Bucolic scene….

Well, I guess this is finished, although it lacks pizazz imo. Of course, maybe that’s the point — it is the western suburbs. The other thing is from this angle, the garage looks so small in relation to its surroundings. In actuality, it’s huge compared to the old garage and the house. I did tone down the white trim. I’m just going to step away from this for a while and think about other things….

This is my first freehand attempt at painting Ruth. It looks nothing like her. It just amazes me how I can study a reference photo and then produce something totally different. Maybe I’ll have something closer to this  by Saturday…

What Does Hemingway Have In Common With Van Gogh?

 Ernest has been resting unfinished on my piano since class. I pulled out the one I did of him as a young man. Ears. He had ears in the younger version. The black background in the photo masked his left ear. So I went on line and found a colorized version of the photo reference. Gotta add that ear. 

I was thinking of a “maroonish” color for the sweater.   they’ve used a “burnt umberish maroonish” color which may be the way to go  

And then the tomatoes. 

A plethora of leaves

Alan asked if he could see all my leaves together.  And of course I am always eager to serve my public so you can see them here: 

https://kenschadt.com/KenSchadt/1mgt2/index.htm

There will be five more to complete the series.  All indications at this time are that they will be examining increasingly smaller parts of the leaf and will be increasingly abstract.  Thankyouverymuch. 

Another leaf goes into the album.

 Just had to put a little more texture into the brown spots.

Alan fall 3

 The bouquet is definitely done. You can tell by the shine of the fixative. 

I have an alley series from years ago but the images are not on my phone. Here are some more of my alley. This one looking west.   These ore done on Yupo using a pallet knife for some nice effects and lines. I don’t know where the idea came from.  Here we are looking west.

And here we are looking East.  There’s quite a bit of work to do here.  Again using a pallet knife on Yupo.

September 23, 2023 — Elaine O.

Finished! Just a few tweaks, but I think he's done. You see the coolest people on the El.

15"x 10"

Interestingly, I compared the final to my rough sketch. Isn't it amazing what a difference a background makes? The blues on the sketch (below) were much darker. But when I put in the background, I felt the need to go with lighter, brighter blues so he stood out. And, to be honest, the final painting is truer to the actual colors he wore. I'm happy.

Here's the playground painting. The kids are adorable; the bug is adorable, even the contraption in the background is bright and happy...but sometimes, the magic just doesn't work.

9" sq.

Arguelles and Sandberg Kids

 Isabella and Terrance ….Charles and Emmet. Summer day. 

Flora and fauna…

 Not much to say about this cause I don’t want to jinx it…I do love this 300lb Arches tho…

back from the crossroads

 I was worried that the dead part of the leaf were too different from the live (green) parts, so I have begun putting texture into them and I think this just might work.

September 16, 2023 — Elaine O.

Almost finished! I just have a few touches left (his shoes, the train signage and perhaps a bit around his face. What's taking so long, you ask? Patiently waiting for things to dry before moving on...mostly!

14.75" x 9.75" (approx.)

Meanwhile, I've started in on another painting of two children on a playground. This uses the Arches rough pad and, like the painting above, features googly eyes. Could this be a new series for me? I do like googly eyes, but I'm not sure this is sustainable.

approx. 8" sq.

Alan Fall2

 So…..I finished the Muskegon beach house by darkening the sky and the roof and adding detail and shadowing to the rest.  I also reworked the rock field in front and the trees in the back.  I like the feel of it.

Here’s the sequence for the Italian Abby painting.

1.  Just free painted the basic structure and colors. 

2.  I took out paint from places that would be highlighted. 

3.   I put in the darker places and shapes to give it shape and depth. 

4.   I reworked the relationship between light and dark and cleaned up the plant life. 

Many liked the first version best and, maybe as an abstract painting, I agree and felt that way myself but the Abby comes through better in the last. 

The last on Yupo is a bouquet and tomatoes in a berry bowl on a really busy tablecloth. I did the tablecloth first and cut out the vase and bowl. Here it is without the cutouts. 

After I painted the vase and bowl, I waited for them to dry, I started cutting out the leaves of the flower and added a little color to distinguish them and help me place the flowers .

We’ll see what happens. I didn’t plan on doing this painting but I wanted to see if I could do it. I would do better with the flat circle if I tried it again. 

Condolence Card. And Wacky Self Portrait

 

I think this is Jen Psaki 40 years from now. I had just been watching her on TV. I don’t know what happened to the reference photo …..lost my way

Alstroemerias. 

Finishing touches….

