Yikes! A Real Commission!

(My kids at school drew these today; They have nothing to do with the commission...)

Do you ever feel the need to stop everything and just get organized? 

I must be crazy, but that's what I'm doing! The exciting news is that I've received my first real commission! The not-so-great news is that with that commission comes a distinct deadline for completion, and don't forget I'm still a full-time schoolteacher...
So here I am wasting time sorting pencils, and updating my little color charts of all the pencils I own. I have officially flipped my lid, I think. Last week, I went through the same thing with my closet... I filled three huge trash bags with clothes for charity and honed my wardrobe down to the simplest of items. At the rate I'm going, that memorabilia in the basement had better beware...

About the commission: 

An assistant principal at another building emailed to ask me to paint a portrait of their building. The teachers there have all chipped in to buy the painting as a gift for their principal, who is retiring in March. How serendipitous for me!  I heartily accepted and have been crazily trying to sketch out an attractive composition of their very, VERY challenging building (I had a different word there, but replaced it with 'challenging'. Here is a pic of the building, insert the word of your choice...)

I drove over and took umpteen pictures of the place, going back twice. Then I thought long and hard about which features to really keep and which things could be left out. I even set up a model on my kitchen counter, using various cardboard boxes from the cupboard (Kleenex and pasta boxes are especially good for this). It took a whole weekend to get the sketch prepared. Tonight I'm starting to trace it onto my Stonehenge paper, and maybe get the sky in, and the signature (see post below).
I'm excited to have the job, confident I can do it justice, anxious about the time limit, and a bit disappointed that my other WIPs are now on hold... But, so be it.  They will still be there waiting for me. I'm not going to post anything until it's completed, though. I've been posting WIP after WIP on here, and no finished pieces. That isn't usually like me...
Hopefully, soon....
How do you feel about commissions? What are you best and worst memories of doing them?

I hope you're having a great week. I wish it were further along than just Tuesday! 

Pencil Portrait Time Again

The first of 25 little portraits for this year...

What images come into your mind unbidden? During those quiet moments of contemplation, or right before you fall asleep, and just before you wake up... when the mind invites those elusive thoughts and perceptions to surface from the deeper parts of our subconscious... I think that the images and ideas that crop up during those moments are always the most telling of one's current state of mind.

After drawing all day, when I closed my eyes last night, my mind instantly filled with beautiful, flowing shapes and colors and I felt very contented, capable and confident, not at all like the hanging-from-a-cliff-by-my-fingertips feeling that I get when thoughts of school enter my mind... 

Is my subconscious trying to tell me something? Is it time? Is thirty years long enough to spend in the classroom? Maybe I should stop trying to hold onto the edge of the cliff, and just let go and see if I can fly...

Anyway, here is my updated WIP, after about 28 hours. The graphite portrait above is one of my students, of course!.

Hope you're staying warm and snug this winter. I'm still waiting for that early morning phone call, "Snow Day!". 

How, Where and When to Sign it?

On New Year's Day, I went to the Norman Rockwell exhibition at the Dayton Art Institute. It was a thrilling display, and I came away with so many new revelations. 

One thing I noticed was that his signature looked exactly the same on every painting. It was an integral, planned part of the piece, not just a flourish or a scribble tacked on as an afterthought. I also noticed that it almost seemed like he had used a particular font, and maybe even a template, because the signature looked identical on every painting. 

When you think about it, we put our personal signature on everything we do every day of our lives. Every interaction and every deed carries our mark. We don't just wait until the end of our life and then decide if it's been worthy of claiming as our own. At least I hope not. The same with our art. It's our work from the very start, whether we admit it or not. So why wait until the end to decide if it's worthy of signing and how it should be signed? We created that painting, we laid each stroke and dabbed each dab. Every inch of that canvas carries our signature, whether it's visibly written there or not. 

I've always been reluctant to sign my work, because I never really had a special signature that I always used, and I could never get the little lines to stick, or to show up very well on top of all the layers of the painting. 

I spent a little time looking over fonts that I liked and drafting a signature block. Then I scanned it and printed it in all different sizes, so I can use it to trace my signature onto the paper or canvas for each painting that I do. I put the signature in at the very beginning. As I work on the piece and build up the colors layer by layer, I will also add layers to the signature so that it seems to be naturally embedded in the painting. It might work, it might not. It was just a thought, but I'm going to go with it and see if I like doing the signature this way. Hey, it worked for Norman Rockwell....

Hope you're all staying warm and snuggly this month. I'm hoping for a nice snowday off of school any time now! 

Do You Wear Underpaintings?

