Nothing Finished

I started on this painting of fuchsia flowers a couple of weeks ago while painting with a friend in her studio. I brought it home, but did not make too much progress.

I worked on it a little more, but I am frustrated with the greens and need to go back to it. As usual, life provides many distractions and interruptions.  This is Winsor & Newton Artisan (water mixable) oils.  Yes, I am still struggling with learning to paint with oils.

Meanwhile, I took a set of 12 videos out of the library on Bob Ross and his style of painting. He was a wonderful presenter on PBS stations years ago.  While he is no longer around, his videos and books are still very useful.  I tried using his techniques on a large canvas (18" X 24"). I enjoyed spending the time and learned a few new things, but decided that this is not for me.  I like to have more of a relationship to a painting, not just some mountains, some clouds, some trees etc.  I am letting my canvas (photo below) dry and then I will go back and detail it with the way I usually paint.  His style of painting is wet on wet, with a layer of "Magic White" paint below so everything lightens up as you go down and moves around easily.

I used my own photos for practice. The basket of fuchsias was from a photo I took while visiting a friend in Vermont. I cropped in closer for my painting.  The waterfall scene is from a photo I took in Utah several years ago while at Red Butte Gardens.

For more information, or to see free videos on Bob Ross, just type his name into your search engine. You can also find recipes online to make your own Magic White, or you can buy his products online or at most art supply stores.

Spooky Day

Last week I painted with another artist in my own studio.  I saw how she prepared her canvas with purples and I was immediately attracted to the color. I decided to use acrylic paint in analogous colors (colors next to each other on the color wheel) for my background. I prepared a 16" X 20" canvas (photo below) and looked at it for a while.

After I studied my background, I thought about the upcoming holiday of Halloween. The undercolors suggested a landscape to me. I made a little drawing on a piece of paper, trying to make some kind of composition.  The top photo is the result. This is the first time I have tried just pulling an image out of my head, not from something I had actually seen.  I am happy with the result.

At the same painting session, I also watched my friend paint with a palette knife. I had a small canvas prepared and decided to do a painting of Frankenstein Cliffs with a view looking up from below, at the parking lot.  I gave away my larger painting of the cliffs to my son for his new house.  He liked all the greens in it. You can still buy a print or card of that image on my website.

I found it difficult to get any sort of detail with a palette knife and had to use a brush in a couple of places. This is a fun technique, but uses a great deal of pigment.  I used acrylic paints for this experiment. We hiked this trail last year, at the beginning of the fall. It's not a hike I would recommend as the trail was very poorly marked.

I am not taking any art classes now, but I am enjoying painting with other artists.  This is something new for me and gives me inspiration as I watch what they are doing.  It is a good learning experience.

I will be exhibiting my cards, prints and some originals this fall at several craft fairs. The events and dates are listed on my website calendar.

How about a kiss?

Mug Shot
The link above goes to my website where you can get more information about this image. I used water mixable oils (Winsor & Newton Artisan) on canvas board, 8" X 10".

I was visiting family in Mojave, California. I am not a rider, but I talk to the horses and pet them. This mare is very friendly and was looking for a kiss, or a carrot. I'm not sure which. I thought about titling the painting "How about a kiss?" She came right up to the camera. I thought this would be good practice for me as an example of foreshortening.

I started the painting with an underwash in raw sienna, then underpainting in acrylic (below). This helped me get the drawing and values in. (Similar to grisaille)

Then I did a layer of oil paint (below).

I let it dry and continued with another layer and touch ups of the oil (below).

I am still a little frustrated with the oil paint since it takes so long to dry. As I was trying to correct the sky, the brush removed some of the paint.  I had to let it dry for several days before attempting the correction again.  The final result is the first painting above, which I have titled "Mug Shot".

Fall bike ride

No words needed!

A Cloudy Day

I

I decided it was time to do a panorama for a change.  I looked through my photos and was attracted to the clouds and this view so I cropped the original photo to fit into this format.  The painting is acrylic on 10" x 20" stretched canvas.  I wasn't going for detail, just an impression of the scene.  I'm happy with the results.

Antelope Island is on the Great Salt Lake (Utah) and my daughter took me for a tour one year when I was visiting her in Salt Lake City.  We enjoyed seeing the herds of bison and had to wait for them to cross the road. Then we toured the Fielding Garr ranch, which was where I took this photo with the mountains in the distance and the beautiful clouds.

Meanwhile, I did my first outdoor exhibit this past weekend, sharing a tent with artist Aline Lotter.  I do not have my own tent and racks so my husband and I helped her set up.  It was very cold in the morning when we started, but warmed up through the day. The art show was sponsored by Manchester Artists Association. After this experience, I do not think I will ever do an outdoor art show again.  It was exhausting and a very long day.  I am participating in 3 indoor craft shows in November and December, two will be new for me, one I've done for several years.  I think that's enough.  I enjoy networking with people, but I don't want to be in another business while I am retired.  I did sell some cards at this show, but did not sell any of my original paintings.

Aline Lotter does oil portraits, landscapes, animals, and nudes (photos below).  She is quite versatile and blogs almost weekly. Her blog is full of interesting details and instructions. Aline's blog

I met abstract artist Olivier Marcus at the exhibit and enjoyed talking to him. Unfortunately I did not take photos of his beautiful artwork, but you can see it at this link: Abstract Art

The Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashanah, starts Wednesday evening at sunset.  The new year is 5775 on the Jewish calendar.  I wish all my readers a new year filled with joy, good health and peace.

