Archive for December, 2010
Westfield and Illinois in Winter
Today was the second (and final!) day working on this painting. We’ve had some rain and warmer weather so the snow was melting and things were slushy. We also has a 3.8 magnitude earthquake this morning, with the epicenter about an hour north.
It immediately became clear that I’d have to change the painting to incorporate the now visible grass and the slushier snow.
Painting begins on Day 2 with the snow melting
Not long after I’d started painting I turned around to see a reporter and a videographer standing nearby. They asked me if I’d felt this earthquake this morning. I said “No, but things seem to have shifted slightly between day before and today.” The clip showed up on the evening news today and is embedded and linked to below. Pretty hilarious. I guess I can now put an ‘as seen on TV’ sticker on the painting. (as a side note, the reporter seriously deserves an award for pronouncing my name perfectly).
videographer from WTHR Channel 13
link to video: http://www.wthr.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5427584&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
After the hubbub, it was time to buckle down and work. I modified, painted over or added to every area of the painting.
I painted the grassy spots revealed by the snow melt and tried to make the trees more organically shaped and varied. The local bank branch is visible at the left edge of the painting as is Bob’s Gas Station in the background. The sign that’s at that slightly crooked angle reads ‘Illinois St’ and “Stop Ahead”. I also added the oncoming SUV and the cars stopped at the light because the picture really needed some sense of human activity and human scale. The headlights and brake lights are all on because I’ve always felt that seeing headlights on during the day has a surreal touch to it. As to the ambiguity about which lane the oncoming SUV is in? I’m going to chalk that up to artistic license and how swervy some drivers are.
finished painting- 'Westfield and Illinois in Winter' 16" x 20" (as seen on TV!)
The painting’s finished and I’m pretty happy with it for a quick two days of work. The important thing is- there are some pretty unique stories that came out of the process.
Painting on the corner of Westfield and Illinois
So this is today’s story. Very recently I’ve begun to see paintings again. What I mean is, I’ll be out for a walk or an errand and I’ll see a grimy CVS parking lot and the scene will cry out to me to be painted. I’ve been seeing potential paintings everywhere; particularly around Westfield Blvd. This particular scene contrasts the shimmery nature of the canal water with the intricate complexity of the retail shops to the left. It’s a classic nature/culture pairing and I was eager to get out and paint. To me these views are not particularly noteworthy or picturesque, but they speak to me on a deep level. To take the ordinary mundaneness of the routine and see something special in it.
A sunny start to the day
things are roughly sketched out at this point
The trees are dripping a bit at the bottom with the addition of some linseed oil to the paint. The session had some of the challenges associated with painting on the spot-a few of the paint tubes were crusty and I couldn’t get them open. But I’m relishing the challenge of doing this work and found ways to work around the unopenable tubes.
close up of painting being sketched out
stage that it's in at the end of the day
all bundled up to paint
There’s still quite a bit of work to do on this. I don’t know that I’ll be able to get out in the next two days, but hopefully I’ll be able to soon. Let’s hope the snow stays in place!
Painting in progress in a noisy studio
These are in-process shots of a new painting in the works. It’s a simple painting, meant to be a warm-up for other work that’s coming up. Possible titles at this point are “Mugged” (cute) or “Interlocking Rings”.
Studio shot of Mug Painting in Progress- Stage 1
I associate these mugs with a warmth that seemed appropriate for wintertime. I’ve painted one of these guys before in Still Life with Webster’s.
Studio shot of Mug Painting in Progress- Stage 2
I was attracted to the set-up by the way the handles of the mugs overlapped- hence “Interlocking Rings”. I was thinking of this delightful Vi Hart video, part of her series on the connections between drawing, doodling and math.
The noisy studio in the post title refers to the dialogue that happens as the painting is created. What could be a quiet, meditative process turns out to be a noisy one with cameos by lots of ghosts and voices. As I studied the top of the mug on the right, I was struck by how dark it gets near the rim. I felt that heavy darkness made me look ‘under’ it and created a welcome sense of tension in the painting. This idea of looking under a line or shape in a painting has long haunted me. It’s straight out of Diebenkorn, Ocean Park- a painting like “Ocean Park No. 129″ where he gets you to look under the lines at the top like ducking your head under a clothesline.
Richard Diebenkorn- Ocean Park no. 129
The dialogue and free-association are part of the pleasures of the painting process for me. I’m hoping to wrap this one up soon. It’s getting pretty close.
