Ten Minute Paintings - NFS

"Ten Minute Paintings", 4 x 5" each, Oil on Panel 
My friends and I decided to try Carol Marine's challenge of 10 minute paintings--not an easy task.  I just spaced out on a couple of them, so I might try it again!

In the Sun - NFS

7/25/10 "In the Sun", 12" x 10", Oil
This is a limited stroke/limited time exercise.  I love doing exercises like this--the abstraction and the lack of finish.  Maybe it is because when doing exercises like this I feel most like I am in the unfettered state of my childhood mind--without preconceptions or second thoughts and there is freedom in that.  However, I didn't do this entirely without a plan. I took Peggi's advice and made a line down the middle of my palette with darks on one side and lights on the other--I painted everything in sunlight from the light side of the palette and everything in shadow from the dark side of the palette.  More than one artist has said that everything in the painting is a reflection of what is on the palette.  If you are wondering about the shoes, they do look a bit like flippers, but actually they are my oversize green crocs. 

During the next week I will be on Lopez Island for the Plein Air Washington paintout, and then the following week off to Alaska to paint in Denali.  I've heard there is bad cell coverage on Lopez and last time I went to Alaska there was no cell coverage at all outside of Anchorage.  If there is not an in-house network, my broadband computer connection will be kapput, so I may not be posting much for the next two weeks--yikes--a posting vacation!  Maybe on the weekend when I will be home for a couple of days.

Blue Dress - NFS

7/24/10 "Blue Dress", 12" x 8", Oil
My daughter was willing to pose for me so I took the opportunity to again try the PKR exercises.  Since my daughter is a violinist, we have many conversations about the parallels between music and painting and one of them is the need for structured practice related to specific skills.

Limited Palette Studies - NFS

6/1/10 Zangle Cove #1, 5" x 7", Oil
Ivory Black and Titanium White
These four small sketches are a response to a limited palette challenge on a network I belong to. I chose a simple subject--the opposite bank of the Cove I live on in the southern part of Puget Sound. When I started with this one, it was overcast and the tide was going out.

6/1/10 Zangle Cove #2, 5" x 7", Oil
Ultramarine Blue, Venetian Red, Titanium White.
I had forgotten how well ultramarine blue harmonizes with venetian red. 

6/1/10 Zangle Cove #3, 5" x 9", Oil
Ultramarine Blue, Cad Yellow Light, Venetian Red and Titanium White.
When I started this sketch, the tide had gone out pretty far, thus the different composition. By this time it was drizzling and I was painting from my big studio window.

6/1/10 "Zangle Cove #4, 5" x 7", Oil
Cad Red Light, Yellow Ochre, Titanium White, Ivory Black
I painted this sketch in the late afternoon when the tide had come back in. This one proved to me again how much I like using ivory black--it is luminous and beautiful greens can be created with different yellows and black.

Girl with Blue Skirt - NFS

5/25/10 "Girl with Blue Skirt", 14" x 11", Oil
This is a semi-limited stroke exercise.  After the graduation ceremonies and parties and the long drives each way, I needed a focused painting exercise to get back into my routine.  This might be a good sketch for a larger painting.

Block Study with Orange

5/24/10 "Block Study with Orange", 8" x 10", Oil
This is another block study exercise in direct sunlight. I don't try to make these exercises perfect, but one way I check the general balance of the composition and the perspective is to check it with a mirror or flip the image in Photoshop.

Blue Bottle with Orange

5/23/10 "Blue Bottle with Orange",  14" x 10", Oil
Since today I am at my youngest daughter's college graduation, this is a painting from one of the two days last week when there was actually all day sun in Olympia.  Last summer I painted 50 block studies out on my deck in both direct sunlight and overcast conditions.  This is my first block study of 2010.