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.

Gallow's Cove Pond

 Gallow's Cove Pond Melt Down

5 x 7    oils

Available for purchase here.

There is a hint of spring in the air lately.  Yes, its still quite cold at times. but the temperature's rising and with that the snow is slowly melting.

Ice on the lakes and ponds begins to form pools of water on the surface as the sun and warmer air transforms its winter coat back to liquid again.  The darkness of the water beneath contrasts against the pale blue of the ice surface.  Its an time of contrasts.

I pass by this and many other bodies of water on the way to and from work each day.  On the way home just as dusk was closing in, the light was hitting the water on the ice surface and starting to take the colour away from the surface and the trees which were more like silouettes than individual forms.  I stopped for a few minutes to soak in the landscape and colours, took a few photos with my cell phone then came home to paint it.

It is said that dawn and dusk are magical times for artists.  I firmly believe that.

FISH

I've had an idea simmering for awhile for a painting that could act as the front piece or banner for my work with fish and water.  I've searched around for ideas and finally came across this neon sign FISH.  It was perfect!   The photo was taken by Thad and was on stock.xchng.

This is on a half sheet of 200lb paper and I've spent some time tonight drawing it out and now comes the fun of masking the letters then starting on the background which includes diffused reflections from the neon lights.  I'm hoping the quinacridone colours will help me out a bit here and I'll experiment a little on some scrap paper to see what works best before I commit to it on a larger scale.

The image itself here needed a bit of manipulation to make it viewable online as the initial lines are quite faint on the paper.  This is why it may look a bit mechanical here.

Looking for perfection

I've got my fingers in several pies lately and am completing the last couple of pieces for my gyotaku project.  Why is it that when you have a body of work, there is always a need to replace pieces with others you feel are better?  I line them up and look at them, then take one or two out and mentally make a note to redo a print or two and try that instead in the frame.

Its a built in process for making myself crazy, but I can't help doing it.  Thank heavens I'm not a baker or the house would be full of cakes, pies, and biscuits as I strive for perfection.  Its that same little voice in my head that helps me screw up paintings too.  You know, its the "I'll just add another layer." or "I'll repaint that tiny section."  Then before you know it, you've got another piece for the never never shelf.

One of these last pieces is of  brook trout.  Despite the sedate print in pthalo blue, I wanted to hint at the colour of the actual fish and put down layers of watercolour, letting the bleed together in sections with the background.  Each print that I produce, even if its from the same fish, is entirely different and the end result is something beyond my control.  At the risk of sounding crazy, the fish and the paper tell me what to do.

Now I must finish this conversation with a brookie...

Number 3

This is the beginning of the third painting this year with a concentration on water.  This time a gannet in flight, soaring over the ocean.  This image was generously supplied by Avenue, through Wikipedia Commons.

Northern Gannets are found in Newfoundland and at Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve is one of the largest nesting colonies of gannets in the world.  If you don't mind cliffs, the view is amazing and you'll find gannets in their thousands who return to the same nest here each year.

I've pulled out my oils for this and had forgotten how lovely they are to use after fighting with acrylics for the last few paintings.  This is on 18 x 24 gallery canvas.  I had done an initial sketch for the piece to get a feel for it, then drew straight onto the canvas with thinned burnt umber and now am starting to block in shapes. I will build it from there with thin layers of paint.  I'm using just turps or Liquin for the paint when needed, but mostly applying it straight from the tube once the initial layers are down.

Its not much to look at yet, but I'm hoping it will start coming together over the next few days.

www.jeanettejobson.com

Landwash

12 x 36, acrylic

This is the completed piece that I've been working on for a couple of weeks.  I've added some glazes of colour in areas of water and foreground to bring interest to what is a rather monotone surface otherwise.  This will sit for a few days before any final adjustments, then its time to move on to the next water piece.

I've toyed with the idea of a website for several years and now have taken the plunge and added it to my marketing repetoire.  Its taken a number of hours to add content, links, etc., but I've published it knowing there is still some tweaking to do.  Websites are a work in progress and this one still has some areas for completion. The main changes that you'll see through the interconnection between blog and website are:

• I have moved larger paintings to my website and smaller ones will remain here on my blog.   
• I have provided free drawing tutorials for download on the website, which were previously available for purchase on the blog.
• Purchasing of major pieces is available on the blog, but I do not have a dedicated storefront there.  It is something I am considering.  For now, Buy Now buttons are being used that direct users to PayPal.
• another email for contacting me is available info @ jeanettejobson dot com

I'd love to hear your comments and suggestions on the site.  You can find it at:

www.jeanettejobson.com

Rescheduling

I've pushed the date for my Gyotaku workshop ahead to April 16th.  The registrations weren't high enough to warrant me delivering it on March 19th and I have a minimum number that I need to make it functional.

Workshops, money, apathy, timing, everything plays a role in workshops meeting the needs of everyone.  I know that gyotaku is a specialized and yes, kind of strange, form of art that may not appeal to everyone.  But often exploring the unknown leads to amazing things.  It has for me.

You can register for the Gyotaku workshop on the Workshop page of this blog.

Of course by moving the date, I now have to re-market it in terms of visuals and media work.  So between that, the new website, finishing some gyotaku, painting, and hectic day job I'll be busy for awhile!

This morning and while watching the news I knocked off these two sketches, about 10 minutes each.  There seems to be a chicken theme going on here with this post and the last.  Perhaps because I'm considering getting some more laying hens this spring.  If I could just figure out how to keep the mink out of the barn, the decision would be easier.

Like a chicken...

Its just what I feel like this week.  Racing around like a chicken....well you know the rest.
This week has gotten away with me with deadlines and pressures from all sides.  As a result the blog and art has taken a backseat except for little doodles here and there that haven't amounted to much.  I hate it when that happens because it adds to the stress even more when I can't paint or draw.

