New Figure Study and Link

{one houre figure study}

Hello,

How are you? I am stopping by for a short bit to share the most recent figure study and to share a great link that covers the National Portrait Society conference in great detail. I am still trying to figure out how to absorb all that was shown and discussed over the weekend...

Today I will be attending Robert Liberace's drawing and painting class {this term I am not signed up for him} because a friend will not be able to attend and gave me her slot! So I need to hurry and get ready.

Have a great weekend! Liz

New Figure Studies

Hello and thanks for stopping by to visit.

Lately I have been letting the days slide by without posting current sketches and paintings. I have been busy with creating art, and similar to February a lot has been scraped down because of the various experiments not really working out. One of the new things I am experimenting with is really thick burlap-like canvas. The canvas grain is really heavy, it uses a lot of paint and wears brushes down some, but I believe it has amazing potential for being very expressive once it is mastered. Recently while at the National Gallery of Art I noticed that a Velasquez portrait was painted on this rough type of canvas and as expected it was wonderful. This and analyzing some paintings by Claudio Bravo (who also uses this type of canvas at times) inspired me to jump in and only use this canvas during my figure painting class this term. I figure nine weeks of classes and completing the homework on this stuff will provide sufficent time to get a hang of it.

{detail of the canvas and the wonderful "holes" it leaves}

Also in the spirit of branching out and trying new things, tomorrow is the first day of the National Portrait Society Conference and I will be attending all four days! I am so excited to see all the demonstrations and learn as much as possible. A good friend is coming to town to attend it as well. If you are planning on attending I hope to see you there! Please let me know by leaving a comment.

Below are two 1-1/2 hours figure studies completed on the rough canvas. It is really fun experimenting with it, and I find right now that geometric shapes look really interesting on it.

{completed 13 April 2010}

{completed 20 April 2010}

Good night, Liz

{Slim perched on my chinese sewing basket}

Hello,

The weekend has passed swiftly, as did last week. Spring term at the Art League has started and I have decided to jump in over my head and take several classes this term. I will post some photos of work soon, I just need to take better photos of the paintings.

Until then, here is a lovely picture of my precious girl, Slim.

Good night, Liz

Clementines and a Moroccan Vase {a new painting}

Two Clementines and Moroccan Vase

16" x 20" (40.6 x 50.8 cm) – Oil on Canvas

Hello Friends~

It has been a busy day and I am pretty beat, but before calling it a night I wanted to share with you the completed painting.

Have a wonderful evening, good night,

Liz

Getting through...

{ink sketches from Bridgeman's book}

Hello,

Have you ever felt at times that the best thing to do is just to get through? Today was about getting through a list of painting and drawing objectives that were put on hold to get through the weekend...

Some of the craziness was from Saturday...

Where S. and I were up early to rent a "billy goat" lawn vacuum to tackle the several years accumulation of sugar gum balls that pepper our half-acre yard. We decided to try this out after spending most of the previous Saturday raking up these pesky balls and only getting through a quarter of the yard, we thought there had to be a machine that would make the task faster and easier... well, it turns out good old elbow grease is the way to go, because I ended up having to rake in front of the "billy goat" being pushed by S. This fancy machine just helped us from having to lean over and bag the sugar gum balls and used up gas to boot...

Today was full of art tasks, everything that was put on hold over the weekend. Including drawing with a steel quill pen, like the sketches above, and working on a 16x20 painting that was started in late February. This current painting needs a little more work in areas, and maybe a glaze or two... though I am hopeful that it is nearing completion...

{here is a detail of the painting}

Lingering painting projects weigh me down some, I always look forward to completing a painting and starting a new project, so as a painting begins to be more complete the more eager I am to finish it. Today was a long day in the studio and tomorrow will be also, though hopefully I will have something new to share with you soon.
Until then, thanks for spending time with me and have a wonderful evening!
Liz