Here is a new painting I’ve started, a “rock slide”. I set this up inside an antique wooden crate, and lined the back of the crate with some very dark paper. The top photograph shows very initial oil washes to reinforce the pencil layout. The second photograph shows a second layer of oil washes, with the paint applied a bit more opaquely. I want to explore painting varying shades of white tones in this piece, so I have started to separate the rocks from one another by mixing different shades of greys.
I’m also going to be starting a large colored pencil piece on Rtistx board tomorrow, and I’m very excited about this one! More on that soon.
I’m also working on getting details together to have my website updated. I can’t quite believe it hasn’t been updated since May of 2009. More information will follow on that – specifically when a new “gallery” page is in place of my new stones pieces.
Happy New Year to all! I can’t believe it’s been over a month since my last entry. It was a busy and fun holiday season, especially with my older son home from college and all of us together as a family, but I’m glad it’s over and we can move back into our “normal” schedules and closer to spring.
I’ve been working on this small oil (8″ x 10″) and while it’s still not finished, it’s nearing completion. It’s difficult to paint a very white rock, and I’m finding that getting the subtle, embedded color variations requires lots of layering. I have also started another oil painting of stones, and done an artists trading card for the first time. It’s very interesting to work on such a small scale, and seems to require an entirely different way of thinking about composition and scale.
I still have a couple more ideas for oils and drawings in this series. I want to do at least one large oil (approximately 3′ x 4′) and see what that brings to the table, so to speak. I used to work at that size and larger, so it will be fun to try it again.
I hope the New Year is going well for everyone, and would love to hear from any and all with a comment!