An Update

This is an update from my last blog. I have been tweaking the painting with the buoy, block and net. After spending a sleepless night wondering what was wrong with it, it suddenly came to me that a red buoy is NEVER #1! The BLACK/GREEN buoys are odd numbers and the RED ones are always even numbers. So, this is not a directional buoy, just a fishing one . . . but, I am still wondering why it had a 1 on it.

the mask is removed

Well, I removed the mask which was marking the fish net and the white of the paper just jumped off the page. I knew I would have to tone it down, so I have put a few washes on it. I wanted it to look a little more worn. I also played around a bit with the ropes and then cropped a bit off the top of the painting. It looked a little empty up there. I don't think the original is quite this yellow - gotta work on my camera technique.

"Buoy #1"     10x13    $150

Setting up an oyster still life

This past week I substituted again in the watercolor class. I haven't been for a few weeks so didn't know what the class had been working on. When I arrived, I found a still life set-up waiting to be painted.

Previously, there had been talk of oyster shells  - there they were . . .along with a red buoy, lots of rope and a fish net. Off to the side there was another buoy and an old wooden block pulley. They were not a part of the set-up, but we were told we could arrange whatever we wanted.

I had never painted oysters and thought that might be fun. I began my sketch and discovered that the oysters kept looking like strange blobs. The buoy was colorful and fun to draw, but those oysters just didn't do it for me.  That left the ropes, the other buoy and the block. It seemed more daunting by the minute!

Because others in class were already painting what was there, I needed to rearrange the set-up in my head and get it onto my sketchbook page. I decided to challenge myself by attempting ropes - I drastically simplified them - and then added the block. I left the oysters out entirely.  So, what was to have been an oyster painting ... well, it's not.

The preliminary sketch and the final drawing took a long time so that when class ended I had accomplished this much. If you look closely you can see the block and the fish net.

It's been a busy week - I didn't get back to painting until this afternoon. Actually, that gave me time to figure out how I was going to do the rest - particularly, the net. I thought I needed do a wash over most of the paper and then decided to mask out the net. I painted the block while the mask was drying and then laid in the wash - trying to change its color as it flowed across the paper. I took this photo while it was drying.  It will undoubtedly be lighter when it dries. I may do another wash if it's too light... BEFORE I remove the mask. But, that's all for another day. If it changes dramatically, I'll post it again.

And then, of course, I'll also be asking for comments on a title!

Hey guys, wait up!

A few weeks ago when I was subbing again in the watercolor class our task was to paint 'figures in the landscape.' The idea was to show scale - how the figures fit into the larger world.

Well, I paint figures a lot, but I realized that they are mostly about the grandchildren - not the landscape. I went looking for some photos that might show the larger view and found one of some girls on the beach. The three older ones had gone ahead and the younger one wanted to catch up. I really liked the way everything seemed to point to the distant vanishing point - the shoreline, footsteps and the dune/tree line directing the eye into the painting.

It began as a watercolor and of course, when I got it home and played with it more, it picked up a bit of pastel. After tweaking it for awhile, I was not easy with it and put it across the room to stare at it for a week or so.

Next thing I knew, I found myself picking up my 'corners' (pieces of mat board) and placing them in various ways to crop the painting. Perhaps a square?

Or maybe a vertical?

Last week I took the painting back to class and discussed my dilemma - to crop or not to crop? Where to crop?

OK, here is what I have re-discovered - I don't much like doing landscapes (horizontals). That shape painting is very stable, it really just sits there and stays put. (to me, that can be boring) And then there is the square which can't decide to lie down or sit up. Aha! The vertical shows movement and I find it much more exciting.

I don't imagine that this exercise will be something that I will add a signature to or put in a frame, but it has been an interesting challenge. Comments? Would you crop? How?