Thursday, March 05, 2009
It's been a busy few weeks, and I've fallen a bit behind on my blog, between paintings for class assignments and trying to do more on my own. But by now, my copy of Walt Whitman is looking pretty good - I "just" need to liven it up a bit. It still looks a bit drab by comparison to Eakins' original. In spite of that, it actually has an interested buyer, just as it is! What a new experience!
I'm making progress on my "Night Bus to Philadelphia." The watercolor/ink sketch with the rider in silhouette looks a lot better with a dark mat around it. The oil is intended to be the inverse, with the focus on the rider with the background outside the bus lost in nighttime gloom. There are still some adjustments to be made to pull this off, but here they are as of now:
Then there was the homework assignment from Doug Martenson, to paint a pear on a white cloth. This is very similar to homework from his course a year ago, and I am glad to see that there is a marked change for the better in my result now. Actually, the composition I chose is very much influenced by looking at Cezanne - the Phila Art Museum has a fabulous Cezanne exhibition right now, and the thing that hit me, looking at all his famous still lives of oranges and fruit, is that there is no CENTRAL focus in these paintings. You can look at any quadrant or block out any small area of his paintings and they would still be excellent paintings in their own right. So I tried to get that kind of feel in my painting too.
Meanwhile, there is an exciting opportunity to think about, whether or not it actually comes to pass. In Philadelphia, South Street is famous for having gone through the transformation from depressed area to artist colony to boutique shopping and small theatres to high rents and the invasion of chain outlets. Well with out present economy lots of places on South St are closing, throwing fear into the hearts of the other businesses there. And so there is a movement to open those empty storefronts to artists for studios and galleries. For FREE! Well, for the cost of utilities and insurance, but... So, I've been talking to other artists and students, and intend to put together a small group to open one of these places on South St. What a hoot - to have a studio and exhibition space there. Wish me luck on this one - or come on board and lets have a blast!
I'm making progress on my "Night Bus to Philadelphia." The watercolor/ink sketch with the rider in silhouette looks a lot better with a dark mat around it. The oil is intended to be the inverse, with the focus on the rider with the background outside the bus lost in nighttime gloom. There are still some adjustments to be made to pull this off, but here they are as of now:
Then there was the homework assignment from Doug Martenson, to paint a pear on a white cloth. This is very similar to homework from his course a year ago, and I am glad to see that there is a marked change for the better in my result now. Actually, the composition I chose is very much influenced by looking at Cezanne - the Phila Art Museum has a fabulous Cezanne exhibition right now, and the thing that hit me, looking at all his famous still lives of oranges and fruit, is that there is no CENTRAL focus in these paintings. You can look at any quadrant or block out any small area of his paintings and they would still be excellent paintings in their own right. So I tried to get that kind of feel in my painting too.
Meanwhile, there is an exciting opportunity to think about, whether or not it actually comes to pass. In Philadelphia, South Street is famous for having gone through the transformation from depressed area to artist colony to boutique shopping and small theatres to high rents and the invasion of chain outlets. Well with out present economy lots of places on South St are closing, throwing fear into the hearts of the other businesses there. And so there is a movement to open those empty storefronts to artists for studios and galleries. For FREE! Well, for the cost of utilities and insurance, but... So, I've been talking to other artists and students, and intend to put together a small group to open one of these places on South St. What a hoot - to have a studio and exhibition space there. Wish me luck on this one - or come on board and lets have a blast!
