Water update

 
I've added a few more layers to this wave and its coming together as it should.  I am conscious that I am behind in my water paintings this year.  Although I have not committed to a particular number on paper, I have in my head and hope to produce at least a dozen before the year is gone.

Of course life and work gets in the way as well as other commitments.  I am finishing my final report for the gyotaku project and should have it in the mail by the end of this week.  Then I can concentrate on some other projects, however the gyotaku will be with me for some time yet.  It will be part of an art group exhibition later this summer, but more about that at another time.

For now, more layers, more blending and coaxing colour and paint into water.  A name for the piece still hasn't made itself known to me.  One of these days it will just happen I'm sure.  A whole post could be written on the process of naming paintings and likely has!

Untitled water

The ocean has been in a gentle mood when I've gone to visit her lately.   Waves roll in but they're not aggressive or menacing, but have a calm feel to them and are almost sculptural at times when I catch them in a freeze frame.  The name for this piece hasn't come to me yet and suggestions are always welcome.

I liked the shapes and colours in this wave and the foam in the foreground.  This is its first stages of blocking in shapes and colours.  This is a 12 x 24" canvas panel and I'm using oils.  I switch back and forth between acrylics and oils when one or the other frustrates me.

Finding the right values to capture the light through the water is always a challenge at first, then seems to just happen as the painting progresses.  A couple of newish colours that I've added to my arsenal of oils cover several brands:  Old Holland Carribean Blue; Richeson Oils The Shiva Series,  Ice Blue and Classico King's Blue Light.  You just never know where a new favourite pops up when it comes to creating water.  I'm not looking for a perfect match out of a single tube, but just the right colour of blue, green or turquoise that help move it in the right direction when mixed with other colours.

The long road

I think there are some pieces of art that can take a lifetime to complete. They evolve over time and take thought and planning to execute well.  This may well be one of them.


I started this piece several years ago.  Its a 22" x 30" drawing in graphite on illustration board.  The subject is a symbolic self portrait, inspired from a class with Armin Mersmann.  I  began with some elements then was stuck and still am to a large degree.  The foreground defeats me and though I've fiddled with it over the last day or so, just what to add still evades me. The size of the piece and the medium can be daunting too, as graphite is not a quick technique to work with.

Created a symbolic self portrait is not a simple task, at least to me.  It involves a lot of self analysis, some of which isn't always a good thing, to make a decision of what elements in the world make up your own personality.  The viewer can see a variety of objects, some of which may be clear, some not as to why it could represent a person.  That is part of the appeal, to let the viewer create their own story around the images.

This piece may well be on and off the shelf for another few years before it is complete.  There's something comforting to know that part of me sits there, waiting.

Easter chick

I'm not a great fan of Easter chocolate and with no children around, there's very little that makes its way into the house.  However, Easter isn't about chocolate or shouldn't be.  Like most religious holidays, manufacturers have morphed it into a money making enterprise that removes it far from its origins.

I'm far from religious, but Easter to me is a time of rebirth.  Of the land, of nature, animals..everything moves into a new cycle in spring and Easter seems to be the pinnacle that announces it officially.

New life is amazing, whether human, animal or plant.  Here, the new life is a day old chick.  Fragile, but strong and full of potential.  Just like all of us.  The image is one I took a few years ago. I drew a pen and ink piece using the reference and found the image again and thought I'd try another version.

I did this sketch using the end of a palette of acrylic colours on some canvas paper.  The pastel colours seem to suit the little bird.

Self portrait - multimedia

I decided to go for broke with the self portrait and add some more layers using acrylics.  This paper is a star in holding up to layers of mixed media and moisture.  I'm impressed.  Of course the layer of coloured pencil helps act as a base I'm sure.

Experimenting using multi media can lead to interesting effects and surprising results.  This may still be tweaked a bit more, but for now I'm calling it done and moving on to the next piece.  The drawing is about 7" x 12".

Its only paper

I picked up the self portrait I had started a couple of weeks ago.  I had been picking at it here and there, adding a few more layers and it was at a point that I wasn't really happy with it.  The texture was too grainy, the colour not where I wanted it to be.  So I decided I would play around with it a bit more, using the 'its only paper' concept that allows me to be free.