(I apologize for the suggestive title, but I can't resist a play on words when the opportunity arises.)
I have completed that all-important first step in any painting, whatever you choose to call it.  This is the step where the piece is born and actually comes in the world for the first time.  Some of you do this with your underpainting, others with a value study... most artists I know do this step right on the canvas. With oils, I like to do an underpainting right on the canvas, but with colored pencil, I think it muddies all the successive layers when you have that darker value on the paper first.

Instead of underpainting, I like to do my preliminary study on a separate paper, with graphite. Some have told me this is an unnecessary step and slows me down, but I disagree. It's a very important step for me.
As I'm drawing that graphite piece, I'm not only concentrating on the shapes, the correct perspective, the contrast of values, and how to unify the palette later... something much deeper is happening.  I think its because I have such a strong affection and confidence about drawing with a plain old mechanical pencil. When I'm doing that first putting of pencil to paper, it really is like giving birth to the composition. I try to bring out the story or the metaphor that I want to convey, and I try to make the composition flow around the paper in a way that evokes the feelings that I'm after.
Ironically, it never turns into a finished graphite piece. At some point I decide it's ready to be transferred onto the Stonehenge paper with a colored pencil.  From there I work part-to-whole, and each part is worked from light to dark, keeping an eye on my value study as well as any reference photos I might have.
Part of the beauty of colored pencil is the vibrancy you get from the transparent layers showing through each other, and ultimately, the glowing white paper showing through all the layers. I think this is achieved best by starting with the lightest colors first, and layering the other values over that. I do go back and add the lights again in successive layers, but the original color is already under there, reflecting through.

I'm finding it comforting to have a CP piece in progress on my desk, where I can come and sit for a half hour and not worry about my perfectly mixed paint colors drying out before I can get back to it. But I still have that urge inside me to pick up a brush and blend some paint around on a canvas.

This latest oil portrait got trashed, but we have to keep reminding ourselves that everything we draw or paint does not have to be a masterpiece, or even be seen by eyes other than our own. For every presentable painting, there are three or four in the bin that helped it to come about. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it)

Happy New Year!

Don't Blink

My optometrist tells me that I must start blinking more. According to him, if I would only do that, all my vision woes would disappear. Apparently he theorizes that I get focused on things and so engrossed in staring at something, that I neglect to blink. 

Well, I've thought about that long and hard, and I will tell you why I do not blink: When I blink, everything changes. My contacts shift up or down and the world moves around, and when it all settles back into place, I've missed the moment that was there before I blinked. Does that make sense? 

Today I drove my little girl to the airport to get on a plane and fly to Phoenix, where she has been offered a real job after graduation. I hugged her at the entrance to the security gates, and she assumed I had gone home, but I stayed there watching as she went through the security check routine. She looked so grown-up and professional, with her carry-on bag and her snazzy laptop case. But when she took off her chic knee-high fashion boots... Lo and Behold, my little girl was wearing one orange sock and one green sock! I couldn't help letting a few tears escape, and I had to blink them back.  When I was done blinking, I just barely saw the back of her head as she hurried down the concourse, boarding pass in hand, bright eyes shining with excitement. Other people saw a self-assured young woman with a cool laptop case. I saw a little toddler with bouncy, yellow curls and a babydoll in the crook of her arm.

You see? You blink, and the moment is changed forever. I guess that's why I paint the subjects that I do. I like to savor those precious moments that just make me pause and stare with wonder and awe.

I made a 2012 calendar on Zazzle.com, to hang in my kitchen. It was fun, and not too expensive. (The blue bird painting was done last winter, it's not new)

Hey, guess what else? I have two WIPs going at the same time. One is colored pencil and the other is oils! Of course, I'm inching along slowly with both of them.

I hope you're enjoying the holiday spirit, and that you have many special moments this holiday season!

Color Me Happy

In case you haven't noticed, I have a passion for colors.
I don't pretend to understand all the science, but I love the concept that there is an infinite number of different colors in the universe!  Imagine that for a second... just when you think you've identified all of them, you can just add one more drop of blue, and there's a new color. I love that!  But, some people can see a greater variety of colors than other people, and we each perceive them differently. Added to that is the drawback of cameras and browsers and how many color variations each device will allow. But even if we can't see the infinite number that science says is possible, we can still see plenty of great colors!

Same peach-different times

The other idea that I can't let go of is that color is actually created by light, and the way the light, the object, and our eyes, all interact. I experimented with that a little bit. I took pictures of my peaches in the same spot, no artificial lighting, at different times of day. Then I cropped the same little patch from the middle peach. So, boys and girls, are you listening, my only variable was the natural light coming in the window. (sorry, teacher-lapse)

I also experimented with an indoor wall, the pool water, a painted ceramic dish outdoors, and a peach outdoors. Interestingly, nothing else changed color as drastically as the peaches on the dining room table. I think the window had something to do with that, and the fact that the sun set directly beyond that window.

