Note to Friends

Just a note to tell you all that I have been on vacation and helping my daughter. I am so tied up with her lately I haven't had time for much painting or drawing. I'm taking my granddaughters home tomorrow for the weekend and cross your fingers, I hope to get back to painting on Monday! LOL see you all then with something to post!

Back To The Drawing Board

I know you have heard the saying back to the drawing board, well that is exactly what I'm doing, drawing! When I was in high school, our instructor gave us a grade each semester for keeping a sketchbook. I literally Aced that project. I drew my classmates, teachers, desks, tables, books, trees outside, but very rarely took the notes for class!

I have been reading Edgar Payne's Outsde Composition. Here is an exerpt on how cave men started out:

Long before houses were built, primitive man not only sought to express himself pictorially, but realized also the need for receptive appreciation. Therefore he left visible records on the walls of caves and in the sheltered crevices of cliffs. In his relaxation from struggles with wild animals and his enemies, the prehistoric artist responded to natural instincts which called for needs beyond shelter and sustenance. With his crude tools and limited knowledge, he had ample opportunity to exercise his ingenuity; and so in order to better his expression he set about devising new tools and other innovations. He sought orchres and carbons to fill in his crude outline drawings, then soon began to practice simple shading, modeling and relating objects.

At first the early pictorialist knew little of organization or combining several ideas to express a larger one and usually depicted one item for each idea. Later he found that by relating the objects drawn, broader ideas could be revealed. If a wild boar, deer or buffalo were pictured, each carried the idea of that animal, but if a man with a spear were added, the relation produced broader significance. Combining several items to convey a message then became, probably one of the first general principles in art. As time went on other elementary factors were developed.

Through the ages, subsequent artists kept up the progression by new ideas, new principles and new modes of expression thus the institution of art has been maintained by virtue of the talent, innovations and accomplishments of all contributing artists.(taken from Composition of Outdoor Painting, Edgar Payne.)

This book should be a must in every artists library. He gives you the tools for good composition in your painting. Here is a list of the principle forms or stems of composition in his book:

The Steelyard, The Balance Scale, The Circle or O, The S or Compound Curve, The Pyramid or Triangle, The Cross, The Radiating Line, The Ell or Rectangular, The Suspended Steelyard, The Three Spot, The Group Mass, The Diagonal Line, The Tunnel, The Silhouette, The Pattern. Now if you want to know what each one means, LOL you'll have to check out his book at a local library or purchase it from Amazon.com.

When looking this book up on Amazon, I know one of the distributors to be reputable. It is Wilcox Gallery. This gallery belongs to Jim Wilcox, who I might add designed the outdoor Soltek easel. He is a very good artist in his own right and you will enjoy reading up on him. Check out his gallery at www.wilcoxgallery.com.

Everything I have painted today looks like POOP!

FYI:
Due to the different Blogs I have been reading about pirating and publicly calling those artists out by name. I want to point out that this pansy painting is from an online class I am taking with Dan Edmondson. And if I forget to point that out when posting those class projects I will apologize right now.

I have had the crappiest 2 days in painting.  I can't seem to do anything right.  I am just wondering why I am doing this!  I thought it was suppose to relaxing.  Today, I just decided to clean the brushes and walk away for awhile.  I am so frustrated I don't know how to get out of this slump.  Everything goes to mud.  It starts out good, then when I try to paint wet on wet it goes down hill from there.  Maybe I'm just not a wet on wet painter.   Maybe I need to paint in Acrylics for awhile.  Tap Tap Tap, is this thing on?  Does anyone have any suggestions?  Probably not, because I'm an unknown!  For a reason!  LOL

This is how it started... then it just went down hilll



This is what it looks like now:

 

Basically, the flowers got worse so I proceeded to wipe them out, then all the detail you see on the bowl got smeared with the paper towel and then it was over.. I totally had to wipe out the background the detail on the bowl. 

And another mud

Thank you for letting me get this frustration out of my system , computer.  Because this evening I just want to throw everything away or sell it one and go to my room and cry!  It is frustrating and if I ever figure it out, it will be in this blog and I will be able to go back and laugh at this someday.  Maybe...

Off to bed!

