Monday, March 18, 2024

Alan Winter 10



 I made some adjustments to the English arsenic mine and am done. On 8 1/2  X 11. 140# coldpress. 



A little sketch of the live oak in front of my neighbor’s house. When you sketch outdoors a lot of people comment on the fact that you’re arting.



I tried a real painting on Yupo but still missed the magnificence of the tree. I think it needs more of a sense of place and more height.  The sketch has the vertical and the painting has the horizontal  


 


Lots of greens. 

Corn by the side of the road.


 Had a good time putting in the corn on the right this morning.  Don't know why I was so prissy with the corn on the left yesterday.  

Sunday, March 17, 2024

A painting comeback….


 I wish I had taken a before picture of this painting. In class, this is the painting that had the very black shadows across the mountains. Well, fortunately paynes gray doesn’t stain, so I scrubbed out the black shadows and repainted the mountains. I added more color to the sky as well and other places, and now I really like it.


This is the other painting I was working in class. I spent some time on it this morning, making sections lighter and darker and now I think I’m thru with this whole Southwest moment… both of these are 9 x 12.


This one is called Girls on Tanks. It’s 8 x 8. This one is for the new parents among us! Get that little girl outside climbing on things! Then one day when she’s 4 or 5, take her out to Cantigny , the MsCormick estate out in Wheaton, boost her up on the tanks, and watch as she climbs right up to the top and scares off all the boys and takes her rightful place on top of the American war machine. I know it’s a mixed message, but they have a great time. Those trees behind them are Grandpa and Grandma waiting with open arms to catch them….

The Platter Was Large…..The Painting is Tiny

 

A combo of raw and char broiled oysters with a glass of Blue Moon served outdoors on the bayou. 

March 16, 2024 — Elaine O.

Several things going on here. First, I've spent an inordinate amount of time over several days trying to fix this. I darkened the street at the bottom. Then I added some people and spent a few more days tweaking them. In the end, this is it. I may or may not attempt this again.

14" x 11"

Still in the Parisian mood, I began this landscape. It's Monet's Water Lily pond, as seen from a wisteria-covered bridge. It's more cheerful than my rain-drenched actual experience, but that may change.

11" x 14"

And finally... a bit of an Art Mystery! I saw the Picasso Drawing exhibit at Chicago's Art Institute. (It's worth the visit.) And, while here, I saw a series of 4 lino cut prints. As you can see, they're listed as "Still Life with Lunch"...


However, a closer look shows that Picasso called them "Nature Morte a la Bouteille." My very limited French lessons tell me this means Still Life with a Bottle, not Still Life with Lunch (which would be dejeuner).  So now I've become one of those know-it-alls who go around correcting art installations! 



Still, I was intrigued enough to research further—and the mystery deepens. The Met in NY has two of these prints and they call theirs "Still Life with a Snack." What?! Their website lists Still Life with a Bottle (the French version, as printed in the Chicago exhibit) as a secondary title for both, though. There are no visible written titles on theirs, just a Picasso signature.

So, what's going on? Is it a snack, a lunch or a bottle? Does anyone know anything about this series of lino cuts and what they're really called? As for me, I'm going with the title in Picasso's own hand.


Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Alan Winter 9 1/2

 Okay. I think I’ve taken most of your comments to heart. 

Darkened the interior screened in porch and outlined the leaves with ink  


Faded the pier. Darkened the wall and some shadows. Stronger values on the woman. 


Added detail to the ruins. Reworked the background cliffs. Did a little work on the foreground. 



Monday, March 11, 2024

Alan Winter 9


 Well, I’m sitting here in Mississippi looking out a window in the Green House in Ocean Springs across the road, and,thinking about Sara’s window work, I had to sketch the view. So, heeding your advice, I just layed in some paint while sitting in the recliner, let it dry, then added the ink and reworked the paint. Not what I’m looking for but I’ll keep trying. It doesn’t matter if the line is ink or paint-it’s still a line. 


I still didn’t get the freedom I was looking for but I’ll keep trying. Sketch on 5 X 7 cold press. 

Back to hot press. I more than sketched this beach scene in my new Mississippi 5 X 7 sketchbook. I’m not pleased with the values but am pleased with the composition. I’ll probably intensify the values at some point.

             

More ruins on 8 1/2 X 11 cold press. It’s hard to paint on Yupo in this humidity. This is an arsenic mine in England. Most of the mines have these cylindrical structures. I tried the unstructured technique on the bottom but the paper was too wet to get the effect I wanted. Go back to newbie’s first wet on wet study.                   

Romping in the Dunes

 This is Alan’s first cousin twice removed. He’s probably knee deep in sand. 



 

The end of another road


 Unsure of some of the elements in this one, but I will leave it to the gentle reader to point them out as I don't want to give any hints.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Prickly subjects…



Three souvenirs of my trip to Arizona— 8 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, and 9 x 12. I did these from photos after I got back home. Actually I combined elements from several photos, trying to develop interesting compositions. Not sure I succeeded, but I did capture those Southwestern colors to a certain extent….Also, I did give the portrait of my niece to her and she seemed happy with it. At least she displayed while I was there!