When I choose colors for paintings now, I'm going to focus on the overall color scheme of the piece, rather than the local color of each individual object. I'm going to make each object reflect the colors from the objects around it. I know many of you already do that, and this is nothing new for you, but to me, it's been kind of an awakening!

What's your greatest revelation about color? I'd love to hear it!

Hope you're having a good creative week! 

Cozy Cottage

16x20 Oil on Canvas 

I painted this little house at a weekend workshop taught by Robert Warren  recently. I don't think the homeowner even knows that his house was photographed and painted by fourteen people!

The house we painted

I've been to two very different workshops this fall. At this second workshop, the goal was strictly to paint this house, and have it finished in two days, so everybody could go home with a nice painting. it was follow-the-leader instruction for nine straight hours, both days. I even had to finish my underpainting in the hotel room the first night, to be ready for the second day. I honestly tried to do exactly as the instructor said, but I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to keep up with him. So, on the second day, I just merrily painted away, lost in my own little world. I could still manage to listen to him talking about texture on the trees, even though I was working on shadows in the snow (two hours after he'd finished the snow).
It was so interesting to hear the others talk about their art, and all the different brushes and paints that they like best. No two people seemed to prefer the same things, which I found very comforting. There is no best way to paint, only the way that you find works best for yourself.

I also discovered that I'm sort of developing my own style of painting. The instructor commented that I had a very "light, fluid touch", whatever that means.
It was a very enjoyable weekend. The gallery was in a hundred year old building, in a huge room with high ceilings and wood floors, like an old school room. I was so thrilled to be away from home by myself for two whole days, surrounded by art chatter. I don't even remember the last time I've ever stayed in a hotel by myself, but I really loved it! It was like a sort of retreat for my mind and my spirit.
Of course, most of the others went home with a finished painting, and I have spent the past two weeks finishing mine. I'm still not sure it's finished, but I don't want to spend any more time on it right now. After all, it wasn't even my own original idea to begin with, and I feel kind of weird about that.
What are your feelings about workshops? Why do you go to them? Are they helpful to your growth as an artist, or not?

It's Who You Are

Just one of my old favorites in CP

I'm still here! I haven't left Bloggerland! I'm busily painting away on an oil portrait. I don't want to show it as a WIP, I want to wait until I feel better about it, which I know I will, in time. (maybe) Every day I get a little bit more competent with the oils and brushes. I just have to remember to be patient and go easy on myself, and to not feel like I've failed every time one goes into the trash can. 

I posted this piece because I've always loved rocks. I love looking at them and touching them, and admiring the different shapes and colors of them. I even have glass jars and vases with rocks in them here and there in my house. For Christmas one year, I asked for some huge rocks for the yard.
I took my class on a field trip to the Geology department of a local university, and the professor told us something that I will never forget. He said that many people have a close connection with rocks. And that our human bodies are actually comprised of the same minerals that are in rocks. They contain the basic elements that make up all living things. I love that concept. Maybe that's part of the reason I so desperately want to paint portraits. People and rocks have a lot in common. I want to capture their expressions and their feelings and make the viewer feel what the person on the canvas was feeling. Well... no more excuses, I'm just going to do it. 

I have been playing this song from the movie Secretariat, over and over on my ipod lately. I've played it so much that it echos around in my head even when I'm not playing it. I guess I like it right now because it reminds me that I don't have to prove myself to anybody except myself. 

So, if you get a chance, please go listen to it. The title is "It's Who You Are", by A.J. Michalka.

Have a wonderful week, my friends! Make some art for us to enjoy!

Weekend Workshop

12x16 Pastel

They always say that a good workshop is one where you come away feeling changed in some small way. This was a good workshop.

It was listed as an oil painting landscape techniques workshop. The artist is very well-known in my area and does beautiful work. But when I received the supply list, I was dismayed that the only tube of paint required was burnt umber. However, once we began, I understood the beauty of the method and I loved it!

The first exercise was a black pastel. (I have NEVER used pastels, and might never use them again... too messy) We completely covered the paper with solid black pastel, then gradually removed it with different kinds of erasers.

We each used our own reference photos. This is the scene from my father's dock on Lake Erie. A place very dear to my heart. There are many things from the workshop that really struck a chord with me, but one thing I'll always remember was when she said that she pretends that the trees or rocks or whatever, are people in her life, and she places some close together, others alone, some drooping, some standing tall, some reflecting the light, others in darkness... I love that approach to landscapes! 

