Forming an idea

Sometimes they pop up very quick...other times after the fact. This figure painting made me wish I had included a mirror reflection or a suggestion of one.

  884 Nude on Green and Taupe 20x20 oil on linen (1-29-14)

Later that night it kept nagging on me so I started doodling while watching Tom chase down the killers in Midsomer Murders...

  Dwg 7 

I like the concept; the real question, is it good enough to take larger or stay on track with my 20x20 studies? I could set it aside for another time but it has my attention now....plus I still need practice so I think my best course is staying on course and continue on with my 20x20s. Keeping with my one session time limit so I don't get bogged down.....perhaps a better idea will emerge.

 885 Reflections 20x20 oil on linen (1-29-14)

Later....

Off and running

is a good thing after a long holiday from painting; also near the end of the month, so at least for me, no time to waste! This is going to be a fast year!

A few days ago I started my 20x20 studies; the first is now my leading blog image.....for awhile anyway. I'm limiting these studies to one day on my easel.....I want them loose and fresh.

I'll add Burnt umber and Lamp black to my palette....perhaps quicker than making it myself. Since for me it's all about colour and light, I'm not going to a more subtle key.

882 Pink Satin 20x20 oil on linen (1-26-14)

883 Scarlet Nude 20x20 oil on linen (1-27-14)

Later........

A clear slate and some time

Yesterday I purchased drawing materials with the idea of honing my figure and portraiture skills in tandem with oil painting. What I have in mind will move faster if I do predatory drawings as opposed to working it out directly on my canvas as in my Rubens experiment; something much easier to do in smaller formats or painting with good reference material.

One of the things I discovered while doing the florals, was it required arrangement and staging, as in a still life, which I was doing directly on my canvas.....if you will, alibiing. I don't mind doing that in the last 15 minutes of a painting. Adding the flowers to the Rubens composition was time consuming and didn't always work and occasionally passages had to be wiped out.....laborious and not my way of working at all, especially on a huge canvas.

I have 40 odd years experience custom designing from things that don't exist....most of it was done from my concept drawings or renderings. Now, going forward, I'm going to use the same process for my larger work. Since I know exactly what I want and in my immediate world it doesn't exist...it seems logical I'll have to create it via renderings. Nothing new about what I want either, it's been done for eons. I'm not after total originality because everything is derived from something...it's how we put it together that matters. It was how Manet composed and executed Olympia and the time in which he did it that mattered.....not because it was an original idea, but because it was a freshened idea!

I could make oil studies all day long, but not at my desk watching a movie on my computer as I often do. My head is always somewhere else anyway, so I'm going to take advantage of that time with drawing and not waste it at the easel!

I don't want a repeat of the Rubens experiment.  I had an idea but not a clear idea of merging flowers and figures in a setting. Midway through I started thinking of multiple possibilities on how I would use this in my next painting....even did some quick sketches (below). It really meant, for all intent and purposes, this painting no longer had my attention! It was finished, it's usefulness was over! But I decided to carry this huge animal to completion because I don't like unfinished projects lying around as a distraction. A bad painting won't bother me near as much as an unfinished one will! So with a clear slate in front of me and a plan to accomplish the deed.....I'm good to go again!

CONCEPT DRAWINGS
The beginning of an idea!

Ink drawings done midway of Rubens experiment, not totally formed yet, I still need detail gathering, like my main figure or figures before a final arrangement can be established.....that will take some time.

dwg 1

dwg 2

dwg 3

SOME FIGURES

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dwg 5

dwg 6

My next step is to do some 20x20 figure studies in oil for skin tones....plus just plain practice. In the end I need to rotate figures in  my head.....even make pose changes if needed. I'm also adding additional elements like flowers, mirror reflections and luxury fabrics like silk Damask and velvets.

My small oil studies won't go to waste because most likely the galleries will want them.

Later....

 

A new year and courious experiment

After a New Years break I wanted something a bit different to paint. The idea of doing my own version of Olympia with Peonies stuck....perhaps using a concept from a previous Old Masters as Manet most likely did for his Olympia.  Not with the intent of copying as a student might, but seeing if my life experiences and painting techniques would prevail and a fresh 21st century version would emerge....In any case, I nicked a Rubens off the internet titled "Venus at the Mirror c. 1615". Not knowing where this experiment would go, I also used his figures as free models.

MY REFERENCE

Peter Paul Rubens Venus at Mirror c. 1615
MY RESULT
(I'll be kind.....no laborious progress images)

881 Cupids Twin - After Rubens 56x48 oil on linen (1-23-14)

So far, I know, I've taken a 16th century Rubens to the late 19th or early 20th century romantics.....albeit decorative in nature, with some additional modification could it actually move into the 21st? I doubt it very much. I clearly have a romantic slant here, I would maintain. Although I wonder if my typical high colour key is perhaps a bigger barrier in today's world of realism.

That's what I want to find out!

With that thought in mind I want a "quick fix" like Photoshop....as you can see below, reducing the saturation in Photoshop I get a more sophisticated version which removes some of the "decorative high key" aspect bothering me. Perhaps changing my key and adding a few umber's and black to my palette might be a good thing going forward. Of course....LOL my sales will plummet!

Desaturated version

 

Black and White

  You just gotta love Photoshop!

I also suspect for me, accomplishing it would require a palette change and if I did, using all the same elements, would it place my figurative work on a competitive level with my contemporary realists?

Again, I doubt it, it would still read historical unless I applied current taste in figures, something I'll do going forward.

I came away knowing more than when I started plus a few new ideas from my Rubens experiment. I can see this painting more as a potential stepping stone going forward......actually at the end Photoshop saved an enormous amount of time by confirming my main issue; "high colour key" more effectively than modifying or doing another version. While I may not be able to change it, I'm aware of it. I like the paintings concept of peonies intertwined with my figures; a driving force to do it in the first place, and I like the very touchable silk satin fabric bench covering...my favorite part.

Now I'd like to thank Mr. Rubens for the jump start! All-in-all mission accomplished!

Later...........

Last painting of 2013 and thinking of Olympia

Here we are again, at the end of another year. Last year ended with a disastrous art adventure in Vegas and a really bad painting. This year ended on a sweeter note with a neat little painting and a new appreciation for flower painters.....tricky little buggers. Good painting lessons tho. I  definitely want more exploration of this subject especially when it comes to light and transparency. How it might turn out in my future work is a mystery....perhaps I'll do my version of Edouard Manet's "Olympia" and surround her in flowers....perhaps not!

Olympia by Edouard Manet 51x74.8 oil on canvas 1863

MY LAST PAINTING OF 2013

  stage 1

#880 Peonies 20x20 oil on linen (12-30-13)

Later....