Sep 20 - Continuing the Chicken Girl

I mentioned that this painting is falling off my brushes, and it certainly seems so tonight. I've been working on some of the color notes in the girl's dress, the three lower chickens and the white bird. I'm especially pleased with how the light is coming through the tail on that one, and included a detail image of that part of the painting so you can see how it is done. Cools, with yellow ochre and then going to the warms where the light actually is on the edges. Fun to do! That Color System makes it easy. Who would have thought to put the ochre there? And yet it works.

I've been listening to the Rolling Stones. Somehow soothing to reach into one's past and listen to the beat of those (now) ancient rockers--connecting a lifeline to survival mode. Painting is an escape, a return to knowledge and certainty for me. "Let me please introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste...."

Too bad there isn't a horse in this painting, I might think it ought to go to the American Academy of Equine Art show. I'm having so much fun making GOOD paintings lately.

Here's the detail shot of the unfinished white chicken. You can see how I first put in the larger color notes to hold down the shapes. Of course, the shadowed sides are the Cool Box, and the sunlit edges are from the Warm Box in the Color System! I'll come back and put in the blends, calligraphic marks, and wrap this painting up in the next few days.

My love for painting is only superseded by my gratitude for my dear and close friends out here in cyberspace. Thanks for coming along on this journey with me--you are very special right now!

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Sep 19 - Laying in the Mid Values

I've spent some time laying in the mid-tones on this canvas, and absolutely enjoying the grays I'm making with the Cool Box of the Color System in the shadows and the warm gray-greens in the sunlit areas. I haven't started any details, except to define and locate the masses of the large shapes. And if course I haven't painted the focal point!

The upper edge is fogged in with the glare of the sunlight, as this is so very backlit. That creates an interesting ethereal atmosphere, which will be pulled out and developed on the next session. The interesting mid-tones of the chicken nearest the child, with the green lighter midtones is really easy to discern. Controlling the temperatures of the colors I use is ever-so simple with the Color System, and makes painting like this, so easy.

The shadows are an integral part of the design, too, so they are placed without details in their proper areas, too. There are currently no chicken colors in the warm family on any of the birds. Some look warm though, don't they?

I've also taken a close up of the lower left corner of the painting so you can see the large, loose brushwork. It is fun to paint this way, because I don't have to worry about any details!

This painting is coming off the brushes with an inner strength I had forgotten I had. I'm focusing on the new book, and the next (YES!) DVD on the Color System. I think it is definitely time. The cameras came out today, so I'll be planning the paintings for "Misty and Challenging Lighting Situations, DVD #4!.

The November workshop is half full already, and I'll also be contacting the applicants with the information, supplies list, and lodging paperwork this upcoming week.

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Sep 17 - Painting "to the Bone"

Starting this painting is significant for me, because it relives many sweet memories of a time when I didn't have to worry about feeling loved, because I had the love of my parents when I was this size, and that lifelong love is a sustaining strength now, even though they are both gone.

They say that artists paint what they know, and create from their center--their being--and that it is truly impossible to have a mature artist create a travesty or a sham--it reads clearly and comes through as false work--both weak and uninspiring. To be an artist means we are open and receptive to things around us, and we allow ourselves to be accepting of our environment. However, this sensitivity in creating art comes bundled with a vulnerability that can be assaulted and abused. This painting comes to you, unfolding as I am with the emotions of my life, raw and revealing as the canvas on which it is painted. As one of you commented, "Elin, you are writing and painting from the bone."

On the technical side, I am putting in the darks first to shape the design of values--just a rough mark-in to pull together the knowledge of good design into the work. I haven't placed the midtones yet, however, this painting will have the "small light, large dark in midtones" theme as it progresses. Of course the rim light around the girl and her chicken will be the lightest lights, and enhance the focal point which will be developed later.

The November workshop is filling with folks interested in three and a half days of "yellin' by Elin" here in Riverside. Sorry about the link only taking you to past workshops yesterday. Here is the correct link for the two workshops this fall:

http://www.elinart.com/pages/wkshpriv.html

Hope you'll join me for a COLOR BOOT CAMP!

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.