Sometimes knowing what you don't want is more important!

MY NEXT PAINTING REFERENCE

 High resolution - cleaned up - colour modified in Photoshop

  Untouched Detail - lots of debris on the water surface

FINISHED PAINTING

905 Untitled 66x60 oil on linen (6-22-14)

DETAIL

I really tossed around the idea of adding some surface debris to #905 but decided against it, at least for now. The debris on my reference got my attention tho and from that an idea......GOLD LEAF!

GOLD LEAF always makes me think of decorative finishes. I know it was used in oil painting, perhaps more during the early 1900s and most notably by my new personal favorite Gustav Klimt during the ART Nouveau Symbolist Movement.

Adele Bloch-Bauer 1 by Gustav Klimt
(retrieved by Maria Altmann)

MY FIRST GOLD LEAF EXPERIMENT
 These were very quick moments and took very little time....perhaps a few hours.

  906 Vermillion Koi and Oak leaf 14x11 oil on linen (6-22-14)

The first one #906; I applied my metal leaf over gold sizing to a pattern of surface highlight on my oak leaf. It's clear painting over gold leaf merges well with oil paint. I now wish I had put some on my Vermillion Koi as under surface.

SECOND REFERENCE WITH SURFACE NOISE

 SECOND PAINTING

907 Golden Koi and Gold 20x20 oil on linen (6-22-14)

My second one, #907; I decided against sizing and simply added the gold directly into my paint.....primarily to represent the debris scattered about on my water surface (reference). I even added shadows under some of it which gives a nice illusion of depth.......but I think it still needs a larger balance detail in gold such as a leaf or a suggestion of pine needles.

DETAILS

BTW, the paintings were still wet the next day. I didn't use much medium in my background and the painting was very heavy with slow drying pigments.

Obviously there is a magnificent range to this material. Just the little I did here tells me so. More exploration could be in order, but right now it has my interest as a subtle detail amongst my surface debris.....a little can go a long way. I want to try it on a larger canvas next with more spontaneous intent like my second painting #907.

Later.....

RETREAT and canvas 904

I thought "RETREAT" from abstraction was good form....clearly it's going nowhere as a subject and nothing I want to paint! Soooo........back to my real world!

My next canvas is rather small at 48x44. I wasn't up for anything bigger and neither was I done with the fish. One of the references still had my attention, especially its colouring and glowing reflective light. I went back in Photoshop and adjusted it a bit to fit a nocturne I'm thinking about doing as a very large centerpiece for an upcoming exhibit.

My concept for this painting is ethereal and simplistic, blended smooth with only important expressive moves having texture, if any at all. In other words, very efficient with every brush stroke counting to the whole. It will require a wet-in-wet process straight throughout....Alla prima would be a perfect outcome but not likely on a 48x44. My new fast drying white will get a good workout here.
 

MODIFIED REFERENCE

Desaturated and colour modified in Photoshop (low resolution)

FINISHED PAINTING

 904 Nocturnal Glow 48x44 oil on linen (6-20-14)

Fully painted return edges - not a solid blending colour

SOME DETAILS

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My Koi are actually very large in real life, here almost full size, taking up most of the canvas with less negative space. Essentially I wanted a sample, something I could use as a springboard on my next painting.

My normal medium (Neo Megilp) works great for certain effects, but I don't always use it for backgrounds. As a result, not always dry overnight. I used Galkyd Lite to get rid of it as it turned out more useful as a drier than a general medium and it inadvertently solved that problem. When used in combination with my new fast drying white, its a match made in heaven.

• Gamblin - Galkyd Lite (general overall clear drying medium)
• Gamblin - Neo Megilp (details and glow factor)
• Winsor & Newton - Griffin Alkyd Titanium White (fast drying oil colour)

Later.....

A weeks worth of paint and canvas - a learning curve 902 & 903

I came across this old cropped Koi photo from one of my first visits to Maymont's Koi ponds in 2010. It got my attention again because it has a subtle and mysterious aspect I want in my next few paintings. Then I thought it might be fun messing with it in Photoshop.....see what comes of it.

