Goblet and Eggs

I was determined to finish this one in a single sitting. It was hard, but I did it! I'm not sure I've ever done a true alla prima before. It was quite exciting. If I'd had more time I would have played with color a little more. But rather than fuss over it, I just moved on. 

The composition is not the greatest either, but I can live with it. I would like to have moved the front egg farther to the right. 

Additionally, I would like to have fine tuned and added more reflections in the glass of the goblet. There were so many plays of light and detail that I simply couldn't capture in the time I had. 

All in all, however, I'm satisfied with the end result. It's a good exercise and it's keeping me on my toes.

K. Day 8

This post may not look a lot different from the last one. As I mentioned before, hair can be a real struggle to paint. As with the face, there is a lot of layering and building. After blocking in the different tones and values I came back with different brushes and began creating the feel of hair. I'll let this sit a while and then come and build some more.

K. is finally getting dressed! The details are progressing and she will soon be finished. Fabric is one of my favorite things to paint. It's amazing how just a few plays of light, shadow, hard lines and soft lines can create such a sense of movement, texture and depth. It's days like these that I really love to paint.

K Day 7

K. is growing some hair. Again, blocking in the main areas of highlights and shadows and basic shape. It's amazing how many different tones there are to hair. 

Hair can be difficult to paint and I admit I generally really struggle with it. There is the temptation to paint every strand. But, as always, the eye does not see what we know to be true. So while we understand that she has a million single strands of hair, we don't see her that way. We see a general shape of what we know to be hair and we recognize a few individual strands that represent all the rest of them. Next time you see someone, pay more attention to how you see their hair. 

So here is K's general shape of hair and next time I'll start working more on defining enough noticeable sections to make it readable and believable.

UnStuck

I'm happy to report that I took my own advise and headed back to the canvas. I admit that it was a bit of a mind game. I noticed it during art school, I definitely see it in myself, and I see it in my students as well... it is hard to get oneself settled into the process. As artists we seem to always be fighting task initiation. Once we have our canvas just the right height, our brushes in perfect reach, our palette adjusted perfectly, then we still have to wander around, in and out of the studio until there are no more excuses. Finally we sit down, stare at the canvas, and eventually touch brush to canvas. Once that happens, though, it doesn't take long to get in the zone. And then the magic happens. Even if it's frustrating and things don't seem to be going right, it's hard to tear away. Eventually, however, hunger, the clock, or someone pries us away. And if we are away too long, we have to go through the painful initiation process all over again.

I did finally get settled in today and made great progress. I think tomorrow I will be able to call the painting finished!