how bout now?

Still insecure today but I feel like I am ironing out some of the kinks...I quite often sign a painting when I feel its going in the right direction even if its only 80% or so completed...

aaarrgghhh!!!!

As I said AAArrrrggggghhhhh! You know that familiar old feeling of wishing you hadn't started something, add to that a time limit...Then there are the questions you ask yourself - why did I choose BLACK paper?? Isn't this composition a bit wierd, complicated, why does that pig look like it is plotting my murder? blah blah blah. I have that sinking feeling when a piece is starting to go pearshaped. For one thing, once you start brushing things out on black paper you lose the sparkle and it just becomes a mess. The worst bit is when things go like this (and I know other artists who experience this) you start to doubt your ability, and then you lose your motivation. I WILL work on this today for at least 3 hours (I tell myself optimistically) and hopefully it WILL move me over the hump. With some luck I will be posting a better resolved image soon :)

 

Phew

I have just finished this commission, it was such a difficult ref photo with many rocks and all of them different colours, not to mention moving water, but I tell you something...I learned a lot about painting rocks! I found quite a good way of getting extra texture into the foreground boulders as they seemed a bit on the smooth. I actually stippled some colourfix primer onto the sandpaper first with an old bristle brush and used the random shapes to give some added texture...I think it that with some fine tuning this could be a very useful technique :). Here is the finished piece and a close up of the effect from the primer.

Impressionism

The traditional shape of the hay bales has changed over the years, but they are still favourite subjects with Impressionists everywhere. There is just something alluringly abstract about the mowed lines in the paddocks and the sometimes neat, sometimes random scattering of bales. The shadows they cast give great opportunities for creative colour choices. Be they round or rectangle, I never get tired of painting and photographing them. Normally in our part of the world the hay is cut in late Winter, early Spring and as we are going into Autumn here it will be a while before we see them again, but here is one of last Spring's  hay roll renderings...

'Breathe In'

This piece is so called because its how this scene made me feel...like taking in a deep breathe and soaking up the freshness and the serenity and the unspoilt beauty and holding on to it for as long as possible. This piece sold recently and I wonder if the new owners feel that same way when they look at it, I hope so :) It is based on a photo that my brother took of the rainforest in Tasmania, I hope the forest still looks this way in a hundred years from now...

Have you ever noticed?

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to learn something new? Using photo editing software, uploading images, copying links blah blah blah. It seems so alien to me and is a real chore for me to learn (not to mention extremely frustrating for those that are trying to teach me). It is lucky that for me I see it as a tool and a means to an end, I want such and such to happen so I have to do this. Otherwise I would definitely still be in the dark! The thing I am finding most frustrating at the moment is photography of finished pieces that accurately depict the real life colours. I have quite an old digital camera that picks up the colours quite well but not detail, and my son has a very fancy camera that gives good resolution but not so accurate colours. Really though, I guess we are all much better off with the technology than  not, but keeping up to date is sooo hard :) and I HATE asking for help... anyway, this is a piece from a little while ago that I forgot to photograph and after about 45 mins of dragging it around the backyard to find some good light I got this shot, anyway, you get the idea... (Its not just me thats tech. challenged is it?) Oh and thanks to Wetcanvas RIL for the original ref. :)