 Maymont Koi 2010

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To my surprise some rather nice results using "curves" tool.....all I need is a printer, some frames and I'm in business...:=) I can see how this would be an easy transition for a water colourist to make, especially with its very cool Asian slant. As an oil painter it has my attention too. I like the idea of playing around with it in oil even if it goes nowhere. Who knows, it could become a road map to the "now what" question bugging me.

FIRST MOVE - CANVAS 902

I chose #2, the most conservative of the group as my first move on this project. The object, copy it, get a feel for it and do it fairly large at 56x48. See how my normal process and materials work pared down as much as possible.

902 Koi 56x48 oil on linen (6-1-14)

I can't say this is my most favorite painting in the world but my new alkyd white helped a great deal here. I spent 3 days on it. Each day it was dry and very easy to do seamless blending maintaining a wet-in-wet look - transparent colour moves - not exactly glazing. It was kind of a back and forth thing of very thin to heavier more saturated paint albeit subtle in nature. I really wanted to find out how my normal process worked without introducing new painting instruments or accidental influences like splashing or dripping paint or flooding it with solutions to break my pigments down.

 SECOND MOVE - CANVAS 903

This time  I'll use #4 above , a more extreme colouring than my first on a fresh 56x48 canvas

903-2 End of day 2 (6-14-14)

903 Hot Koi 56x48 oil on linen (6-15-14)

LOL.......I got caught up in #4 and its saturated colours... it was fun using colour beyond my norm! Actually, far more challenging than you might think because even with a good reference pure pigment can look dull. So it took a number of colours playing against each other to pull it off and quite a challenge at that. In some cases its almost needed to be neon in nature.....not sure I ever got that although pleased with what I did get!

My final photo above was shot without artificial light, only interior daylight. Boy, when I put it in pure sunlight, like the detail below, this thing swings!

Detail in sunlight

This was a great colour exercise, however I'm not sure how it fits into what I'm trying to accomplish as an artist. As an artist I want a change, I'm not sure what that is, other than I know primarily it's to keep my interest in the game. Colour would certainly be a core element of anything I do.

I'm still using everything I've learned working in oil over the last 5 years. I typically use a prismatic approach to light... here its raw and exposed....even so, rules are much the same, so it does make one wonder what can come of it?

One of the things I had to work on was getting it to read well at 30 feet.......it was good close-up, it had paint quality and interesting surface texture....even touchable, but that's with my nose in the canvas.....not so much at a distance. The flaws show up so it tells me the rules really are the same.....

The real question, do I continue, take a break or retreat.

Later.......

A weeks worth of paint and canvas - Canvas 901

I'm in the mood for yellow, lots of yellow as in Koi, When sunlight hits these colourful creatures it can be a blinding mix of saturation colour and water. That's what I want to paint on this 72x66  canvas....with any luck a bit more abstract than the past or.....not!

I want to try out a new Winsor Newton Griffin Alkyd fast drying oil Titanium White......it looks good out of the tube, it has a nice buttery feel too.

DAY ONE

901-1a 72x66 oil on linen (6-3-14) - on easel to show scale

901-1b Canvas at days end

DAY TWO

901-2 Canvas at days end (6-4-14)

My basic plan is to work top down, reducing or defusing detail with colour and building high contrasted light as I go. When I start following the light with colour,....and do it with a brush, it takes on a life of it's own. Then you can only follow the music as I'm doing here........

DAY THREE

 901-3 Canvas at days end (6-5-14)

Easel pit places top of canvas in easy reach

DAY FOUR

901-a At days end (6-6-14)
Could sign off here

 DAY FIVE

 901-5 Canvas at the end of day (6-7-14) Inside warm light
 Could have signed off here too

This time around, I desaturated my greens using greyed violets and then on a spur of the moment I really increased my cadmium yellows, pure as I could make it! Now wondering if I should make another pass.

After sleeping on it I decided to sign off....then picked up a brush to fix something. Well, what can I say.....another day at it!!

