Paint Party Friday

I came across this on Pam Tucker's blog and thought it looked like fun. Given that my whole life is about painting at the moment it seems like this is a good things to join in with. But I don't know how to load the button so that others can join in. So click here instead Paint Party Friday

So these two paintings are what I have been working on this week. I don't really like either one yet. If you go to my whole blog you can see what they looked like on Wednesday. The one on the left is very textured, the one on the right has none - very unusual for me. What will they look like next week! Looking forward to seeing your work. Rosie

Red phase is now over

And there is a sense of phew! I have finally got to paint today and have done about half an hour. I need a fair few canvases on the go. I am using a different brush - after spending so much on the brushes I was using - and really trying to be free. Just putting up two pictures today.

This now what the grey scale looks like now. Coat #1 of many and it has no texture. Not sure how long that will last.

And this one is the citrasolv base that got painted red then got stuck.

It might or might not still be stuck. What I mostly got from the weekend is to free up. Whether this freeing up creates anything I like is yet to be seen. My plan now is to have a variety of canvases on the go, one of which will be the sunset again. I have got rid of the textured sea ( which I hated so much) on that canvas by putting a whole lot of texture over the whole thing. I think I will make that the new sunset base just to see what happens.

Yesterday I again looked at Robin Sierra's site I love her painting.

Procrastination Blogging!

I did an art class all weekend. Jolly good it was too. It was taught by James Lawrence I really like his art and how he makes it and also found that he taught very well. I went through my usual wall of I'm not good enough and I am wasting my time etc etc. But by the second day I was back on track with it all.

I took loads of my paintings in to show him and get some feedback which I got, apparently I don't have enough tonal range. So I painted a gray tone picture on Sunday then I splashed colour around on two canvases I prepped on Saturday. One by putting lots of texture on, the other by making drips. So, here they are.

At the end of the day James showed me a great way of using interference which, of course hasn't come out on the picture but is the blue circle, the blob top left and the gold streaks on the right on the one above these words.

When do I give up?

The Sunset - the failed sunset - is now The Failed Painting. Apart from being too stripey the 'sea'  was shit so I've tried turning it up and doing something else with it and its still shit.( Which means Store High In Tansit apparently!) I can't see anything other than a sunset on its side. This is where I kiss the canvas goodbye? Paint gesso over the orangey stuff. I think that's the solution and take it to the art class this weekend. 

I'll try again with a whole new canvas - which is already on its way and in the meanwhile I am going to make a SoulCollage about feeling useless as an artist.

And this one is just crazy - from Feb 15th to here!

I put this blog entry up a couple of weeks ago. But am putting it up on on Paint Party Friday today as I have done NO painting this week for a variety of very good but busy reasons. Now I am cooking for 18 at a Byron Katie workshop this weekend. It is a three day weekend starting on Friday. I took this picture into my weekend art workshop a couple of weekends ago and the tutor said it lacked tonal contrast. I like it but can see his point. I might do something to the side panels.

Anyway - sorry its not new new but its not that old and I really wanted to be part of Paint Party Friday, I enjoyed myself so much looking at all your work and getting comments on mine last week. Love Rosie

(Original blog entry) You have seen the progress and this is where I am now. This one has been turned up another way too.  I will be putting self leveling gel on the buttons and I like this leaping man. You  have already seen him on the Citra Solv one. Last night I thought I'd sew some beads on then I realised there is a support strut right where I want to sew. (Later) All the little buttons are now gelled and it's pretty much a matter of saying its finished!
P.S. The picture of the leaping man came from a the brochure for the Auckland Arts Festival so my partner and I went to see the show. It's from Taiwan - I can't remember what it was called I'll look it up and add to this blog later. It was a lot of very vigorous and exciting drumming.

I want to paint something I adore

And I haven't done it in the last five days! The sunset ended up being a) too stripey and b) the sea is crap. So I have turned it on its side and and making the stripes really stripey and will do something else with it, its no longer a sunset. I did though really like the actual paint. Lots of  irrids and interference and it looked very good. What did I say last night. Good execution crappy subject. It's mostly gone now, just looked at the pictures and there were some really good things about it, but not enough. Computer is on a massive go slow. I'm going to have to do a second post.

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!