Floating along

I can't tell you how freeing it is to have more time to paint and create without the pressure of additional blog posts.  While I enjoy the interaction and being able to share work, I also believe that I'm doing you, the readers, an disservice in not being able to provide quality information when the posts were so frequent.

The additional time allows me to think more about what I want to create, to review the past, and look towards the future.  I've spent time getting ready for an exhibition on November 1st with a number of pieces sitting at the framer's.  I tell you more about the exhibition once its done and dusted, only to say that its a group effort with Arts Northeast. 

I've been experimenting with encaustic and layering and enjoy the effects that can be achieved with the medium.  I'm also working on a series of articulated paper pieces that I'll be able to share more about next week.  I know, teasers, teasers! 

Between the portraits I've been doing, a jellyfish found its way onto a little repurposed canvas.  This was an 8 x 8" gallery canvas that I found sitting on a shelf while I looked for something else.  A quick overpainting in pthalo turquoise and indigo and the jelly was ready to set sail.

I know there are mixed opinions about using pre-painted panels or canvasses.  There can be issues, depending on the texture or thickness of paint on the original surface.  That can be smoothed and sanded back and the piece gessoed to get back an almost original surface.  I usually tend to be spontaneous in repurposing canvasses and just grab one and let the new painting take over, texture or not.  I haven't been disappointed yet.

Changing

I'm still working on portraits and studies for portraits and may do so for some time to come.  Its a bit of a test/refresher for my portraiture skills and a change of subject from the usual fish and water.  Not to say that they won't be making an appearance too.

I was also testing painting straight to canvas instead of with charcoal or pencil first.  I'm not completely pleased with the outcome and feel I really need that structured value map to guide me, otherwise I spend too much time making adjustments to features to compensate for too loose a guide to start with.

Life is crazy hectic, I've had some eye problems that are ongoing and my ability to post regularly has suffered. It makes me think more about quality than quantity and I know I sometimes post simply for the sake of words and images, rather than sharing good information and art.

I am going to try for a single post each week and see how that works out for me.  It may move to more but for the next couple of months I will post once, likely at the weekend.  I have been blogging steadily  for seven years, over 1800 posts, endless comments, hundreds of paintings - its a lot of information that I never knew was even in my head and to be honest, I'm running a little close to empty right now and need some time to regroup thoughts and ideas that are going forward into the future for projects.

This study has been a bear to get a photograph.  The light is horrible today and the painting too wet to move to better lighting.  Its not complete  and I'll work on it a little more before calling it quits.  Its in oils on 12 x 12" canvas panel. I quite enjoy portraits on this size support.  not too small to make features difficult to paint and not to large to become a marathon painting session.  Most portraits this size can be done over a period of a couple of days allowing about 3 hours painting time per day.