Oil on hardboard 8" x 8"
I did a painting based on this photo around 2 years ago but I can't find the pic of it (it was sold). I would have liked to compare.
Learning strategy: This was done on a primed masonite panel underpainted with mars violet deep (I don't know why it is called mars violet because to me it is more of a maroon colour - anyway, I like it). My intention was to rough it in in acrylics then do the finished painting in oils. I wanted specifically to try the technique of not blending any of the strokes of paint, just putting each stroke on and leaving it there. A number of my favourite daily painters do that so I thought I would try it. Well my conclusion is that I do quite like the outcome but it felt a little "false", somehow not quite natural to me - and my arm ached afterwards :D. Weird isn't it this painting lark.
your bike series is coming on nicely sheila
ReplyDeletei can feel the wind in her hair
Ta Rob, got quite a few flat tyres though.
ReplyDeleteThat bicycle series is quite wonderful. I like how the light becomes the main subject.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stefan but I really wish I could capture light like you do.
ReplyDeleteSheila, this is so beautiful, I love this painting. How the light comes through branches and leaves - poetic. Also, the whole bike series is great. Nevertheless I think the sketch you did of the Christian church in Addis Abeba is also very very striking.
ReplyDeleteBest and, CLOPP!
Fantastic brushwork in this piece Sheila. Great series!
ReplyDeleteHi Ingrid! You love Allo Allo too! It was a great series, eh? I really miss it and look forward to the re-runs. Thanks for your kind comments. I enjoyed painting this one!
ReplyDeleteCooper, thank you, I really appreciate your comments. Your New England paintings are so evocative. I studied a little about it in my American History and Literature classes many years ago. One day I will come and see for myself!
ReplyDeleteSheila, this bike series is great. Interesting to read your "learning strategies" as well. Your comments on this one in particular intrigue me, because they go to the heart of the "style" issue we have discussed off and on this past year. You've created a very lovely painting here that nonetheless rings a bit false to you. I assume this is because the technique used feels appropriated rather than personal.
ReplyDeleteThat's really quite a valuable insight-- just because one can do something doesn't necessarily mean one should. It becomes a matter of trying to follow the gently insistent direction of one's internal compass, doesn't it?
Yes that's right Don, I can't leave that "style" issue alone yet. I've been painting more or less full time now for around 3 years and I figured that my main intention had to be "learning". Not just learning the techniques of painting but learning about myself as a potential artist. When I go back and look at some of my quieter still lives and the interiors and some of the Stalybridge stuff, I feel those are paintings which came much more instinctively from within myself. I'm going to carry on till the end of August trying out different approaches, different surfaces and so on, but my main intention is clear to me - I want to know "what will happen if I do this or that?" Thanks for your response Don. I didn't think anybody was reading that stuff :-)
ReplyDeleteforgot to add
ReplyDeletei really like those bold left- alone strokes
it keeps the painting fresh and creates a bit of movement...
maybe you felt it was false,because it came to easy and you feel you have to labour for a result...
saying more with less is a real art!
Hey Rob, that is an interesting perspective too. Yes, feeling I have to work hard to achieve something worthwhile is part of my make up. But in fact, it was hard work for me and I didn't find it at all easy. Something about the way we approach things, the way we are.
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