The top one is 9x12 and the bottom one 4x6. After class I darkened the umbrella a bit on the first one and maybe the chairs too. I like this. I finished up the baby but don’t really like the skin color. I was using a mix of raw umber and Winsor  red, but it’s too dull. Also the background is a bit challenging. He’s on a gray couch but his outfit is also gray with yellow stripes. I thought the blue pillow was a nice contrast  to his skin but maybe just the lighter cobalt blue…I kind of like his yellow stripes going all wacky .
 

Alan Fall 1

 I’m finished with this painting. I washed his face with a rose wash to give him better color and I muted the shirt a little bit. 

This is a building near the Coast Guard station in my hometown of Muskegon MI. So I’ve basically put down the wash for the entire painting. I started with a pencil and a ruler because I wanted to get the proportions correct. Then I freehanded over the graphite with ink and erased the graphite so it didn’t look like I used a straight edge. Then I put in the washes to begin the color. I think it’s a good start and ready for more intense color  

A friend visiting Italy sent me this picture of an abbey in Italy and I thought it would make an interesting Yupo painting. The basic colors and shapes are done and now I have to carve out the actual shapes. 

The big rip

 This one kind of got away from me.  I began it with a lot of indigo thinking it would bleed into the rest of the painting but instead it rather held its ground and those small 'veins' don't really like veins because they are too damn thick, and outside of the pattern of making some of the rocks more blue green and the others more yellow green I didn't know where to take this.

Every week or so I gather leaves from my garden and take photos and then fool with the photos with my rudimentary photo editor to see what I can make of them.  What I liked about this leaf is the lower left to upper right tear in it.  I am going to fill the tear in with a dark red and ditto the little bit in the upper left, and, um, I think that will be awesome.  We shall see.

September 9, 2023 — Elaine O.

Slow but steady progress to report. I'm satisfied with the background; now it's time to work on the subject. Usually, I start with the subject, but I guess I've been afraid to mess him up. Now, there's nowhere else to go! Tune in next week and he should appear in all his blue glory.

14.75" x 9.75" (approx.)

It was great to be back painting with everyone again!

Small Stuff…

 These two are 5 x 7….the baby looks nothing like the baby I’m trying to paint, but this might take a few tries. There are so many colors reflected in the skin in my reference photo. Any tips for painting brown skin? The bottom one is not Alaska, although it could be.it turned out a little busier looking than I intended.

These three are 4x6 or 4x5. The flower is a card for a friend — it’s a little too careful but I’m not interested enough to paint it again. The other two are adventures in color mixing and trying out a white gel pen. It looks a little weird imo…

Here’s another small one that’s watercolor with soft pastels. It’s kind of successful, although the black is too harsh.

I forgot that I did this big one, 9 x12. I was inspired by looking at Ken’s leaf painting. Also I bought some perelyne green and used a lot of it here.I was trying for that misty look, which I sort achieved, but that huge dark foreground just didn’t come out well, but I’m not sure how I should have painted it. I was also inspired by this painter Nancy Friedland https://instagram.com/nancyfriedland?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

On Instagram. She paints these evocative night scenes that I really like. But of course she works in acrylic. And yes, I finally got myself registered and paid for, so I’m ready to go back to school! Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday!

September 2, 2023 — Elaine O.

I've been doing more thinking than painting on my "main" painting. All the background will be basically neutral, so the blues of the subject stand out. The initial wash is in a unified grey/brown spectrum—darker and browner near the floor and bluer and lighter near the window. (Of course, it's ultramarine blue and transparent red oxide.)

15" x 10"

I've also been intrigued by images I've seen in a magazine and done some small studies. They're kind of cool, but the best part is that I've had to learn to step away and let everything dry after starting really wet. Teaches patience!

approx. 4" x 5"

And this little oddity is from my sketchbook, testing my new India Ink (the dregs left in the old bottle were completely dried up). It's not particularly good, but it's crying for a story. It's up in Wisconsin at a state park. On this trail, there was a semi-hidden path to the left leading to Lake Superior. To the right, it was weedy, overgrown and hilly. But in the weeds, we spotted these abandoned crutches. They were nestled in the grass, but not rusted or overgrown. We made some jokes about "Lourdes of the Midwest" and tried to invent a backstory, but ultimately, this one's for you, Ken....

approx. 5" x 4"

See you all in person on Saturday!

Uncle Ken at the crossroads

 I was thinking of going down to the crossroads to sell my soul to Old Nick to figure the next step, but then I thought why not make it darker and colder near the big veins and warmer for the tiles not touching the veins.  Well they aren't tiles they are the spaces between the small dark veins, they kind of look like rocks now though don't they?  Well doesn't really matter what they are.  It's all about the paint.

I kind of like the way it is going but I think I am going to have to throw it another curve because it looks like it needs something more.  Maybe I need that trip to the crossroads after all.