Weeks 18 & 19

All 4 of these paintings are very wet so I apologize for the flash in the middle of all of them. Felt like I finally moved off of those 3 or 4 bigger ones that I was constantly working on and refining. Don't know how happy I was finally, but I just had to move on for my own sanity. These next 3 are all Lakes and all at or just after sunset (movie makers refer to this as Magic Hour because of the warm soft light that is everywhere). This one above is Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis and will have some buoys/moorings in a white pattern on the water. 

I need to keep my edge. The large clouds/lakes/island one from last blog didn't say as much as I hoped. The first comments I got about it were, "what are you trying to say? it's not very interesting." Maybe that's what I'm heading into at the next residency...

This one should say something. There's going to be a small moon or two at the top. Haven't quite figured that part of it out yet.  I like the isolation at the top. So much going on at the bottom and then 1 small thing at the top.

This picture is very dark, but I think it comes closest to Jeffrey's summation of landscape: trying to capture the ethereal atmosphere next to the very rough earth. Have noticed people piling rocks to make little "people sculptures" like the Inuit. This is happening all around the great lakes on hiking paths, etc. they will show up at the bottom of this one.

And finally this one. my interpretation of "Starry Night" by Van Gogh. Don't know if I have a lot to say about this one. It just is. Tried to capture the light, vibrancy, and color of the original while being with my paint stroke.

Weeks 16 & 17

I was out of town last week, so this covers the week before that and this current week. Continuing to explore. Working with some more layers, smaller brushes, greater detail. Had a great meeting with my mentor Christine Wilcox and I think there's a couple of works we looked at that I will go back into. 

This one might kill me. I tried rendering every leaf. Not sure how those old masters die this! It also isn't quite working the way I hoped. I do like that this is a bit of a different perspective (point of view) than what I always do and was suggested by Christine.

What to say about this one. So far it's just fun. Wet on wet and I've only done the top half obviously. Was shooting for "magic hour."

I am continuing with my landscape painting class and learning the "prismatic" method. It is slow and frustrating, but it is good technical practice for my work. It is helping me in another way as well. The more I learn the more I realize what I am doing in my own work that is "breaking the rules" and creating work that I am interested in. Harsher lights and darks, rendering certain details that wouldn't be in traditional work, etc. Good points that I am sure will work into the thesis.

Weeks 14 & 15

Couple of larger images I am continuing to work on. (Patience is a virtue, that is a difficult lesson all on it's own!) Working on trying to capture realistic colors and light-patterns. My landscape painting class is not going as well as hoped. They are dogmatic slaves that copy photos and really don't create interesting images. However, I am learning what I don't want to do. I am learning a lot about the things I can do to make sure my works don't fall in this category. I use a lot more white and black and try to push the extremes of the color scale to create a lot of drama and tension in my work. So I guess it's not a total loss...

These clouds have been very difficult and I have had to redo them a LOT! Many layers, many wipe-downs and do-overs. I can say I am not totally displeased with this latest incarnation and I did some things technically I have never done before...

This stump one has been totally redone. I was trying to do a lot when I realized the stump was the star of the painting. I put it in the middle and gave it the detail I was trying to spread around. It feels alive now and I like that. (Just for fun I put a Sasquatch back in the trees.)

This last one I have worked on for a long time it seems. Continually changing things and tweaking colors. Tried to anthropomorphize the tree but not sure if it worked. It may not be done, and I may just wait to get comments from the next residency.

Week 12 & 13

This one is still in progress. lots of layers, lots of glazes. The water around the North Shore of Lake Superior gets very red/muddy like this in storms and it's not translating well to canvas.

Hard to tell in the photo, but I have pretty much completely repainted this one. Still working on a driftwood stump in the foreground. Lots of red in the blacks/greens. Very warm.

This one is larger. Very cool. Lots of layers so far. Want a very distant/realistic feel.

My next study of a master. I started redoing "Starry Night" by Van Gogh. Decided I don't plan to every paint in that style so I am re-interpreting this piece in my own style.

Started my painting class tonight. It's a landscape class taught by Joseph Pacquet. Very technical. Working with GOOD paints (expensive). He is teaching the "prismatic" method. Basically, I think it means more blue and less yellow as things go backwards, more yellow/red as they come forwards. It's hard and I don't like most of the work of the other students. A good reminder of why my landscape needs to be different.... Image above is the start of my underpainting. Hannah will be so proud!

Weeks 10 & 11

These two look done. Tweaked quite a bit. Left the figures in the first one as I want the Monsters opinions at the next residency. (That's our affectionate term for each other in group 1 soon to be group 2). Took the fox out of the second one. Now it has that, end of the world/what happened feeling that my critique group from last semester came to know me by :) The top one had a "Chupacabra" but he ended up coming out too.

The next two have always gone together for me. They are coming along but are in the "bad tree" vein of anthropomorphizing some trees in my landscapes. Giving them some life and interest in the painting. I added a ghost to the second one. Does it seem heavy handed? It sort of looks like lightning, but i like the relationship to the big, heavy, dark trees... below is a close-up of the figure which is vaguely reminiscent of lightning against a darkening sky.

