Forms and Figures

 I'm having some fun drawing curvy figures, exaggerated forms, and using plenty of color.

I started these for a cook book idea I had - "Ladies & Legumes" but I've gone off on a tangent. 

 We'll see if I circle back. 

Until then, I'll be working on feminine inspired forms.

Around the Studio

I recently committed myself to do a painting a day, which has quickly turned into, painting everyday, to painting most days. And while that sounds like I have fallen off track from my initial plan, I am really proud of my recent focus. Completing a piece in a day is ambitious, and given my full time job, kids, and house, that is not remotely realistic. Over the last few years, getting any amount of artwork done has been hard for a variety of reasons: time; space; toxicity exposure to young children. But now that I can feel fairly confident that they won't lick my paintings, drink dirty water (or turpenoid), and suck on paint brushes, I can reintroduce these elements into our environment. And while our house over the last year with the move and obligatory painting-flooring-fixing, has taken most of our time, it has also provided us the best studio space we have ever had. There is room for desks, wall space, a storage closet, and natural light! We sacrificed the "living room" for this space, but we all enjoy hanging out in here together, even absent of a couch and TV. And while I may not get time in here every single day, we spend considerable time in here most days, and that is pretty good.

New Windows means Art Cleaning

Our windows were replaced today. We are excited to see some savings on our heating bill as we approach the coldest months of the year. The installation process required that we move everything 3 feet away from the windows. This wasn't a huge problem, but in the studio, we had many of our old sketch books and portfolios piled up against the wall with windows.
Having pulled this stuff out, we are taking the opportunity to sort through these piles of old art. Or so far, I am. I am reviewing this old work and deciding if I should keep it or toss it. Purging art can be difficult. When I was a teen, I participated in NYSSSA, and one of the teachers gave a lecture and told us about a time when her studio burned and she had to part with all her previous work. She said this was one of the best things for her, because it is important not to fall in love with our work, but to always push forward. I am trying to keep this in mind. We will see if I can be successful in this task.

Orchids, Peonies & Sunflowers

Continuing with the theme, flowers and faces...

In these I am drawing the flowers first and the faces second, so hopefully the image of the flower comes through the portrait. The last one illustrates how tired I am of looking at my own face-when will Amira be able to pose for me?

Wednesday

The end of the day on Wednesday...

And a quick sketch of Wednesday, the cat, or "meow meow" as Amira calls her. Really she is much quieter since Amira arrived in our family. She used to be really vocal. She used to wake me up in the morning by patting my face with her paw, and when my eyes opened she would howl. This was generally around 5 in the morning. That behavior cost her the privilege of sleeping in our room. She is much calmer now, and of course older.
The flowers are hydrangeas from the bush outside. I have never seen so many beautiful bushes of hydrangeas before moving to Dorchester. It seems like every house has a bush and each one is gorgeous.
And as this Wednesday is coming to a close it is time for me to go to bed and sleep like the other members of my household. Maybe after work tomorrow we can all take a walk and see the flowers in bloom.

Flowers and Faces

A couple more experiments.

Both with blind contours-

and the layering of flowers and faces.
The exotic markings of the flower layer on the face like bold stripes of make up. On the first image here, the markings are on top, like a mask. In the second image, the flower markings are underneath, and the forming of the flesh of the face rubs them away. But the markings remain like shadows. I am finding this more and more interesting, as a discussion of "exoticism", like the orientalism movement, which I believe has led to so much misunderstanding today.

Adrian and Peony

I have been doing some blind contour drawings this week after looking through Clemente's Life is Paradise book I received in the mail upon returning from NY. Blind contour's are a great exercise for connecting your eyes to your hands. This one wasn't completely blind-here I was more interested in layering. Drawing a peony and then Adrian on top of it. There are a lot of elements I am thinking about here (patterns, gender, relationships, sex) and the flower does look like Adrian's brain exploding-I need to sort these thoughts into a thesis!

Sketching

Sketching some flowers in my sketch book, and "thinking out loud" so to speak. I haven't used pastels in years. I really enjoy the immediacy, and tactility of them. Erasing and seeing a shadow of the previous mark. This was something I loved with intaglio printmaking: the memory of a prior state.

Adrian #2

The weather is getting nice, and we are able to sit with the window's open here. Adrian is watching "The Verdict" which is supposed to take place in Boston, but is filmed in NY. I wish tomorrow I was home with Amira and taking a walk in the sun. Maybe after work we can take a bike ride. Summer nights make me want to stay up late. And nap during the day. Will have to take a day to do just that.

Still Going

So I am always available to myself as a subject, so if I continue with portraiture, I will be a common theme. The above piece was a little difficult, because I was this reclined for most of the painting. For my previous self portrait series, I was painting mostly on rag paper that Adrian and I had around the house from our printmaking days. Arches BFK and Reeves-oh so much nicer that the sketch book I just bought! I picked up a Canson watercolor sketch book, 18" x 24". And while durable, and not especially inexpensive, I miss the softness of the rag paper.
You know who else is frequently available...

Adrian! I started this during the big thunder storm last week, that actually produced a tornado in Springfield. The storm was incredible. It is the first time thunder and lighting woke Amira from sleep. We lost power for about 10 hours. So I had to stop this halfway through, but finished it up tonight.

#20, & Project Complete

Last one.

Torso is a little squat. I have to say, I felt pressure for the last one to be the best. And I don't think it is. But I do think there is a clear improvement from where I started to where I finished.

I had direction and order towards the end of this, so I had better control over the painting. The question starts to become, if I can control the painting, then what do I really want the painting to say? If I like portraiture, why? I know I like the framed windows in the background, but what are those big color blocks saying? Or is it the clear pattern of squares I am responding to? The repetition as a metaphor for daily life?
So now, what should I do next to continue exploring?

#19

#19: This has been a beautiful weekend! It is supposed to be thunder storming right now, but instead Dorchester is sunny and 84 degrees! Love it! On the porch today. I set Amira up with her paints as well while I started this piece. Then finished it while she napped. She just stomped in this room waking up from her nap. Daddy is still sleeping on the couch. So I will move on from writing this post. But I do feel like I am getting a little more consistent with some of my work. One more to go!

Family

My parent's and sister are up for the Holiday. I decided to take a small break from my self portraits to give painting others a try.

So I painted my mom and dad while my sister and husband competed at scrabble. This painting took about an hour and a half, which to me does not seem like a lot of time. I feel like I need much more time to really polish a piece. I don't start until after 8, which gives me about two hours start to finish before I am really tired. Sitting still for the subject is also difficult and we had a long day before this. But the biggest problem with painting other people, they never like how they look.

#18

Very pastel tonight. And I look like I am clenching my jaw! This paper is not white, so I am able to build up some of highlights without feeling as muddy. I am starting to really want to paint someone else. Maybe a family portrait? Like this one from Benjamin West in the 18C.