Friday, May 15, 2009
My FIRST Coffeehouse Painting
For some time now I’ve been following Lavanna Martin's blog, with interest and envy. She calls herself a “coffeehouse painter,” and actually sets herself up in a coffehouse and paints the clients while they sit there and sip coffee, talk, use their computer, etc. She has outfitted herself so she can carry everything on her bicycle. Her work is very loose, but very intriguing. I like the way she captures something of her subjects in a very loose style, and would love to work that way, too.
Well, I’ve been carrying all my painting supplies in a backpack for quite some time already, and I often get to classes by bike - except when I’m carrying larger size canvases or it is cold or raining or I simply feel more like taking the bus. It is really people that interest me, too. And I already do a lot of ad-hoc pencil and ink sketching of people on the subway, the train, busses... But to do OIL PAINTING that way? It seems so much more - I don’t know - formal? serious? dedicated? intrusive? egotistical? All of these?
There is that old aphorism for life: Be aware of what it is that most frightens you. Then do it.
So the day before yesterday I put my new little tabletop easel on my bike and went looking for somebody to paint in a park, or along the Scenic River Trail. No dice, and I came home relieved that I hadn’t had to actually paint somebody “cold.” So. Yesterday I bit the bullet and went to the Java coffeehouse near my apartment, determined to paint somebody drinking coffee. Sat at an outdoor table with my stuff and looked around. Found I was still too chicken to take on a subject directly, but there was this gal talking to her friend, with her back to me. I don’t know how much hair I want to continue painting, but it was certainly a non-threatening way to claim that I have painted somebody in a coffeehouse. After she left and I was packing up, I got into interesting discussions with a number of the people who were there and had been watching. It was fun, and felt good.
And the result is even kind of interesting, in its way:
Yesterday evening I went to the evening workshop at the Sketch Club to see if I had been accepted as a member. Answer: Not yet, but I will be, no question. And on that basis, I can submit a painting to be included in their show at the Newman Gallery downtown. That was great news and since their size limit is 40” I can submit my “Black Boots” portrait that I think is about my best painting ever, and which measures 40” x 30” (see my post of March 31). That painting was also exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts last month, so it is serving me well.
I also came away from the workshop with a 2-hour painting that turned out pretty well. By the time I got there the prime locations around the model had been taken, so I had this raking view of her, rather back-lit. I like the proportions and general modeling, but the greenish color is a bit weird. That was because the model had one strong spotlight on her, then fairly dim fluorescent lighting. Then, when they turned on more light at the end of the workshop - WOW. Anyhow, here’s the product:
Another of my summertime goals is to paint a number of Philadelphia’s historic sites, starting with Independence Hall. I’ve been looking at it, sketching it and mulling it over. Of course it has already been painted by a million people but, as I had to remind a critic: NOT YET BY ME. It is a tough cookie, though - it’s shape is basically an inverted T, and there is no interesting background for it. Also, there is only one clear view of the central core - even that is partially obscured by trees, and I have yet to paint a tree that I am happy with (ie, that looks like something other than a green blob).
Well, I’ve been carrying all my painting supplies in a backpack for quite some time already, and I often get to classes by bike - except when I’m carrying larger size canvases or it is cold or raining or I simply feel more like taking the bus. It is really people that interest me, too. And I already do a lot of ad-hoc pencil and ink sketching of people on the subway, the train, busses... But to do OIL PAINTING that way? It seems so much more - I don’t know - formal? serious? dedicated? intrusive? egotistical? All of these?
There is that old aphorism for life: Be aware of what it is that most frightens you. Then do it.
So the day before yesterday I put my new little tabletop easel on my bike and went looking for somebody to paint in a park, or along the Scenic River Trail. No dice, and I came home relieved that I hadn’t had to actually paint somebody “cold.” So. Yesterday I bit the bullet and went to the Java coffeehouse near my apartment, determined to paint somebody drinking coffee. Sat at an outdoor table with my stuff and looked around. Found I was still too chicken to take on a subject directly, but there was this gal talking to her friend, with her back to me. I don’t know how much hair I want to continue painting, but it was certainly a non-threatening way to claim that I have painted somebody in a coffeehouse. After she left and I was packing up, I got into interesting discussions with a number of the people who were there and had been watching. It was fun, and felt good.
And the result is even kind of interesting, in its way:
Painted at JAVA Coffeefouse, 4th Street near South
8” x 6”, oil on board
8” x 6”, oil on board
Yesterday evening I went to the evening workshop at the Sketch Club to see if I had been accepted as a member. Answer: Not yet, but I will be, no question. And on that basis, I can submit a painting to be included in their show at the Newman Gallery downtown. That was great news and since their size limit is 40” I can submit my “Black Boots” portrait that I think is about my best painting ever, and which measures 40” x 30” (see my post of March 31). That painting was also exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts last month, so it is serving me well.
I also came away from the workshop with a 2-hour painting that turned out pretty well. By the time I got there the prime locations around the model had been taken, so I had this raking view of her, rather back-lit. I like the proportions and general modeling, but the greenish color is a bit weird. That was because the model had one strong spotlight on her, then fairly dim fluorescent lighting. Then, when they turned on more light at the end of the workshop - WOW. Anyhow, here’s the product:
10” x 8”, oil on canvasboard
Another of my summertime goals is to paint a number of Philadelphia’s historic sites, starting with Independence Hall. I’ve been looking at it, sketching it and mulling it over. Of course it has already been painted by a million people but, as I had to remind a critic: NOT YET BY ME. It is a tough cookie, though - it’s shape is basically an inverted T, and there is no interesting background for it. Also, there is only one clear view of the central core - even that is partially obscured by trees, and I have yet to paint a tree that I am happy with (ie, that looks like something other than a green blob).
