Garden Piece Commision

I love painting but something about it just leaves me restless. Mostly I interpret this as a need to constantly challenge myself. So many ideas and never enough time. Today's challenge was presented to me as a request that I readily accepted. I was given an old school metal milk jug and asked to paint the family dogs on it. A rounded metal surface that I'm sure is going to give me hell in terms of proportions. The jug is destined to become part of garden decor so it also needs to be sufficiently protected. I finally have the chance to use the super glossy glass resin that I have been eyeing for months now. When it drys the resin takes on the appearance of glass. I love me some shiny things.

Things are progressing along nicely. This is about 4 hours of work. One good day should bring this home then off to its owner.

Mickey

It seems my renown as an artist is growing, even more reason for me to keep producing. Not so long ago it came up in conversation at my local grocers that I am an artist and it so happened that a painting commission was desired. The subject, Mickey Mouse, wasn't the most strenuous creative subject, but hopefully will help spread my reputation.

I had fun with this and finished in two sessions. Again my photography skills leave much to be desired. Now it just needs a day or two to dry then off to next project.

Wrench in the system

Same story different day. I won't bore you with the details. The bottom line is that I am not producing. That is not to say I am not working. Oh no, not at all. Painting never leaves my conscious mind, bordering on obsession some days, but that is what an artist must face. The constant battle against one self.

I am deeming Pinky officially abandon and the Pandora series is facing execution. I spent the better part of my day contemplating all sorts of drastic actions from ripping the canvas off the stretcher to adding obscene amounts of paint thinner, none of the friendly mineral spirits either. I'm talking about coma inducing varsol. I can't tell you what happened. The Pandora series is just drained of all the passion and pleasure. Her fate is yet to be determined for now. 

As for Pinky, she behaved and accomplished all that I had hoped. I learned some things and had fun, exactly how a painting should be. Now I ask myself why a study is acting like a painting and the painting is acting like a spoiled brat. Maybe I should just take the cue and realize I am not one for detail ultra planned work.

On that I will start work on a new piece soon and possibly finish my self portrait. There will also be a brief interruption of real work for a holiday piece that is way over due. As it is all planned and well underway I estimate 2 good work days will get me home.

Potrait study: pinky

Today I'm claiming that my muse told me to stop painting serious stuff and do some studies to work on my technique. In response I have dug out several small wood panels, 12" x 16", and I plan to paint all kinds of portrait studies. The first one out of the gate is just an old reference photo I had laying around.

The technical challenge in this one arises from the unnatural hair color and the full figure shadow. Typically my subjects are well lit and can use some pure colors, with this one everything has to be mixed and toned down. I suddenly realize all the subtleties of grey. (Which is in no way a reference to that terrible novel) Overall the skin tone is far from what I want it to be. Presently it looks as if she has a darker skin tone rather than a light skin tone in shadow. I imagine this could be better achieved through glazing, but I continue to fail at producing a proper glaze. I'm going to try out this new recipe for medium that I got from my friend.

On a more positive note the form is starting to look rounded. If this turns out well I plan to hang it in my bedroom and class that place up some. Nude females are classy right?

Pandora #4

Slowly but surely Pandora trucks onwards. I deemed myself to exhibit some constraint and complete them one at a time. The first one to experience completion shall be the second composition because it possesses the most actions and seems to be holding my attention the best.

I'm beginning to notice a discrepancy in style, most likely due to the prolonged break I took. I'm hoping this will be corrected as I narrow my focus and start to detail the piece. All of the major compositional elements have now found there place so I need to take the next scary step and start working everything together. I plan to obscure the figure slightly with the 'tails' of the heads. This should hold the composition together better and give it some depth.
I also need to kick up the spiritual natural of the heads to make them appear closer to the concepts they represent rather than be flying heads. It has been said that this piece has a comic book feel to it. I'm not sure how I feel about that so I'll let it be for now.