I brushed paint thinners on over the coloured pencil, timidly at first to see how what happened, then more heavy handed and was quite interested to see how the thinners change the colour and brings out the reds that I had added as a previous layer.  It turns it into a different piece entirely, one that I'm not too unhappy with.

Yes there are muddy sections, but there are also passages of colour that I like too.  The surface is too slick to add something like pastel over it, but it may take a little more pencil or perhaps some acrylic.  Its on a sheet of Rives paper I believe, I can't remember, but it seems to stand up to the moisture of the thinners well, but may be just too textured for decent coloured pencil application.

The difference between the two is pronounced, almost a Jekyll and Hyde.  Which is the real me...?

The watching window

There is something about derelict buildings that draws me.  Peeling paint, cracked windows, glimpses into the past life of strangers amongst overgrown gardens and rusting mail boxes.

I came across this house in a narrow road near the sea.  An elderly man had lived there, died there and with no family, no one knew what to do with the house I was told.  So it sits.  Silently watching the ocean, waiting for the man to return or for nature to reclaim it.

This window faces the sea. Peeling paint on an old fashioned storm window, the type that is screwed onto the frame, is slowly letting the world in instead of keeping it out.

I need to paint this.

Leaning into the afternoons

Yesterday I took a walk on the beach to clear my head and get some new images of the water that I hoped would inspire the next painting.  It was a pleasant day, not overly warm, but the snow is gone and spring is in the air.

The spring run off cut a swathe across the stony beach on its way to the sea and it was flowing fast around larger rocks, creating great movement and light, just what I needed.  I love the light play across the colours of these rocks as the water moves over them.  Maybe a painting in its future, though quite complex.

The surf was fairly calm for the Atlantic and I only had to jump out of the way once or twice when it warned me that I was getting to close. 

The cliffs that surround the cove were shades of purple greys, but the water caught my eye. It looked almost tropical with shades of blues and turquoise shot through the grey and silver.  The last vestiges of winter are still clinging to the crevices of the cliffs in the form of ice.

Each trip to the shore reveals new inspiration for drawings and paintings.  I am  lucky to have the ocean on my doorstep.  Another of my favourite poems by Pablo Neruda - Leaning into the Afternoons.  The film, the language, the music, all paint a better image than I ever could with paints.  That sound of gulls is so evocative of the ocean.  I know it in my sleep, I hear it every day.  Neruda was a genius with words.

Gyotaku workshop

I had the pleasure of delivering a gyotaku workshop to 13 hardworking individuals on Saturday at the Anna Templeton Centre for Craft Art and Design.  The Centre is a hub of creativity in downtown St. John's as well as a historic building.  Built in 1849 as the British Bank of North America, the building at 278 Duckworth Street was Newfoundland’s first bank building and is now designated as a national historic site.

The day long workshop gave a lot of information in what always seems to be too short a time frame, as workshops fly by.  The group was so hard working and prints were flying off paper.  The amount of information really is too much for one day and in future I will break it down into two days, one for print making and the other for the additional techniques of colour and mounting.

Here are some images from the workshop and as you can see it was heads down and working hard all day.  Many thanks to everyone who attended.  For me, workshops are a two way street for learning.  I learn as much from those who attend as from what information I provide.  Thank you everyone!

Nearing the end

 Flatrock - watercolour

My art has been put on a backburner this week for the most part as I gear up for tomorrow's workshop. Most things are in place and it should be a fun day playing with the fishies.

Once the workshop is behind me I can finish up the paperwork for it, submit it and that's another chapter closed.  What have I learned by doing this project? 

• I can write a proposal with sufficient substance that it secures an art grant.
• I can produce a body of work in a specific time frame while working full time at a day job.
• I can compartmentalize my day job and my art.
• I can find extra hours to work on a project.
• I can juggle project work, as well as produce other non-related pieces of art.
• I can still keep the blog going with 3 or more posts a week while working on the project.

 Everything in life is within reach if you want it badly enough.  You'll find the money, the time, the energy - just go and do it. 

Meanwhile, here's a small update on the watercolour of the rocks leading out into the sea at Flatrock.  It still has a ways to go, but heading in the right direction.  The rock detail is time consuming as there are so many layers and shapes. Its a good exercise in concentration and like most complex pieces, once broken down into sections, it comes together more easily.

