Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Actually, Patricia sold the painting for me. It was a watercolor from our trip to Italy this summer and was hanging in her hallway. One of her yoga students liked it, and just picked it up today. I heard about it by email from Patricia: LEROY FORNEY IS A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST, HAVING JUST SOLD HIS FIRST PAINTING! i wish you could have seen how excited michelle was when she took it off the wall, hugging it with a big smile. she was almost dancing when she left. she chose the "orangey" building on the wall by itself. it reminded her of where they stayed in italy. i have your check. Congratulations! patricia
Otherwise: Classes began this week at the Penna Academy of Fine Art. First class yesterday, with Doug Martenson. We were doing figure sketches in charcoal, which is how he starts his classes. It is a good exercise, and my figures flow more gracefully than they did when I first took this course last January, but I'll be glad when we get to painting.
During the midyear break I got permission to paint in the Museum, and started copying Thomas Eakins' portrait of Walt Whitman. It is awfully intimidating, being there smearing paint around in the presence of all those Masterpieces. I can FEEL all the Great Masters scowling at my daubings. As I was messing up my canvas yesterday, there were troops of school kids being shown around by their teachers, and the teachers all wanted to show Walt Whitman to the kids because he was a poet and the kids were doing poetry homework. So I had lots of attention. Afterwards one of the teachers came back to tell me that a kid asked her if I was related to Walt Whitman, because I look so much like him and seemed to be doing a self-portrait. (!).
Well, we are both old guys with bulbous noses , thin hair and beards, so....
Otherwise: Classes began this week at the Penna Academy of Fine Art. First class yesterday, with Doug Martenson. We were doing figure sketches in charcoal, which is how he starts his classes. It is a good exercise, and my figures flow more gracefully than they did when I first took this course last January, but I'll be glad when we get to painting.
During the midyear break I got permission to paint in the Museum, and started copying Thomas Eakins' portrait of Walt Whitman. It is awfully intimidating, being there smearing paint around in the presence of all those Masterpieces. I can FEEL all the Great Masters scowling at my daubings. As I was messing up my canvas yesterday, there were troops of school kids being shown around by their teachers, and the teachers all wanted to show Walt Whitman to the kids because he was a poet and the kids were doing poetry homework. So I had lots of attention. Afterwards one of the teachers came back to tell me that a kid asked her if I was related to Walt Whitman, because I look so much like him and seemed to be doing a self-portrait. (!).
Well, we are both old guys with bulbous noses , thin hair and beards, so....
Labels: I SOLD a painting - How about THAT?
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Since my latest - and best, in my view - portrait sat drying while we were in Florida, I was able to give it a coat of retouching varnish yesterday and work on it again this morning. The main thing was to get Khenti's earring to look plausible and I did accomplish that, I think. Added a bunch of additional highlights, and now it is pretty much finished. Except that I still need to tone down part of that white chair covering, and make the shadows around her a little more intense so she doesn't seem to be floating. At 30" x 40" this is the largest painting I have ever attempted, by far! Anyway, she looks like this (click on the image to enlarge). The thing I especially like about it is that it reads well, both up close (enlarged) and from a distance:
The Shouk Lounge is advertising for artists to contribute to a "gallery-type" exhibition, whatever they mean by that. I copied my paintings onto a CD and will have talk to them and see if they are interested in some of my stuff.
I watched a DVD documentary on Alice Neel last night, and couldn't sleep after that. Her portraits are SO strong, intimate and incisive. I would love to catch some of that in my work. I will have to become much looser - but then that is apparent from all the all other good paintings I am looking at, too. I've asked permission to copy Eakins' portrait of Walt Whitman from the original hanging in the PAFA museum. I think I'll get permission, but may fall short of completing it before classes start again in mid-month.
The Shouk Lounge is advertising for artists to contribute to a "gallery-type" exhibition, whatever they mean by that. I copied my paintings onto a CD and will have talk to them and see if they are interested in some of my stuff.
I watched a DVD documentary on Alice Neel last night, and couldn't sleep after that. Her portraits are SO strong, intimate and incisive. I would love to catch some of that in my work. I will have to become much looser - but then that is apparent from all the all other good paintings I am looking at, too. I've asked permission to copy Eakins' portrait of Walt Whitman from the original hanging in the PAFA museum. I think I'll get permission, but may fall short of completing it before classes start again in mid-month.
Friday, January 02, 2009
It has been a glorious holiday. Patricia and I have been visiting David and Sandra in their Florida home between Christmas and New Year's. Lots of kayaking on the Oklawaha and Silver Rivers, in the Ocala National Park. Along the rivers we saw red tail monkeys, anhinga, cormorant, great blue and little blue herons, ibis, sandhill cranes (lots of them), red shoulder hawk, bunches of turtles and, of course, an alligator. Lots of comfortable time with good friends, eating, talking, cooking, eating, relaxing, eating...
left to right: Patricia, me, David and Sandra
I'd brought along my watercolor stuff and even tried painting the canal behind their house, but the results were horrid. I did have better results with charcoal though - the drawings below are what you see right behind their back yard over the canal, and the little palm garden is in the middle of their back yard. Beautiful place. Tough life!
left to right: Patricia, me, David and Sandra
I'd brought along my watercolor stuff and even tried painting the canal behind their house, but the results were horrid. I did have better results with charcoal though - the drawings below are what you see right behind their back yard over the canal, and the little palm garden is in the middle of their back yard. Beautiful place. Tough life!
Labels: Florida welcome to 2009
