Finished canvas

Last night I looked at the canvas of the two torsos I'd started in May and could see what needed doing. So here's the result.

When I'd finished I looked at it in the mirror and saw that there was some imbalance, but after a cup of tea and a think, I decided to leave it as it was, because if I corrected each side to match, it would become sterile.

I also over-painted the yellow background with a neutral flesh tone, merging into the figures.

It's pretty much what I had in my head, which means this is the first painting I've composed and executed totally. I must sign & date it. I felt like staying up all night, ignoring phone calls, drinking lots off coffee, and starting another three canvases which I now have in my head. But real life demands come first.

Life is good though - I have a friend sitting for me on Thursday for some life drawing, and yesterday I stumbled across a chap at work who is a fellow artist & is eager to get together & share ideas. Life is very good.

Pictures From an Exhibition

I had a fantastic birthday. Thanks to my cousin & aunt for the 20th century art books, to dad for the Artists & Illustrators magazine subscription and to my little sister for the fantastic selection of classical Cd's.
So last night I sat listening to Pictures From An Exhibition, while doing oil studies from the nude photo's I took a few weeks ago. I've loved working from photos I've taken, rather than from reproductions of other's, like Edward Weston. Though his photographic style has definitely left it's mark on me. Please respect my wishes not to reveal who that, or any future models are, as they're likely to be friends and family, & it was hard enough to get them to pose for me without their names being plastered all over the Internet. Thanks in advance.
Anyway, earlier yesterday I'd watched a watercolour programme, of a winters scene, and the colour choices really struck a chord with me. So last night I selected French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna & Cadmium Yellow Pale. I worked using oil boards, and traced the outlines to the board in pencil to make sure the proportions were right, though later I worked over them quite freely to accentuate curves and shadows.
I will be making some amendments to some shadow shapes later I'm sure, but I was so excited by what I'd done that I wanted to post images on the blog sooner rather than later. I love the warm flesh tones, and the late evening light cast cool highlights on the model and created deep shadows which caused the form to merge into the background. Originally it was the simple light/dark contrast that I was struck by, but as I worked on these last night I saw more and more movement within the mid tones and shadows. I hope the photos I post show these, as it's a dull day outside where I snapped them.
All the while I was immersed in Mussorgsky. I think it shows.

Steps forward in colour

Here's attempt number 2. I'm happy with it. I'm not delighted, but it's closer to the mark than the previous one. I've included the first colour study for quick comparison. I can see that it's not just the colours in the first one I didn't like; I also dislike the passive pose of the Renoir figure.

I found it difficult adding the background in, after I'd done the figure. I also worked flat on the table, and when I thought I'd finished & propped the piece up, the top silhouette of the lower back was all wrong. So I wet the area, and removed some of the dark background to correct it.

Working with the colour was hard. I found it slow going, probably because I'm still learning how to mix the colours, and learning about how the watercolour goes onto the paper. I used a wedge shaped brush, and I now need to get some much bigger round ones. If you look at blueish indents on the buttocks you'll see the brush marks are too square.

I still enjoyed it, and can feel myself getting hooked on colour.

At this point, advice would be welcome from anyone who knows about watercolour, and can see what I should be doing to make this work.

Here are somemore of the black ink studies I did. I'll post the rest eventually.
But, I've decided only to work in colour for the next week or so, to see if I can achieve the same fluidity I was experiencing when doing these. Everyone's feedback has been so positive, that I'm going to post my 'failures' as well as my 'successes' for all to see. This blog is a great way for me to be objective about what I create. I'm still not sure where I'm heading long-term (does anyone?) with this, but it feels 'right' if that makes sense. It also feels essential. All my family - kids, hubby, sisters, dad, etc have been so supportive in what I'm doing. In fact the kids were doing pastel studies the other day because they were getting excited by what I was doing, and wanted to join in.

Laid bare

Working furiously, I painted these. You can tell I'm enjoying this. Of the eight I painted that session; the ninth was scrapped (actually I'll just re-paint over the back of it) these are the two which I feel aren't just sketches but have presence as individual pieces in their own right.

The last of the inspired nudes

Edward Weston is an amazing artist. I don't find the shocking, or explicit, or romantic. Although his models he used were usually slender, I don't feel as though he's portraying them as the 'ideal' form. However, they aren't as brutally honest and raw as Lucian Freud's paintings for example.

I find them beatuiful, sensitive, powerful and intimate.

The last two paintings I did that day, the two shown here, I'm especially happy with. i was interrupted during painting the abdomin, and when I returned to it, I was totally happy with it as it was, and did not further work on it.

I also love this second painting of the breasts. I was never totally happy with the first one I did, and I'm glad I came back to try it again.

More inspired nudes

I used Quink writing ink which splits with water into blues, and even browns as well as black and grey. I didn't wet the whole paper, I started off working dry, finding the main lines, and added water to my inked brush to paint in tonal areas. I wet the paper where I wanted the ink to spill freely. This technique is an interesting mix of the deliberate and the happy accident. I only had to blot a couple of times when I'd gotton impatient and hadn't let an area dry before working adjacent.

They were all done on A4 paper, but I've cropped each one as I saw fit.

Inspired nudes

At last, here are the first of the ink studies from Edward Weston's nudes. I painted them in a craze, finding the lines and shadows, and translating these with ink on wet paper, which is a fast medium to work in. As I went, I lined up the paintings on the wall so I could see how I was progressing. I can see how I loosened up as I went on.

When I'd finished I felt full of energy, like I could take on anything. It was a real power trip. I'm not saying they're the best work I've ever done, but it was one of the most intense experiences I've ever had in painting. Now I'm itching to do some 'life drawing' from life.