Evolution of a Painting

Painting using prompts often brings interesting outcomes. Never the same even when using the same recipe. Different colors, different substrates all come into the equation. I often use the leftover paints on a new substrate choosing different prompts as they come into my head. That is how this painting started. Edited in oil pastels using some tips from Pauline Agnew and here. I have ordered my first set on Senelier Pastels! YAY!

A New Day

Final?

Acrylics and Oil Pastels on cardboard

Original "Underpants"

Leftover paints and mixed prompts! Acrylics, large charcoal blocks, watercolor pencils (ink intense) oil pastels. 20 x 20 " 

Flipped 180 °

Started using oil pastels

Just lazy to start with wet paints

More editing

I decided to bring this into PS and use some filters in Topaz Studio2. Topaz studio also comes in a free-standing software so you don't need PS. There is a free trial. They have great filters called  "add a look" I chose a grunge look. 

Grunge Look

PS painted on a new layer

Used as an idea

Incarcerate

To improve my vocabulary and my spelling I subscribe to  Word of the Day by Mirriam-Webster. Today the word was incarcerate. Very appropriate for these trying times. Most of us are experiencing some sort of physical incarceration but isn't it true that we all suffer from some sort of mental incarceration? We tend to let negative thoughts, ideas linger locked in our brains. The same is true in our thoughts of our creativity. We box ourselves in.

In January I started a yearly journey with Paint Yourself Free. Best investment so far in online learning!  I have done a huge amount of work but haven't really shared much. Mainly because I suffer from the idea that I can't express my thoughts in words. A negative thought that I have to release.  Looking back I did one post here. Most are WIP because of the process I am learning. But I promise to share more with or without any wordy introduction.

After many days/ few days, they all seem to melt into one, I finally decided to get my hands dirty with my "inner child Cookie" in my studio. 

Decided on yellows,one of my favorite colors. Chose Hanza Yellow and Yellow Ochre as my two colors along with titan buff and black and white.  BossyPants #1 on cardboard. ( I will be soon running out)

The first was done using the prompts except when Cookie decided to do some extra stuff like pouring some liquid paint and making extra scribbles!

Now to add to my frustration I can't upload an image NADA NADA NADA! 

I will post the images on my Instagram account and my Flickr account

Sorry for the inconvenience! Comment here or there or not!

Any suggestion for a new blog platform if this problem persists?

Well after searching and searching found how to revert to the classic mode! Uploads WORK!

WIP

Composition in yellows

Acrylics on cardboard 19.250 x 20 " BP#1

WIP

Leftover paints and mixed prompts! Acrylics, large charcoal blocks, watercolor pencils (ink intense) oil pastels. 20 x 20 " 

Dancing Lines Finale

All large tasks are completed in a series of starts. (Neil Fiore)

Remember my dancing lines? Well I think I have brought them to some sort of finale! Well until I decide otherwise!

Did some white Posca dots, did some veiling, more crayons, and new orientations. When I did some veiling some of the watercolor crayon marks bled.

Mixed Media

18 x 20

Watercolor Paper

Mixed Media

18 x 20

Watercolor Paper

Mixed Media

18 x 20

Watercolor Paper

Mixed Media

18 x 20

Watercolor Paper

New Roads

This morning while checking my mail I opened Chris Lalley's blog and aside from her lovely painting was a quote that I really connected to.

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there."

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

I feel that I am traveling roads that I don't know where they are going, in hopes that they will take me to where ever I am going.I just hope I will know when I get there! Speaking of roads I have to mention Frost's beautiful poem The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Yesterday I was feeling out of sorts. Maybe I was incubating something. Rested most of the day reading, watching TV, napping. In the evening felt up to tackling my dancing lines project. I had already cut them into four parts and they had been in my view all day.  The question rose, still in bed I remembered that at one time I had bought a small, and I mean small, set of gouache paints. They seemed a good choice for the situation, although I had never painted with them. I bought them in the anticipation of an artist that was to make a webinar on gouache that never materialized. So I took them out of their hiding place, took a few of my Rosemary Ivory brushes, and with a small jar of water on my side table went to work. It was a juggling act but worked itself out.

These are all  18 x 21 cm. Two I rotated and two were kept the same. Click to enlarge and view in the light box.

Bottom Left

Bottom right

Top Left

Top right

These are the four in  their correct positions

Reminder of where I started

before cutting

Hope to be traveling a new road some time today. May take them outside in the sun.

Dancing Line Part Three

Remember Dancing Line part 2. Well thought I about to cut it into smaller parts. Not just yet. Bought pen and ink at the store and decided to try my hand on this piece. Took to the pen very nicely. But whoa and behold some creatures started to come out of the woodwork. Actually I liked them so I did some more crayon work,

Not to get too attached I will be cutting this evening,

Dancing Line  III WIP

35.5 x 42 cm

Black and White

Dancing Line Part Two

OK put on paint and spread it around. A sort of greenish gray. Added oranges, yellows and blue. Rubbed and blotted, scrubbed a bit too! Spread it on with my silicon knife and palette knife. Decided I needed white. Spread it on, rubbed some off. Really not knowing where I was going or what I was doing. Tried some stamping, rubbed it off. Decided to leave it for the night or else I think I would have chucked the whole thing.. no not really!!!

Dancing Line  II WIP

35.5 x 42 cm

Black and White

I sometimes check out how the tones look in B&W. May need some contrast!!! 

See ya tomorrow!

In Line for Messing and Cutting

This piece was done in the evening and was done with the intention of modifications, layering and cutting and more modifications.

Well, that's fine, but where do I begin. So many choices so many decisions! What now, what colors to use, what tools to incorporate. How am I going to cut it up?

Using heavy watercolor paper the first layer was done with watercolor pencil, dancing line, and watercolor crayons. I used water on this layer and then put a layer of matt medium.

I am doing a project for my art workshop that involves a presentation along with a piece of artwork of our making, painting, collage, photograph, sculpture etc. My topic is getting out of the box specifically in regard to creativity. I have been doing research and one thing I read is that restraints can increase creativity. So I shall choose a limited palette and work with acrylic paint using mainly the palette knife for my next layer.

Dancing Line WIP

35.5 x 42 cm

More thoughts for consideration, what do I like and what don't I like. Don't think these are relavent at this stage because I want to be intuitive as much as possible.

Catching Up

This past month has been a sort of roller coaster with the challenge and all that needs to be done to post and link. Also the end of the month with health issues that thankfully are better. So it's time to catch up with work done in my weekly workshop.

My weekly workshop is not like workshops that I have seen online, where everyone follows the demo of the artist.  We are a group of artists, each doing his/her own thing, at all stages of artistic levels, and in different medias. To look at the variety of work you wouldn't think that they came from the same mentor. That is what is why it's so great to meet and share. I plan to do a  photograph shoot and maybe post and introduce you to my wonderful group.

This piece has a long history. It started more than a year ago when I started to experiment with cold wax and oils in an abstract way. Then in December, I took 3 works that I decided to re-work. The first I posted several versions the last finished in January.  This is the second piece. The start you can see here. I called it metamorphous.

Metamorphous II

25 x 35 cm

Oils & Cold Wax

Early stage

Boldly added black UGH!!!

 Hope to post the third over the weekend. I also have a few from the challenge that I cut up and re-worked.  Move on or catch up? A juggle!!!

Thirty in Thirty Day 25 Last of the Poppies

This is the third and final version of poppies in the yellow field. The  first was day 12 and the second day 15.
All were cutouts from and collage project a few years ago. After cutting the cardboard into 6 x 8 " formats I
saw some had the potential start for new work.

Finished this on with more crayon work and then with oils.

Crayons and oils on collage cutout on cardboard

6 x 8 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 15 Fowers in Field II

I am so glad I have the reserves for blog posts. Life seems to creep in and the day has gone before you know it. This is the second of the yellow field and red flowers. The original that was cut up from here.
Used oils and cold wax on the paper and gouache.

Oils and Cold Wax on cutout collage

# 67 Abstract Trees

# 67 Abstract Trees

When I saw this reference on WDE  I immediately recalled an exercise in the book Painting Abstracts by Rolina van Vliet . Didn't exactly follow the exercise exactly but the patterns of the trees caught my fancy.
I cropped the image and made a charcoal sketch and then painted . Heleni stopped me from adding any more layers..

Charcoal Sketch

35 x 35 cm

gessoed cardboard

Oils & Cold Wax

35 x 35 cm

gessoed cardboard

Face in trunk a pure accident!!!

Daily #38 Don't Mess Around with a Yellow Car

Yellow Car

I get from time to time a gratitude newsletter from  Goodness Graciuos Me... This week there was a special video abou t HAPPINESS FOR WORRYWARTS  . A very good video and worth the 17 minutes. I have watched it 3 times already.... 

Decided I need a reminder to not mess with yellow cars.... hence this little painting I did in class.  Hope that this will help me not to dwell and explode on issues that I have little control over. 

30 x 25 cm

Oils on Cardboard