Photography

 Lonely

Monochrome photograph

Many artists spend almost equal time photographing to find the perfect references or capture light, action or life just moving too fast to commit to canvas or paper.  With the growth of digital cameras, it becomes easier and easier to shoot hundreds of images in search of the perfect one.

Lonely

Colour photograph

I am no different and usually have a camera close by either inside or outdoors - just in case.  Some of the images I'm quite pleased with and I've been collecting a select few to offer for sale. These are on my website and are both colour and monochrome - the version that I seem to favour for the mood and atmosphere they create, especially for damp seascapes and landscapes or mysterious images in the barn.

This is one of the newest pieces that you can see on my site www.jeanettejobson.com. I have also included the colour version here as well.  Which is your preference?  Each seems to have such a different feel to it.

1927

I couldn't sleep last night and was up very early, as I'd sooner do something constructive than lie in bed tossing and turning and thinking.


A small photo was on the table in my studio, about 2 x 3 inches if that.  Sepia and of my mother when she was about 4 years old, which would have been about 1927 or 28.  I thought I'd try my hand at drawing it.  The pose and the frilly dress/pantaloons appealed to me and there's something about old photographs that provide good challenges to work on values without getting too bogged down in detail.  Its not perfect, but from something so tiny at such an early hour, it was fun to do.

The graphite drawing is about 4 x 8 in a Canson sketchbook.

Word clouds

I stumbled across this neat little program called Wordle that creates word clouds from words that you type in, from a blog, blog feed, or any other web page that has an Atom or RSS feed or a del.icio.us user name.

You can tweak position, size, colour, and backgrounds to achieve the effect you want.  I played with a few options, the black background contained words which I provided, the other cloud came automatically generated from my blog feed.

What crossed my mind is that you could almost use it as a unique artist statement, especially if you fine tuned it using words that relate to a body of work or direction you are taking artistically. 

What words describe your art?

Card update

I'm adding washes of colour to this piece and there's lots left to do yet. I want a third of the fish under water so have added washes of blues after I completed colouring the body.  I'll lift out highlights where the body or object comes close to the water surface or where it has a strong highlight.

The background of trees and dark sky are still in progress with washes and I'm going to put little coloured fairy lights in the trees (I hope). 

The lantern's glow still needs to be established as well as the light it sheds on the water and objects around it.

Its something different, but I'm enjoying the break from the rocks.  The piece is about 12 x 15, 200lb paper.

Visions in my head

I'm thoroughly disliking my rock painting right now.  I can't seem to get into it and all the rocks look alike in colour, even if they're not.  I may perserve or it may get hidden out of view for awhile til inspiration hits again.

And inspiration does hit in strange ways for me sometimes.  I lay in bed last night with images of fantasy creatures in my head and started to put some ideas down onto paper with an idea for a Christmas card.  I'm not known for a vivid imagination in terms of creating something out of nothing visually.  I need solid objects in front of me to make it happen, so how this came to being I don't know.  Perhaps my year of fish everything has them engraved into my brain.

This sketch may change from its current state but I'll play with it some more and see what colour does to it and if it matches what's in my head.  That's the beauty of thumbnail sketches, they are small enough to arrange and rearrange to your heart's content before they become reality.  And, as I look at this sketch, I see that the crab has to go....

Rocks

I've started a new water piece, even though it doesn't look very much like water at this point.  Back to my beloved Middle Cove and to a river that rushes through the valley, cuts into the beach and flows into the sea.  Rocks have been smoothed and tumbled from the surrounding beach and river bed as the water flows over them and shallow pools form along the way. 

It was one of these pools that I peered into, always hopeful for inspiration or perhaps some aquatic creature lurking.  This time it was the light that caught my eye as it made ripples across the stones.

I did a study for this piece a couple of weeks ago, working out colour and composition and also deciding on the medium.  Ever a glutton for punishment, I went with acrylic, which I love and hate.

It is very slow going with these rocks and each one becomes a painting in its own right almost.  The piece is 16 x 20 on stretched canvas and I'm sure there may be interludes of other pieces while it progresses.  Right now its pretty much just values on canvas with hints of detail where I couldn't resist.