Finally here is a new one. I've always wanted to paint a ship! Yes, cliche, but that will be my challenge to make it fit. 

Week 9

This one looks done to me. Had a great meeting with my mentor, Christine Willcox from Macalester College in St. Paul, this week. Talked a lot about some of the things that came up in the Residency. Also, she gave me some more practical ways to execute these ideas especially in the works I'm creating now like the one above. Talked about mixing colors, looking at edges, and trying to keep things simple. Looking at nature and photography, etc.

Working on trees. Lots of greens and blacks. 

These two sort of go together. Didn't realize it at first, but they both started off so similar and I'm working from photographs from the same day and place.

This one has departed from the Freidrich I originally looked at quite a bit. Took out the fox. Like the sparse, "end of the world," feeling here that was described by Eliza in one of my critiques! Thanks, E! Oh, and it is State Fair time here. I've always been bitter about never being accepted into the Art Contest. Next year I may change mediums and try out for the "Seed Art Competition." 

Weeks 7 & 8

Staying very productive. Met with Jeffrey Ebeling from group 1 this week. Another great art meeting as always. Started out last week finishing a copy of Edward Hopper's The Long Leg (see above). LOTS of blue in this one. Also, my digital pictures never quite do these justice.

Working on my own black. Taking lots of different methods with the brush in these landscapes. None of them are ever the same twice. This one above is in response to my mentor Christine Willcox's ideas about animals and anthropomorphism. She lent me a book I am reading through on this subject. The working title for the one above is Bad Tree. Trying to create menace and suspicion. Sort of like Bob Ross' "Happy Trees." 

This one was originally inspired by Monk by the Sea by Caspar David Freidrich. Mostly he influenced initial layout, colors, and painting details.

The next two landscapes I'm trying to block out areas of color ahead of time. This is a VERY different method for landscape than I usually work in.

Week 6

This week found me doing a lot of academic work. Finishing up a rough draft of my first research paper on Orientalism, starting my next paper on Surrealism, and setting up a meeting with my mentor Christine Willcox from Macalester College in St. Paul. 

This first work I finished up this week.  

I'm going to try and keep up some of the reproductions. This next one is a start on a Edward Hopper. An artist that several critiquers suggested I look at.

This next one is the larger landscape I've been working on for the last few weeks. The figure is inspired by one of Hannah Barrett's double-figure images, although this one turned out to more of a conjoined twin look. Not done with this work yet.

Two new landscapes. Trying to "block out" spaces ahead of time. Also trying to premix colors a bit to avoid surprises on the canvas.

This next one is another look at a classic, but I started deviating. I was looking at the color in Caspar David Freidrich's "Monk by the Sea."

Weeks 4 & 5

Week 4 found me finishing up the two Caspar David Friedrich paintings for my faculty advisor meeting with Hannah Barrett. They were difficult and time-intensive but worth it! Had a GREAT day with Hannah and learned a lot of technique, etc.

Week 5 I finished up a few landscapes that were primarily color studies. Really trying to push the grays, make my own black, etc.

Week 3 Update

All Caspar David Freidrich, all the time!

Working on an assignment from my advisor, Hannah Barrett, I am recreating 2 paintings by Caspar David Freidrich. I'm enjoying the experience a lot. It is very technical, difficult, and a bit boring, but I'm learning a lot about the rules of landscape, experimenting with my colors and trying to match his, etc. I also feel, that while I would like the ability to paint in this manner, I don't believe I would choose to do so. The "picturesque" is not for me. I am amazed by the talent that goes into these, but I don't enjoy spending sooooo much time on tiny, bluish trees in the background hills... sort of like too much Bob Ross and I want to fall asleep. But it's a great assignment and I'm getting close to finishing.

Here are the two I am working on with the originals.

Week 1 & 2 update

Here are the images from the first 2 weeks in my studio. The first image is more a traditional style for me personally. Going off feedback from Deb Davidson and Oscar Palacio, I wanted to push the "creepiness" factor a bit. It's more blatant than my normal work.

I did numerous studies for the wedding dress of the figure in the lower right of the first painting. I had a great discussion topic with Trevor from Group 1. He gave me a great technique to do clothing/folds with out the harsh black.

After gaining a bit more confidence, I have been trying to work on developing my color palettes. I'm trying to make various grays from complimentary colors. This is a nautical landscape, but the colors are much richer and interlaced than my usual piece.

Another experiment with colors. This is entirely blue/orange/white. Laying some base layers and trying to mix colors more professionally.

This is another color study. Pushing the grays and whites and not using any blacks. None of these are finished yet. I have a few more figure studies, but after talking to Christine Willcox on Wednesday, I feel that I can get away from the figure and work on creating tension and interest with other things.

I am starting my first research paper. It is a bit daunting for me. My assignment in this first paper is to incorporate some of the material from my critical theory seminar and also to relate it back to my own work. I have chosen the theme of Orientalism. I haven't quite crafted the thesis/argument of this paper but I think it will be something about how they are using reality as a launch point and creating their own world.