My first public chalk painting

I have been working on this chalk painting for a little while, preparing the design in the holidays and then doing a couple of run throughs yesterday.

Today as part of our worship of God in church I painted this.

It isn't a theological piece, rather an act of worship to God.  He gives generously and this is one way to lift our thoughts and hearts to Him.  

I haven't forgotten you :)

Hello Everyone!

I am posting just to let you know that I haven't forgotten you!  Being back at work has been crazy and I haven't had a moment to myself.  Of course, THE day approaches but who has time to even think about it!

So here are some of my older pieces for your viewing pleasure.  These were all painted during Year 1 as part of the 280 I painted that year.

Twin 2 when we were hiking in the mountains of Tasmania and got caught in a blizzard.

I love this picture that just happened upon the page.  

A friend took this photo and agreed to let me paint it.  I took a photo of it when the paint was still wet, thus the shiny bit in the middle.

I haven't forgotten that I love to paint.  In fact, I feel as if my hand has been cut off not having the time to paint.  This is a short term issue that will ease once the term gets going.

Prophetic words?!

In the car going to the movies I am sounding off about my art frustration and the slow progress and how I wish I was improving at a greater rate when I notice Hubby isn't driving as fast as he could.

"It's a 110 zone," I helpfully hint.

"No it isn't."  Hubby seems very confident.

"But we haven't gone past the servo yet," the place where the speed limit drops.

"Yes we have.  That was a good five minutes ago."

I have that freaky moment of suddenly realising that I am not where I think I am and I rush forward in a visual time warp labelling the passing scenery in it's new and correct context.  Hubby laughs.

"You are further down the road than you think you are."

And there it is.  The glimmer of hope.

Maybe, just maybe, I am further down the road than I think I am.  

Just a bit fed-up

Oh so fickle and totally over painting.  I know what I want to be able to paint but am totally not there yet.  I can't tell you just how frustrating it is to be at this end of the 10,000 hours and not progressing as fast as I would like.  I am uninspired today and just pushing paint around hoping that something nice happens and  somewhat underwhelmed by the results.

Then I finally feel inspired to try something a little different for me and beyond my skill level when...

Self-portrait A3 Oil on canvas paper

...the art critics in the family bring me bumping back to earth.  Okay, so my cheeks are a bit chubby.  A little extra shading will fix that.  And my proportions need a little tweaking.

Sigh...so over it.

Some handy practice

Every now and again it is good to get back to basics and do some drawing practice.  And what is more available than your non-drawing hand!  On the whole I didn't use the eraser, except for on the second hand when I realised that I had stopped drawing what was actually there and had started drawing from memory and assumption.  It builds your confidence when you deny yourself the eraser "out" as you accept the marks as they are.

My hand 8B pencil on paper A4 

It isn't just drawing for drawing sake.  I am toying with the idea of including a hand in my chalk painting, but if I don't know what a hand really looks like then I won't know how to simplify it.

A crazy quick painting, bit by bit

I set the parameters for the task: don't think, just paint.  Not going for realism, just impression.  Working from a vase full of roses I had just picked, strong light source from the top right corner.

1.  On an acrylic base of light red I painted in the general negative shading.

2.  Lay in the shadows of the flowers.

3.  Lay in mid tone and some highlights.

4.  Background in, with thought being given to the light source from the top right.

5.  Stalks in.

6.  Contrasting tones in (darkest and lightest).

Roses, Oil on canvas paper, A4

7.  Two final adjustments:  The rose closest to the light source was reduced in size, as was the vase.  If you compare the final two pictures you can see that the rose sits too far forward because it is too big.  The vase is simply out of proportion to the flowers.  That many flowers wouldn't sit like that in a huge vase.  Also, the very dark line is in the wrong place so it goes.

What did I learn?

I need to be careful to start thin and work toward being thick.  This would reduce the need for scraping back.  I also need to pay more attention to shadows and proportions.

Take that misbehaving painting!

I was reminded of the need to keep things simple, both in life and in artwork.  So that's what I decided to do.  The kites are the focus and everything else is a supporting element.

Kite flying in St Kilda Oil on canvas 30x20" 

A One Hour Painting

Just for fun I thought I would see if I could get a painting done in one hour.  It is an image I am already familiar with so I have an idea of the rhythm of the piece.  Next time I might try an image I am not familiar with.

Hiking in the Highcountry Oil on canvas paper 30x20cm

I want to work on being brave and using the pallet knife for more of the detail work.

Still, it was good fun to Nike it!

A painting that won't behave

I am grumpy with this painting, but I think I made progress with it today.  However, there is still work to do.  If you want to see the previous version (where I scraped out the foreground) go to Family Life with an Art Nutter Jan 14th.

Before I make any decisions about whether the people stay or go, I want to work on the tonal variation in the ocean, and the colour choice too (the sand should be showing through as the water meets the shore).  It is still too flat, as you can see in this black and white version of the piece.  Likewise the kites need to have highlights on them and perhaps the foreground could be deepened a bit at well (trickily with light colours, but not impossible).

