Stylistic differences

There are four pieces ready now to submit to the A.I.R. Gallery "Privacy Please" show in Brooklyn, NY. Oops. Two go together but not very well with the other two. There is a big stylistic difference going on here. Subject matches but not style. What do I do? Try to come up with two more in the new style? I have less than a month. I could do it I guess, but I also had hoped to show the first two from last year as I do like them. Will this difference keep me from being chosen by the curator? 

Why do I always do this kind of thing to myself? For one thing I can see now that I made a leap (small jump?) last year and have moved on, grown even. I was very tentative with the first two, feeling my way, and also trying to express a Colville sort of mood, rather than just my own. The growth is a good thing but it's timing could be better - can't go back now. Wouldn't if I could. Need to sleep on this.

Facial Lift Off

It looks done to me. I may tweak some things later but that won't involve much change. I have allowed myself to let go of the need to perfect edges,  blend perfectly smoothly, and fuss with anatomy. I am letting it be more of a painting than a photo reproduction because I have guessed and fudged with most of this, only using a fuzzy photo reference that I didn't pay complete attention to. Felt good. 

2nd Painting - "Creamed"

A message from A.I.R. Gallery arrived today reminding me of how little time is left to enter the Privacy Please show - one month. Fortunately I am well along on both of the new pieces now and should be able to complete them in the next  week or so. A friend told me they are looking kind of spooky right at the moment. This is ok with me as long as the curator doesn't get spooked:-)

Progress on my face lift

Procrastination set in for a couple of days and I only dribbled and drabbled a bit on the two new canvases for the Privacy Please show.  Today I got down to business and worried for a few minutes about where to start. Painting shadows across the skin is tricky and requires even more concentration and observation than the usual portrait does. I had laid in some plain, fast drying white yesterday to establish the non shadow areas and today tackled everything from the center out, starting with the eyes. I used  alizarin crimson, cad red, indian red, payne's grey, naples yellow, white, and a very small touch of burnt umber for skin tones, both in light and shadow, just different intensities and values. I should use a limited palatte more often - it is fun to watch all the colours you can come up with. For the eyes I used payne's grey, viridian, yellow ochre and naples yellow.

I'm thinking of softening and blurring as I work out toward the edges of the canvas concentrating more focus on the face.

Meanwhile I am reading all this stuff about the bad shape the world is in and get back to wondering for the umpteenth time why I get so concerned about how the painting is going when so much is falling apart. Is is fear mongering going on out there, or is it really something we should all be paying attention to? I get tired of never knowing what to believe. Maybe that's why I, and many of you, stick with the art problems - at least we can have some control over that and it is something one CAN believe in.

Creamed and Lifted

Switching to Verdana face for a while to see how I like it after reading somewhere recently that Arial is the rip off, the pretender so to speak, of Helvetica, a much superior typeface, supposedly. These font purists really can make a fuss.

Anyway, I'm back to working on the Privacy Please group and struggling to get myself enthused about it. Every day I do a bit more and then find some excuse to run off and do something else. Once I start actually putting paint to canvas I think I'll be ok.

Here I am showing the sequence so far (after setting up as I showed in a previous post and taking some self portraits).

Nothing special yet but wait 'til I get those brushes out.

Change of Title

"Girl in a Garden"

The title of this piece has been changed to "Girl in a Garden".  It is straightforward and not provocative as the other title was which was pointed out to me by a good friend. I am not trying to make a statement about the vulnerability of young women here - I just wanted to present a pleasing image which gives one pause to consider many things...which is possibly the intent of most images in art. 

Moving on to the next work now.

Meeting a Deadline

"Fresh Blooms"   pastel   25"x18 1/2"

Managing to meet a deadline is often a stress inducer but for me it can be the fire I need built under me to keep going. I promised this for today and I just emailed off the jpeg to the woman coordinating the show next month. I was a commercial illustrator for many years and deadlines were a fact of life. It was not unusual to make the deadline only to be told a day later (or less) that changes were needed, usually not my fault or anything to do with what I had turned in. I always wondered why there was time for these changes when the initial deal was that it HAD to be in by a certain date and time OR ELSE! Then there would be a mad rush to make the changes requiring me to forego sleep, food, and the society of others. I worked on holidays, while on vacation (work would be sent to me or I would be asked to take it along), and even up to a few hours before giving birth to my son. This is great discipline for training oneself to work even when sick, bored, frustrated, or just not interested in the subject. An illustrator is normally expected to research the topic/subject and find one's own models and props and it all has to be done yesterday.

I decided to just call this "Fresh Blooms" as I am not a fan of esoteric, mystical, or romantic type titles. I'm not totally satisfied with this title but it isn't the worst I've ever used. Anyone with a better idea can let me know.

Now back to the Privacy Please show entries I started last week...only have a couple of weeks to get those done and submitted.  You know, I could just work on things to please myself and not worry about submission deadlines, etc. My husband says it's because I'm a Leo and need an audience that I keep showing my stuff. I hate to admit that he may be right.

Courage can be green!

It took some courage but I plunged in and put colour all around her, keeping the emphasis on her face and the flowers behind her. I didn't work on this for two days because I had to take my dog, Brandy, to the vet for emergency surgery, (an altercation with a dog who tried to get at her through our fenceline...long story). Then we had to go back down to Courtenay to get her yesterday. I hadn't looked at this since Monday and when I did today I was relieved that what I had done looked ok.

I spent the morning catching up on a lot of things which seem to pile up in such a short time! Bob and I are involved with several groups dealing with human, animal, and world welfare and the correspondence is taking more and more time. I am just glad that it is much easier these days to make your stance on issues known and to have some effect on what happens due to the numbers of people who also feel the same way. It is hard sometimes not to feel really dispirited by all the injustices, though, and how impossibly complex some of these things are. Hardly anything is b & w.  Do one thing and it has an unexpected consequence, do another and it changes everything...but often enough the results are positive so it is worth it to keep trying!

Now I really, REALLY need to get back to this painting. I am supposed to send a jpeg of it to the people publicizing the show it will be in next month so I told them they would have it by the end of this week. Yikes. One day! 

But first things first, nourishment so I can stay at the drawing table for endless hours without faltering! Some kind of vegan treat from one of the dozen or more new vegan cookbooks Bob has bought for our kitchen. Hmmm, do I have time for that mouth watering avocado/potato salad recipe? No maybe I should just go for a veggie sandwich and get back out to the studio pronto! 

PS  Thanks to everyone who has commented on this piece - I blush from your compliments! It's nice having fans:-)