Persephone's Flower

SOLD

"Persephone's Flower", acrylic on illustration board, 5x7. I'm putting this one into a show called 5x7 in Austin TX.  I'd like to do a bigger version on canvas. The theme of the bird headed lady is one I have done repeatedly.

Added another layer of glaze to the iris still life. The background looks fine with a coat of burnt sienna over the yellow, and I'm stopping on it and will continue with the still life itself. It's good these things dry so slowly, it helps prevent overdoing it.

I have rededicated myself to DRAWING because it's such a big important part of painting. The better I draw, the better I paint. It saves time & money too because I waste less paint when I am in practice for drawing. So I'm in a lifedrawing class for the next few weeks, and have resolved to keep showing up at local lifedrawing practice studios.

Glazing and New Habits

Here is the iris still life with the first layer of glaze. The colors are cad yellow and dio purple. I used Liquin as a glazing medium. I like the way it goes on very smoothly. I also like to glaze with Res-n-gel because it's nontoxic, although it dries pretty shiny. 

I've been painting away steadily on an almost daily basis, and have several other paintings underway. Just need to keep up with this blog!

On the personal side, I've heard of a book named A Complaint Free World, by minister Will Bowen (Doubleday, 2007). It's a challenge: Can you drop the habit of complaining? If so your life will improve substantially.  Bowen says according to scientific studies, it would take 21 days to change a habit. So the challenge is to go 21 days without complaining, also without gossiping or criticizing. There is a bracelet you can wear and whenever you goof up, you change it to the other wrist and start over. I've got my own bracelet, not the official one, and so far  I've made it 3 days before having to start over. I'd like to get the book eventually, because I'm sure it would be a good reference book. Meanwhile I'll just keep marking my calendar.

But back to the art...Glazing is a new habit as far as I'm concerned, and it requires patience. You really do have to let previous layers DRY first before you apply glaze! Otherwise you got problems--especially with glazing acrylics, which I have been busy doing besides oils. The whole trick is to have several paintings going at once.

And the complaint-free thing means that if I mess up a painting, no whining!

Still life work in progress

Still life work in progress, grisaille (underpainting in greys), on canvas, 8x10. I'm really getting into this glazing thing. Now that it's dry I can add transparent and translucent coats of color and turn it into a full color rendition. This way of painting is so freeing. All I had to worry about was the composition and making the objects look like themselves. 

Jester with an Egg

Acrylic, 8 x 10 on canvas. Don't have a name for it yet (any suggestions?). It's a jester, walking through a cave, holding an egg. This one also has cutouts on it (like the previous one) and that's the LAST time I ever glue on a cutout piece of canvas. Too hard to finesse the edges!

This one is glazes over an underpainting. Love painting that way; the more I do it the easier it gets. Helps a lot with values (although I am a Libra I appreciate values and value them highly).

Trying like crazy to keep up with blogging after a schedule change. Also I don't paint fast enough (yet) to post more often, so I'll have to throw in a WIP or two from now on. Thanks for tuning in to this blog.