Month: November 2010

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Waiting for varnish to dry…

I do not love framing, and now I know I do not love varnishing either. I have spent the last few days waiting for varnish to dry and have started planning my next painting. This is a drawing I did in my studio today during the down time. It is not to the scale yet of the next canvas, but none the less it is the beginning of a thought process. I will probably draw this composition out one or two more times before beginning to paint. The canvas I am preparing for this painting is 20″ x 30″.

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More Progress

Remember that painting I blogged about a week or so ago? If not, view it here.

The piece continues to evolve, and I continue to document the changes I am making. The palette has now shifted a bit. I think it is almost done now, I don’t expect to do any radical changes at this point. It is interesting to look back at where it has been. These two versions were done in the last three days, the bottom image is the most recent state of the work. I think things are falling into place.

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Vancouver Art

I spent the last few days in Vancouver, B.C., where I manged to do a little gallery hopping. Vancouver has a very active art scene. I went to Gallery Row, in South Granville. This is a small, trendy area full of boutiques and galleries. Here I visited a number of noteworthy galleries, including the Petley Jones Gallery, Jacana Gallery, Kurbatoff Gallery, and the Elissa Cristall Gallery. A little off the main stretch was the the Diane Farris Gallery. Here I saw an exhibition called Waterways by artist Judith Currelly. Currelly’s muted paintings of animals and landscapes are slightly stylized and evoke a sense of history and native influence. (See image)

In downtown Vancouver I came across the Rendezvous Gallery. The gallery person I spoke to informed me that all the work in the gallery was North Western Coastal artists. The space was big, but still packed floor to ceiling with work, mostly bright and colorful landscape paintings. The gallery felt warm and vibrant and I think this may have been my favorite stop. Overall it was an exciting trip. Vancouver is a fascinating city full of diversity and culture.

Image: Judith Currelly, Inside Passage, Diane Farris Gallery, 2010

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Progress

This is the painting I have started based on the drawing I did last week. I am referencing the colors of a photograph. I am doing the painting in stages. These images are from two different studio days. I anticipate one more studio session will complete the piece. I have kept the paint thin as to avoid too much surface build up. The palette hasn’t quite come together yet, so I am looking forward to getting back into it.

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Planning? Me?

I started a new piece today. Usually I will just go for it, referencing a photo, maybe making a quick drawing. Today I made a preliminary drawing, to scale. I rarely plan so meticulously. However, I am going to attempt a larger painting. Most of the works I have done in oil recently have been small, because the direct alla prima painting I have been doing does not seem to work as well large. I tried a few, and they have been pretty unsuccessful. I just cannot accept that. So, now I try again with a game plan. I will post updates soon!