Here’s a couple of tree out the window studies. Not thrilled with either, altho the second one is closer to my original idea. But to me it looks like the tree is underwater. The first one kind of hurts my eyes to look at it. So much going on.... I don’t know why I’m so enamored of the window frame - not sure it adds anything to the composition.
So I went back to something more familiar- portraits! I did both freehand from a photo & like the watercolor better than the drawing. Who ever thought I’d feel more comfortable drawing faces than trees — not me! Oh but hands are another challenge...
I don’t know if anyone else feels this way, but lately I find great comfort in drawing and painting. It’s like I see everyThing as a learning experience instead of a finished piece. It’s like a little getaway from the craziness of the news and the unanswered questions about the future. Just go put some color or marks on a piece of paper...see what happens...
Both the drawing & painting shows a period of your youth, carefree with no strings attached since you captured the joie de vivre in both media!(the hands have no say on this!)
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I completely agree with you about the "learning experience" part. I find I'm more interested in sketchbook experiments than finished paintings lately. More fun and better results, I think.
ReplyDeleteI love the sketch/painting diptych. The watercolor really catches your spirit...and your hands are fine, especially the one holding the glass. It is curved and actually supporting the weight of the glass—elegantly.
I like the trees. The first one is exuberant. It gives the feel of looking out of a dark room into blazing sun. I think the only reason the second one seems underwater is that the blue stops right at the window frame line. I wonder if it would be the same if you raised or lowered the horizon. But in the end, I like this series a lot. I especially like the window framing. It gives a different vibe and importance to the trees than they'd have without the frame. It focuses and directs attention and makes it an intimate experience. I'm not sure I'm phrasing it right, but it's a
Hmm... missing the last line. It's a brilliant device.
ReplyDeleteI think you are shortchanging the windows. They are not strong enough to compete with the great outdoors, their only function they seen to have is to break up the trees.
ReplyDeleteThe watercolor is better than the drawing, but the drawing has a certain strength, and if I am not mistaken the left hand appears to have six fingers.
I have much less enthusiasm since the covid. I miss the whole Saturday ritual, the train ride, drinking coffee and reading my New Yorker a the Emerald City, that half hour painting alone until Elaine shows up, the walking from table to table, the casual chit chat during painting, showtime, the excitement of the first day of class, the train ride home, the Chipolte burrito and the well-earned nap. I particularl miss seeing the paintings in real life. The photos are ok, but really they are just a shadow of the real object. I miss my Thursday class at the Cultural Center. I miss my Ten Cat openings, and being able to buttonhole some poor bystander into getting my spiel. I's nowhere near the same.
Yes, I know what you mean. I miss seeing the paintings in real life too. I never realized size was such an important factor. They all look the same size here...Maybe we need to do another sidewalk Showtime. Have you thought about starting up your marina city art class again, so you could have someone to paint with? Start a new ritual....
DeleteCan't do it for the same reason we can't do the Saturday class. When I first started it I envisioned it as a bunch of high class artists doing their thing and discussing finer points of aesthetics, but what I got was mostly a social club.
DeleteI miss seeing the art in person, too. Size makes a difference. Plus, the color correction on the computer makes things look different than life sometimes.
DeleteA couple typos in there. I hate the way blogspot does no allow editing of comments.
ReplyDeleteThe window is everything to the composition. Of course, I can't abide the crookedness of the photo. I can't tell if the paintings are actually painted on a slant or if they're just photographed that way. Being that the window frame is a major part of the composition, it's important to be seeing it as it was intended. I like that you graduated the gray color dark to light from bottom to top. And also changed the gray color to purple-ish on the bottom one. I agree with Elaine, that if you changed the horizon so it didn't abut the window frame, it would add more interest (higher, lower, at a different angle). Otherwise, I think all that framing makes the trees/landscape seem like different little paintings. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteThe portrait painting works well and the hands work too. You can always do some hand studies on the side if you feel the need.
I agree, doing something that has nothing whatsoever to do with the world is where it's at. Also not reading, listening or looking at the so-called news.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to add the dimensions (height x width) under the image each time you post so the viewer has an idea of size.
Ken, you can edit comments before you publish your comment. You can even preview them first if you hit the preview button.
For the record, the photos are straight. The angle of the windows is part of the painting.
DeleteAnd I like the idea of adding dimensions to the paintings’ descriptions. I’m going to start doing that if I remember....
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