« Purple cabbage portrait |Main | Tree Bark »
Myrtle At The Zoo, March 10 - April 2
April 2, 2008
April 2nd - Myrtle at the Zoo - Crepe Myrtle branches and seed-pods - 20 x 34 x 2 inches Acrylics on canvas, gallery wrapped. Finished for now…this one needs a rest, and I may or may not return to it. Regardless, I’ve learned a lot and enjoyed playing with different ideas. It’s been interesting teetering back and forth between frustration and fun, but sometimes that’s what painting is all about. There’s been such a tension over this one as with no other painting, where the urge to throw it away is pitted against the determination to see what could happen. I still like a lot of things in it, such as the technique of dripping paint down the front that I’ve tried in previous paintings. Dripping re-energized the painting and me, and took the work in unexpected directions.
1.
2.
April 1st: 1. This morning I dripped violet across the top and deep yellow from the bottom. This move brings about a new set of problems that may lead the way to what I’m searching for. Could be that recovery is impossible, but if I’m not happy with the work already, is it not a failure until I am? 2. Later notes after days’ work, Apr.1st: I like where the drips made me go…sometimes you’ve gotta take a leap.
March 27th - 30th - The zebra is too prominent no matter what I try to blur it into the background, so I’ve added more branches to the foreground.
March 20th - 26th: After another few days of remapping, and I like the direction it’s taking with the larger Myrtle seed-pods in the foreground…hardly touched the zebra, except before starting today I scrubbed and washed off a lot of the surface; today concentrated mainly on re-working the whole composition.
This painting has initiated so many challenges, and not just technical. As I continue to work it over and over and over, searching for - I don’t know what exactly, but I’ll know when I see it - so many thoughts arise. The main thing reconfirmed personally is that most paintings demand a lot of soul searching, digging in and seeking for what you know, and going beyond to find what you don’t.
Art in general, no matter what the media, has us confront varying emotions while we work, pleasant and unpleasant. If the piece is taking longer than anticipated, any self-expectations that mount don’t help the progress at all. There are also echos of things other Artists say, like “if it’s taking too long, trash it and start over”. That one always puzzles me - why tell someone to quit? How about searching for all that the work might possibly become? Fear of ruining work that’s already accomplished can hold us back from throwing our whole selves into it, bringing it to a new level.
It seems that so much fuss is made toward paintings that are whipped off in a day. While the method of finishing work quickly absolutely does hold ground, this is not the ideal for every painter. Most paintings do have a lot of life and zing after only one day of work and sometimes it’s best to leave them that way. Some Art is best left as “pure”, responsive, raw…some work begs to be analyzed and dissected, sometimes to the death of the piece and having nothing to show for the labor.
Each Artist knows if each painting at the end of the day has potential to become something more, and the decision to stay or to search is different with each and every piece. I say don’t give up if a painting takes too long to come to fruition…what signifies as ‘too long’ anyway?
March 19th - (click to enlarge thumbnails) As noted in previous posts, my goals for this painting were that it be mainly about the Crepe Myrtle branches. Until today when I painted over about 2 weeks of work, I wasn’t happy with the direction it was taking. At this point almost everything is a mess; wrong colors, etc. but the direction feels right…
Every painting is a gamble; do you finish in one day as quick as possible, or do you carry through with seeking more potential in the painting, and in your own capabilities? Goals can change for each painting - each is individual. For example, creating Eastern White Pine I decided early on that I was not going to mess around with it much, and that I wanted it to be completed quickly.
It’s an intuitive decision; some works like this one present a continual series of interesting problems to solve and changes to make. It’s a more difficult route, and true, I’ve ended up throwing away a few of these sort of paintings, but learning and the process of change are really valuable to me. I don’t give up on something until I trust intuitively that it’s done, or that it’s going nowhere and finishing is impossible.
March 15th - Freestyle brushstrokes have livened work up a little since the last post. Intentions are for the painting to be more about the Myrtle than the zebra, but the zebra is key to determining the rhythm of the whole composition. The biggest challenge is that the zebra is such a striking subject alone, and competes for importance with the branches. Color is a huge issue also, because the ground is dry and bright during winter, but so is the zebra. This is why I have yellow tones in the ground, and gradually am adding darker values, playing with colors throughout the painting process.
Every aspect is gradually worked through as painting progresses; ; no definite decisions made until the final day.. If/when work finally succeeds, all the stages of color transitions show through in bits and pieces across the canvas, contributing to the final color and depth impressions. It’s really the process of change in a painting that’s most enjoyable and educational. Every stage is photographed or scanned, and the process can be evaluated after it’s finished.
- finding it hard to maintain a balance of weight on the right and left sides beside such strong tones in that fur…I may add is a couple of unusually large detailed seed-pods in the foreground to take the eyes’ attention away from the zebra at first glance. I keep playing with colors, patterns, brushstrokes, scratching/removal of paint and anything I can think, still aware that the painting needs more depth.
March 10th - striving for an accurate portrayal of Crepe Myrtle branches in winter, and except for a few detailed seed-pods in the foreground, an overall abstract representation more than realism. The zebra is purposely off-center in an attempt to allow more space for the main subject. Establishing the composition is always priority over accurate colors, which are always considered but like small details are left until the final day of completion.
Categories: Seasonal, Texas, Winter, acrylic painting, animals, experimental, trees, work in progress |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.