Having a bit of a break from RED

And have done this today. The figures aren't stuck down, the back ground was made the other way up.
But works this way up better and I will do more. My keypad keys are soo sticky with all the junk from my fingers!

This was a surprise!

I was working on creating a random back ground with magazines and just slopping them down on a 12 x 36 canvas  when I thought, Oh I could do it with citrasolve bits and paint on top of them. So - tra la, that's what I did and it was a lot of fun and where to from here? I have not idea. I think I have put too much on and now need to give my self some white or something but hey I LOVE those moments when I suddenly have an idea and do it and its fun to do and now we see what I can do with it next. Woo hoo!

So what I did with it next was paint the ubiquitous red over the top then put heavy matt gel over it which, cos its raining big time today, hasn't dried properly. For once, the picture looks better than the real thing! I'm looking forward to painting it and am doing another less frantic citrasolv back ground which I don't think I will paint. Watch this space!

New to Picasa

I have just spent an hour getting onto Picasa cos photoshop just isn't working. I hope it will be worth it. The problem is it wants me to do things I don't want to do like make it the default for everything, I may be willing once I have sussed it out but not YET!

Anyway here is the next stage of big red - I want to keep documenting. I will change the colours now but am still, once again, as always disappointed with the photographic rendition.

Ahhh - Photoshop isn't working

So I can't crop my pictures and make them look nicer. Spent all day working on VES and Red Shed so didn't get started with painting till late but... this is what I did.

It s kinda coming along. I will have proper time tomorrow and will get onto the sunset too.

Sunset 2

This was my first proper paint of the new sunset picture. The paint isn't even dry. There is a whole lot more to come and I am eager to do it but will now have a couple of days off as Trish is visiting. Glad I eventually got something done today it wasn't looking so good a couple of hours ago. It all needs a lot more painting and the sea especially needs much work. Like I mean heaps! When it is 'finished' I will post the actual photograph of the sunset we saw which has inspired it all.  Ohhh I am looking forward to the next go!

Red progresses

OK I thought I'd put this up now for my own interest really to see what progresses. I now have shells and buttons on it and they will get painted red tomorrow.

 

And in a real devilish sort of way I am putting up the very very very early sunset canvas  - I shouldn't really but hey! I am doing lots of work on the base getting texture in which I will then paint on top but am aware that might not work and I might have to make the paint textured and thick.

Seems strange in some ways to be still fiddling around with my art with the whole disaster in Christchurch but - what else to do?

Oops - watch this space

Stage one and stage 2! When  I did the blue I saw it was hopeless then I painted the blue white still hopeless with the silly big eye look then after much chat and thought I got rid of the eyes all together and am not worried about the texture - I'll just paint over it. so, the second picture is now my new base. It's very hard to see that there are lines of different red top and bottom . They will be come much lighter with the darker meater red in the large middle strip.

RED - again

Another stinking hot day too. I seem to choose them to paint in! Here they are - part of my series. A series of red paintings that don't look any good on the blog. Ah well.The one of the left is 22x 28 the little one is 8 x 12

This first one is in stage 2 so thought I would put it up now. This is the one I tried to make a random back ground but of course it can't be random cos I made it. The painting of it is pretty random though and I am no longer following the back ground and added more rice paper to it. I use masses of permanent Alizarine which was described on a blog as dirty and bloody - that's why I like it. I need to get some brown madder too but the tube I bought was all separated and the other one I looked at was the same. Find another brand next week. The top is too pink and yellow and there isn't much irrid or interference on it yet. I have signed up for an art class. I want to learn how to get another splash of colour into my reds or blues. I will take my pictures with me in the car so I can talk about them to him.
And the little one is on an experimental canvas which makes it a random background.

Oh still my beating heart

I've been playing around on this hot hot summer day. I didn't over paint the other one which is called??What, what am I calling it? River running through it? Anyway what ever, its up on the wall and I love it, it looks like something an almost real artist would do. I want to paint like Robin Sierra Now she is a real artist and doesn't use brushes or anything normal. I would love to go and have a lesson with her, but, a little to far away.

Oooh - Katherine and Pete have just had another boy, yesterday.

What have I done today, tried the Nancy Reyner technique of making a gloss  medium  skin with colour on it, unfortunately a piece of  bubble wrap flew into it cos of the fan, so then I tried to put the same textural thing on another side but it was too sticky by then. I have painted the first layer over the babushka and something will come of that and ... I put a heart on the 24 x 24 much to Terry's disgust, but there is a heart exhibition coming up at the Red Shed so why not, I will, I suspect paint over the whole thing at some point anyway and I would love to exhibit something BIG.

24" x 24"

As ever, why do I bother? The colours are just blah compared to real.

I MUST NOT OVER PAINT

I think this is finished. And I know that what ever I must stop painting right now other wise I'm gonna mess up. You can't see the glow of the gold or the irridesence of the blue. I am going to have to talk to someone about how to take pictures of red. Having the base of darks and lights was wonderful. Now I need to work out how I can give myself another one. Maybe paint with gesso and black to give myself some lights and darks to work over. Or - just paint it like the 24 x 24 but with more purpose.

 May - I did over paint! And mucked it up but I fixed it and think it's better than before.  So, new one the left and re do on the right. Its all about the top of the picture!

