*Live* Drawing

I really love the challenge of *Live drawing* versus *Life drawing*, which I am involved as well. I draw a distinction between the two because I strongly feel they are two distinct modes of expression. Life drawing includes - involves the model, which without, any work I do depends. My drawings are only as good or bad as the comfort level, competence of the model which I truely depend. Here with *Life drawing* I am simply observing and trying to record sketches of people in the everyday mode. Just being themselves. My wife claims that I observe so intensely and so focused that I am bound to be confronted - can't say that I have ever been... So, I hang with her or anyone whom knows me just for such an occasion. 

Introspection

Continuing the figurative series is one based on one of my life studies drawings. These are really tough for me as my drawings are predominately line drawings, but memory has served me well so far. Caucasian people have  a narrow range of color, meaning for me a lack of color and a narrow range of tone which is the difficulty for me - and more difficult to capture accurately on film for the web...

I have enjoyed these larger pieces, however they take longer to accomplish -so please be patient with me at times.

Oil on canvas 24 x 36"

A Maudlin Moment, plus roses

"A Maudlin Moment, plus roses"

16 x 16" oil/canvas

I have been busy in the studio this last two weeks. Maybe the determination to add a few more paintings to the previous year - or, better, maybe a precursor to an active year in 2009. Regardless, it feels good to be in the studio so much. I have started another series of paintings, this time figures and portraits. I do feel there is a big difference between to two, however I, for convenience have 'lumped' the two together.

I have posted the preliminary drawing along with the finished painting. I had intended to take more pictures of the progress, however that didn't happen. So, at least you can get an idea of how I start off a new piece. I used an over-all tone or wash  of cadmium red medium and then started drawing with asphaltum with  Liguin . I like the asphaltum as it is a warm color, I think gaining in popularity - certainly for me with figurative work. It is a very warm brown. The Liguin, is a dryer so that I can get on with the painting very quickly after finishing the drawing. I do a fairly detailed line drawing and fill in the principle shadow areas before I start with color. I decided early on that I wanted to have a purple based background, so I went ahead and blocked that in. From there it was a large mix of flesh color and off I went. For various parts of the body I use in combinations, some more, some less in order to adjust the tones and values with color: Titanium White, cad yellow lt, yellow ochre, cad red med., transparent brown, viridian. In order to create some of the indistinct edges I worked the flesh tones with the purple surrounding. I ended up dividing the 'large' flesh color into three main tones, light, medium, and dark, then further adjusted the values as needed.

The single rose pedal beside the figure was an afterthought. This is based on a life drawing session where in the painting I added the roses for interest. The single pedal gives the painting a certain emotional touch - don't you think?

'Beauty and the Beast' 14x18" oil/canvas

I still have some minor changes that I want to make - however, I am basically pleased with this piece, and I am ready to move on to the next. The name: 'Beauty and the Beast' and the figure pose I wanted to invoke (lead) the topic to - well for me a 'King Kong' type pose along with the theme of that story. Not exactly new, but it works for me. What maybe you expected symbols such as horses or apples or ...? Maybe I could name or sub-title this 'extraordinary lengths to acquire perceived beauty'. I think I will leave it as is. 

'Beauty and the Beast' preliminary drawing

Here is a preliminary drawing that I have had in the back of my mind for awhile now. It is what I might refer to as a content piece as it is not quite representational as many of my daily painting projects are. I don't mean to say that I am completing a painting a day - no - those people are amazing in their dedication, diligence and abilities. I mean that I paint every day and then other times less. I like the idea of adding language and other symbols to my paintings, sort of updating the symbols to a current collection. Certainly there are many symbolic additions to paintings throughout history - so I'm doing nothing particularly radical here. Just my attempt at exploring the place of these visuals in my current paintings as I observe; reflect, explore.
It's a lousy drawing - but the idea was what I was after.

brush maintenance

Well I didn't wait for the new years in order to clean up my studio. What a mess - even for me. No pictures please, too gross. But I did it. In addition in my housekeeping I organized my oil paints - man, but I have a lot of paint. Especially as I was 'resupplied' over Christmas. I put them in piles organized initially as reds, blues, yellows, browns, grays/whites/black, greens. I put them in separate drawers in order to keep integrity and as I need one for painting I go to the drawer and pick out the one that I feel I need to use up first. Great plan - see how it works out in practice.

