Swan Lake Rehearsal

12x16 oil on paper

Another sketch from the ballet. Can't get a good photo because the paper is white wants to curve and the paint is reflective (dries with a nice gloss!)

Ballet Studio Sketch

 

12x10 oil on paper (paper size 16x12)

PURCHASE

Discovered a new paper from Arches specifically made for oil painting.

It's different from some of the others I've tried. It definitely allows for heavier paint and isn't very absorbent. I painted this last night and it is still wet and the brush strokes are quite visible. 

I saw that v....vaughan shared her painting recently which was done on the same material. I'll let her figure out how to mount and frame! 

There is no oil bleed through - the paint remains on the surface beautifully. It is smooth and I love a smooth surface to work on.

(I took this and posted from the iphone. I will update it with a better image soon)

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Moses Botkin Monthly Challenge

Our challenge: Paint it Red! We were to use red, red violet or red orange to dominate our paintings. I took it literally and used nothing but those colors, with a little sap green mixed with alizarin for the darkest darks and a little white mixed with orange for highlights. My palette was really just a big splotch of varying reds. I wanted to try to abstract the figures and almost lose them in the brush work. Its harder to do than you might think. But fun to try!


"Red Dance"
8x8 oil on paper
©2010 Robin Cheers



From Jerome's Paris Window
aka "La Basilique du Val de Grace illumine'e la nuit"
14x11 oil on panel

©2010 Vicki Ross

"Sultry"
16x16 oil on canvas
©2010 Suzanne Berry



"Red Brush"
6x8 oil on canvas
©2010 Aaron Cordell Johnson




"Red Pitcher on Blue Cloth"
8x10 oil on canvasboard
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

"Arrangement on Red"
6x6 oil on panel
©2010 Elizabeth Blaylock

Blue Dancer

10x10 oil on panel

I am going to do another triptych of ballet dancers and began to work out ideas today. This will be available once I've decided on the larger work. Making blue flesh is crazy fun. Always good to push aside "what should be" and paint what is in my mind.

I'm off for Calvert now to enjoy their historic weekend events and to meet some artist friends whom I've known only in email. Saturday will be a full day. My traveling companion, V....Vaughan will be teaching an early workshop and I am sure she'll goad me into rising before dawn to paint with her.
Later in the day we will be at the Victorian Tea (V painting, me drinking heavily) and then Saturday night I'll be painting the gala event. I'm picturing "Moulin Rouge."
Our works from the tea and ball will be auctioned at the ball midway through the evening. Exciting stuff!

Ballet Triptych

I had to share the beautiful frame made by Mountains Edge again. The overall dimensions are 35 1/2" x 24". Its quite commanding!
Once again, its hand made and hand finished. They do beautiful work!

Watching Rehearsal

pencil sketch

This little girl was in her leotard, just came from her dance class, and got to watch the big girls rehearse The Nutcracker.

Dancer - 30 Minute Study

12x6 oil on paper - sold

This is a study I did before painting the triptych shown on Friday's post. As you can see, I actually reversed her for the larger painting.
I love these little quick studies done in oils. And in the coming days, it might be all I can do with the holidays ramping up! Yesterday, I went and bought some good sketching materials to do some more pencil sketches and washes.
I love the simplicity of such work. I am an admirer of "brevity." The artwork that I admire the most leaves a lot to the imagination. A bold gesture, no details, and broken line - the "less is more" approach.

Rehearsal - Triptych

16 x 28 oil on three panels

I am so excited about this painting. I've wanted to do a multi panel painting for a long time, but didn't know what subject. The dancers just seemed so right. The only trouble I see now is that the woman's hand on the left panel lines up with the window frame in the center panel. That might be acceptable once its framed and less noticeable. It might even be good. The framing is the tricky part.

I am talking with Deborah Paris at Mountains Edge Frames about framing it. They have some beautiful mouldings and hopefully they can build me something.

As a note to those in Fort Wayne, Indiana area, Castle Gallery is hosting its Holiday Show with a reception featuring several of the galleries artists. I regret I could not be there, because they have really nice parties and its such a lovely gallery. Go and check it out tonight from 5-10 pm.

Harmony In Green

12x12 oil on panel

After a couple of warm up paint sketches, I did this pair of dancers, the Snow King and Queen at rehearsal. I'm really pleased with the color harmony, but the photo does not do justice to the brushwork, especially the gesture of her hands. (I'll try to get a better shot later.)

