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.