Next is a tip I picked up for brush maintenance - this for my flats, filberts, brights in order to keep a shape and edge on them. 

I wash them and shape them in an expected manner, then I use a piece of clean (no printing on the side touching the brush hairs) cardboard. I would use most any kind paper as long as it is clean. I fold the paper over into a wedge, place the brush hairs in the fold and secure the two, and apply pressure with a paper clip. Nice. Shapes the hairs nicely, with a good to excellent quality brush I now have a well tapered and shaped brush ready for my next painting.

'frog left' 10 x 8" oil/canvas

Continuing with my 'Florida landscapes' series of paintings is this wetlands painting of a frog in his natural setting. 

(SOLD)

'Mr. Gill' 8 x 10" oil/canvas

I did this rather quick portrait of my brother-in-law from a photo taken while they were at the house. It was more fun than work to do. The first background bothered me, so I went back and changed it. This painting really occurred rather fast, maybe three total hours to work it out. Pretty straight forward - get the likeness correct in a profile, and done.

(SOLD)

'under the Spanish moss' 8x10" oil/canvas

I tend to do paintings in a series - paper bags, animals, Florida landscapes. What next? Certainly there are many possibilities waiting for me in any of the previous series.

Here is another of the Florida series, a live oak draped with Spanish Moss in an atypical sub-tropical 'wooded' setting. Again I like the sun light streaming through the thickets onto selected spots dappling the open ground. 

I have been experimenting with the overall tint(s) that I use prior to starting a a painting. With this one I used a tint of cadmium red light overall with little variation to the basic tone of this red, allowing the raw color to show through in selected places in order to lend a warming feel to the vegetation versus cool bright sunlit areas. I was tempted to cover further the areas that shown through strongly, however, I think the admonition so often offered of 'just enough, and no more' prevailed. The temptation passed, I took a break only to come back and declare this picture finished. This painting stands or falls on it's own from now on. 

Sabal Palmetto Palms 8 x 10" oil/canvas

"Sabal Palmetto Palms" 8 x 10" Oil/canvas

I have started another set of related paintings - this time around is a series of Florida, well, mostly landscapes. I have been painting some animals of Florida and I haven't decided whether that would be part of the landscape series or if they will stand as there own set. I just paint - it would be fine with me to have someone else group them, if possible. 

I like these landscapes as they do remind me of the outdoors when I look at them. I drawn the settings that I like and usually paint them in my studio referring to my drawings and sometimes photos that I have taken. These are from winter and it does get relatively cold, making colors more muted than in warmer times of the year. Also, it is dryer and so the grasses tend to be more toward orange. I warmed it up by using cadmium red throughout the deep shadow areas and then various shades of olive drab for the foliage. Olive drab actually has surprised me with the range of foliage green that it supports. Add a yellow and you have a bright live green, add white and the background color is set. Oh, and I ussually add some violet to the clouds as I want the 'shaded' side away from the sun to be darker and warmer than the cool side facing toward the sun.

'Top of the Food Chain' 8x10" oil/canvas

One of the benefactors of the mangrove 'swamps' are the sharks roaming the oceans, seas and tributaries. These animals are simply beautiful   to watch and are actually quite shy.

The cold blues really fits the specter of these animals as they migrate the water. This is a symphony of cold color, so rare a situation that looks and is natural for a painting. Of course the reds and yellows of colors are progressively missing in the water as they are filtered out the deeper one goes, leaving the deep, rich blues and progressively muted; first reds and then yellows.

Oil on canvas 8 x 10 inches.

Floridian Scenery 8 x 10" oil/canvas

This is a brackish water area in Dana, Florida - north of Miami. These mangrove thickets are the hatcheries for fish, birds, reptiles, and all manner of wildlife and game. They are always just broiling with activity at all times and of course the water reflects the great colors of the sky down here. 

Because these mangrove areas are brackish, the color of the water and the colors of the sky differ in the foreground. The water is murky - full of sediment; a soup of algae, small organisms, fish, insects, reptiles and *stuff*. The water just does not reflect in all areas the color of the sky. It's really a fun challenge to create the impression of this great creator of water life.