Knowing when to stop

It's difficult to know when to stop painting.  You can keep on going until you obtain photorealism.  This was not my intent.  This is my attempt to produce an Impressionist painting.  Although I used mediums that were not available during that period, I now have more appreciation for Van Gog and his thick application of paint on canvas.  The idea is to capture the mood of the subject and not necessarily the likeness of the subject itself.  At least, that is what I have learned in this exercise.  This week I touched up some details and color/tones, I applied a final varnish and decided that there was no point in adding anything else.  The painting and the "mood" is represented and it is complete as is.

Please let me know what you think. 

Lynn

A la Prima

Another coat of paint.  This week I worked on tone and color.  The cooler colors in the background and the warmer colors in front.  I also changed the surface on which the apples rest so it will fit better with the other paintings of this series.  I am applying the Acrylic paint a la prima to allow me to really establish to colours I want to have and the strong contrasts I desire.

The progression so far is coming along...  I think.

Original Photo Source

First Layers texture and Paint

By next week, I'm hoping to show you the finished painting next to the other 3 paintings of this series.  See you then.

 

(Please view the previous postings to see the progression of this artistic approach.

New Beginning for the group

I began with the background texture that I created from a mixture of Gesso, Plaster, CGC, Black Acrylic paint and some Medium, that I applied on a canvas and with spatulas. I then redrew my subject with a small spatula and a wood stick, within the surface, and I let it dry for 3 days. I recently proceeded in applying the first coat of paint loosely to define highlight and tone.

This is where I'm at for now.

 

I will apply another coat of paint this week. let me know what you think...

New Month, New Year, New Apples

I'm Back!  And i wish all of you a very Happy New Years.  Good Health and Happiness.

We're up to Photo # 4.  Wow has time flown by.

Back to basics of course.  the study this time, I did in Conte on Newsprint, in Black, Grey and White as follows:

A) I first began to study the perspective and spacial relations between the objects. 
B) I outlined the objects to review the forms themselves.
C) I focused on negative spaces
D) I turned my attention to light and shaddows
E) Blending and highlighting, as well as darkening the background.

It took approximately 1 hour to come up with the following results:

 

I know that as I continue to work this month, on this image and composition, I'll be able to correct to define the shapes and volumes even more.

Hope you will continue to follow me this year...  Again, Happy New Year.

Well, Well,

As promised (to myself), I produced the first 2 apple representations in this new mixed medium technique, (plaster,  acrylic medium and gel, paint and I like the results.  Here is the "trio" represented next to one another.  (sorry about the photo tone. Was in a hurry)

 

 
The next thing I tried this week is découpage and weaving.  I first cut up Newsprint in long 16" strips, that I weaved together.

Then I painted the subject with black and brown ink.  In the end, I removed some of the strips and returned them to the weave randomly to see what would come up. 

Here are the results.  (Interesting...)

To All I wish a Happy Holidays. 

 

Mix it - Mix it Good

Talk about Mixed Medium!

My recipe this week was mixing up some CGC Compound (plaster) with some Gesso and some Black Acrylic Paint and Acrylic Medium, and I drew or if you wish, sculpted the composition onto a canvas with some paint spatulas.  When the whole thing was dry after a few days, I then applied another coat of Gesso for protection.  Finally, I  applied "A la Prima" the Acrylic paint, adjusting for the under texture (Sculpture) beneath.  I still have to add some varnish but, so far, I love it...

Obviously, I would not have been able to do this unless the subject and composition had been studied beforehand.  That's where drawing and sketching really helps.

For Tone and composition, I had to deviated the composition from the original photo a little.  I'm so happy with the results, that I've already prepared canvases to produce the first 2 apple photos in this same technique, therefore creating a series...

As for the previous Mixed Medium project.  I'm really happy to have done it because it is by this collage that I came up with this new technique.  I also was able to use Oil paint and inks and other "stuff" that I would not normally use.

 

 

I'm really happy with this week's progress.   See you next week. 

 

Third of Five

New Month - New Photo source - New Composition - New Mediums

This month my study began with the Apple photo #3 and the study of the triangular composition, and subject contour and balance.

Focusing on contour first enabled me to focus my first project of the month on mixed media.  My first step was to compose using collage.

Since I had allot of fashion magazines and I was always interested in fabrics and motifs, I chose parts of photos with the most interesting textures  to recreate this composition. 

I also wanted to include text that reflected the idea behind this piece, such as combining different textures and motifs to compose an outfit - in this case - a piece of art.

From Plaids, lace to chiffon, I was able to find a variety of motifs that would keep the eye moving around in the piece.

Once the collage composition was settled upon, I am now in the process of working on tone, blending and refining the piece by applying glazes. paint, pastels and other mediums.  Here are the results so far: