This Time a Sanding Block

Original Painting



Reworked Painting with Sanding Block
Number 11 in the "Scratching the Surface" Series
"Not Eggs-actly" 6 x 6 Oil on Gessobord
On Exhibit at Randy Higbee Gallery

I really admire the works of William Wray, Bill Creevy, and Dan McCaw.  I am not trying to emulate them so much as be inspired by them.  Trying to dig down and find what excites me in a painting.  There is a certain "something" to their work that speaks to me...maybe it is their personal search for "beauty".

I commented somewhere on this painting on Facebook that I was going through my "grunge period".
My mother and sister were here in September and I took them over to my studio.  The drive over takes us past the waste water treatment plant and the Coors brewery.  I told them I think that is one of the most moving visuals I have seen (right after the cornfields in NE.)  My mother thought I was nuts.  But I love the grittiness/grunge of the scene, the mood, the shapes, the lighting on a somewhat foggy morning with those two complexes wedged in between a couple of foothills.

And so it goes, I'm working to find what that grittiness/grunge, mood, shape and lighting is in my own work that excites me...that I find "beautiful."  As I told a friend via email recently, it may be a short trip or a long journey.  Depends on what sights I see.  Come along for the ride.

Another Painting Scratched Off the List

Original Painting

Reworked Painting
5 x 7 Oil on Raymar Canvas Panel
Number 9 in the "Scratching the Surface" Series
SOLD

The original painting was an old one that I never really liked.  It was too stiff and dull.  So I picked it out of the "archives" today for a reworking.  Since this was on a canvas panel it behaved much differently than my Gessobord paintings.  I liked the effect, and once I understood what the paint would and would not do on the canvas, I was able to relax and enjoy the process.

Tomorrow I will post some interim pics so those that are interested can see the process.

Reworking a Painting

Original Painting from September

Reworked Painting
"Chasin' the Blues"
6 x 6 Oil on Gessobord
Number 8 in the Scratching the Surface Series
On Exhibit at Abend Gallery

You know how some paintings just never get past the "meh" stage?  It's OK but not quite?  That's the way I felt about the original painting from September shown here. 

When I thought about what I was going to paint today, hubby is watching Hunger Games from iTunes, I decided to take an old painting and try the scratching technique on it.  This meant scratching through dry paint with a craft knife, and then deciding what to do from there.

So I scratched and scratched with my trusty little craft knife which showed the white of the Gessobord underneath.  Didn't find that aesthetically pleasing so I made a glaze of burnt umber and walnut oil and wiped the painting down.  That helped but also took off some of the old paint as I was wiping it down.  So I repainted with my palette knife - the blueberries.  Then I started adding color and depth into the apple using my palette knife and a paper towel.

The result is the reworked painting "Chasin' the Blues".  Much happier....and now I'm off to find some old paintings I don't like anymore!

Autumn Red

"Autumn Red"
5 x 7 Oil on Gessobord
Click Here to Purchase this Painting

Last painting for the week...

I started this one by toning a Gessobord panel with cadmium orange pigment, letting it dry for a couple of days and then painting my subject matter over the orange.  It's a subtle different from the plain white Gessobord underneath on my other paintings.  Gives it kind of a glow.

Number 7 in my "Scratching the Surface" series started last week.

Peter, Peter, PumpkinEater

"For Peter"
Number 6 in "Scratching the Surface" Series
Click Here to Purchase this Painting

The nursery rhyme "Peter, Peter, Pumpkineater" kept going through my head as I was nearing the end of this painting.  Thus the name "For Peter".  I could just see him peeking out from the back...yes, I have a wild and creative imagination.

I found myself being a little more conservative today with the scratching .  Not sure why, so might have to just go crazy tomorrow.  Each piece is a learning experience, and I'm still learning how to photograph these. 

Scratching the Surface Series

"No 5" in "Scratching the Surface" Series
4 x 4 Oil on Gessobord
On Exhibit at Abend Gallery
 

Going to explore the sgrafitto/scratching technique for a while longer, so it now becomes a series "Scratching the Surface".  I've had such good feedback from these paintings, that I want to see what else I can do with it.