The instructor talked a lot about the "weight" of the different elements in our photographs and how it is necessary to convey that varying sense of weight in the painting. She also discussed how the light areas move our eye around the scene. 

After the pastel piece, we started on an oil painting with the same approach. Covering the whole canvas with Burnt Umber and then removing it with dry brushes. We made no pencil marks on the canvas ahead of time. No preliminary sketching, just started putting paint on, and taking it off. I chose two other photos that I had brought along, both from the island. 

I decided this weekend that what I really love about oil painting is that 

I can only control it to a point, then I have to let it take me wherever it wants us to go together. And I'm never quite sure where that will be. 

Are you having a good October? It's flying by as quickly as the leaves are flying off the trees, isn't it.

Portrait of a Student

12x12 Oil on Canvas

I knew I was going to love painting, if I just got over the initial awkwardness and gave myself permission to make as many mistakes as necessary. And I know there are several mistakes in this painting! But it was such fun smoothing the paint across the canvas and blending the contours of the shapes... adding a dash of this color, or dabbing out too much of that color... Painting is a wonderful experience...

Also, it wasn't all that difficult of a transition for me to move from my pencil drawing of the students to oil-painted portraits. This is a little girl from last year's class, you might remember her. I won't tell you her name, but she has the sweetest, gentlest manner and such an expressive face... I decided she was the perfect candidate for my first real oil portrait.  

I still wanted to do a pencil sketch before I started painting, and I'm very glad I did. I propped up the sketch on one side of the easel and her photograph on the other, and looked back and forth between the two. 

The coolest thing was her shirt... It took me all of 5 minutes to paint that shirt, whereas it would have taken over two hours in colored pencil!

I think I will be proceeding slowly with the painting, but I definitely think this is the right direction for me. 

Have a good weekend, friends. Is it cold and rainy where you are? I'm drinking my tea and wearing my wool socks as I write this!

Mats Do Matter

I always thought I was a fairly observant person, but I never before realized how much the mat color can add or detract from the artwork.  I know. You are aghast at my ignorance. So am I.

This is my second year participating in the exhibition held by the local Colored Pencil Society.  Last year, I was kind of embarrassed to have entered my work, because everybody else's work was so stunning, and they were using techniques I'd never tried before. But this year, I felt much more confident about my paintings (mostly because of the very kind comments from all of you). But when I went to the artists' reception, once again I felt embarrassed by my work! Not because of the paintings, but because of the matting and framing that I had done. 

The perspectus for the show stated that the paintings must be 'simply matted and framed'. So I took that very literally and put all four paintings in a single white or black mat and black frame. How much more simple can you get?  But what hit me in the face at the show, was that my white mats made my paintings look kind of lackluster; my eye was distracted by the stark white mat against the black frame. 

Most of the other paintings in the show, however, were double and triple matted with colors that complimented the painting. I looked closely at the ones that really stood out to me (see, I CAN be observant when I try...) and it seemed that the mat colors accentuated a special color in the painting, and subconsciously made me focus on that color throughout the painting. 

I played around with different mat colors on the computer, just using Word. Needless to say, I will be re-matting my paintings as soon as this show is over! So don't rush down there to have a look, if you were planning a trip to Cincinnati. 

I'd be interested in hearing your own experiences with matting and framing your work!
And, as always, have a great week full of happy, creative moments!

August Angst

I've always likened teaching a year of school to creating a painting. You start with just an idea of what you want to accomplish, and in my case, you cautiously edge your way into it, with every step carefully planned.  During the first few days, it's not really YOUR painting yet. It's new and it's different, and you don't feel completely comfortable with it. Then suddenly you're immersed in it and consumed by it, and every little detail becomes incredibly significant. You agonize over the difficult areas, and you have serious doubts about the composition, or the colors. Some parts progress better than you ever dreamed possible, and other parts that you thought would turn out well, become obstacles that test your ability to the utmost degree. Every day brings its share of new joys and new challenges. 

But there can be no turning back once it's begun, even if you wanted to. You just push forward with determination and the sense that what you're doing is important and is going to make a positive difference in somebody's life, even if you won't see the effects of your work for months. And you keep believing, even when it overwhelms you and you have nowhere to turn. You paint with alternating confidence and doubt, excitement and fear, joy and sorrow. Then before you know it, it's finished, and all you can do is stand back proudly to admire it for a second, then start cleaning your brushes and sharpening your pencils for the next painting.

I'll be starting my 30th 'painting' next week. Wish me luck!