Stormy night two.

 The photo was of the IBM building across the street from me on a rainy night, but I only use the photo to get started, after that the paint takes over and one paint stroke leads to the next.  I generally pay attention only to the particular place where I am painting and it's a little hard to put them all together afterwards. 

4FAC, The fourfold path of Art Criticism. A bold new path or a winding road to nowhere.

Here's the thing, I bring my paintings to the circle hoping to hear something useful and don't usually.  Likewise comments on the blog.

Well critiquing is tough, you above all do not wish to offend, but you kind of want to say something, but sometimes nothing to say really stands out.  Maybe you make a joke or maybe you say something vague just to get it done.  This is not helpful to the artist.

I've been thinking on the matter and I have broken down what seems to me to be the most common kinds of criticism that I hear.

 1. That looks like suchandsuch.

This is the least helpful kind of comment.  If it is something like 'it looks like a summer day' it may help, but if it is 'it looks like a hammer' not so much.

2. What you oughta do is...

This is a slightly better comment, but it is a tad bossy, and it's generally not helpful because the viewer can never know what is in the heart of the artist.

3. What I like the best is this, what I like the least is that.

I think this is pretty good because it rules out the 'oh everything is beautiful the way it is' comment, and it shields the critic a bit from testy artists because you can say something good to make the critical part go down more easily.

4. How or why did you do this or that?

This is good because it gives the artist a chance to talk and we are Chatty Cathies are we not?

I have an old friend in St Joe Missouri and we have been exchanging images and criticism for about a month and we have been learning a lot and also getting good at giving useful information.  

I am posting this here to begin some kind of conversation.

And I am going to try to use it on this week's postings.

Alan Summer 4

 After last week’s showtime it occurred to me that people thought that I had completed the lake painting on gessoed canvas where I still had a lot of work to do. I should have taken a photo of it then but I didn’t. I think I’ve pretty much finished it now although this medium allows me to fairly easily change some elements

. 

Every time I look at it I see something I might change - like that shadow line on the hill next to the railing. 

I’m working on a larger version on Yupo of the el track behind Byron’s. I’ve decided to be fairly free with this version and might base it on the sketch rather than the original photo. We’ll see. 

June 29, 2024 — Elaine O.

I'm slowly moving forward, not in any hurry. I love this moment and want to get it right. I am a bit worried about the face and especially where the profile meets the background, so I'm circling around the head (hoping to get him to the level of the pot and stick). As for the scarf, I know many of you prefer red, but I really want to document this particular scarf, so blue it stays. Plus, I already gave an imaginary red scarf to the imaginary person in the background.  

14" x 10"

I Didn’t Get There First

 We had rented a house on the harbor and the owner told us about this one. She was trying to sell it so we looked at it back when we thought we might want to have a house in Ocean Springs. Turns out Alan painted it too. 

As usual, the photos flipped….his is first. She never did sell it and is still renting it on Air BnB. 

Girls and houses….

 

Well, I took Pat’s suggestion  and just painted the girls freehand without any sketching. They look much older because my proportions are off, but overall it’s not a terrible effort.And it was good practice for working on the hands and faces. Again this is on cheap Strathmore paper, so I can’t get too many layers in before it starts to shred…

Here’s the sketch which still needs some work.  Nora’s head looks too big, but it matches the proportions of the grid…

And here’s the final version of their house remodel. I painted it a third time to match the style of the sketch of the original facade, because they want to hang both of them together. I painted the original sketch back in 2013!

What do they say about great minds?

 

A new series

 

Looking less and less like windows across the street, but I am hoping it works in an abstract way.  Lots of fun do do by the way.

Alan Summer 3

 I’ve finished the behind Byron’s under the el painting based on my sketch.  When you make it bigger I find that the elements need a lot more detail. Where you can merely suggest elements when it’s small, you have to tell more of a story so it makes sense when it’s bigger. I also liked the looseness of the sketch that made this heavy structure light and airy. I’ll have to try this again with even larger paper - maybe even Yupo. 

Another sketch of a Chicago hot dog stand is of Budacki’s on Damen with a colorful eating area in the parking lot. 

             

Sunset at our lake cottage. Beginning this on gessoed canvas. I like the way that the canvas helps the reflections. 

June 22, 2024 — Elaine O.

Working away, slowly but surely, on this portrait. I know it's hard to tell what's happening from the pencil sketch, but, as bits of background go in, we can narrow down the options. No, it's not a founding father; no, Hamilton isn't back in town; no, it's not Napoleon. It's Dave in Paris, looking very continental indeed.

14" x 10"