A shift to colour and BIG

 Vermilion 12x12 oil on linen (4-6-17 canvas 1143)

"BIG" makes me happy. This sweet little Vermilion KOI above led me back to one of my favorite subjects, Koi. Koi is a subject I like to paint large. Moving from a 12x12 format to a 66x60 or larger canvas is something that takes care after an absence....better to do it with something familiar.

BASIC REFERENCE 

The lilies here have a very defined perspective point I'll use in my painting. This painting is big and viewing it closeup you'll look down and straight ahead - if right, the illusion will become more apparent. The bigger the canvas the better it works. It means any Koi will have to be adjusted to fit the illusion.

A nice basic water lily arrangement from my deck pond, plenty of open room for my own moves.

1145 CANVAS 66x60

 

1145-1

1145-2

 KOI ADJUSTED TO FIT THE PERSPECTIVE

Note: Bottom (2) Koi are painted as top or overhead views (looking down) and the top Koi is shifted slightly to a side shot (looking up)

1145-3

1145-4

1145-5

1145-6

COMPLETED CANVAS

 Untitled 66x60 oil on full gallery wrap linen (4/21/17 canvas 1145)

DETAILS

All it needs is a little varnish, a floater frame and a nice wall to hang around on. Plus, I suspect this is a warmup to the next....so I need another big canvas before I forget how! Also needs a title...... "Prelude" is the only thing that comes to mind.

Exploring the Snowy Egret in oil paint

I'm getting to know a new and very elegant bird for the first time. I have a final canvas in mind but before I dive in I need to understand this birds own special qualities and gestures intuitively before.

FIRST, A LEARNING CURVE

 1131 Untitled Snowy Egret 12x12 oil on linen (3-13-17)

1131 Snowy Egret 12x12 oil on linen (3-13-17)

 1132 Snowy Egret 12x12 oil on linen (3-17-17-)

1133 Sony Egret 12x12 oil on linen (3-18-17)

 1134 Snowy Egret 12x12 oil on linen (3-21-17)

1138 Snowy Egret 12x12 oil on linen (3-27-17)
 

1143 Snowy Egret 12x12 oil on linen (4-6-17)

I can see from my last 12x12 Snowy Egret painting, my final idea is forming up nicely. I want a change of subject, a bit of a rest before my final Snowy Egret canvas. What I have in mind will require me to get back into the BIG SWING because it takes a different mind set than the small quick 12x12s here. And it's been awhile....

MARCH "WOW" MADNESS

March ended well. The team got to see some of their best work displayed on walls, plus an added treat if they came to celebrate Crossroads March open house. They could chat about their paintings with fellow artists, take a few pictures and drink a little wine. It was a good night for these world travelers and a few paintings sold quickly. Coach didn't take his camera......next time he will.

It's time to change out the team walls at the gallery. Last month we expanded the teams wall space to include the very important end wall in the gallery. After a few sales to art admirers, the team has an added incentive to paint for these walls.

As painting coach, each month I look for work that best represents each member - basically for that "WOW" as it relates to each and their effort to improve.

In the end it's not the artist who makes the work but the painting itself that attracts attention or not. When it leaves the studio, a painting starts a journey based on its own visual merits and what others feel about it. Art has a way of attracting those who will cherish it and protect it!
 

What I found as a designer, using a lot of art and dressing projects, and now making and selecting and displaying/hanging art work in my gallery at Crossroads is, "Its not a random act where anything will fit because its art". Art has to earn its spot just like people. In a gallery setting, each piece is part of a whole that has to work together, offer visual interest with range, comparability, using varying degrees of tension through colour, shape and design....setting a mood that delights the eye as we move through. In simpler words, making sense of  it. Here's what I know!

"All these standout paintings will find their "WOW" wall because it will fit there and no where else."

So, we dress them all up with varnish and pretty frames, stack them around and see where they land.

 MARCH TEAM "WOW" WALLS

 

WINNERS OF THE COACHES CHOICE "WOW" WALLS

TSEVTI SOWERS for her pair of small but powerful BLACK & WHITE'S

ELIZABETH LONGSTREET TITMUS for the THE UPPER JAMES

Longstreet has a big smile because her "Pride" painting last month found a new home

DALE WILLIAMS for LILY PONDS 

TERRY LACEY for her DANCING WITH CRANES

ANOTHER NEW WALL FOR SWIMMING-IN-PAINT!

At the last minute we had to expand into a new wall to accommodate last months Coaches choice "WOW" winner, Lea Emory. There was no way we were not going to show off her two stunning ballet paintings completed in the March Studio.

Leas a happy camper, her ballet painting last month found a home too......congrats!

Team paintings will be on display in the Chuck Larivey gallery at Crossroads through April - stop by, take a peek or better yet give one a good wall to hang around on.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

TO ALL THE MARCH TEAM FOR A JOB WELL DONE!