Category: General

Finished?

Being finished is a nebulous concept. . . as long as oil is wet, it can be changed and manipulated. Come to think of it, when it is dry, it can be painted over and changed! So how do I know when I am finished? Sometimes, it looks good. Sometimes there is a looming deadline. Sometimes, every new stroke is a mistake. Sometimes, there are other pieces needing to be worked on.

By the way, Paula, it is too wet to sign, varnish or put a wire on the back. Wait, no wire, it will sit on an easel! (gotta go floss the oil paint out of my teeth now. . . )

Inspiration, part 4

There is an art newsletter called Robert Genn Twice Weekly Letter. Sometimes I don’t read it for weeks, then slam through a bunch of them at once. His writing reminds me a bit of the way the water keeps charging full force over the dam in a seemingly endless supply. The man never runs out of ideas, and he really makes me think!

Here are some of his subjects: pushing oneself through mediocrity, 14 points for jurying art, 16 ways to keep yourself working, attitudes necessary when working en plein air (French for on site), kalopsia (the condition of things appearing more beautiful than they actually are), works on paper versus works on canvas, and the way one artist creates caricatures. These short letters come 2 times a week, on and on and on! And, they are free!

www.painterskeys.com/subscribe/

One week’s difference

This is not about my art directly. However, it could apply to the category of Series: photograph and paint the same scene in many different seasons and times of day. It could also apply to the category of Inspiration: it is ALWAYS beautiful in Mineral King!

Here is a photo of the trailhead this morning. Last week it was all under snow!

Inspiration, part 3

A few years ago, Jack White (see Inspiration, part 2) referred to someone named Diana Botkin, and in the next issue there was an article by her! She wrote beautifully, and was clearly a wonderful person. (Yes, you CAN tell that by reading someone’s work!)

So, I contacted her to see if perhaps we are related. We married men who have the same last name, but, alas, we can’t find a connection. Meanwhile, I have learned so much from her – asking her technical questions, watching her market her work, admiring her discipline, loving her good character.

This woman is just incredible and her paintings of Northern Idaho and mothers with children are very very beautiful.

Here is her website: http://www.DianaMosesBotkin.com, her Daily Painters Gallery page: http://www.dailypainters.com/artist_gallery.php?artist_id=817 and her A Painting a Day blog: http://DianaMosesBotkin.blogspot.com

Why am I telling you this? Because Diana inspires me, and I hope that you too will be inspired by seeing her work!

Inspiration, part 2

Uncle Roger, private collection

When beauty appears, inspiratioin is spontaneous, easy and instant. The harder part of inspiration is motivation: what keeps me going, prevents me from quitting, answers my many questions, and pulls me through the dry spells? Most often it is people; they inspire me through encouragement, helpful criticism, and written materials. (And, I firmly believe that one must be an optimist to be self-employed!)

Art Calendar is the best magazine for professional artists that I have ever seen. Its focus is the business end of art. It is full of information by and about artists who are earning their livings solely by their art. Through it I have “met” several people who have changed the course of my career, from a pencilhead to an oil painter.

When each issue arrives, I immediately look for the article by Jack White, artist and author of books on marketing art. His wife is quite a successful artist also, probably because she is good (duh) and because Jack promotes her! Jack isn’t a highly educated man or a smooth writer but he is a great communicator. He writes sort of like President Bush talks – Texas is the common denominator there.

www.jackwhiteartist.com and www.senkarik.com are where you can find Jack White and his wife Mikki’s artwork.

Inspiration, part 1

Sometimes people ask what my sources of inspiration are. Most are probably asking about what gives me ideas for drawing – that is simple. My life experiences give me those ideas. When I was a kid, a teen and even a young adult, it was a challenge to decide what to draw. As I aged, the number of choices grew, and now, by the time I have sorted through all my ideas, there is hardly any time left to draw or paint!!

So often I have read biographies and artist’s statements that say “I have always been fascinated by light and shadow” or perhaps by “reflection” or “movement” or “textures” or “shapes”.

For me, the answer is simpler, and perhaps a bit of a cliche. It is BEAUTY! I am inspired by beauty! Sometimes it is natural and other times man-made, sometimes it is rustic simplicity, the way colors look together or the patina of age. Most often it is the way sunlight makes a normal object look beautiful. Once I had a job in a kitchen at a summer camp, and my coworkers would laugh at me when I would notice the beautiful color of iced tea, or the way the colors in the salad complimented one another. (But I am not scarred by the ridicule, so there!)

Now I think back to how I noticed colors, and wonder why I chose graphite pencil as my medium? Life might be full of surprises, but it definitely is full of questions!

Ta Da!

Primary Colors

This is my palette for oil painting. It consists of 2 reds, 2 blues, 1 yellow and white, and all the colors I use are mixed with these 6. Before I started painting, I read articles, looked at books, and quizzed painters I knew. The ones that made the most sense to me were working from the primaries, mixing all their own colors. Several reasons are given: 1. Colors are cleaner, rather than the dreaded “muddy” look; 2. It keeps the palette less crowded; 3. It requires a greater understanding of colors and how they interact in mixing. 4. Less things to buy is a reason seldom given, but it certainly matters to me, because the more stuff I own, the more stuff breaks (or gets lost.)

I think there is a bit of an unspoken snob factor here. There is some pride in being able to turn those basic colors into any color one wants. However, there is a color I cannot mix! So, I gave in and today on the Seatrain mural I used carbazole dioxazine violet. It sounds like something for killing cockroaches, but it was the most wonderful purple in the world!! My friend working on her Master’s of Fine Arts insists the proper word for purple is “violet”, but I am a bit of a DBO. . . after all, I grew up in Ivanhoe! It looks rather blue here, but in reality it is the purplish-blue of lupine and was a great relief from all the orange.

(in case you are wondering – Ditch-Bank-Okie)

Series

“Series” is Artspeak for painting the same subject multiple times. It is probably apparent to you that I do this. . . people ask if I get bored painting the same thing over and over. In a word, “NO”! Why not? Several reasons:

1. I am simple-minded enough that each time I paint it feels like a new time. (“ooh, look, here is the right shade of brownish orange!”)
2. It gets easier each time, and easy makes me feel like I’ve gotten better.
3. Selling paintings inspires me to make more paintings to sell.
4. Practice makes perfect, and perfection is satisfying.
5. Paintings look good shown in groups of similar subjects.
6. It stretches my design capabilities to have to keep making the same things look a bit different.
7. Authors are told “write what you know” and it seems to be good advice for artists. If I don’t know the subject I am painting, someone else will know the subject and will know that I don’t know it!

Nope, it is blue!

Kind of funny, don’t you think? I paint oranges and poppies over and over and over. If you know anything about color, then it is really odd that I am painting the complementary color of my favorite in such excess. I’ve been puzzling over this for 2 years now, and still don’t have an answer. Could simply be a function of economics – oranges and poppies sell!

6×6″ – $36 – Iris I