Happy New Year

I've been running this blog for nearly a year now. I set it up just after my Papa left last year. So happy new year to me and all my readers!!!!
Been away on the boat for two weeks, had a very good time. I realised finally last night that if I don't paint NOW I wont be painting again till March. I have Heart Politics next weekend for a week, home for 5 days - well there, I've just found another five days I can paint -  before Jaya then Rebeh and Chris arrive. Then its all on again, more sailing, people in the house, people coming and going and our big party on 19th. So today I painted. Well actually I still am, I am just taking a blog break.

The problem with red is it doesn't photograph at all well. And the problem with me is I want to be good right now, not go through the experimental stage. But I have decided I am doing a red series and so that gives me "permission" to just use red. Today's effort is:

 

This has been painted - two layers so far, on top of a collage I did at a collage workshop. It wasn't good, so I ripped everything off and was left with bits still which gave me a canvas with some dark and some empty spaces. Am redding on top and will put some gold leaf on about three layers on. It is a lousy photograph.

My Babushka

The other day I slopped some red paint - as I said love that red - onto a base of modeling paste. Last night when looking at it to decide what to do next I saw this little creature peering out. I drew her with pencil and as she is going to be painted over (sorry darling) I thought I would put her up her for prosperity. She is really small and I can't take a great picture of it. It feels like my Lithuanian history  is peeping through!

Hours of painting

And now, I have run out of steam. So I am blogging cos I should really be cleaning up the house after a week by myself. I am a lot more slovenly when I am on my own!

I've painted a 24 x 24 red which is great but its a background for something and I don't know what. I wish they photographed as well as they look. This one looks fantastic with light shining on it full of iridescence, interference and gold.

But - it needs something.

 Then there is this one which was that one. Do like that red!

The next one I have been working on for a week on an off - well off and on really. I put down sand and went for my usual swirly lines. Oh I want to stop doing them, so the whole picture has been dictated by them. Last night while playing with something else I put this random picture on it and suddenly as a painting, which has serious problems, it came together. Now I need to find the right picture for the painting and find a way to incorporate it rather than have it sitting on top. Back we go to transfers with which I have had very little success so far. I have put up the one I took with the flash one as it shows some of the  iridescence and the interference.

11th March 2011 This is how it ended up and this way up. I am about to put more onto it so I can get rid of the swirls.
This post should be called hours of blogging, getting the pictures how I want them has been a mission. ( and with Picasa still is.)

second of three

Here are the stages. This morning I put on the head and got myself a figure and then I did some more playing around - this is the girl who can't draw so I needed to be VERY careful. I think I prefer the first one - oh well too bad! The blue look is both the time of day and that I have added quite a lot of Micaceous Iron Oxide. I have SO enjoyed doing this. Really really enjoyed it. After lunch I am going to start on the blue one. And - if I find my heart still sings for red I'll do another red one. Just realised that the base for this dancer is further down this blog under the heading Going under the gesso.

 And this is the last one. I had another picture up here but changed the picture in the middle on the morning of the exhibition, so am putting that one up now and getting rid of the first picture. Somehow feel naughty doing it! YEAH!
It's amazing to me how excited I was about them yesterday - and this morning - now they're 'finished' they are OK. Yesterday and this morning they were great!

First of three

10" x 10"

This is the first "finished" red painting. Scroll down to   to see what it looked like last week. I will have three by the end of tomorrow.

Beading with a friend

I had my first visit from four year old Zuva today. We had fun. We played with her stuffed toys, looked at my 59 year old teddy bear and 61 year old rabbit - both much the worst for wear - read stories. Yeah she liked Katie the Kitten best. Then played with the beads, which was the original enticement.. She made the longer string which is curled round the outside of my fussy one. We finished off the visit with a session of Where's Wally...and a good time was had by me and I hope her. Four really is a delightful age, especially in a delightful child.

Art Class homework

And at least I have done some this week. Part of my problem is I don't know what to paint. This is the third coat of this 'style' I didn't take a photo of the one I came home with. It was gray and murky. I spiced it up with red yesterday and enjoyed it so much I did another two. This is the first one. The colour on all of them is terrible. They are much more subtle.

And these are the next two. Put together as two, That's a first for me. Anyway, watch this space as I am sure they will change and I'm not so sure about the blobs. Terry thinks they should be 3D. Maybe they shouldn't be there at all. Note the bottom one doesn't have a blob.

Hee hee

Citra Solv and doodling! How come I only see monsters?

Citra Solv Landscapes - just a few

These are the "landscape" Citra Solv results. I have done nothing to them except crop.

Citra Solv experiment # two

Cooking dinner for 20 tomorrow as am in town all day tomorrow am doing most of it now, but have found time to do some scanning and cropping and wonders of wonders play around with brightness and contrast. I do wish I could do computer standing up. Anyway here are my images. And I am pretty crazy about them.

This looks like some sort of weird village.

I played with brightness and contrast and its more like the orginal

I call this the Chinese girl, but its from a story about Iceland

And this strange face

I love this

I think this one looks better as a whole rather than cropped

Original scan

Brightened and contrasted

Logs

Original scan

Brightened and contrasted

Lightened from original scan

Somehow this one just looks weird but is great in the original 

This is very interesting. I am no where near knowing what to do with them. Art class tomorrow and I have done nothing since last week. I don't think Liz is much into collage but I would like to take them tomorrow and see if I can come up with an idea.