DAY SIX

 901 Changelings 72x66 oil on linen - filtered outside light (6-9-14)

I'm crazy about my new fast dry alkyd white... it does make a difference - easy to use transparent pigment over it rather quickly so I don't lose momentum as before. In combination with my mediums, also dryers, my high saturated oils set up quickly too.....not sticky the next day either and leaves a smooth surface so my paint glides over it - at certain points a little drag perhaps, but if it's a problem a little medium takes care of that....so I'm a happy camper.

Later.....

Closing out canvas 900

I couldn't leave #900 alone and ended up messing with it most of the following day.  My Neo Megilp helped restore some of the energy lost on day three, my biggest concern with this canvas. The balance of white to yellow is also better..........progress

DAY 4

900 Trafalgar Fountain 60x48 oil on linen (6-2-14)

BEFORE (day 3)

900-3

With 900 out of my mind I'm ready to move on a fresh canvas #901. Canvas #901 will be 72x 66 and along the same lines as #899 and #900 because at this point I'm not close to what I want.....it's been a bit testy staying on track and not falling backwards....as I seem to be continuing to do.

The only thing I need now is a spring-point, a basic concept or subject and #901 will be off and running! I'm staying away from non-objective abstraction or graphic design for now. That would be too extreme and a departure from my natural bent.

Later.........

900 and counting

Yep! Counting to 5000! I only have 4,100 more to go - certain I'll never see that original goal or a canvas approaching 5000. I would have to exchange brushes for paint rollers to do it. Chop it up into tiny pieces and spend the rest of my time signing them......as it turns out 5000 is a lot of paintings. I am glad about one thing tho, I numbered each and every painting along with a photo image. Even numbered, the little buggers are hard to keep track of.

And that paint roller sounds interesting or perhaps a squeegee my painter friend Dunlop uses.....not:=)

So here we go, Trafalgar Fountain - London, canvas number 900....a nice round number.

DAY ONE

900-1a 60x48 oil on linen wrap (5-30-14)

 900-1b at days end

DAY TWO


  900-2 at days end

DAY THREE 

900-3 end of day - signed

If I had to judge each day, I would have to go with Day two as  my best in show and here is why!

DAY TWO WINNER!!


900-2
DETAILS

Love my small crop details, they could easily be signed....so maybe there is an after use, cut them up or paste them on something else! The one thing I am pleased with, is the energy released on this canvas. 

I LOST SOME OF THAT ON THE 3rd DAY.......AGAIN! REVERTING BACK!!

Riley on the sidelines is bored silly

There is something that comes out naturally in what I do. But, it goes against traditional format painting popular today.....it's an abstract movement with colour....sometimes very strong, like the Ballerinas below. No question one of my most favorite paintings and with luck is back in my possession (recently retrieved from a gallery wall). For-sure I'll never win any OPA prizes with it or paintings like it......guess what:=) I didn't pick up my paint brush to do that or please another, other than myself........selfish SOB that I am. Every once in awhile, like now, I do turn it lose. I think there is a rhythm to what we do and I'm not convinced we can alter it drastically.

652 Coffee Break 30x30 oil on linen (4-23-12)

No doubt we can mimic another......but that's not who we are....only a poor second of someone else. A little theft never hurt tho. It's like Dunlop and his squeegee.....I thoroughly enjoyed watching him use it once in Vegas. I can see using it to spread interesting paint effects over larger areas. No question it could be useful and save time in background areas. Kinda like a shovel; use it to find out whats underneath it all.

BTW Gamblin - Galkyd Lite is working well in place of mineral spirits. It does setup more quickly than mineral spirits and gives it a bit of a finish. The colours sit on top better, I still use it to break down paint areas. When it mingles with the Gamblin, it sets up faster and you don't get that dull film spirits alone leaves. Perhaps a mixture would work well too! I had a large bottle gathering dust so perhaps it has a use going forward.

However as good as it works at the front end nothing much beats Gamblin's Neo-Megilp for floating colour and paint quality as in Coffee break!! I did not use it on this painting.....yet!

So, I don't know how much progress I'm making here but yesterday I stretched up a 72x66 canvas for my next go at it!

 NEW NOISY POND SQUATTERS

Later.....