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.