week 5 - off the leash

"Maple Tree" looks completely different from the previous week. It had been mostly burgundy and violet. At class I put in broad strokes of "lights" in different shades of green with a lot of guidance from Shilo. It didn't feel intuitive at all, painting over all that other brushwork I had already done. But Shilo said "you'll see" and that I should step away from it for a while. She said to go home and put in the darks, using different brush size, brush stroke, etc. I think I went a little overboard--it's looking a bit busy, although it does look reminiscent of my Japanese maple...













I went home and painted the "lights" on "Red Chard". Again, it didn't feel intuitive. I emailed Shilo in a panic and she emailed back saying "Take a deep breath." Ahhhh.
I will add my little scribbles in greens for the "leaves" and put in some red slashes for the "stalks". We shall see.

week 4 - at home painting

I took these 3 home to work on. They're getting close.
before

after












before

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before

after

week 4 - guidance is good

What a difference a class makes. Those 3 paintings I worked on at home and wasn't too happy about...I worked on today at Shilo's studio and they look SO different and IMPROVED. I'm getting there. That's the good news. The bad news is that I don't think I could have done it without Shilo's help and suggestions. She says that comes with mileage. I hope so. Anyway, I always feel pretty good after class, like I'm making progress and learning something.

I'm finally understanding what Shilo said last fall about "push and pull" regarding the darks and lights from the overlapping layers. I got to use my Oil Sticks and that was kind of interesting. I recognized that I need a wider brush. Also, Shilo keeps reminding me to let go of the fear and go wild. That DOES seem to help!



For "Foxglove" which I was worried was getting too representational, Shilo had me turn it sideways and work on the floor (as opposed to on the easel.) That helped a lot. It's looking better. Almost there. Needs some light silvery and blue greens.






And I was not happy that the 3 paintings were looking quite alike, palette-wise. Well, "Beets" certainly has taken a departure from the others. Maybe too much so. I probably need to add back the reds and violets over most of that orange. And it looks like I lost a lot of the darks. Will have to work on that too.





Didn't get to work too much on "Red Chard" but just by putting a few large strokes across the vertical "stalks" it has changed quite a bit. Also added a bigger patch of violet and lots of shades of purple. Need to put on the greens next.

painting at home

I took home "Foxglove", "Beets" and "Red Chard" to work on at home after the 3rd session. I had a heck of a time when I added Titanium White for "Foxglove". Everything looked very chalky and opaque. So I scraped or wiped most of it off. I decided to try adding Liquin to make it more transparent. It was okay, but thicker, so I had to scrape off the drips. Still not quite sure how to handle the opaqueness. Maybe paint thinned out magenta over the opaque "white"? I'll have to try that after the paint dries. Also, I'm concerned that it is looking rather representational, so I need to change that.





For "Beets" I added more burgundy/brown and olive green and ochre. It's looking very dense (as opposed to "airy" and very dark. I guess the next step will be to add in lights?






Didn't do too much to "Red Chard" and, as a result, I like it best of the three! It still has that fresh look. I only added a few long "stalky" strokes in magenta and a few dark burgundy patches. I think the next step is to add more greens.

Not too happy with these 3. They still all look kind of the same, in terms of color palette. They haven't developed into their own painting the way the other 3 have. I guess when I paint at home (without Shilo), I don't feel that "at home" painting.

week 3 --medium value

For our third session, Shilo had me work on one painting at a time and using thicker, but still turp/paint mixture, a little thicker than the very thin wash.

I worked on "Snapdragon", putting in the burnt orange, apricot, and peach. It is looking kind of muted because of the wet on wet. Putting in the few spots of light yellow helped it a bit. Definitely, using DIFFERENT SIZED BRUSHES is something I need to keep in mind all the time. Vary the brush size. Vary the color.

After an hour of painting and listening to my iPod, it was clear I needed to step away from the canvas and move on to the next one. (I listened to Diana Krall, which seemed right for the sultry, romantic mood I was going for.)


Next, I worked on "Hakonechloa, Variegated Geranium and Blue Ajuga". Mostly I put in the red violets, rusty brown and a few golden tan accents. (For some reason, the picture is sideways.) For this one, I listened to the Rolling Stones, because these plants remind of tropical HEAT and a more primal energy. I am pretty happy with the big brush strokes of brown. It felt good when I did them!

For the last hour of class I worked on "Maple tree and Iris". I was going for the purples, lilacs and violet hues. Also put in magenta and burgundy touches. It's kind of wild (Stones again.) Probably should have listened to something calmer for this one!

The good thing is that the paintings are starting the diverge from each other, developing into distinct paintings. And, definitely, they still look nature-inspired. I'm glad that so far, I've been able to fulfill my goals for these lessons: stick to the "intent", keep it abstract, learn how to use oil paints.

Shilo says she is making me do it in stages (turp wash, darks, thicker medium values, etc.) so that I don't get overwhelmed. As I get more experience and confidence, it will be more intuitive, I guess. We shall see.