Portrait update

While I have several other projects underway, I've been spending a few minutes here and there on this portrait.  I'm building the shadow levels slowly.  I haven't created a face in very deep shadow in coloured pencil so I'm experimenting on scraps for the right combination of colours that give depth of value but not deadening it.

Some of me is still wandering, looking for inspiration and I find it in the oddest places sometimes.  Tonight it was in a small fish and chip shop.  While waiting for an order, the old 50's style chrome and red leatherette stools caught my eye.  I took a few photos with my cell phone camera, while other customers gave me strange look, trying to figure out what I was up to.  I think I'm past the stage of being self conscious about recording what appeals to me anymore.  I only stop when someone asks me to and, to day, no one has, so that's good.

I'm playing around with composition and colour for this piece, adding and taking away elements until it looks right.  Its a good feeling to be able to create your composition as you want it, and never be confined by what is in front of you.

Bubbles

 

 Bubbles

4 x 12" oils

I started to draw up a large piece of water related art today but it just wasn't working so I'll leave it til the morning.  Instead I finished up a small oil painting that I had started of goldfish in bubbly water.  The illusion of having the fish under the water instead of sitting on top of it can elude sometimes. 

The bubbles become tiny paintings in their own right and the movement of water helps with the illusion.

Artists are magicians, creating illusion with colour and light where once there was white space.

There are some of my photographs available on this blog and today I put those and more on my website and will add more as they become available.  I'm considering using some of my photographs as art cards.  Perhaps you can tell me your favourites to help my decision.

Will-o'-the-wisp

When I was a child I lived and breathed fairytales.  They fascinated me, both the words and the illustrations.  Ghosts, fairies, trolls, witches....they in turned scared me and made me search out more. When the  light fades and night draws in, I always think of those fairytales.  When the sky loses light and the moon shines through thin cloud onto the water, the world takes on a new look and feel.  In my imagination, little pinpricks of light on the distant shore across the bay, that are houses or businesses or cars, become will-o'-the-wisps, the magical balls of fire that flicker in the mist. 

As darkness falls, the land and sea take on a new life and look.  Its as mesmerizing to me as watching the flames burn in a fire.  The absence of natural light and the addition of artificial light, shadows and reflections can turn the mundane world into fairytales and ghost stories.

This small pastel was a quick sketch of lights across the cove at that magical time of day.

A little more

I'm inching my way forward with this coloured pencil piece, not sure if I'm losing some of the likeness in places, but its still early days yet and time to tweak later.

The left side of the face is in fairly heavy shadow, so I'm working out my palette on a scrap of paper to ensure I get it right before trying to experiment on the portrait itself.  Colour swatches on spare scraps of the same paper are a god send and save time and frustration.

Self portraits are always interesting and I find out something new about myself with each one.  Perhaps April should be Self Portrait Month and everyone try one.  Its a very useful exercise.

Back to the pencils

I'm finding a pattern for when inspiration drops off.  Its usually when I've spent a lot of time painting and not enough time drawing.  Drawing has always been my first love and it was what I was schooled in years ago.  Traditional, representational drawing.  And its my fall back or comfort zone when the going gets tough.

So while other ideas brew in my head for more paintings I pulled out some coloured pencils and started a self portrait.  This is a couple of hours worth on Stonehenge or Bainsbridge drawing paper.  I'm not quite sure which - Bainsbridge I believe, as I took it from a sheet lying in the stash that wasn't categorized.  Its about 9 x 12.

So until the muse comes backs with paints in hand, you're stuck with me and my pencils.

Textures

Busyness and business and a rut keeps me away from painting these last couple of days.  The opposite of the Midas touch turns everything to mud instead of gold. Part of the problem is the aftermath of the fall on some icy steps last week.  My wrist still isn't right and now bound up with a support that does help but makes it a little awkward to write and paint for any length of time.

I came home to a bag full of boxes of Peeps of different colours which I thought might inspire me. These marshmallow Easter sweets are disgusting to me.  Amusing to draw or paint, but you could not pay me enough money to eat one of them.  Its more a texture thing I think.  I hate spongy, marshmallowy stuff.  I shudder when I have to pass marshmallows in the supermarket aisle, even the smell is offputting to me.  Cotton wool balls have a similar effect.  Not that I eat them, but touching cotton wool gives me the creeps.

