Creating depth

A couple of weeks ago I created this still life.

lillies with Pomegranate and chair

48X39.5          Acrylic on wood

detail 

Before beginning the painting I prepared 'the ground'. ('A ground', is the term for the surface preparation beneath the painting. It allows for a stable ph surface that will accept the later painting stages, and not allow too much paint to soak into the surface).

 Usually I paint three thick coats of Acrylic gesso primer, building up interesting textural brush strokes, but here I chose to paint two and half thinned coats of gesso. The end result of this was the wood surface was waterproof and ready for paint, however the ground was thin enough that the actual grain from the wood could still be seen. This gave the painting a wonderful dimensional quality, from straight on the thicker final painting looks (for lack of a better term) 'normal'.  However from certain light, when viewed at an angle, the grain begins to present itself ghosting through from beneath. This gives the final painting a wonderful depth and extra dimension of interest.  Not sure if my photo here does it justice, it really needs to be seen in person to be truly appreciated.

showing the wood grain 

Seascapes

The rocky break (looking back towards Santa Cruz, CA)
24X36              Acrylic on board

Pushing colors of the coast (Marin coast CA)
24X36                 Acrylic on board

 Window to the Ocean (Pescedaro beach, CA)

18X36           Acrylic on cradled panel 

I dont think I ever blogged these finished paintings. So here they are, now hanging in Chloe fine Art, SF, CA tel  415-7491000  for more info.

A quick Doggie

 Reclining grey
18X36       Acrylic on wood

Sometimes it's nice to break a bit from the usual pattern. Here's a loose portrait of a 'grey' greyhound. I really wanted to get a fresh loose feel for it, and intentionally left areas rough (I mean 'ruff', sorry couldn't resist), and other parts unfinished. I always like paintings with parts that appear unfinished and decided to do that here, with the lamp stand and ambiguous bowl/basket.

I responded to the dark rug, underneath the dog by pushing her gray coat into more of a ghostly white. Strong liberties where also taken with the ground around the rug, but hey if your messing with other elements you may as well go the whole way!

Detail (good for showing the loose brush work and the intentional under painting shining through, seen here in the legs and hindquarters)

Greyhounds and other big skinny dogs are so magnificent when running at full speed, and they're really designed for such things. But when they come to sit or in this case lie, there's a wonderful dis-coordination in their bodies with a tangle of ungainly long limbs.

A very distant artist

I've just returned from a weeks trip to England. Visiting my elderly parents, who sadly are both battling various forms of cancer; and achieving this with huge fortitude.  While there I took the opportunity of visiting their local art gallery/museum in Kendal (Abbot Hall art Gallery). Considering the size of the town I'm always impressed by the exhibition the gallery manages to secure, and I have seen some wonderful instillation over the years. (They have one coming this summer called 'Francis Bacon to Paula Rego' which looks really good, it's a pity I'll be in the US)


Anyway, the current exhibition was works from their permanent collection, celebrated the galleries 50 years. Featuring works from many 'big' names in British art from the last century. The art  was a  varied medley, both in content, style, period and quality. At times I fear the fame of the artists had  eclipsed the quality of that particular piece, for example I felt their was an unremarkable sketch by Henry Moore, and I'd seen better paintings by Stanley Spencer. But this was balanced by fantastic works by Lucian Freud, Ben Nicholson, Paula Rego, to mention just a few; and of course a personal favorite Joan Eardley.

The last room in the exhibition had a surprise for me and really nice mountain painting by Howard Somervell. It turns out he was a second cousin of my grandfather (on my fathers side). So admittedly that's a pretty distant relation, but still interesting... Sommervell was actually a historical figure of some note -  a medical missionary in India, he was also an avid painter and climber. He was even part of the climbing party of Mallory and Irvines fatal attempt on Everest in 1924. It's believed Sommervell was the last person to see M&I alive, before their attempted final accent. 

H Somervill - 2nd from the left, seated on the bottom row

Of course I'm getting of subject. I tried googling for the painting that was in the Abbot Hall, but I couldn't find it.  I did however find another couple of his paintings, so these will have to suffice. Still it's nice to think there's other artists in my family tree, and I haven't even mentioned my talented Aunty!.... (But that's a story for another time)

old trunks

 Old trunks and branches (CA)
24X36
Acrylic on board.

Back in the saddle

As I explore the many potential directions that my recent landscapes have opened up to me; in many ways nothing feels better than to paint a Still life!  In part it has that 'comfortable shoe', type feeling but more than that -  my approach to both subjects is so separate and divergent. This may be a passing phase, but I feel each subject requires a different perspective, especially in strength of palette and the way a close object is explored compared to a more distant panorama. I could ramble on, but here I'll let the painting speak!

White petals and lemons

24X 18   Acrylic on board

Winding through the forest

This is from a couple of weeks ago, I spent a good amount of time on this painting. I wanted to find a nice overall color scheme that moved across the whole forest, but that also provided some variety.  I went in and re-painted differing colors on the ground in the background a number of times till I found the right hues. I also re-established the dark river bank and the distant yellow foliage, before I was happy with the overall piece.

The following week I attempted another woodland painting, with reference material I'd gathered from the same trip, but in the end I decided that painting had failed - one to scrape down and try again... This one however I think worked out. That's painting, you can't be successful all the time!

 Winding through the forest (Big Basin SP, CA)
20X44
Acrylic on wood