some changes...

I have tentatively finished this portrait,

"Justice."  24" x 36"
I'm not thrilled with the hand holding the books.  It is popping out too much.  Too many warm tones in the shadows. I think the pages directly below the hand need to be brighter too, maybe that will offset some of the tones.....

I'll let it breathe for a little while.

Lately I have been re-working some of my existing pieces.  I re-painted the faces on a few pictures ("Caity", and both faces on "Becoming"), and have tweaked colors.  I guess I wasn't satisfied with them. 

some old gems...

Found these images while doing some cleaning of the ol' hardrive.

these were all done in 1999, with the exception of "Lake Champlain" which was done in 2004. All are Caran-D'ache oil crayons on black board.

from the top " Wahconah Falls" - Stockbridge Bowl" - "Lenox in Fall" -"Lake Champlain" - "Mt. Greylock" - "Bash Bish Falls"

Murder

The crows are beginning to gather again.
I am about to start another Murder.

12 at least.

There is something so sinister about it.
Such amazing creatures...

These will be posted.
I am getting them ready for an upcoming show at the Ferrin Gallery

UPDATE ** here they are:

palettes and tone

Basic:

Yellow Ochre
Burnt Sienna
Cadmium Red (light)
Alizarin Crimson
Sap Green
Manganese Blue
Ivory Black
Titanium White

French Ultramarine is an excellent addition, as is Naples Yellow and Raw Umber.

I often put down washes of Raw Sienna to tone the canvas.
On top of a white ground, the Sienna creates a very warm glow.
With a few dabs of the color on the canvas, drizzle turpentine and brush the color all over the canvas - very loosely. The thinner the paint, the quicker it will dry.

After covering the canvas, take a cloth and drag it across the canvas, all in the same direction.
When complete, drag the cloth in the other direction. This will remove excess paint and create a uniform surface. All brush strokes should be eliminated.

****

p.s. The large canvas is still in the works. I had to stop and really consider supporting the structure before I stretch it.

So instead I stretched a 32"x48" - this one might be "Marla". I have a session with her tonight.

The Large Canvas - 48" x 72"

Today I am stretching my biggest canvas to date.

48"x72"
122cm x 183cm

Absolutely no ideas yet for subject matter that are concrete, and not worried about it. I stretched the canvas because I want to do it. I need to do something larger than me. It's about time too. I looked at my pieces on the wall at a recent opening and was kind of let down by how well they held the space. They needed to be bigger. A bigger canvas was in order.

Besides, it is really exciting to think about this big piece. It is already imposing and it is only the plain stretcher bars....

The canvas was a bit dirty from being tucked away for a while, so I am planning on putting the canvas outside for the day to air out. Clean canvas = good ground. It is the foundation after all, so start out strong. I need to build two cross beams to support the middle of this thing too, and maybe some slats for the corners.....

I've been looking a lot at different artists lately while trying to get better at painting. And the secret is to keep painting, and to improve with every picture- or to at least keep moving into a direction and learning how to work through something.

Odd Nerdrum is who I'm looking at tonight. A beauty of a book. Norwgian painter. My Art teacher Tony Janello at RISD introduced him to me back in '97. I just started to read about him again.

Anyway, the reason I am doing this tonight is this:

I just looked at one of the images, Man With Woman's Head, and it says it is 57" x 72.8 (145cm x 185cm) in size.

so I grabbed the biggest strips I have in the studio and stapled them together.

and here we are.