5x7 show time

Cutting it a little close..... but churning away on my painting for the upcoming 5 x 7 show at the Arthouse. This is my 3rd start, but I 'm feeling like it's the one. The show opens April 4th.

Land of the rising sun

Despite how long we have waited, hoped and dreamed, Japan is not getting any closer. Nope. I keep checking.

There's nothing to be done about it, but hop a long wonderful flight and get it done! And 2012 is as good a year as any.

The calendar is marked for May and there's been furious google mapping, flickering, and pinteresting since we declared this trip a go. Because there's so darn much to see, my husband and I decided to make a list of our goals for this trip. That way, when we return, we can say, Yes... we did that!

My list:

-Visit the Moss Temple. (You have to write the monks a letter, using paper and pen and handwriting, and put it in the mail, with a stamp, to get an invitation to attend! How exciting! Paper!)

-Walk down a crooked narrow street with hanging lanterns and little antique shops. 

-Spend some hours in a stationary store squealing and drooling over tiny papers and packaging.

-Miss breakfast tacos.

-Browse some high-end ceramics shops like this one.

-See Lady GAGA concert in Tokyo.... (bonus points)

Danger!

Normally you might think that lobster is for rich people but at $30 all up, you can't afford to skip it, when you compare it to eating out.

Boiling them alive wasn't as traumatic (......for us) as I thought, and the easiest part is that there's not much of a recipe to follow..... boil, cut up, grill, brush with butter and eat. And more butter.
 
Plus, it's always fun to combine eating and manual labor.

Dallas

The Jean Paul Gaultier show at the Dallas Museum of Art was well worth the trip last weekend. It's a treat to see such fine craftsmanship and design that close up. It was a bit too bad that it was so crowded. Still though, super glad we got to see it. If it comes to a city near you, be sure to check it out.

The surprise element of the show, were those videos projected onto the faces of all of the mannequins. You can kinda make it out in that shot. A great effect and perfectly executed -- a rare thing, indeed.

Along with some goodies at the Crow Collection (pictured), and a great show at the Nasher Sculpture Center of Elliott Hundley work, it was an art-tastic day!

A perfect reminder to get out and see the world.....when you're not too busy painting.

Three Graces Gallery

I have 6 new watercolors up at the Three Graces Gallery, "Teeny Tiny Art Show #9." At last, my little paintings united with other little works of art.

If you're in the New Hampshire area, stop by. If not, stop by the online store and see my latest work.

Set-up + process

After looking at this site, The Setup, I started thinking about how interesting it is to see how other people work. In light of that, I would like to share my painting set up. It seems simple enough, but it's some 15 years in the making. 

On top of what's pictured above, I also can't live without:
- 2 of these floor lights. (very important)
- Lots of reference books
- My flickr favorites (in slide show mode)
- American Painter Brushes. They make the best small brushes in my opinion. I have a whole stash... the tips get bent quickly and must be tossed. Luckily they are pretty cheap.
- A .3mm mechanical pencil
- A 4H and 9H pencil
- A kneaded eraser
- A white retractable eraser
- Lots of Canson tracing paper (found to be the most translucent)
- White artist tape
- A scanner and photoshop
 
Ok that's all wonderful stuff. So that brings us to the process itself. 

I took a few pictures of the steps and listed them out below. Every painting is different of course. Some have a detailed sketch without a lot of in-between. Some have a rough with more steps -- such is the case with this one, which was really more about structure. We'll start with the final, so you know what we're working toward.

Now, here's the sad little sketch that I started with:

I don't really enjoy sketching in and of itself. I never like my sketches. Sometimes I like them later.... But, drawing is a necessary part of it. I can admit that. 

I only have the left side drawn so that I can scan and flip in Photoshop. This particular painting, is more about structure, as I already knew the quadrants would be filled with neat little nature-filled cameos.

Hi Photoshop!

I have only started using Photoshop in the last few years. What Photoshop brings to the table is SCALE. And scale, layout and design are really important in my paintings. In part because of the symmetry. In part because of all of the individual elements. Photoshop lets me easily change sizes, and colors (which is more about mass/value, than anything).

I don't draw in Photoshop. I DO have a small library of old sketches, and bits I pulled from Flickr. Floral clip art type of stuff. Sometimes if I know I need a certain shape, I can drag something in as a placeholder (like with that red flower at the top/center.)

During this stage, I will print, erase.. draw over my prints, etc for a few rounds.

Once I'm happy, or happy enough to wing the details... I lay on a grid (again, in Photoshop) and print out my final draft. This is where I get serious with measuring and mapping out the placements and structure.

That grid you see off to the left, helps as well.


Tedious, boring and critical.

This is what allows me to put painting to watercolor paper! I do a little bit of pencil tracing. With this, I can do some light graphite transfer, and it's a good overlay while I'm painting to make sure I am holding true to my original grid.

Last thing I want, is for things to start going crooked. No, no.

 
Moving right along... Pictured above is a color study or practice run. I can try this painting out, fill in some ideas that I left off with the mock-up and frankly, it's a great warm up to paint. You wouldn't think it, but if I haven't painted for a week or so, I am not very good. After I finish something like this, I am all ready to go.

This is a pretty newish step to my process. It's a way to test out my idea and go, "Am I really doing this? Do I like it?"

Because, at the end of the day, I need to love it. Otherwise, I could be having ceviche on a patio somewhere....

Are you still reading this? Ok, next.

And, done.

I think the beauty of the final work, for me, is those fun little elements that I don't figure out ahead of time. If I had every single little bit predetermined, I would get bored.

I hope you got something out of that. I know there's benefit to me in documenting and looking over these steps.

You can read all day long about how other people do what they do. At the end of the day, your process is distinctly yours. I feel very much that way about what I have developed over the years. And once you get there and work through the kinks... it just gets better and better and better.

Treasure-ish

Just stumbled into the Flickr bounty of the Smithsonian Institution where I found this stunner. A chandelier by E. F. Caldwell & Company. Best known for their electrical lighting and metal work. 

Also, there's just a lot of old photos. And pictures of people you don't know.