Magnificent Vision Show at the Philbrook

Sunday before I came home I managed to go by the Philbrook museum and see this show. I have posted some of the paintings that were there for you to enjoy. It was a good showing, not many of the big name artists that you hear about everyday and are familiar with, but gifted artists for sure. If you get the opportunity to see this show, do so. I loved the way the different artists painted the jewelry on their subjects, especially pearls. They were painted like grapes. Highlite, midtone, and shadow. I was fascinated with The highlites in the shimmery fabrics and the softness in the velvets. I wrote down every artist and the painting in the show so I could look them up again. I started posting them for you, then it was taking too much time so you have a teaser! LOL enjoy

Dutch Artist Jan de Bray
A Couple Represented as Ulysses and Penelope, 1668
oil on canvas, 109.9 x 165.1 cm (43 1/4 x 65);
139.7 x 195.6 x 12.7 cm (55 x 77 x 5)
Collection of The Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky




Flemish painter Anthony Van Dyke
Portrait of a Woman 1635



Rembrandt Harmensz Van Rijn
Portrait of a 40 Year Old Woman Marretje Cornelisdr Van Grotewal



Herbert Drouais
Portrait of Scuptor Robert Le Lorraine 1730



William Hogarth
Dudley Woodbridge in his Chambers 1730

No Photo Available

Marie Victoire Lemoine
Portrait of a Young Girl 18th Century



Marie Victoire Lemoine
Portrait of a Lady 1790


Adelaide Labille Guiard
Portrait of Madame Adelaide of France



A closer view


The Philbrook has a nice collection of Thomas Moran's work also and I always love to see them. One thing I like about this museum, you can look as close as you want, Just Don't Touch! So I did! Hope no one does a painting of me with my head up so close to a painting looking like a fool! LOL

Well night all, I'm going to try to get at the easel tomorrow!

What color on your pallette do you love most?

This is a link to an article by Stephen Dorherty editor in chief for Artist Daily several artists have commented and suggested some colors I haven't even heard of. It's an older article, but older is sometimes BETTER!

I receive this Painting guide and love to research the different articles posted on this site, but today I came upon this link and since we have been talking about artist's pallettes, I thought this might be interesting to those of us who LOVE color.

People you are going to love this link:

What color on your pallette do you love most

While surfing through the links on this site, I found this art contest:

Self Portrait Contest

How many brave souls are there out there that would enter this contest? Hmmm not me, I dont think I'm that interesting to look at, wait, could I do a self portrait of what I would WANT TO LOOK LIKE?

Have a Wonderful Sunday, I'm going home today, ready to start doing some painting, but first I'm going to stop by the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, OK, and see a new show they have called The Magnificent Vision. I'm hoping the paintings from the European Masters will inspire me to the depths of finding my niche in this fabulous world of color!

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An Unknown Hero of Sorts

Have you ever wondered about the artists that painted all the Indian Chiefs? Well this post is about one that I became familiar with because he was a cousin of a very close friend. They have some of his Conte crayon drawings as well as the baskets that were given to him by the members of the tribes he would go and paint.

E.A. Burbank led a very interesting life and I have enjoyed reading about his committment to what he did and how he befriended the chiefs. He is the only known artist to have painted Geronimo in a live sitting.

The following are some of his portraits that he did through the years.



E. A. Burbank, Pog-Ah-Ninnie-Ah-Ey (Santa Clara), 1909, Conte Crayon on Paper, 14" x 9"

Elbridge Ayer Burbank was born in Harvard, IL in 1858. After studying at the Chicago Art Academy, he received a commission to illustrate Northwest magazine, essentially an advertisement published to encourage homesteading. The traveling entailed in finishing this commission brought Burbank through Montana, Idaho and Washington, and fostered a profound appreciation for the American West in him.



E. A. Burbank, Mission San Juan Capistrano of California, Circa 1895-1900, Oil on Canvas on Board, 4" x 6"

After the completion of the Northwest project, E. A. Burbank went to Munich to study, where he met J.H. Sharp and William R. Leigh, who would remain lifelong friends. As did countless other artists who met Sharp, E. A. Burbank became focused on traveling and painting the Indian people of the Southwest. When he returned from Germany, he was hired by his uncle, Edward Ayer, the first president of the Field Columbian Museum, to paint portraits of the great Indian leaders of the day. Elbridge A. Burbank took on the project and, once completed, did not stop, continuously traveling around the country painting as many Indian subjects as he could.



E. A. Burbank, Rain in the Face Sioux - 1897 Conte Crayon on Paper, 14" x 9"

All told, E. A. Burbank painted over 1200 Indian portraits in his lifetime. His travels put him in contact with some of the prominent figures of the West, including Lorenzo Hubbell, who he counted amongst his better friends, and Geronimo, whose portrait he painted and who is rumored to have said that he liked Burbank better than any other white man he ever met. Today, E. A. Burbank's work can be seen in the collections of the Newberry Library in Chicago, the Smithsonian and the Field Museum. After almost twenty years spent in insane asylums, Elbridge Ayer Burbank died in 1949 of injuries sustained from being struck by a cable car in downtown San Francisco.




