Where did the time go?

I can't believe it has been a year (actually a bit longer) since I last posted anything.  WOW - where did the time go?  To make a long story, short.  I have been painting.  I have not been blogging but I have been painting.

Today we celebrated the life of a good friend who suddenly passed away last week.  Death is always hard.  Knowing that someone is no longer physically with us is especially difficult.  I wanted to find a way to help his wife through these hard times and what else could I do but try and capture Steve in a painting.

This is an 11x14 oil of Steve

Here is another one I did this week.

Portrait studies

This 8x10" life portrait study was done last night with finishing touches put on in my studio today.

8x10" oil on linen

These past few weeks I've also done studies of my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, husband and a friend.

I have really been enjoying painting especially portraits.  It blows my mind that in spite of the billions of people on earth, no two people, even identical twins, look exactly alike.

Girl in blue scarf

I love when I have the opportunity to work from a model.  This is a 2 hour study I did the other evening.

"Girl in Blue Scarf"

11x14" oil on linen

I Found My Heart Song

I was asked recently what I liked to paint.  I said that I paint everything.  This is true but that question stayed with me this past week.  What do I really LIKE to paint?  I sat for a long time with that.  I pulled out some paintings and reflected on feelings I had when I painted them.  I realized that there are times when I paint I get an inner joy that is beyond description.  It is a feeling of being high and it is as if my whole body were smiling.  I have it when painting some things and not as much when painting others.  So, I put those paintings next to each other that had memories of feeling like I was "in the zone" when I painted them.  What did they have in common?  They were not all of the same subject.  They were not the same colors.  Some were high key and some not.  Some had a lot of contrast while others not so much.  There had to be something that weaved them all together.  What was it?  Then it hit me.  They all had faces but not necessarily human faces or even animal faces.  It could be the face of a mountain.  It could be facing fears.  I found faces of flowers and faces of people or animals equally exciting.  Ah, I finally found my heart song!  I finally discovered what made me sing inside.

22"x28" oil on canvas

"Just Be"

I have a sign next to my easel that says, "Just Be."  It will often remind me to pause and take a deep breath.     That sign was the inspiration for this painting.

"Just Be"

12" x 16" oil on canvas

Back to painting plus some sketching

It is easy to get side tracked because I love doing so many different things - watercolor - oil - sketching - photography.  (notice I didn't say housework)  I've put my pencil and charcoal aside for a little bit and have gotten my paints out again.  Here are a few examples of what I am working on.  None are finished so look for future postings.

These charcoal sketches were done a week ago during a figure drawing workshop.

Having fun with sketching

 I've  called this blog Painting Almost Every Day because that is what I try to do but lately rather than painting I've been having fun with sketching especially sketching faces.  Since I have no formal art education under my belt with the exception of a painting workshop here or there, I've decided to get some instruction in drawing and painting the face and figure.  These are a couple that I drew of two different models.  The instructor, Paul Davis, met each of us at the level we were at and stretched us so we left the workshop a better artist than when we entered.

Homeless

Last night we watched Secret Millionaire on tv where a wealthy man took to the streets for a week to volunteer helping the homeless on skid row of L.A.  He didn't tell those he met that he had money but gave a story of losing his business and being on the down and out himself.  After a week, he not only revealed he was a multi-millionaire but he also gave sizable donations to the various organizations or people he had "volunteered" with.  The faces of those many homeless has stayed with me today and is obviously influencing my drawings.

More sketching

Rather than do 18x24" sketches while in my studio, I kept my family company today and sat in the family room and sketched in a 9" x 9" sketchbook from various images I found on the internet.  I usually paint or draw from my own photos unless invited by a friend to use theirs but today I have to admit I wanted the challenge of sketching quickly from photos taken by someone else.  On some, I went for speed and did each of these in just a few minutes.  All in all I did about a dozen sketches today.

Pencil sketch

The previous sketches have been with conte or charcoal pencils.  Today I got out my trusty #2 pencil and blended only by adding more strokes rather than smudging with my finger or a stub.  My son worked on this boy's computer while I tried to capture him with my camera.

18"x 24" pencil sketch

A professional photographer friend, Tom Szalay, invited me to sketch or paint from some photos he's taken of students of his.  This is one I did yesterday.

18"x24" charcoal

Familiarity breeds stress!

I'll start by saying I love everything to do with art.  I love looking at art, reading about art - I even dream about art.  The longer I draw and paint, the more comfortable I am with what I am doing EXCEPT when it comes to drawing or painting someone close to me.  Then I stress out.

A couple of months ago I painted my husband, using only a palette knife (see earlier post).  Today I sketched my daughter, Lisa.  I don't have a formal art background although last year I did take a drawing class from a local artist.  Actually, we would watch him do portrait sketches and then we would go home and copy from some photos, bring back our work to be critiqued by the class.  I learned a lot from him and am thankful for those four evening classes.  He didn't cover shading which really is what gives form, volume and shape to an object.  In the few weeks, I am taking a workshop on drawing portraits and I hope shading will be covered.  In the meantime, it is trial and error.

