"A Painter's Journal"

Wall Street

2009-07-03T08:26:00.004-05:00

Day three of my trip, Sunday, and we were on Wall Street. Pretty quiet there on a weekend! No one but tourists again. There were a LOT of tourists. We were blown away by the masses of people everywhere. It was not like that when I had been the previous years in the fall, so I am guessing the city was full of visitors.

I'd never been to Wall Street. Its amazing how the city has so such distinct flavors in the different neighborhoods. Midtown east is skyscrapers of lots of glass and metal, mixed with old brick buildings. Same on the west side too but then there is Times Square with its own flavor. Wall Street and area seemed more like Europe (with skyscrapers) - many of the buildings there were white stone and brick and the streets were more maze-like. Some of the old buildings down by the South Street Seaport sagged and were definitely out of square!

We painted in the street (which is now blocked from traffic), a view facing south (?) towards the river. We were almost all done when a police officer came by and said we couldn't have tripods there. Can anyone explain that? Does it impede traffic? Is it a safety hazard? I know photographers have to deal with that a lot.

Anyway, the plan was to pack up and go to the Bridge Cafe for lunch. Its the oldest restaurant in the city and right under the Brooklyn Bridge. You can guess what we painted after lunch then! While there, we were entertained by more native New Yorkers - Ellen and her husband Joe. Ellen is another artist who wanted to see how we crazy people could paint on location in the city! They were very fun people with lots of interesting history to tell about their neighborhood. She and Phil are members of Pleiades Gallery, a coop art gallery run by the artists. Its a great space, we went last year for Phil's show. Phil has a link on his site to a scrapbook of our painting trip and there are a lot of images from Wall Street. You can see our paintings progress.

14x11 oil on panel
- I don't think I got the value on the buildings right... they should have been darker. And a more verical canvas would have been better.

6x8 oil on panel
- this is my favorite painting from the trip I think.

Petra and Sherrie drawing a crowd at the bridge

Central Park

2009-07-02T09:32:00.004-05:00

12x9 oil on paper/museum board

Saturday morning found us at Central Park West. It was a gorgeous day. (Esp. as I was missing 105 degrees at home in Texas!)
We painted on the great lawn in the morning, then went to lunch and returned for a pedi-cab ride to Central Park South. Our cabbie, Emir, gave us a tour of sorts, and took us past Tavern on the Green (rather a mishmash of decor). He was from L.A. - just there for the summer. He earned his fare with us... with all our plein air painting gear.

My set up on the lawn

During some of my walking about, I sketched in my book too. I think that helped the whole plein air painting experience. Maybe I focused better.

A page from my sketchbook

8x8 oil on paper canvas

After painting at the south end of the park, we hoofed it to the Met. Dodged some more rain which canceled the happy hour on the terrace. But WOW! The museum is wonderful and I have tons of images to work from here in the studio. My favorite paintings were the Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. And Sargent, though we didn't get to see many. The new American wing closed early. Go figure. We had a really delicious dinner in the Petrie Court Cafe and then had to be shooed out at closing time!

Kindness of Strangers

2009-07-02T09:25:00.002-05:00

I forgot to mention that Friday morning, on my way to our painting location, I lost my cardigan sweater. I went back to look along my path for it but could not find it. Maybe it was on the subway. Anyway, it began to rain and I was dashing between awnings trying to get less wet when a man stopped me and said that I needed an umbrella. I agreed, but commented that I had left my money behind. He said, "No, you need an umbrella. Wait here." And he went back into his apt. and brought me out an umbrella.

I want to mention this so that his good deed is honored and to remind us all that kind gestures can mean so much. Pass it on!

West Village Shops

2009-07-01T10:56:00.004-05:00

Still on Friday (the 26th) and the sun came out. We moved over to the park near the now-famous Magnolia Bakery. It was in "Sex and the City" apparently so now all these bus tours come by and stop to buy cupcakes. I did not enter the bakery, nor eat a cupcake. But I had a hot pretzel from the vendor on the corner who at least was doing well selling drinks to wash down the cakes.

I had more success here. Below was my final painting of the day - an antiques shop across the street.

409 Bleeker Street - 12x10 oil on panel

Sherrie and Petra painting.

Study of a corner (Toons Thai restaurant) - oil on paper

Study of the antiques shop across the street - oil on paper

These paintings are going to stay in my private collection for now. They are my reference material and souvenirs.

New York, New York

2009-06-30T20:42:00.004-05:00

I am back in Texas after a whirlwind trip to the Big Apple. I met Phil Levine and two other artists to paint in the city and we had the best time. At least I did! It was the best trip there yet. I took 1,100 photos and painted about 8 paintings. I had my sketchbook too which I also filled with pen and ink sketches. I have enough material to work for a year and I can't wait to start!

The ladies I painted with, Petra and Sherrie, are such lovely people. We seemed very well matched in our tastes (for subject, food, eye candy, etc.) and in our energy and eagerness to soak it all in. Petra came all the way from Geneva, Switzerland. Sherrie is from Nashville and if you want to compare our reports and our work - you can probably find goodies on her blog.

I will start at the beginning I guess and show you the "dog" of a painting I did on Friday morning. We set up in the West Village again after dodging some rain. I have tried to paint the Bus Stop Cafe for 2 years now... still didn't get it. I promise, the work improves after this one! (I'm not going to show you a close up. Lets just say though that if the man at the table stood up, he'd never fit into the building!)

