Patterns and "Don't Mess with Me!"

I had a very fun day in the studio today after being at the Monster Drawing Rally yesterday.  I wanted to try everything I'd seen done there - using compressed charcoal, oil sticks, house paint, etc., etc.  In the end, I didn't have any compressed charcoal so couldn't use it and didn't think about the house paint, but I did find an oil stick I'd bought long ago and did use it.  I also combined pastels and oil paints with the oil stick on both sanded paper (which I usually use with pastels) and canvas (which I usually only use with oils).  It was fun to experiment.  The picture on the right is called Aapples and a Tomato.  I had a lot of fun creating the pattern in the background.  I love doing these kinds of patterns.  A long time ago, the first time Dylan was in the hospital, so 8 years ago, I'd come home from the night there and do a small watercolor of a piece of fruit and put patterns in the background.  (The pumpkin is an example of one of them.)  I guess I'm coming back around to that now with oils and pastels.  The oil stick really helps because it gives me an easy way to draw the lines.  I have trouble doing them with either pastels (too thick) or a brush (too soft).

After I painted the apples and tomato, I found some small canvases (I think they're 6" square x 1.5" deep) which I painted a couple more pictures on.  First Polka dotted peach then Apple on a Tablecloth.  I left the apple uncropped to make it possible to see how deep the canvas is.

These pictures and the fun I had doing them gave me the courage to finally, finally, finally put a pattern into a portrait as I'm painting it.  I have to admit, I had a really good time doing the pattern.  I don't know why I like them so much, but I certainly know that I do!

Here's the start of the portrait.  The woman is wearing the most beautiful turquoise necklace which is an heirloom from her grandmother.  I had no idea how difficult it would be to paint.  I am aware that the necklace will certainly take longer to paint than anything else!  But it'll be fun and look very cool when it's finished, so I'm looking forward to continuing the challenge.

I love the expression on this woman's face.  It isn't that evident from this photograph, but I call it Don't Mess With Me.  It's a perfect one for me to be doing right now because that's my attitude these days!  Don't mess with me!  I can't wait to get back to it tomorrow, but I'm too tired tonight after 3 hours of painting the necklace and pattern to do anymore.  I was starting to get sloppy so it's time to quit!

This and That

The last couple of days I've had the opportunity to do some demos in two art classes I'm teaching.  In the morning class, my student asked if I would teach her how to draw a beach scene which looks kind of like an abstract color study.  She wanted to learn about layering color and making the scene look realistic.  I found an appropriate picture on my computer then started to show her how I do it.  She drew along while I drew.  It's a little bit hard to tell from this photograph, but there are crazy colors underneath the blue - my student was taken aback when I put vermillion red down, but she said she decided to be a good student and do it despite her misgivings!  The effect it has is to make the colors more interesting and complex.  There's dark green and blue and red and some orange under there.  In the sky, there's red and pink and mint green under the pale blue.  I didn't blend any colors, rather I just applied the marks overtop of the other colors.  When I use very good pastels (i.e. ones with lots of pigment) on sanded paper, it's very easy to cover whatever is on the paper already.  The earlier layers will show through a bit, creating a more interesting final picture.

After we were done with the sea scene, I used the same colors and did a quick color study.  I often like to do that to get away from the tidiness and carefulness with which I created the scene from the photo.  I've become familiar with the colors and how they interact and just want to play with that at random.  This image will give you more information about the colors which are underneath the previous picture!

In my evening class yesterday, the students were learning about composition and value and color and creating form - there's a lot to keep in mind when drawing with pastels!  I had them draw a piece of fruit.  I insisted that it be a SIMPLE piece of fruit so they didn't have to struggle with complexities of shape along with everything else.  To the right is the demo I did to show them how to apply the strokes - in the direction an ant would walk if he were to traverse the curves, both from top to bottom and around the entire circumference.  To create a shadow, apply the primary color of the fruit (red, in this case), then put in its complementary color (green), then put the background color over it so the shadow appears to be on the surface.  It is a very good way to get a decent shadow that looks fairly realistic.  I wouldn't say that this shadow is one of my best, but it gives you an idea of how it can work.  I was very excited by the work the students did in both classes.  They ended up with some very nice pieces! 

Next week we'll do self-portraits!  A great challenge!