However,  I started a little drawing while watching the news but didn't progress much further than that.  I think this was the misfits box of Peeps as one was twisted to one side, looking as if he was going to make a break for freedom at any moment.  Perhaps it was a Friday afternoon box.  It was funny as I had just seen some on Rhonda Carpenter's blog Watercolour and Words and had also unearthed a package of them in the studio last week, left overs from last year. Hard as a rock, but still perfectly intact.  You never know, maybe they'd taste better when all dried out...sort of like crispy meringue.  Peeps are meant to be.  But not tonight.

I've come to accept the highs of lows that come with the act of creating art.  Well perhaps not quite accept, but simply go with the flow.  I know inspiration will return.  Peeps and all.

Golden

 

This murky wave containing sand and silt still lets light fill the curl as it topples over.  The movement is on a permanent repetition, yet each wave is different, its own composition of light and shade.

The piece is 4" x 12" and painted in oils on gallery canvas.

Father update

.

 Robert William Barber

1920-1990

I've worked more on this today as I had the day off due to a late spring snowstorm. I've added more definition and smoothing of features with thin layers of oils.  The hair is...I'm not sure yet.  His hair wasn't grey even at 70 years of age, just a touch at the sides and always kept military short. Conveying that is not as easy as I thought as the scalp shows through as an undertone almost.

I think I'm going to leave the face as is, but give more definition to the clothing.  He was sitting forward in this piece and I don't have the photo anymore so I need to recreate how the jacket will look in that position for light and creases, etc.  I'll set up a jacket in a similar position tomorrow and work from that.  Everything can be recreated when needed.

I still can't seem to get a decent photo of this painting despite tweaking camera and photo editing.  I think the colours are close at this point, but images on monitors are never perfect. 

My father - again

 

My father has been dead for over 20 years. About 6 months before he died I started a portrait of him, but it was never finished.  He saw the start of the piece and liked it, but life - and death - got in the way to stop its completion. Although I've tried to draw and paint a portrait of him several times since, it has just never worked out as I wanted.  The likeness evaded me at every turn.

I pulled out the old portrait tonight to look at it again and see if I could revive it.  The image below is the original portrait that was started about 21 years ago.  It was painted in acrylic and as it was a thin layer I figured I would take a chance and paint over it in oils.  The canvas board is 16 x 20 and the portrait a head and shoulders quite small in a dark background.  Perhaps it was symbolic at the time, who knows?

Using another image of him, as the original photo is heaven knows where, I started repainting his features in oil and lightening and softening the background around him.  Getting a photo of the current painting has been nightmarish, but this is the best I can do for now.  Another one in daylight tomorrow may be better.  I'll continue to work on this.  I don't want it to be heavily detailed.  It should be more like a memory, a bit misty.

This time I think its going to work.

The Gyotaku Project - insight

Janet McDonald from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council did an interview with me about my gyotaku project last week and it is on the front page of their website.  NLAC showcases some of the work of grant recipients through their site. There you can get a deeper insight into the project and how it progressed.  The NLAC generously funded the grant which made it possible for me to spend the past year knee deep in fishy things.  Thank you.

I have also provided a short video of some of the images that I have created using the gyotaku technique. It is also available on my website. Make sure you have the sound turned on for this.  The Japanese music is so calming. The gyotaku workshop will be held on April 16th and you can register for it through the Workshop page on my site.  I might even bring Ruby along...

Earth's Eye

 Earth's Eye

6 x 12   oils

A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.  It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.  ~Henry David Thoreau

Late last summer I had taken some images of the water surface of Gallow's Cove Pond just as sun was setting.  There was a little chop on the pond and the movement of the water was hypnotizing.

I started out then using an old 6 x 12 canvas, repainting it and laying down values for the water, but it didn't go any further.  I picked up the canvas again the other night as I had my oil palette out and started adding detail to the surface.