I've bitten the bullet and am working on setting up a website.  I've resisted this for quite some time as the blog fulfills a lot of the online function that I need.  However, as things move ahead for me, the need for a static online presence seems to be a required function.  This, as many who have already done so know, takes time to develop and populate with text, images and links.

There will be some changes to the blog as a reflection of the website, but they should interlink well. The biggest change will be the placement of more important pieces of art on the website and the smaller pieces will remain on my blog and/or Etsy. I hope to have the site  up and running within the week and you can let me know what you think.

Portrait winner chosen

I've made the drawing for the winner of an original portrait using a random number generator from 209 entries.  These were from names of subscribers to my newsletter, my artist page on Facebook and from direct emails responding to why they would like a portrait. The winning number was 192 and I will contact the winner by email.  The winner's name will be announced in my March newsletter. Thanks to everyone who participated!

This little jug was a study piece completed for the Daily Paintworks Challenge to help concentrate on values. The piece can be purchased here.

Landwash Update 4

A wintry weekend has given me the bonus of more time to spend on this painting and its moving along more quickly than I anticipated.  I've worked more on adding definition to the piece within the wave, reflected light on the water surface and by adding more layers to the sand in the foreground.  Its at a point where the work is a bit repetitious and can be monotonous to a degree.  The water surface reflections are like a puzzle, but perfect placement isn't a requirement so I have a bit of leaway in that. 

Tonight I'm having a little break from water and working on some other things.  Its good to have a couple of pieces in progress at the same time as it gives me a chance to go back again with fresh eyes every day or two.

People have asked how I achieve this effect with acrylics.  Acrylics aren't a medium I was ever very comfortable using or pleased with the results, but I've played around with them more frequently over the last couple of months and there are elements I like and dislike about them.  I may be doing the next piece in oils which will have similar techniques to my current use of acrylics.

For acrylics I sometimes use a slow dry blending medium in passages of the piece that give me more time to blend the values.  However, often I simply use a series of thin glazes of paint using just water as the medium.  I use a 'scrubby' or old short bristle brush to work a layer of paint and immediately top it with another value, blending the edges.  I find this gives me the best control over the paint and not leave hard edges.   To the viewer, acrylics or oil use in a finished piece, would be very difficult to differentiate from.  As with many different mediums, there are certain mindsets that reject one over the other or deem a finished piece as more or else valuable.  This, to me, is part of the art world that I do not like and smacks of some individuals wanting to feel more superior in a claim that one medium is 'better' than another.  To me, its in the final product.  I don't care what the medium is.

Landwash update 3

I've spent more time building the wave structure and colour, along with developing the base for the water surface values.  Water surfaces are very complex and it takes concentration and time to get them to look as they should.  The good thing is that there is no precision as with a portrait, so it becomes freeforming shapes and lines instead of defined lines.

I've also begun to add some spatters of paint to give texture to the sand/gravel of the shoreline.  This shore is usually covered with smooth stones, but the surf had pulled them clear down to the sand line.  The sand here isn't the classic pale golden sand, but a mix of ochre sand and fine gravel.  I'm adding dark spatters to it with raw umber, violet and burnt sienna before adding lighter colours as highlights.

I'm working on the wave itself to build form and colour.  It too is complex and while it has specific shapes, it is organic and allows me some freedom.  Getting the light that shows through the highest points of the waves still isn't quite there, but I'm heading in the right direction.

Landwash update

 
I've blocked in more of the wave so it stretches across the canvas now, but there's still a lot of work to do yet.  I've been putting down the base colour for the ocean behind the wave and the wash in front then working darker details into those.

The sand/fine gravel is in place and will be defined using a spatter technique.  I hate this stage of a painting because nothing looks as it should, but it will start coming together, given time.

Landwash WIP

I've put the bones into place for a new water piece called Landwash.

This is done from life studies and images taken at Middle Cove, watching sedate waves washing ashore instead of the usual wild Atlantic breakers.  The bright sun on the crest of the wave makes the piece look as if its made of glass or ice - water frozen in time.

There's a lot of water to block in with fairly neutral blue greys, then comes the fun of creating the water surface.  This could take awhile...

The piece is 12 x 36" and in acrylics.

Zippo II

So good I drew it twice.  And perhaps will a third time too.

I love trying my hand at reflections and after last nights efforts I wanted to try the same image in different media.  This is drawn with coloured charcoal, Ocean Blue, and white pastel pencil.  These are similar to the original limited palette of ultramarine, burnt sienna and titanium white.  I have a small set of coloured charcoal pencils which I haven't used them a lot.  The colours are very subtle which does have an appeal and I should explore with them more.

This piece is on 8 x 10 brown paper sketchbook that is one of my favourites to draw in.  The manila coloured paper works so well for so many things, acting as the mid-range value.

Zippo

 Zippo

5 x 7

acrylics

Michael Naples is the host of this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge and his reference of a shiny Zippo lighter is proving popular.  This is my version of it in acrylics.  The challenge is the use of a limited palette of ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and titanium white.  Go on, have a try, you'll be amazed at the range of colours a limited palette provides.

This piece is available for purchase here.

Beach babe

 
This image by Valri Ary appealed to me.  The plump baby was experiencing her first ocean waves with delight.  I wish we could all have those 'first time' experiences again.

I recycled a 10 x 10 canvas for this, undercoated it quickly with some orange acrylic that was leftover on a palette, then sketched in a line drawing in charcoal.

 I blocked in some background and a few highlights, still using acrylics.

Then I laid in colours for the body

Then finally on to picking out some detail and refining the piece a bit more.  All in, about 2 hours work and a great painting exercise.