At least the symmetry is better with the shape of the ocean and the shape of the beach creating a sense of balance.

Obsessed, me thinks.

Okay, it's another painting of the ocean!  To be honest I don't think it will be the last, as I'm in the middle a flow.   Thanks to Andrew S. for his inspiring photograph that I based this picture on.

Solitary walk 9x12" Oil on stretch canvas S.Beamish  SOLD

My paint pallet was ultramarine blue, viridian green, cad' yellow light, cad' red, titanium, raw sienna and raw umber.  I painted this piece by laying in cool colours where there were shadows and warm colours where there was light.  I then worked the contrasts in, aiming to keep it very loose.  I used the brush and then the pallet knife.

Funny thing is, it isn't even dry and the first person to see it bought it!  

Strange and unusual pears

Strange and unusual pears Oil on canvas 9x12" 2012

Done!  Second entry for the month of January.  So far so good with my year 3 goals.

Progression of a painting FINISHED

I have had several false finishes but this time I really am finished.  I have had to work through the tonal qualities of the land and the placement of figures.

Oil on deep stretched canvas 36"x48" S.B.  2012  SOLD

Now I am happy, really happy.  Oh, wait a minute...

One little problem.  What to call it?

Something fun that you can do too.

I just got an email to say that my piece has been accepted to be on the Inspire Me - Arts Centre web site http://inspireme.theartscentre.com.au/# . It is an interactive site and anyone can submit an image.  The only catch is that it needs to be relevant to the Arts Centre Spire in Melbourne Victoria.  You'll recognise my piece - I use it as my profile picture.

If you do want to submit something you click on CREATE which is in the top right corner.  It took me ages to figure out that's what you do.  Such is the life of the virtually challenged!

Progression of a painting PART 2

Step 1:  I began by mixing tonal variation of the different colours I intended to use and adding Raw Sienna to my pallet.  No matter how much I love my accidental wave, it had to go, and I also reworked the far hill.  I took took much time with this and fiddled around too much.  Something to avoid in the future.  I extend the foreground wave and add in some dead trees sticking out of the growth.

Step 2:  Straight away I see that the contrast in the far hills is too strong (taking photos is really helpful for that) and I work to fix it.  I also become more particular about the lines in the painting.  All of the dead trees point to the focal point (the far hill and the hills that disappear behind it).  So I lighten the sea to form another line taking the eye to the focal point.

I also tone down the far hills and begin to form the story. 

There are people in this remote place, and birds.  I begin to add in simple forms.  Finally the story is in my mind.  I am the bird looking down at where I live.  I live in community in this wild place, sometimes strangers arrive  and then leave again.  They hardly matter because they are overshadowed by the scale.

Things left to do:  place more birds, decide if my foreground figure is too small, remember to sign it!

The development of a painting PART 1

I decided to just go for it with one of my new large 48x36" canvases (see Family life with an Art Nutter  Jan 3rd for the story of the Canvas FAIL).

This is my second very large oil painting.  I choose a limited pallet of Ultramarine blue, Yellow Light, Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre, and Titanium White.  What follows are the steps that I took

Step 1:  Lay in a foundation of cool and warm colours.  This is rough work and goes in quickly. I roughly outline the hills (I have already roughed the picture in with pencil making sure that my water horizon line is straight, i.e. ruled in).

Step 2:  I lay the sky in being mindful to reduce the tone as I approach the horizon.  I also blend the sky into the top of the hills aiming for reduced contrast as things that are far away tend to blend into each other and share light.  I go in with white on my pallet knife and put in some clouds.  I deliberately keep it minimal.  This painting isn't about the sky.

Step 3:  I begin to lay in the ocean.  As I look at it now I see that there is a line on the horizon, this is tonally incorrect.  Tomorrow I will need to blend this line as it is cutting the picture into segments.  A happy accident that I decided to leave for the moment and make decisions about later is the wave that appeared when I scraped white paint on with the pallet knife.  It was my intention to blend this white but it became a wave that I liked the look of so I left it.

Step 4:  I continue with the ocean, remembering that as the water gets shallow you begin to see the ocean floor through it.  I work quickly and am mindful to keep my strokes horizontal with a slight bend as the water comes up onto the shore. I enjoy the process and allow it to morph as I add warmer tones to the foreground.  Things appear warmer the closer they get.

Step 5:  I mix a variety of greens with the pallet knife and using my dirty brush loosely work them into position.  I grapple with the far hill and am mindful that my tones might not be as strong as I want them to be.  I lay in the sand and can't resist adding red highlights that help carry the eye around the shore line.

Step 6:  Mindful of tone I take the final photograph and make it black and white.  I see immediately that I need to add to the tonal variety of the hills, specifically making the far hills lighter.  I also see that the strong contrast created by my accidental wave is too strong.

Step 7:  At the moment there is no sense of story.  The place strongly reminds me  of Waterloo Bay at Wilson's Promontory where the only people there are hikers, and sea birds.  And so a story is beginning to form in my mind...

To be cont...