Sunday, December 29, 2013

Hydrangeas



These images represent the last 3 working sessions.  They are also a good look at how the light in the room can effect the photograph.  The top 2 images are closer to the true colors.  The days are quite gray and dim which causes me to use artificial lights in the studio.  This doesn't impact my color as much as it does coverage.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas, Oil on Board, 12"x12"
This is a quote from the an article John Yau wrote for the online magazine Hyperallergic.  It references Richard Van Buren's sculptures. 
Van Buren’s understanding of time is what sets him apart from his peers. His works are not about the timeless present (Judd and Dan Flavin) or the body (Eva Hesse), nor do they reference art history — Jackson Pollock’s poured paintings, for example. Rather, they acknowledge that time shapes us into forms that we may be unable to recognize, which, if you think about it, is a rather disquieting perception of infinity. 
Deeply, I think this refers to more than our bodies.  Our characters form into qualities that would have shocked us as children or young adults.  Sometimes this revelation is a pleasing one, sometimes not so.  
John Yau was a writing teacher when I was at Bard. And, as a poet not a painter, he was a wonderful critic and would astound me at his insight into both the aesthetic and plastic elements of art. John would probably find Hydrangeas uninspiring, boring and commonplace.  

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas, Oil on Board, 12" x 12"
I spent about 3 hours today on the left side of the center blossom.   The petals on each are much smaller than the previous painting's petals.  I'm having trouble blending such small areas.  I'm afraid it might look more illustrative than I want.  

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Gwen and Maggie

Maggie, Oil on Board, 6"x9"



Gwen, Oil on Board, 6"x9"
These two oil sketches are of my nieces, Maggie and Gwen Gunnels.  They are always interested in my paintings.  They live many miles from me, but write asking me to draw something and mail it to them. They are twins and wanted drawings for their 12 year November birthday.  I decided instead to give them these little paintings for Christmas.  (They got fancy hair bows for the birthday.)

The boards were salvaged from an old painting which accounts for the pentimento background.  There is also some of that in the hair.  I was unable to use it in the faces because the pentimento obscured their likenesses.  



Saturday, December 14, 2013

Hydrangeas


Haven't been in the studio again for days.  We are in Boston this week.  I did manage to work a little on the center bottom blossom.  The light is really strong there.  While in Boston we saw Sargeant's watercolors at the MFA.  He handles wc like an oil painter.  OR maybe he handles his oils like his wc.  Great show, though.  Well curated with a chronological approach that focused on place:  the Alps, Arabia, Venice.