Alan in Chicago 10

 Here was the very first painting of my son in law, Jacques.  Done on hot press there were things I liked about it and things I didn’t.

So I tried several versions until I tired of painting that shirt. I painted this version on rough because I wanted to get the sparkle of the lake but it lacked any pop and wasn’t really any better than the original. 

I put a wash over his face and darkened some shadows and,while I like the composition better, I don’t think it is appreciably better. I don’t know what I was expecting but I thought I should try to go against some kind of realistic style towards a more artistic look. 

Oh well. On to other subjects. 

August 26, 2023 — Elaine O.

I've been tweaking bits all week but now I'm calling this finished. After all, even Arches paper can only take so much. I think I stopped in time. It still has the feeling of boating in the bright sun; the backlit figures are recognizable and I avoided unnecessary details, especially in the faces. But it raises an interesting observation. Typically, I'm not happy with the middle stages, but I push through. When things go well at the middle stages (like this one), I'm suddenly afraid to continue lest I lose what I have. Is it just me? Or does anyone else experience that paralysis?

9" x 9" approx.

Moving onward! Not much to show yet, but you may be able to tell I'm back in the city and painting people on a train instead of a canoe. I've sketched it out and laid in some light background colors....

...after a small color study.

Turning over a new leaf

 Took me a lot of time, but I think it came out well.

This is the same leaf but lower down and cropped so that it is all leaf,

Drama in the Backyard….

 The top one is small, 5x8, and the bottom one is 9x12.When painting these I was thinking about creating a sense of drama thru light and dark.They are both somewhat successful, the top one maybe more so, but it also has a little narrative going on with the toes and drink.The bottom one there’s more of a feeling rather than a story conveyed — last bloom, last light of summer. Even though it’s less successful, that’s more of what I’m trying to achieve.

Whoops…..Greeta Closed Too Soon

 The nephew of a friend of mine and my first cousin once removed. 

Does the boy need a background. …

Greeta Keeps Going on Portraits

Charlie and Emmet many years ago. Lost Charlie’s laugh. Thinking about darkening background behind him. 

Alan in Chicago 9

 Feeling okay after getting pacemaker implanted. 

Tried some crazy s@?: on Japanese rice paper. This is the regular painting on hot press. 

Made a few changes since last time. Still like the glasses, hair , and the shirt. 

This is on rice paper pasted onto 140# paper. I painted it first and then pasted it on. I wish I had pasted it first before painting because a lot of the dark colors bled all over the place making the piece much darker than I wanted. Still liked the hair after using white pastel to add the grey. 

It was hard to lift color from the delicate paper. 

Then I pasted the rice paper onto Yupo. This was a big mistake because the rice paper got too wet sitting on the plastic surface making it almost impossible to work. Sometimes the rice paper would simply dissolve. But I got some interesting stuff with it. 

I’ll try this again on Rough paper the way I was going to do originally. 

Slug Days….

 I saw the Michigan Watercolor Society Traveling Exhibition while I was in South Haven — a lot of very nice work. The painting on the top was about 18 x 24 and I could not figure out how the artist painted the center of the flowers…keeping that golden glow with the dark center and all those individuals seeds on top. So I tried to copy it, ending up with this very overworked, gouache filled imitation. I’m assuming since the painting was so big that she had a very detailed drawing,  used a lot of mask and painted very each seed individually. A painter with much more patience than I have…

Here is my first yupo painting —Sunset at South Haven —done with watercolor pens. It’s trading card size.

Also if you have a AIC membership and you’re going downtown to the dentist or dr., stop in and see the exhibit of Ellsworth Kelly pencil portraits. Not a big exhibit but worth your time…

August 18, 2023 — Elaine O.

I'm about halfway finished, but even at this stage, I'm happy with the composition and the palette. And while rough paper may not be the best choice for faces, I like these. My original intent was to get the feel of a squintingly bright summer day, even though the subjects were heavily shadowed. I think I'm getting there. Now, I only hope I don't go too far!

9" sq. (approx.)

I'm still using up my Arches block with the water-stained end.  I forgot how much I like rough paper...and Arches. I can see my wish list expanding again!

The leaf has grown

 I think I am nearing the finish on this one.  It's been an adventure.

Greeta Sorta Fixes Ernest

 

Face just too chubby. Eye crooked. Got to work with my magic brush. Managed to thin out his face. 

Ah eye still needs work. This is the young Ernest Hemingway. 

August 12, 2023 — Elaine O.

Back from vacation! I took a sketchbook and actually used it, too. But, while it was fun and relaxing up in Wisconsin, I haven't done much painting since. I finished my Bird of Paradise—every so slowly. I will admit that my eye for greens was fine-tuned by my time in the Northwoods.

 

 

Bird of Paradise    9" x 9.25"

I'm not sure what's next, but I think I need a break from all the green.

Uncle Ken turns over a new leaf

 So far so good I think, though I have a strong urge to turn it into a praying mantis.

Alan in Chicago 8

 Just had a pacemaker installed after my heartbeat went way too low, so I haven’t done much painting. I’m fine but am soooooo bored waiting to be released to go home. I did finish the painting of my son in law Jacques at the lake 

I have plans to try this again using other papers but have to wait until I get home to do it. 

Greeta Works on Portraits

Awhile ago I copied a portrait from Watercolor Addicts on Facebook. The artist is Luan Quach and I really admire his limited palette and bold strokes. Here is my copy. 

I decided to use black and white photos and try to emulate what he does so well. I’m not there yet and may never get there but for the time being this has me doing one a day. 

Uncle Ken's last leaf

 This is it.  That bottom leaf did not turn out as nice as I thought it would.  Those purple thingamajigs are morning glory flowers, kind of whimsical I guess but they break up the green a bit.  

Not really the last leaf, I'm pivoting to extreme close-ups of leaves so that they are more abstract patterns than real leaves.  

Like this.  Can't wait to get into that whole veiny thing.  I believe it will take me awhile but I have plenty of time, and paper, and paint.

August days….

 Not too much painting time this week, but I did paint “August Shadows “ today. Focused on mixing colors on the paper, but mostly I was using too much water for this paper. I like the pots, the deck and the shadows, but not too crazy about the plants and the flowers. I don’t want a lot of detail but I don’t like these blobs of color either…finished Quinnie earlier this week.she looks older and more serious and I didn’t really do justice to her hair, which curls every which way in the photo…I might try this again. Leaving on Sunday for a week in South Haven with the fam — maybe I’ll get some better pics to work from! Happy August! Last chance to be lazy in the sunshine….