New Works, Inspirations, Sketches

"Burning the Midnite Oil", 36 X 24" acrylic on framed canvas

"Shell and Bead Study" 20 X 20" Acrylic on framed canvas.

Since my last post in July, I finished the two pieces above. What fun! Exploring the shapes of the colors and the different hues within the shadows, shadows within shadows. It was a great discovery to find a different yellow, and both of these pieces utilized a lot of both Turner's Yellow and Yellow Oxide. Yellow Oxide is earthen, almost butterscotch in color, while Turner's Yellow is a brighter and more golden hue. I have a third yellow, Cadmium, which I used just a touch of in the upper left shadows of the "Shell and Bead Study".

I also enjoyed playing with size and perspective in both of these. The books in "Burning the Midnite Oil" have so many different angles and perspectives, the fonts were a bear. They shorten and fatten and I almost felt I would have needed some sort of gridding in order to get them spot on. I decided in the end that I was happy with the results, and that I was ready to move on. The "Shell and Bead Study" is an enlargement of a still life which would fit in the palm of your hand. The shadows cast in the background are actually those of a palm sized scallop, in which these other trinkets and mussel shells are rolling around. I particularly enjoyed painting the facets of the beads.

I have looked at some other photorealistic work that I really like. A movement that began in the early seventies, it is the use of photographs to paint heavily detailed, however stylized, works. Such artists as Chuck Close created oversized portraits that are either almost indiscernible as a painting, or heavily pixelated in order to draw attention to the digital nature of them.

Another pioneer in this movement, Audrey Flack, uses brilliant colors and dramatic still-life set ups. I Love her work. It is so sensual, and the palette and subject matter are quite attractive to me.

A modern day photorealist , Alyssa Monks, creates these paintings that are hyper sexy, intimate and almost dark in nature. The lighting makes the people look almost ghoulish, however the movement of the skin and hair in the water is cleansing and relaxing to look at.

Below are some other sketches, rough paintings etc that I have done lately. Thanks for checking it out, xo