EXPERIMENTING - Part 2

  

                     

       

My lovely cat, Bijou, again

I liked the result in pastel, so figured I'd try the same idea in oil.

#1 - top left: I did an under-painting in pale green, and tried some 

colors in the other areas,

#2 - top right: Painted the cat, but too dark, I think. Should have matched

the value of the under-painting which is now showing up

just as whitish spots, so ....

#3 - bottom left: ... I covered up the under-painting completely. Well, that's 

better, but it lacks the punch of the pastel version. So ....

#4 - bottom right: .... proceeding with the advice & encouragement of my 

friend Linda, I made a really thin wash of sap green and painted 

it over everything, but the cat. Better - at least it looks like it

all belongs together now. 

Result: I learned something new. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Bobcat Sketch

Bobcat

Approx. 8 x 10 inches, water-soluble graphite

on Pentalic 130# paper

Summers in Tucson lead to an almost overwhelming urge to take naps. 

In an effort to counteract that, twice a month I've been involved with

a workshop geared to keep my art practice alive. The above sketch 

was done during the workshop. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed 

using these Art Graf water-soluble graphite pencils.

I'm not sure whether I'll actually finish this, as I 

sort of like it just as it is.

Painting Progression - Prickly Pear

Yesterday I started a "Self-Study" workshop with Meredith Milstead. It meets 4 Sunday afternoons in May and I've chosen to work on my "unfinished plein air" pile of paintings which is getting rather large. I'm starting with the one I began a few days ago. The top photo is my subject at a plein air paint out with Tuscon Pastel Society at Tanque Verde Ranch. Next is the block-in, value study, done that morning and the bottom photo shows what I accomplished in class yesterday - still a lot to be done, obviously. I'd like to achieve more of a broken color effect on the prickly pear pads, but am not sure I can manage that. 

I'll be working from photos in class, though she prefers we work from life - thus my homework will be studying reflected light, and I'm tasked with painting something each day and sending her a photo - to prove I'm working! It's getting hot here in Tucson, and I'll be working from a still-life setup, so I bought 3 pretty Bartlett pears this morning.