E. A. Burbank, Taos Indian Village, Oil on Canvas on Board, 4" x 6



Red Woman Southern Cheyene



Chief Geronimo Apache




Zy-you-wah-moqui



Gi-aum-E-Hon-O-Me-Tah, Kiowa




Si-We-Ka, Pueblo

Since I'm not able to paint because I'm helping my daughter. I thought I would posts some interesting stories about some of the artists that may or may not be well known, but have an interesting past.

My daughter just had a baby about 4 weeks ago and then came down with a bug so I came back to help her out. Poor thing, I'm so thankful I've been able to help out. Except yesterday my back gave out on me and I now I am in terrible pain. But it will pass when I'm able to let it rest a bit. I had back surgery about 10 years ago and while it is better than it was, I cant over do it or I get down. I also have to be careful not to rupture the discs above the one that was fused. Gosh I wouldn't wish this mess on my worst enemy if I had an enemy! LOL this is why I posted about Freda Kaylo the other day. I can relate how art saved her at her lowest points. For a short time you are so involved in creating something beautiful, you hope, that you forget about the pain.

More interesting facts and paintings by Elbridge Ayers Burbank:
His commitment

Just Google E.A. Burbank and you will find more on this interesting fellow.

Additional Art Links:
ArtUFind.com
ArtUTrade.com
MedicineManGallery.com
SantaFeArtGalleries.net
CanyonRoadArts.com
TaosArtGalleries.net
AlbuquerqueArtGalleries.net




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Zorn Pallette

I have been visiting with another blogger about a workshop I had taken several years ago. The theory behind the class was to use a limited pallette of four colors for portrait painting. Well as I was going through other blogs I follow, I found another artist who had just given a workshop on this same theory.

I decided to research this theory and found a wonderful artists who gives credit where credit is due. It is called the Zorn Pallette and the following is a copy of the article, but I wanted to credit the artist that gave me all the information on this pallette.

Please check out his site, it is a wealth of information:

Westerberg-Fine Art

The following is Westerberg's observation and thoughts on this pallette:

Zorn Palette (color chart)

This is a color Chart I made using the “Zorn Palette”. This was not Anders Zorn’s ( 1860-1920) only palette he did have other colors that he used especially when he worked outside, this palette refers primarily to his indoor work. It is basically simplified primaries: Red, Yellow, and Blue.

I use Gamblin Ivory Black, Utrecht Yellow Ochre, Windsor Newton Cadmium Red and Titanium/Zinc White.


The Chart shows the range of the palette as you can see it is fairly large. Let me explain how the colors are laid out.

The first swatch (upper left corner) is Ivory Black, and below I have gradated it white white. Next to that is Ivory Black mixed with Cad Red, Black being the dominate color. Ect ect ect….

Below are examples of Anders Zorn’s Work.


I used this palette quite a bit when I was learning to paint and I still use it today. Its a great starter palette.

Below are the brands of paint I typically use.




Anders Leonard Zorn (February 18, 1860 – August 22, 1920)
Biography of Anders Zorn

Just thought I would share this tidbit. I am trying to educate myself as I go through this journey of getting my gift back. I am very excited about this and I think I will do some paintings using this theory. I will say right now though, I love color and dont see myself doing everything with these colors...

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Study of some of Monet's paintings

Today I thought I would follow another artist's footsteps that I follow Art Talk by Julie Ford Oliver .  She did a series of studies from some of the old Master's paintings.  I think she did a wonderful job.  Her objective is to learn as much as she can from them.  My objective is to learn period!  I started out working on grass and leaves, from Monet's Water Lilies

then took an old painting I had started from an on-line class with Morgan Samuel Price, and tried to finish them.

Then, this morning I woke up and remembered where the ROOSTER WAS!  I had set him on an the ledge of an old upright cedar chest.  Imagine who would have thought.  The gremlins didn't take him, but they still haven't told me where the paint I bought is located!

I reworked Mr. Rooster's background, and the color's just aren't showing up exactly in my photo's.  That really isn't gray in his coat.  It is more of an orchid!  LOL  Maybe that is a hint that I need to change it!  God forbid I become famous and they take a picture of it for books etc. and that gray shows up on his back!  LOL

My reference Photo

All in all I think I had a pretty productive day.  At least I can say I am learning something, haven't quite put my finger on it yet, but when I think of it I'll share it.

