Here is my first oil painting in two or more years! That was a long time to be away from painting, and the tubes of paint let me know in no uncertain terms, as they were stuck shut and I needed to use a pliers to get the tops off!
I completed this small (12″ x 12″) painting in about two weeks, working on it part-time, as I also have another drawing going, which is also almost finished. Basically I’m pleased with what I accomplished which was to get back into painting. It’s a little clumsy in places, but a decent effort overall. I set up several rock piles on some bookbinding fabric, and the fabric has a sheen to it, so it changes from one color to another (or two) depending on which way the light is hitting it. One thing that is so much quicker and easier about oils, versus colored pencils, is doing the backgrounds. Large areas of color can be laid down and gone over again more quickly. However, I miss the unusual and vibrant colors achieved by layering transparent pencil colors.
I’m trying to push myself outside my comfort zone, and to that end, I’m going to continue working an oil painting along side a drawing for the indefinite future. I’m off to start a new oil painting today, and part with a quote from the Boston Globe’s “Reflection for the Day” that I found rather amusing:
A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one. Benjamin Franklin
I came across this “Reflection of the Day” today in the Boston Globe and it really struck a chord with me and made me smile.
“Being in doubt is uncomfortable, but being certain is ridiculous”
- Voltaire
This quote was printed in the Boston Globe today and it really spoke to me. It’s the way I think about much and/or most of my work.
“There is only one valuable thing in art, and that is the thing that cannot be explained.” -Georges Braque
I will be posting a photograph of my new drawing tomorrow. It’s an exciting change for me and I’m having a lot of fun working on it. In the meantime, here’s a quote I’ve always been amused by.
“It has ever been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues” -Abraham Lincoln
One of my favorite vegetables since an early age have been artichokes, so when I came across this quote I thought it was great fun.
“Life is like an artichoke: each day, week, month, year, gives you one little bit which you nibble off – but precious little compared with what you throw away”. – Oliver Wendell Holmes
I don’t know if the following is from one of her poems or taken from correspondence, but this quote was in the Boston Globe last week and I liked it.
“I hope you love birds, too. It is economical. It saves going to heaven” -Emily Dickinson
I will be posting another photograph of my new drawing on Friday – please check back!
Here are a couple of quotes to toast in the New Year:
“As you slide down the banisters of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way.” -Anonymous
“May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions.” -Joey Adams
Have a great night. See you next year!
I came across this quote yesterday while at the Museum of Science in Boston which I found interesting:
“It should not be hard for you to stop sometimes and look into the stains of walls, or ashes of fire, or clouds, or mud or like place in which. . . you may find really marvelous ideas” – Leonardo DaVinci
I received this quote many years ago in a fortune cookie. Apparently the factory writers paraphrased it, but they still did a good job, so I will print it the “fortune cookie” way. If anyone knows the real quote, that will explain my variation!
“Try not to be a person of success but rather one of virtue” – Albert Einstein
I’ve started to layout the pencil sketch for the Catbird nest drawing, and based on how detailed it is, it will be a couple of more days before I can put a sketch on-line. Here is an amusing quote I came across, definitely gets one to do a double take!
“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources”. -Albert Einstein
It has been an absolutely crazy week on my end, and I keep hoping to start a new piece and something comes up. I do, however, have some “extra” time on this long, holiday weekend, so I should have some initial photos to post next week. Here is one of my all-time favorite quotes:
“All men are ordinary men, the extraordinary men are those who know it” – C. K. Chesterton
Happy Columbus Day!
I’m in the process of beginning a new piece and there isn’t anything to show yet. Here is a quote I love instead.
If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come. -Chinese Proverb
I hope to have something new to post tomorrow. Have a great night!
No new work to post today, so again, here are two quotes for thought.
- Do what you like. It’ll probably turn out to be what you do best.
Wallace Stegner
- “No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.” Taoist Proverb
Have a nice weekend.
I wasn’t able to work in my studio today . . . I had to take a new piece to the semi-annual Wellesley Society of Artists exhibition instead. I am going to leave you with two quotes for thought:
“Don’t you think that all of our interpretations of other people’s work sound like us?
-Jasper Johns
“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you never grow” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Have a good night and I’ll be back tomorrow to post some artwork.