This is the last bunch and they are my favorites. I'm not sure what happened in my head, but there isn't any way that I could have predicted that this is where I would be at this point. If you look at the first painting you don't really see the connection, but looking at the series I think you can see how I got here. Painting in series like this is really a different experience. It really does push you to go beyond the obvious answers when you don't have to rethink the subject each time. For this last set the shape design was somewhat similar. My brain was tired of trying to come up with new shapes. So I kept the shapes more or less and redid other parts.
#15
On this one I love the swoopy blue ribbony things. It feels free. And there must be something I like about the blue/gold/brown color combination because I keep coming back to it. I think it works here. I wasn't thinking of this while I was working on it, but now, looking back, there is something about this painting that makes me think of a giraffe. Maybe it's the irregular rectangles I taped off. Maybe it's the black/blue tongue. Maybe I needed more sleep. Who knows.
#16
Another favorite. I love how this evolved. I wanted to try my 3" ugly brush again and see if I could make it work. When I used it last time, the black ink was too dark for the rest of the painting. I knew I needed some other dark to balance it out. I also tried to mix black and brown ink to soften it a bit. That didn't work. It still looked deep black. But when I washed some clear water over to do some wet in wet the brown ink bled. The black is waterproof, but the brown isn't. What is really cool is that it didn't bleed brown. It was like liquid paper chromatography separating out the pigments in the brown. It was oranges and pinks. I was surprised and really like it so I went with it. I love how it turned out. In the dark center portion I wanted something rich and deep. I think of it as a starless night sky with a bit of Northern lights. The darker on dark shapes give it more dimension.
#17 - stone
As I was trying to figure out what to do next I came across a post from an art blog about a painting by John Singer Sargent. (here) The painting was of a family crest carved in stone. I especially liked his advice to "flatten the lights and open the shadows". I tried to do that here. I think you really get the effect of the dimensional stone. It feels peaceful and strong at the same time.
#18 - fire
In class we had taken way too long discussion luminosity and how to create it in our paintings. The teacher boiled it down to this, surround pure hue with greyed colors of similar value. I tried it and I like what happened. This painting makes me think of a glass blowing furnace with the white hot glass and the surrounding metal furnace. I wanted to show delicate perforations in the "metal" like what you see in the stone screens in Moorish architecture. Overall I think this is pretty cool looking, like something that belongs on the cover of a science fiction novel.
#19
#20
This last one is the same basic idea as the one before, but a bit different in feel. My favorite part of this is the way the rusty rings came out. The color is layered and so rich in real life. This is one that I might actually frame and hang. The problem is that I'm about out of wall space.
This class has been so fun. It made me dream of being a "real artist", painting and showing and selling my work. I even had an offer to buy some paintings at the end of class show. Nothing came of it. I was willing, but not eager to sell, so I gave a high price and the potential buyer backed out. For as much as I dream about being an artist, there are always trade offs. Once the class finished and the show was over all of the other things I need to do came rushing in. There may be a time when I can put more into painting and art, but I don't think it is now. But I keep doing what I can and I may take this class again next year if I can work it in.
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