Where oh Where

I have the craziest story to tell.  I painted this painting today

from this photo of a friend's rooster

Now here is the crazy part.  I came in the house to load the photos I took of the paintings, took a nap started supper then went to the garage to touch up the rooster.  The painting is gone! Flew the coop!  My husband and I looked that garage over and it is no where to be found.  Now mind you I can not understand why anyone would come in my garage and steal it.  But I have been having some crazy things happen lately that are missing that all pertain to my art room.  I bought two new colors the other day and a spray bottle from Hobby Lobby!  Not in the garage studio.  Then I misplaced I thought my ATM card, no where to be found, had to cancel!  This is getting crazier.  I'm just glad I had shown my husband the painting and then taken a picture so someone knows it really did exist.  I'm beginning to think maybe I'm smelling to many fumes except that the garage is very well ventilated, garage door open, windows open fans blowing etc.  I just don't know what happened, have I put it somewhere, likely, but unlikely.

I also finished up my watermelon painting out there today.  If someone were stealing you would think they would have taken that painting.  I had forgotten to put the most important thing on the watermelon, the seeds and I added some leaves on the left, lightened the vase and reworked the plums and grapes on right side of painting.  I am very proud of this one thinking there might possibly be hope for me!  One in 10 paintings.  I'm hoping for more....LOL

Here are a few paintings I did when I studied with Christine Verner, from McAlester, OK.  She has such an understanding of color.  I wish I knew everything she knows about color, but I'm learning.

I love the red's in these poppies.  I totally loved working with cad red and cad orange in this painting

this is another painting I did while in her class.  I love painting the darker skin people and I am still working on another painting.  Their skin has so many beautiful colors.

I'm still a work in progress and I am hoping to find my niche someday on where I want to settle.  Right now I am all over the place to the point I am thinking about embarking on single item paintings for awhile until I can get a better understanding of shapes, values and color.



Painting Through Pain

Painting Through Pain



Freda Kaylo is amongst the most famous artists of the twentieth century. Her strength of spirit and artistic talents helped forge her destiny. She mixed and mingled with the rich and powerful and the poor and destitute. She lived a life in chronic pain. She was. She is. Frida Kahlo.

Frida was born in Coyocan, Mexico to Wilhem (Guillermo) and Matilde Kahlo in July of 1907. Her father, a photographer and amateur painter, built a home for his family there that now houses her work. It is painted a cheerful bright blue color, and is known as La Casa Azul. At the young age of 6, Frida contracted polio and was bedridden for nine months. As a result of this illness, Frida was called “Peg Leg” by her peers; this unkind term though, did not demure the spirited youngster, it encouraged her to get stronger in sports and in life.

Being the precocious child she was, Frida enrolled in the renowned National Preparatory School in Mexico City. Here, she developed a love of her Mexican culture, its traditions, and its colorful costumes and jewelry. She also developed her political and ideological ideals which eventually led to her membership in the Mexican Communist party and the Young Communist League. It was also the place that she met her future husband, renowned Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera. Membership in the political clubs also went on to form her future on the international stage, as she hosted Leon Trotsky in her home and espoused his ideals.

In 1925 Frida was involved in a devastating bus accident that left her with fractures all over much of her body, including her spine and pelvis. It took a lifetime of surgeries and pain to recover from this accident, but it was this tragedy that unleashed her surreal painting style that would make her famous.

During her lifetime, Frida mainly painted self portraits because, as she stated, “I am the person I know best.” Her paintings transcend the macabre to the beautiful and tell of events in her life as well as the thoughts flowing through her mind. In her work, we are able to learn of her pain, her suffering, her love, and her hope. Painting was something she could do standing up, but more importantly, laying down in her bed. She used art as a means to escape her physical body, even if for short bursts of time. Her canvas was truly her voice, one that is still heard throughout the world. She was. She is. Frida Kahlo.

I can relate to her pain. I had back surgey several years go and have titanium cages supporting my spine where a disc use to be! They are called ray cages. My back doesn't hurt as bad as it did before the surgery, but when the weather changes I can sure let you know.

Just thought I'd share this story today. You might look upmsome of Freda's paintings. They are very colorful and true to her heritage.

Check out this website dedicated to Freda Kaylo:
Fans of Freda Kaylo
Courtesy Belief Network.

Since I didn't get to paint these past few days, that doesn't mean I wasn't studying. I visited so many artists blogs that I ended up following them and posting their blogs on mine. Check out these artists blogs, they have so much to offer and learn from. Living in a small town I don't get to take lessons or go to classes that often, but I learn from other artists. They inspire and motivate me. I can't wait for morning to come and get started! I hope to have some paintings to post for you to enjoy tomorrow!

