Daily Painting Practice- stay in the game - painting the North Woods

I think for me as an artist discouragement and persistence go hand in hand. Often my mind's eye sees the painting  I would like to paint, while my physical eyes reveal the painting that I actually produced. They hardly ever match and discouragement follows.

 That's where persistence must come in. People who fall off horses have quaint sayings that tell them  to
"get back in the saddle" and  sports failures  are told to "get back in the game". But what words of wisdom do we artists have when things  go wrong? "Wipe it off and start over?" ... Not very encouraging. nor very creative.

 I am convinced that words of wisdom don't really work with artists anyway. ( even though we love to hang slogans and quotes on our easels). What we really need is tough art love. What we need and what we do best with is being told the cold hard truth.....  "Painting is hard and  at some point every artist will want to quit." Don't you feel better?

I think someone needs to tell all wanna-be artists -  what comes with the territory. A warning label should be required  in every first  paint set and they should sell persistence pills at every art supply store.
Painting is hard.... but that fact takes nothing away from the enjoyment of doing it.  Quite the opposite.

 So, for all those  discouraged wanna be artist's ...  keep the paint on your brush...  step up to the easel....keep your eye on the horizon line and relax and enjoy pushing some paint.

 Back in the North woods and a little progress.  I am  trying something different with this painting.  Painting the entire foreground in shadow.  So as I am working on the background, I am trying to make sure the  darkest values of the background  stay  lighter than the lightest values in the foreground shadows. It's not an easy thing to  remember.

I'll need to adjust all the light areas in the foreground as I  proceed with the water. Slow going  but  I'll stick with it.

Oh,   I  came up with a slogan  for the easel.  The effort is always worth more than the results. 

Daily Painting Practice- Going green - recycling old paintings.

 I was never really keen on this painting. It felt so blah, to me. So instead of letting it sit around the studio I decided to go green and  recycle it. There is a danger in this approach however ...  hint- always ask if your inventory manager/wife feels the same way before applying any paint. .

I wasn't  sure what I was going to do.And since I now spend  a lot of time in  cubicleville (see my last post), I  thought something that could transport me into the woods might be nice.  You win the prize if you can guess what I am trying topaint at this point.

Here are some thumbnails I did to try and get a feel for the composition.  You probably still can't tell what it is I'm going for can you?. ...That might not be a good sign....   but the truth is, these little sketches really help firm up ideas. I now have a picture in my head and a general feeling  for the  scene. That 's important. I have to want to spend time  in the painting. Would you paint someplace you didn't want to be?

Now I started drawing with charcoal directly on the canvas.

This is a very rough  beginning. I am just scrubbing a lot of paint around, mapping out lights and darks. I like the fact that I am spending more time imagining the place than I am worrying about  details.

It will be interesting to see if any of the original painting underneath remains when I am  finished. The plants in the foreground maybe?

Daily Painting Practice- What was What is and What maybe

I like  reading and  watching good mysteries. It's one of my pleasures away from art. Old English black and white movies are a weakness.   I especially like ones where I  can't figure out  the ending. I love it when the plot  leads me through the story line with twists and turns and surprising developments.

Well life itself is the greatest mystery.  And mine  has  had its share of  twists and turns. The changes in my plot line are getting  interesting.  I find the best way to handle these changes  is to  enjoy them in the same manner I do movies and books.  Keep going  turn the page. Something thrilling might happen!
 To paraphrase  Sherlock Holmes, The thrill is in the chase.

 I have  recently joined the ranks of  the part time artist. Yes,  full time employment after so many years in front of the easel  is quite a twist in the plot.

So  pictures  and views like this ...

get changed to views like this..

Fear not though. It's not like the  main character of this story is going to change from the fun loving, tea drinking, blog writing and some what humorous artist into an accountant....  that would be boring.

but the artistic adventures in an engineering office..... now that is a page turner!

Stay tuned for the next chapter of Daily Painting Practice - The mystery of the office sketchbook.

Daily Painting Practice- Halloween treats for those who need to step back from the easel

All artists get stuck in a rut every now and then, or they may shut down creatively and find themselves unable to start the old painting engine. If this happens to you, even a good cup of tea may not be the cure.Sometimes it helps to step back from the easel if you need to get  the creative juices flowing again.  There is no better way to do this than to search out other creative  people.  It is even better when those other creative people do something you would never dream  of doing.

I thought I would share some creative  Halloween treats from various artists I found on the web.

I saw Ray Villafanes's work on Youtube. This guy is  the best  pumpkin carver around. Check it out.

 Next is a unique way Antonio Jorge Goncalves uses a moleskin skin sketchbook.

Artists and food always go together here is a fun video that takes it to another level. Carved Watermelon Art

 The last one  is an amazing creative  commercial.

I hope that helped any of you that needed a break. Now get back to  work.

Daily Painting Practice- Texture can be rough... or smooth... But it's always hard

Glass is a funny thing to paint. Not funny in the ha ha sense. Funny in the way it tricks the eye of the viewer. At least my eyes get fooled. The light and color can be intensified in some areas of the glass and completely unchanged  from the background in other areas. There are reflections and distortions to deal with. And of  course highlights.

I take it back. Painting glass isn't funny at all.

 One good thing you get  from attempting to paint glass. You  really have to decide on your background early in the process.. And for those of you that have read this blog through the years, you know how I struggle ( procrastinate really) with backgrounds.  The photo above shows my  progress in tinkering with the background. I'm playing with  shadows and thinking about a splash of sunlight.  All I have settled is the direction  of the light and the tone of the background will be light not dark.

I  transfered my drawing back over what I had painted. to see some of the detail.  I'm having trouble deciding if  the composition as it stands now will hold my attention long term. The detail  won't do it by itself.  I think it needs more.

 There we go.  Some texture! The surface of the background needed to contrast with the surface of the glass. My studio  doesn't have white bricks so my reference for the brick background  is  a house a few blocks from my studio. Now that I have  the idea  sketched out  and the basic colors. Let the fun begin!