Finished... maybe.

I've been stuck in a bit of a rut lately.  Artist's block (writer's block for artists?) seems to be a reoccurring theme in my life, and as I haven't found a cure yet, it's always just a matter of waiting it out.  It's funny, the artist's temperament, the attributes which allow us to be creative are also so very inclined to melodrama, to find every lack of inspiration the end of the world. Alack! Alas! Of course, the reasonable part of myself knows better, and so I've been forcing myself to still pick up my brushes, to do studies, to work out step-by-step demos for the classes I teach, to finish the pieces that have been sitting in the studio nearly done for too long. I think the little guy below is finally done, or nearly so, there may be a few little bits left to tweak. 

Even in my uninspired state, I still think this might be my favorite Sebbie painting yet.  

Nantucket

I spent yesterday on Nantucket, which, frankly, is not such a bad place to find oneself.  I brought my plein air getup with me and was quite excited to paint some boats.  The wind, however, had other plans, for while you can paint in the rain or the sun or the snow, it's the wind that causes the biggest headache, quite happily blowing over all but the heartiest setups, and I had not planned for the wind.  So, wandering around looking for a spot out of the wind with a nice view, I found myself at Jetties Beach among the dunes, and set out to paint the racing clouds and sand.  I knew that painting sand dunes well is plenty tricky, but I'd never tried, so thought I would.  I think I could use some more practice, which, sadly, will mean spending more time at the beach :)

why not?

I've been having a lot of fun with my paintings lately.  And by that I mean, I've been throwing a lot of indoctrination to the wind and working on paintings the way I can only imagine my ten-year-old self would (if my ten-year-old self had an academic training).  I think the biggest stumbling block I picked up at school was the knowledge of how little I knew and the corresponding fear of trying things I knew were outside of that knowledge.  But a ten-year-old doesn't think, "I don't know how to paint a flying bee," a ten-year-old paints a flying bee, and gives it a smiley face.  So, I have been giving my paintings (metaphorical) smiley faces :)  

flying bee :)

totally arbitrary background :)

rose :)

peony, roses, hydrangea :) (quick study)

 Sidewalk treasure :)  or, leftovers? (still in progress)

Some flowers, or variations on "he loves me"

I have written in one of my sketchbooks, under the heading "General painting alla Sargent" a series of notes, paraphrases if you will, on advice Sargent gave his students which I'd copied out for my own purposes years ago when said advice had crossed my path in the form of a book I did not own.  The last note is a fragment, reading simply, "excellent practice to paint flowers, for the precision necessary in the study of their forms and the pure brilliancy of their colors."

I was given a beautiful bouquet of flowers recently, as remedy to the series of damp, gray days that have all but squashed my spirits lately, and, naturally, set out to paint them.  I love painting flowers because they require a freshness, a rapidness in execution, and all the pressure towards exactness and accuracy I feel in my other work is pushed aside (in fact, my normal working methods don't even apply, as flowers will change, open and die while you are trying to capture their likeness--hardly a "still" life).  If you belabor over flower paintings, they start looking lifeless; for me they are the ideal subject for alla prima work.  If I do not like a piece, I simply set it aside and start a new one.  

First attempt.  Why not go for everything at once?

Gladiolas!  I painted this one w/o a background (that's the shellacked panel you see). I do not usually work this way, it's more exacting as you have to be absolutely sure of where every brush stroke goes--I did it as a challenge, to keep myself on my toes, as it were.  I'm not sure I like how it looks, though, I may go back and paint in a background.

Snapdragons.  This one's my favorite.  (And clearly needs its background finished.)

This one, I felt, beat me, but it was great fun... I may try again.

Salon International

The opening of the 2012 Salon International hosted by the Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art is this Saturday, April 14th.  Should you be in San Antonio, it's always quite a show.  

Plus, this little guy will be there.

Study of a sidewalk treasure

oil on panel

Somethings never change.  

Te he he

Sometimes I get so excited about a new painting, or even just the idea for a new painting, that I get all silly and giggly, bouncing up and down like a little kid in a toy store (or, really, for that matter, me in a toy store).  This is definitely one of those times.  So, while I'm really still at the block-in stage, I couldn't resist sharing.

Lessons learned so far: 
A, rib cages not covered in skin are wicked hard to draw--I knew this, was well aware of this in the good ol' days of anatomy class, but had forgotten.
B, I had no idea what the inside of a bird looked like.  I'd been around plenty of them, I thought I did know, but definitely did not.
C, birds evolved from dinosaurs.  The more I look at the chicken, the more I see a raptor-type critter.