I am trying different drawing materials like conte crayon and charcoal.  In the past I've only used your every day #2 pencil or pen.

This is my daughter Lisa.  I wonder if anyone who knows her would recognize her in my drawing.  I can already see some minor adjustments I need to make.   The answer to all my artful desires is practice, practice, practice.

More sketching

I didn't take the time to draw until very late in the afternoon.  Sundays are "family time" and I feel I'm taking away from that when I sneak off to my studio.  But by late afternoon everyone seemed busy with their own activities so I didn't feel so guilty.

18"x24" charcoal

18"x24" charcoal

This second sketch was done without any reference material.  I wanted to sketch from my heart and do something quick and spontaneous.

A lot has happened

A lot has happened since my last blog.  My houseguest came and left, my husband retired (again) and he and I took off for warmer parts for a month.  I almost always travel with my sketchbook and sometimes my paints and rarely take the time to paint unless we are in one place for more than a few days.  This trip was no exception.  I packed a bag with sketchbooks, watercolor paints, brushes etc. and other than a little doodle time one afternoon with my sister-in-law, I didn't look at them except to move them from car to motel room, back to car again.

I also carry a camera and have been known to takes hundreds (ok thousands) of photos on one trip.  This trip I took few photos but did leave with wonderful memories.  Memories of sunshine and short sleeve shirts in March.  Memories of a touch of snow on cactus.  Yes it snowed outside of Tucson.  Memories of times visiting with good friends and time with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law.  Memories of dancing with my husband.  And, memories of driving many miles - over 3650 in one month.  We came home with the thought that yes, we could be very happy spending winters in Arizona.  The question remains as to where we would spend summers.  Also, I would find it very hard to be away from my grandchildren for any length of time.  So, no answers to what now questions, just a lot of good memories.

It's taken me a bit of time to get back into my studio but I did it.  I'm continuing to feel the urge to work with figures both in drawing and in painting.  These 18x24" sketches are what I've been working on.  You may recognize some of the images as I've painted a couple of these models during a workshop I took last year.

Self Portrait

All the figure doodling got me inspired to try a watercolor self portrait sketch.  I sure was tempted to make myself younger and thinner but I resisted!!

Practice, practice, practice

Many of my art friends are talking of the need to sketch each day and I couldn't agree more.  I'm trying to feel more comfortable with quick sketches done in watercolor rather than use graphite and my trusty eraser.  

Quick Sketch

Thursday night I had an opportunity to do some quick sketches from a live, undraped model here at our local art center.  We started out with a few 5 minute poses and then moved on to the "long" poses of 20 minutes each.  It is always a little intimidating for me to sketch people quickly especially if I'm with a group of really good artists.  They always seem to get into the flow right away while I often feel like a sputter a bit before I find my groove.  Most of the artists I was with had art degrees and years of experience and I, as you probably know, am mainly self taught with a few classes or workshops along the way.   I ended up having a fun evening and today decided that rather than doing a full painting in oil,  I'd practice with some quick watercolor sketches.

Disclaimer - Unlike many artists, I post my successful paintings as well as my not-so-successful ones.  These sketches are by no means masterpieces, but they were fun.

I usually begin by getting the shape of the head in then move on to placing features.  I wondered what it would be like to begin by painting eyes, the build out from there.  What a strange feeling it is to have a face staring out at me while I'm trying to paint.  I think you'll see what I mean.

I have been painting - honest I have!

I had hoped that blogging would encourage me to paint every day and it worked.  I have been painting almost every day but I have not blogged in four months.   It's not that I don't enjoy blogging.  I do but I enjoy painting more mainly in oils.

I got to go to Oregon twice this summer.  Once with a friend who was preparing to return to India and another time with my husband.  I spent time in Portland, the Oregon coast and in Bend which is in central Oregon.  I took lots of reference photos and did some watercolor paintings, too.  Here are just some of my paintings since I last blogged.

Painting in Spurts

I get on a roll with painting and I lose all sense of time and space.  I forget to eat.  I forget to drink water.  I even forget I have a family.  I travel some place when I'm painting and sometimes forget to come back.  Today was like that.  Here it is 4 pm and I haven't eaten lunch or drank anything since breakfast.  I think husband and son have each poked their heads in here but I honestly can't tell you what they said.  I hope it wasn't important.

In last weeks workshop the individual head studies were each done in about three hours.  That included jockeying for position with the others in the class, setting up our easels and giving the models breaks about every 20 or 25 minutes.

I worked on two of the paintings today.  As usual, I'll probably make changes tomorrow or the next day but I wanted to post what I've done today.  Click on the paintings to see more detail.

Blogging each day has helped me to keep my focus on painting.  If I take a break from my easel, I often find it difficult to get back at it but if I continue painting then the momentum builds and builds until I feel like an obsessed woman.  What a high!!!!  Legal and fun.

These are both 12x16 oil on canvas.