grid in that one place and that showed me it was about fifth too big and wrongly positioned. Placed the eyes nose and mouth with chalk and painted for about three hours.
This is the second version and I feel like it's going to work. I can get there from here. I am reminding myself that I paint like I write - rough start, then lots of editing and fiddling until layers of detail make it worth seeing.


I am saving all the water detail for desert.

Onward and Upward - triple self portrait

After spending a month gestating ideas and doing preliminary photography and drawings,  I'm back in front of the easel with multiple canvases in progress. I switch around depending upon what's wet and what inspires me on any given morning.This post is about a self portrait. It's new territory, but I have got the strongest pull to do it. I just hope it works.
Here's an image of the 1646 triple self portrait by Johannes Gumpp that initially inspired me. His central image of the painter that's painting himself from a mirror image is very featureless, just a bit of his white collar and his hair break the dark shape.

My version is me painting a self portrait by looking in a mirror, where I see myself at 20 years old, but the portrait I am painting shows my actual age of 60.  This speaks to the fact that I do not see my aged self in the mirror. The exception is if I catch an unintentional glimpse of myself out in some store. I never recognize that old woman as me and it's always a shock. 

 

For the young self, I'm using a photo taken in 1970.  I remember taking the photo very clearly - what I was thinking, how my hair was pinned up, the way I held my shoulders - there's even a kind of muscle memory to draw on. made a lot of effort to duplicate a photo, getting as close as I could to the angle and attitude of the original.

I'll paint a 16x16" canvas of the 60 year old me first. It's what I'll work from when I do the big triple portrait. Spent the morning drawing. Used graphite and chalk for the grid and a few highlights. It's a starting point.
 I made myself dizzy trying to work out the bit about reversed reflected images and what that meant to my composition. I claim artistic license.
The most pleasant surprise is the establishing photo of the back view came out much more interesting than I thought it would.
I knew it was going to be complicated but I have a plan. It's good to have a plan.