A New Beginning (Not the New Year)

12" x 9" oil on panel

After a few days of playing and socializing, I got back to work last night. I started this new painting and also have another one from the beginning of the month in progress. I look forward to painting tonight as well as on New Year's Eve! (Nope, no partying that night for me...)

The Offering

"The Offering"

14" x 11"

This painting is off the easel until it is dry enough to sign. Some areas will look a bit more saturated and clear once I get a varnish on it, and then I will take a new picture.

I hope everyone has a great holiday!

Headdress

Here's the headdress in progress. More to come hopefully sooner than later!

Just for Fun: Ice Pictures

As you may have heard, we've been coated with ice here in the Midwest. Thankfully, KC did not get the worst of this storm. I lost power for a little while a couple nights ago, but nothing dramatic. It all started melting today, and I decided to head out before my run and try to get a few artsy pictures before it was all gone. I am not a great photographer, not even an amateur, but it's still fun to try.




This last one doesn't look very icy, yet ice was falling all around me as I took the photo. I have always wanted to get a picture from this angle that would really emphasize the ice so that it would look like the Crystalline Entity. (Yes, I grew up a Star Trek nerd.) Maybe next time.

After taking these pictures, I went for a 3 mile run at the park. Looking across the park towards the sun, everything looked platinum and glittery. I thought about returning to the park to try and capture it, but by the end of the run most of the ice was gone.

Opening Report - More Painting Progress

The opening at Hilliard last Friday was great. I hadn't planned on staying all the way until 10 p.m., figuring that 4 hours would be a bit much for me, but so may friends came that we wound up closing the place down at 10:30! Thank you to all the friends that showed up last week. You made my evening!

Now that the opening is over, it's back to painting. I am hoping that a few more sessions with this one will do it. As of right now, I haven't touched the feathers or the apple for a second go, and there's still more to do on the hands, face, and background, but for the most part the figure is done.

Holiday Open House Tonight

"Eve, Ashamed"
30" x 20"

Art opening at Hilliard beginning in two hours! At least at the moment, the weather looks clear, and what better way to spend a cold evening than gallery hopping and grabbing a warm bite to eat? Hope to see you there.

• Hilliard Gallery - 18th and Oak - Kansas City, MO

Painting Progress

In the picture above, I have added another layer to the chest and upper arm area. You can tell the paint is thicker now, and there is more variety in the hues and values.

I decided that I wasn't pushing the values enough. The figure is lighted almost from the front and above, so the light areas don't necessarily have the variety of values that I like. I want the upper arms especially to recede more than they appear to in this first picture. (See how they appear a little flat and perpendicular to the picture plane?)

To accomplish this, I lowered the relative values there, and used the background color (lamp black) as I darkened the flesh tones. Adding the background color is a great way to get something to recede, as it connects more visually with the background space, and gives a certain feeling of more air being in front of the object... if that makes sense.

You might also notice that I highlighted the chest area, which further increased the contrast. Certainly there is still much more work to be done, but it is coming closer to my vision.

This side-by-side black and white comparison shows the value differences more clearly. You may have noticed that I stopped painting at the hands. As I progress to that area, I will return to the higher values because this is an important area in the painting, and good contrast will draw the eye there.

Art Opening This Friday - Preparations

This First Friday, from 6 - 10 pm, is the opening of Hilliard's Holiday Open House, where a selection of my new nude paintings and drawings will be featured. Stop by if you are local!

Of course, I had to prepare some work to go out the door, including four drawings. Thus my absence from blogging. Matting works on paper is one of my least favorite things to do, but now that I finally have a *real* mat cutter it causes much less agony.

Above are three of the pieces matted, and there they are below, framed. I know it's not very interesting, but it is certainly part of the territory.