Art In the Park

Coming soon, my first time doing an outdoor art exhibit. I am sharing a space with another artist. I'm nervous, but looking forward to this show. I'll be doing 3 indoor shows in the fall. I'll post that information next month.

If the print it too small for you to read, just click on the photo.  Children are welcome and encouraged to bring their artwork too.

Veterans Park is easy to find. It is across the street from the Radisson Hotel, one block north of the Verizon arena.  Parking is free on the side streets on Saturdays. If you park on Elm Street, you need to put money into the kiosks and get a ticket to display in your car window.  If you are hungry after you view the artwork, there are many excellent restaurants right on Elm Street and nearby.

If you would like to see more art, you can visit the Currier Museum which is less than 1 mile away from the park. A new exhibit will be starting on the same day: Escher

Framing

What a difference a frame makes. I bought some float frames and just set my recent paintings in them to see how they look. Four Corners Farm (in Vermont) above, Connecticut River Valley below (looking from Vermont to mountains in New Hampshire).

These two oil paintings don't actually need to be framed as they are on stretched canvas and can just be wired to hang as is.  I am doing an exhibit on September 20th in Manchester (Art in the Park) through the Manchester Artists Association at Veterans Park.  I will be sharing a space with another artist who has all the materials (canopy, walls etc.).  This will be my first outdoor show and I am hoping to sell at least one original painting as well as some cards.  Presentation is important and I have to decide on which paintings to exhibit.

I'm calling this one Canyon Colors.  It is also an oil painting (water mixable) like the others above, but is on a panel, not a stretched canvas.  That means I would not be able to use the float frame, but I may have some other frames that are suitable.  I like the way it came out.  This was from a photo I took of a beautiful canyon at Yellowstone Park.

I did a small (5" X 7") study of an interesting house in Manchester.  It was good practice, but I'm not sure if I'll do a bigger painting of this or not. I enjoyed making a winter scene as I love winter and I'm glad summer is almost over. I'm looking forward to fall. We already had some fall colors on the trees here.

This is a work in progress, the last one I hope to work on with the oil paints for a while. I am ready to go back to the acrylic paints.  It will be a jetty (rocks that go out into the ocean) in winter.  The original photo was taken in winter on Cape Cod. It looks very abstract at the moment, but when the painting is finished it will be more realistic.

Back to painting

I worked more on the painting I had started when I was in Vermont (Four Corners Farm).  I really admire painters who can complete a painting outdoors in just a few hours.  I was happy puttering in my studio attempting to make the original painting look better.  I'm not sure it's done yet.

This is the view of the Connecticut River Valley from the Vermont side (the mountains are in New Hampshire). I think this needs a bit more work, but certainly looks better than my original that I posted a few weeks ago.

Meanwhile I have been compiling another poetry manuscript that I will be posting as an e-book ("Until the Angels Call"). My husband has done the initial proofreading and editing.  I have a couple of friends who are going to read it before I post it to Amazon.  I didn't realize I had so many poems to choose so it took me quite a while. I actually started this project in the spring, then put it away while we were traveling and took it out again in the last week or two.  I didn't feel like painting since I am having some health problems (the joys of aging!).

However, I am feeling better today and started an underpainting.  This is from the canyons in Yellowstone with all their beautiful colors.  All paintings on today's post are water mixable oils (Winsor & Newton Artisan) on 8" X 10" canvas.

Sun-dappled creek

Sun-dappled creek, 8" X 10", water mixable oils (Winsor & Newton Artisan) on panel.  This was an experiment on a different surface for me.  I had taken a photo of this scene when we were out bicycling around Tower Hill Pond in Auburn/Candia, New Hampshire. (I'm never sure what side of the town border this pond is on). The pond is part of the watershed for our city's (Manchester, NH) water supply and feeds down to Lake Massabesic.  We have walked it many times and this summer we tried it by bicycle.

I found the surface a bit different from working on canvas and it was interesting.  I had to let the layers of oils dry for many days in between.  The first layer of the "creek" part looked really strange and not at all like water when I painted it.  The painting is a bit more impressionistic than my usual, but I was just trying to create an impression of the sunlight coming through the leaves and onto the water.  I really admire the painters who say they are painting the "light", but I haven't figured out how to do that myself.

My art group, Friends of Art Manchester, completed a 30' x 3' mural at 720 Union Street in Manchester (on the side of a laundromat).  This was my first time working on this scale and on brick.  It was the first time for several of the other artists.  I'm not sure I would want to work on this surface again, but my other artist friends are painting murals again and enjoying it.  I painted the hawks from photos I took in the winter while out walking in my neighborhood. No leaves on that tree then.

Friends of Art Manchester, mural at 720 Union Street, Manchester, NH

Linda Feinberg and Red Tailed Hawks

Weekend in Vermont

I had my first experience with plein air painting in Vermont this past weekend.  Just figuring out what to pack was interesting.  Anyway, I followed some instructions on DVD's and in books and I had enough supplies with me.  I stayed at the home of another artist and she guided me to the locations.

I found it very difficult to paint like this.  I was using water mixable oils which I am trying to get used to. I still prefer acrylics, but they dry very fast, especially in the summer, so I thought it would be better to experiment with oils.  I tried a farm scene with a barn on my first day. (Four Corners Farm, north of Bradford, Vermont)

On the second day I tried a mountain scene. This one was in Newbury, Vermont, overlooking the Connecticut River Valley. The mountains seen are in New Hampshire, on the other side of the river.  This was a little easier than the barn, but I still had difficulty with the colors.  I may try to finish these two paintings up in my studio later this week.

I did some sketching too.  That was more enjoyable for me.

I put up more photos in my web albums at this link: Weekend in Vermont