I posted this painting of her Watermelons. Maybe I need to go back and work on mine a little!

Freda's:


Mine: LOL as if you wouldn't know that

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Finally Home and Ready to Paint

Well I finally made it home after two and a half weeks taking care of my daughter , the girls and the new grandbaby.  So today I hit the makeshift studio in the garage and started finishing up some paintings I started before I left.

As I said in an earlier post, I am taking some on line courses with Dan Edmondson and the last lesson I was working on was giving me fits.  So the vacation from the painting seems to have paid off because I got back into it today.  I have sent it in for a critique and we'll see what the recommendations are and the final in a few days.

I also have been working on a  plein air piece of a spot in my friends garden.  She works in her yard every year and adds to it.  I must say it is beautiful.  I love her yard.  They live on a farm outside of town and he raises cattle on the side.

I really need to start working on distance in my landscape paintings.  I am having a hard time with the background looking like its in the background.  I need to get out more and work on this.  Any suggestions from you would be mucho appreciated.  Maybe with the weather cooling off I'll be able to do that.  I know everything comes with practice and that is what I need more of.  The coloring didn't come out very good from my camera I'm going to try retaking that tomorrow under better lighting.
Oh well, not bad for a beginning back intermediate artist!  LOL

Repost of Fall Pears

I redid the background on these Fall Pears and I like it much better

Old



New
I warmed up the pear on this one and toned down the grapes some.


And I reworked this one as well



On this one I straightened the table and changed the dish the blue grapes are in.




I cannot wait to get back to painting, but my present job of helping my daughter is much more rewarding. These girls make me smile every morning and every night. The two year old is up right now because she took a late nap and is doing everything to keep from going to sleep. Her daddy has put her back to bed at least 10 times...
She sneaks around the corner and just smiles and runs past my door to her parents bedroom.

This is little Sophia





Who could say no to that face?

I guess if I cant blog about painting I can blog about them.

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No time to Paint

I have been so busy with my two little granddaughters that I havent had time to paint! Their new brother was born on September 28, and weighed 7 Lbs 8oz, 20 in long. This Mimi is busy for another week at least! Here's the new grandson



And another with my daughter



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My first Buffalo Painting

This is my first attempt at the buffalo from my Tall Grass Prairie drive last week. Hopefully I'll get better!



The paint is still to wet to get more detail and shape on the buffalo, but I'm liking the beginning.

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Practice

I have been practicing like crazy and taking this opportunity before Baby Nacho, grand baby #3, arrives on September 28. I know this because you ask? Because we do C sections.

Daniel sent me a photo of this still life to practice on. When I looked at it I thought it would be too hard, but it ended up being easier than I thought. I have such a tendency to overwork paintings and while I know I did that to this one, I really liked the way the flowers turned out. I was very loose with them and just dabbed the different values of yellow in order to get the effect of a snap dragon.

Here's the final product



I also set up a Still Life of tomatoes. The background isn't really this light, it's more of a golden yellow.


Now I am off to find something else to paint. Possibly the picture of the buffalo I took on the Tall grass Prairie drive.

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My Rookie Painter Challenge

Somebody likes Onions on this blog and so do I.


Here's my rendition of their posted challenge

Lesson 2 with Daniel Edmonson

I've been busy this week and haven't been able to post. I'm in Pawhuska and trying to get some things done up here before winter and before the new baby gets here.

I did manage to get a painting done this week, and I am starting on another after this post.


the pic didn't come out that well and I still have some changes to make to it after its been critiqued by the man himself.

While here this week I have done some fun things. Saturday I brought the girls to Pawhuska with me and we went to the Pawhuska County Fair. They had a ball on the Jumpers.



Then we came to the house and they played outside on one of their old slides they've had forever.







so, as you can see, I have had a fun filled week.

Monday I decided to take a drive out to see the Tall Grass Prairie. That was fun as well here are a few pics I took on the 20+ mile drive:







Doesn't this dead tree look like a Kokopelli?







The shadow you see is nothing paranormal, only a smeared dead bug on the windshield!




Check out the mom and baby, this was a surprise, I had pulled up to a bridge and got out to take pics of the stream. I didn't see these guys until I saw something move in my camera so I zoomed in as best I could.





Here was an interesting truck. A pic for a possible future painting.



And how about some of the wild Mustangs that some of the cattle ranchers are housing for the Government. They are very spooky so they were about to break and run.









Hope you enjoyed my trip to Osage County and the pics I took on the Tall Grass Prairie. It is so dry its not that pretty, but you get an idea of the vastness and what they have to offer.

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Location:Pawhuska,United States