It now looks abstract with images that I can read into it almost like watching the flames of a fire.  Moonlinght, water, sky, cloud, mist, fog....its a combination of everything.  As the surface of the old canvas was a bit textured, it shows through under the current layers.  I'd prefer a smooth surface for this so this will go to the 'study' section of my studio wall while I consider its fate.

Gannet update

 Vertigo

18 x 24 - oils

I'm having a love/hate relationship with this painting.  It seems as I get one part to look as it should, another part pushes forward throwing it out of balance.  That's progress for you perhaps.

I'm still glazing and building layers of colour.  The colour of the sea still evades me but I am coming to terms with it now.  I'll let it evade me and create the colour that suits me.  Right now its not the right colour.  Another couple of days drying then some glazes to tone down the colour will help.

The gannet needed some adjustments for its wing shapes and I'm beginning to add some detail to the feathers.  I don't know if I ever want to paint another bird.  Too many feathers and they are nothing something I've ever painted a lot.  Its all just light and shade right?  That's what gets me through it.

Waiting

Oil painting is all about patience.


This is a small piece that I started last night.  I wanted to play with smooth transitions of colour and value and test my application and brushes.  This is as far as I can go with it until it dries a bit.  Depending on the technique I use, I usually end up waiting for a piece to dry for a few days before additional layers can be added, so they don't move the previous layers.  The wave is a deliciously beer-coloured roll of water, usually found after a storm has churned up the bottom of the sea, colouring the water with sand and debris.

The painting is 4 x 12" and while it dries, I can go back to work on the gannet which has had its drying time and now ready for the next layers of paint.

Neon continued

 
Last week I put down the drawing of a neon FISH sign on watercolour paper and have since added some layers of colour to it.  I'm a little loathe to show it at this point because its at its ugly stage, but I figured what the heck.  We've all been there before and know (or at least hope) that it moves on into its swan stage sooner or later.

I masked the tubes of the sign and have started working into the ones on the left.  To achieve an effect of glowing light, the washes must be at just the right level of dampness to blend the colours seamlessly.  Its good in places and bad in places.  There's a ways to go yet in terms of building layers of colour.

River rocks

If you follow this blog, you'll know that I often complete studies before I jump into a large piece.  This is a study for a painting of river rocks underwater.  It came about more as a doodle then I got involved in the detail and had to keep going.

I started with a watersoluble pencil on what was at hand at the time - a sheet of acrylic canvas.  This of course, is meant for painting using acrylics, and the texture affects drawing and watercolour which was used here.

I wanted to experiment with using the surface and texture to my advantage.  I found that while there is a granular effect with the watercolour settling into the weave of the surface, I can easily get back to a white surface with a wipe of a damp brush.  Its rather like Yupo or TerraSkin in that respect, thought I don't think I'll be using the acrylic canvas for a finished piece in watercolour.

But for now, the study works on any surface as I can work out colours and textures, but its made me consider whether yupo or terraskin might work more in my favour than watercolour paper.  It could save me a lot of time in masking light reflection lines.

Going cold turkey

 

 oils  8 x 10

This is the face of addiction.

Yes, cat treats are the scourge of the rural feline way of life.  Its true, the rattle of a package anywhere in the house will cause running, loud pleads to do anything for more and more of these little squares of cat cocaine.

Then when the package is empty, withdrawal sets in.  And crankiness.  Extreme crankiness.  Pacing, tripping up humans, complaining loudly and running to the kitchen when even a package of peas is opened in the hopes it may be the cat crack.

Tripod has been banned from these cat treats.  He's not happy about it.  This is the face of addiction.  He's going cold turkey.

Gannet - update

I'm working on several pieces, flitting back and forth while waiting for layers to dry on one or the other or adjusting and framing a print.  I don't think I've worked any other way, but to multi-task.  I believe it is likely the way of many artists.

I've added more layers to the gannet painting, but its still very early stages.  The water colour is not right and must be much darker.  For some reason obtaining the right hue keeps escaping me, but I'm working on it.

I like the sense of height early on in this piece and its giving me the name of the painting - Vertigo.  Its funny how names of pieces either become apparent early on or can just never come.  Names of paintings help sell them also by striking that chord of emotion or connection with the viewer that is so essential to a sale.  If you don't love it, if it doesn't remind you of something in your life, past or present, you won't buy it.