As you know, I have been setting my timer and doing many 30 minute studies. I can't tell you how invaluable this practice is. I am able to turn off my left brain entirely and just let the paint flow. I don't stop and check details or all will be lost. The first thing I do is make some marks with my brush indicating the forms, measure quickly and then I am off. I mass things in, start varying color for light/shadow changes and let the brush do its own thing. There is harmony on the palette too painting this way because I frequently just pick up and blend what is there so I am not fussing with color. I refer to my source material but don't focus on contour or outlines, just shapes of color. There is always time to fix the mistakes later, once I have the foundation down.

Frequently I stop when my digital kitchen timer goes off. Today, I started my painting this way, and when the timer went off, I stepped back and was able to return to finish with those details and background I skipped. There wasn't much to do because I had painted so passionately from the start and I wanted to retain that spontaneity. I lost track of time then, but it was delicious work.

This is the painting at the 30 minute break.



This panel has a coat of gray acrylic house paint on it ala Ken Auster and Miro Sinovic. Both like this surface a lot and I see why. The paint lays on it nicely. Its very smooth and doesn't absorb the paint at all, like gesso tends to. I believe I will use it some more.

Dancer Waiting - Sketch

pencil and paper

Ok - another of these. I can't tell you how tired I am today. I have been dragging. Could be the interrupted nights with my daughter coughing so much. My cold is lingering too and to be honest, my foot is hurting more now than post surgery. The dr. says it will be another month before I am 100%, with the pain actually increasing these next two weeks. And so - I didn't accomplish anything today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and I will feel better. I can't face the holiday season in this frame!

Dancer Sketch

pencil on paper

My daughter's cold was worse today - her asthma is always irritated by colds - so she stayed home with me. I got some business things done, but no painting. All I have to show you is another dancer sketch. BUT....



I will also promote the first ever Daily Painter's Gallery book Colour, Obsession, Joy and Torment. It looks like such a nice volume, featuring 146 artists whose work is found on the Daily Painter's Gallery. This group began sometime around the time I started blogging and has grown so successfully. I owe most of my blog's success to that site. There are some wonderful artists who exhibit their work online and are included in the group gallery. The book also has several well-written essays on the inspiration for the title (a quote from Monet) and on the subject of the technological art age which we're now embracing. I think I now believe that this is an official art movement. Artists are so much more accessible than in the past and in a time when reproductions and cheap pictures can be found at any store, I applaud any effort that artists make to educate people about original art and to make it more available to patrons. I can't wait to get my hands on this book. Stay tuned for ordering information.

Snow Queen - 30 Minute Study

12x9 oil on paper
$50 + s/h - sold

Getting back into the groove of things today. The dancer here is one of the two snow queens the Austin ballet has performing in their Nutcracker. This was a great way to warm up after a break from painting. Setting a timer makes me see the big picture and not get caught in details. I literally paint for 30 minutes and then its brushes down. I wish I could describe why this exercise works so well for me. I am suffering a little disconnect though between doing and talking about. I will try again tomorrow!

Ballet Dancer

colored pencil on paper

As we gear up for the holidays, the Nutcracker is such a nice Christmas story to set the mood for celebrating. We go to Houston in two weeks to see it there. Also going to the Galleria to ice skate of all things!

Saturday was the opening of the Small Works North America show at the Greenwich Workshop Gallery in Connecticut. Exhibit winners are chosen by votes from patrons. You can actually register online and vote for your favorite small works. The show is really quite impressive. I am thrilled to have two works in the exhibit which are hanging alongside many of the top painters in the country. This was a milestone for me. I have a couple more to yet check off my list, but they will come in time.

Ballet Dancer

pencil on paper

Last Thursday my friend Tess Walls and I went to Ballet Austin for a behind-the-scenes look at a Nutcracker rehearsal. The dancers were below us. We watched from a landing above the studio, the wall behind them is all glass and they were often silhouettes in front of it, making the figures all the more dynamic. The girls wore their practice tutus and I saw Degas in my head. I wish I could capture more of that dynamic line he did. (and like my friend Tess's sketches... beautiful!)
I was tempted to add some color, but I sent my pastels to a friend who is convalescing in Houston area...
I am convalescing as well. The surgery went fine and I am laying about for the most part. I am sketching though from my photos and things in the room (dog, husband, child, toys).