They are a bear to photograph, but I'll be back in the studio tomorrow (with JunieB...yeah!) and I'll see if they photograph any better there.  They really are warm and subtle in person.

It's Called Sgraffito

"Memory of Pears"
6 x 6 Oil on Gessobord
SOLD

"With My Compliments"
6 x 6 Oil on Gessobord
On Exhibit at Randy Higbee Gallery

The pears were painted on Sunday and the peach with blue bowl on Monday.  I'm so excited about this new approach.  (My only complaint is that they are hard to photograph.) 

I've been doing some research, coming across a word I faintly was familiar with, sgraffito.  It's the Italian word for scratching, and can be as simple as scratching through wet paint to expose the gessoed board underneath...which is what I do.  Here is a link to sgraffito techniques in paint.

Texture has always intrigued me, and appears in my colored pencil, pastel and even fiber art.  So it's no surprise that it has found its way into my oil painting.  I love what the scratching does for edges and providing an atmosphere for the objects to "live" in.  One of my artist friends said it has the feel of a distant memory. I'm all over that!  ;-)

I'm experimenting with white Gessobord, value study underpaintings, and can't wait to try some colored Gessobords and a few other tools to create texture.

The pears sold about 10 minutes after posting them.  That's a new record for speed buying, I believe.

Scratching with a Palette Knife

"Scratching Out a Living"
6 x 6 Oil on Gessobord
On Exhibit at Randy Higbee Gallery

Yesterday, I shared my painting, "Overhead" that I achieved with using a colorless blender in fairly thick paint.

Today, back in the studio, I tried a similar approach.  I had a 6 x 6 underpainting that I started months ago.  The burnt umber pigment had been dry for ages and I couldn't find my reference photo, so all I had to go on was a memory of the set-up and the value study underpainting.

I wanted to change the color of the cup so I painted it a similar color to a crock I have which I love painting.

I put paint the Gessobord and then scratched it with the tip of my stiff palette knife, added more paint, and scratched some more.  I really like the look of the texture. (If you follow my art approaches, you will know that I love texture...in cp, in pastel and now in oil.)

While this has a different look than the pumpkin, its achieved by starting with a white Gessobord vs an underpainting of burnt umber on Gessobord; and by the amount of paint applied.

This approach seems a lot less like painting and more like sculpting.  Very fun!

Overhead

"Overhead"
6 x 6" Oil and a few other things on Gessobord
SOLD

Yesterday was alone time at the studio.  My studio mate, June, lost her mother over the weekend and has been tending to those things that need to be tended to when someone passes. 

I had painted this little pumpkin, fairly successfully, on Monday.  It sold the same day.  So I was going to change the perspective and lighting and paint it again.  Oh, so wrong!  It just was not happening, and I was getting sort of pissy.  It was close to being done, but not anywhere close to where I wanted it to be, so I wiped out the pumpkin and started over.  Second pass was bringing no more to the table than the first pass.  I was almost out of time and the options were scrap it or do something fun with it. 

I opted for fun.  I was looking for my palette knife when I spotted my pastel pencils. Then my eye fell on my colorless blender pencil which I use to sign my name.  I started drawing on the painting with both.  Then I got bolder and did some scraping and scratching.  Now I was starting to get rid of my aggressions.

This is the finished product which left me energized and much less agitated!  I really like the texture.  Next time, yes-there will be a next time, I'll keep my colors a little cleaner and let the scraping process mix the colors. 

The name of the painting? "Overhead" subtitled, "A change in perspective".

A Little Painting, A Little Pumpkin

"Little Pumpkin"
5 x 5 Oil on Gessobord
SOLD

I had a dream last night that I was in Paris, having an argument with someone.  I knew that I would be OK if I could find a place to paint.  In my dream I was on boats, on mountains, in cafes and finally found an art studio.  I woke up, quickly threw on my jeans and t-shirt, stopped at Starbucks and got myself to my little studio.  Ahhhh, much better!