Monday Night Art Class: Repeating Apsens

I did this painting of some Colorado aspen a while back.

Normally, when I finish a painting, I look at it for a while, and then it goes into a box with all the others.

But I liked this one enough to frame and hang in my living room.

Last year, I was asked to display some paintings in a local gallery and  I needed enough fresh material.

So I decided to put this one up up for sale.

Though I kind of liked my aspens, so I deliberately jacked up the price, in the hopes that it wouldn’t sell.

But sure enough, it DID sell, and I always kind of regretted it.

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But my house is running out of room, and I can’t afford to keep framing everything I paint.

Sooner or later, I’ve got to let stuff go.

If a painting is unique, and if it’s something that I’ll never do again in a million years, there’s no way I’d sell it, not for any money.

But if a painting is something I know I can do again,  then I’m more likely to part with it.

And I suspected I could do this one again.

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Which I did tonight.   Six years later.

t’s smaller:   a 6″ x 4″ sketch with a $5.00 Walmart frame.

For 90 minutes of effort,  I’m happy with how it turned out.   It’s reasonably close to the original.

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So now I have my aspens again.

Which I can hold onto for a while.

Or maybe sell again.

I haven’t decided yet.

But at least I know I can always make more whenever I want.

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Monday Night Art Class: Apocalyptic Squirrel

Some days when you paint,  you can’t do any wrong.

The pigments and water seem to literally dance on the sheet.

The brilliant colors blend and merge exactly as you want them to…it’s a magical feeling.

And at the end of the day, you have a satisfied feeling,  like a cat that’s caught the canary, that you’ve pulled off another great painting.

Today wasn’t one of those days.

My first attempt was to paint this scene:

I started the sky, and then had to go to the car to look for something.

When I came back, I found something had inadvertently touched the still-wet sky and had left some marks.

Godammit.

This is beyond repair.   You can’t fix this.

Some people might say “Oh, Friar, that’s nothing.  Nobody will notice that.”

But the point is…I’LL KNOW.

And anyone looking at the painting, will zoom on on these white blemishes, and that’s the only thing they’ll notice.

So I decide to cut my losses, and quit while I’m ahead.

But not without adding some editorial comments of my own.

 

There was still an hour left to the class, so I decided to start another “easy’ painting.

Unfortunately, I messed up the full moon.   The masking compound didn’t cover the area properly, and the moon was lopsided.

And, again, there was  nothing I could do to fix this.

So I added some more editorial comments.

And for good measure, I include a giant mutant squirrel wreaking havoc in the woods.

I call him “Chuk-Tor”.

Monday Night Art Class

I decided to paint a ski hill for a  change…

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Neys Provincial Park

On of my favorite spots on Lake Superiour is Neys Provincial Park.   It’s at the northernmost part of the lake, four hours from the Soo, near the town of Marathon.

This photo was taken last September, on Labor Day weekend.    It was quite windy…there were 4-5 foot waves, and I spent hours walking along the shore, watching them crash.

I decided to paint this scene, and just finished it tonight.

 

Good Lord.   This one drove me nuts.

I  didn’t use any masking fluid (it annoys me).   I prefer to paint around the white areas by hand, I get a better feel for the paper that way.

So that’s what I did with the water spray and foamy areas.   I painted around each and every splash and rivulet.   ( Talk about an obsessive-compulsive painting subject!)

The computer screen doesn’t do the painting justice…the blues are actually better in real life.   But as you can see, the shades in the painting are significantly lighter than those in the photo.   This was deliberate.  If I had tried to match the photo, the blue pigment of the paint would have overwhelmed the scene and it would have looked awful.

Notice I also chose to lighten up the darkest shadows…again, they would have otherwise overwhelmed the scene and looked like 2-dimensional blobs.

Part of me wants to work on this painting a little bit more…but that little warning voice in my head keeps going:  ”Friar…put down the brush, and step AWAY from the painting!“

And I’ve learned to listen to that voice, because if I know if I fiddle too much,  I can over-do it and ruin hours of work.  .

That’s the hardest part of watercolor:  knowing when to stop

So I have to learn to let this go,  and accept that this is as good as it’s gonna get.

But heck…I ain’t complaining.

Feeling Blue

Friar’s Blogging Tip #157:   When in doubt,  show a painting of some fruit.

It’s almost guaranteed to generate at least one snarky comment.

Ski Watercolor

Last Easter, I was skiing at Jay Peak, Vermont.   I was on top of the hill, just getting off the tramway, and I saw this ski patroller just below me.

I liked the composition:  he seemed to be standing in the right place at the right time, so I took the photo.

As you can see, there was no snow down in the valley below.   This was toward the end of the ski season.    But Jay Peak is a big enough mountain, that it tends to have it’s own weather system.  I remember that day alternating between warm sun, and freezing blustery snow squalls.  It was still quite wintery on top.

Anyway, today I decided to do something different, so I painted the ski hill.

As you can see, I deliberately put in the sky and left out the valley.   I did this so that the hill didn’t get lost in the dark background.  Plus it also helps emphasize the mountain itself.

Also,  the drawing is mostly white…which meant I had to leave a lot of the sheet blank. With winter scenes, the secret is knowing what NOT to paint.

Gone to the Dogs

A quick study of Brett’s puppy, Walter.

 

Painting Junk Food

Last time it was donuts…This time it was Burger King.   I think maybe hot dog will be next…

Watercolors: Country Barn

Yep, fishing season is winding down.   So now it’s time for me to start painting again.
Here’s one from my photo session a month ago, when the fall colors were at their best:

Watercolors: Fresh Tracks

In oil paints, if you want to make something appear white,  you can apply white paint to the canvas any time you want.   The white pigment covers up anything underneath.  It can even be used to erase mistakes.  

In watercolors, you dont’ have this option.    Once the pigment is down on the paper, it’s down.  You can’t cover it up, and there’s no turning back.

If something needs to be white, you just don’t paint that area.  The white color you create on watercolor paintings is the white of the blank paper itself showing through. 

That’s what I find so interesting about painting winter scenes.   The trick is not so much knowing where to put the paint down…the key is knowing where NOT TO PAINT…

This is one of my favorite scenes of a cross-country ski trail in Quebec.