Contemporary Gallery

2009-06-24T17:54:00.004-05:00

12x8 oil on panel

Available soon at Tidewater Gallery.

I am packing up for my trip to NYC! I am excited to get into some cooler weather for one thing. I have things all planned out; painting the West Village, a lengthy visit to the Met, some time in Central Park, maybe a ferry ride, lots of sketching, and kicking back in some good wine bars. Any recommendations for food/drink in the city?
:-)

I'm meeting up with Phil Levine and some other artists. I am undecided about taking my laptop, so don't yet know if I will post during the weekend. We'll see how my packing goes.

The Approach

2009-06-23T15:23:00.003-05:00

8x8 oil on loose canvas
email me if you'd like this little painting!

Guess what my daughter is doing this week? She's at horse camp! She is having a wonderful time, though how they can stand this heat I don't know. It has been hot hot hot!
This morning I watched a lesson for awhile after I dropped her off. I liked this tightly cropped image of horse and rider approaching a fence. I wish I was riding too. Been a long time.

Quick Trip to Houston

2009-06-20T21:31:00.003-05:00

I went to the big city to paint an Indian/Hindu wedding ceremony. What an amazing event. Part of the time I got caught up in the rituals and admiration of all the gorgeous saris, what a feast for an artist's eyes! But then I remembered to get back to painting. I didn't make a lot of progress, but have a decent start. It was really an honor to get to be a part of this celebration.

This morning I went to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston before leaving town. There was no special exhibit, but I thought it would be good to get some references for paintings. I was one of about 4 people in the galleries. There were three times as many security guards - all very welcoming and friendly.

It ended up just as well that I didn't find many people perusing the art, since my camera batteries died anyway. My extras were in the car of course. Can you guess my frustration?

Aside from those shortcomings, the visit was a success. An important part of seeing the work of masters is to see that even their work is not perfection. Remember that I gravitate to the impressionists and contemporary artists. Its a reminder to me to strive for expression not duplication. I saw how thin and gestural some of their paintings are, how the underpainting remains in the finished product, even a Matisse where you could see how he scrubbed away sections and tried to redraw them. I wonder if that was intended to be shown at all, but his name is on it, I suppose he considered it finished. I wish I could get that loose and expressive for these wedding events. Maybe then I could finish more of the work on site, or paint larger. But I try too hard to be perfect and exact even in the dark, even with a crowd around me, even with my subjects moving constantly.

Another thing that I find interesting in museum collections is to see what the works are painted on; cardboard, tracing paper, "fans", wood. Funny, too, that the works were so often reviled, yet they amaze me more than all the highly-rendered European salon works.

Joaquin Sorolla y Batista Exhibition "Catalog"

2009-06-18T17:30:00.005-05:00

I just got this fabulous book - certainly more than a catalog. Its simply called "Joaquin Sorolla" and was printed in conjunction with a Museo del Prado exhibit this year of Sorolla's work. I got the book through the Barnsite Gallery.
The book is massively heavy and has excellent reproductions. Its also incredibly comprehensive. Its delicious!

Painting Digitally

2009-06-17T22:53:00.006-05:00

I was just introduced to fellow DPG Jeff Mahorney's art blogs via Facebook yesterday - love his work! In one of his posts he talked about doing some digital color matching using Photoshop. ("Digital Starts") Its an exercise in seeing when you can't actually get out the paints and work from life. I was reminded of another blog I found quite awhile ago and have since lost track of... but it was a small group of digital artists who used a tablet to create digital paintings. I loved the images and was fascinated by the art and the process. I even looked into buying a tablet and using it to sketch! As an example for now, I found a similar artist who looks like he has since moved on from his "Thousand Sketches" - Walter Logeman - but he has some interesting cafe scene sketches.

Its no secret I work from photos regularly and sometimes I use Photoshop to adjust lighting and color, to crop and edit and to add and rearrange, but I haven't used it to paint.
So today, while I sat in the infusion clinic with my husband, I played with painting digitally. I used a museum photo and reduced it to a line drawing of sorts using Photoshop's photocopy filter and then I set to work, matching the colors I saw in the original photo and also just being loose and massing things. It was a lot of fun. I used the regular paintbrush but should have looked into using a different style that maybe wouldn't have had such hard edges.

Its a great exercise for seeing color. I find that the more I look at photos on the computer, the more color I see. A printed photo can generally lose a lot of subtleties, as it averages the lights and darks, but I find that on my monitor, perhaps because it is bright and illuminating, I see a very wide variety of color. I don't paint in probably near as much as I see... perhaps I need to start! At the end of this exercise I began to pop in some of those colors, but I also wanted them to be small and not disrupt the color harmonies I had working in the overall painting.

Moses Botkin Monthly Challenge

2009-06-15T10:33:00.007-05:00

This month I could not have waited any later to paint our challenge (something shiny from the kitchen). BUT, its not that I don't consider the challenge important or compelling. On the contrary, its the one thing that made me climb over the debris in my studio, ignore my house guest and my own stuffy head and paint.

Spoons
6x12 - oil on linen - sold
© 2009 Robin Cheers

The Face Off
8x8 - oil on canvas board
© 2009 Michael Naples

Flour Scoop and Silver Cup
8x10 - oil on canvas
© 2009 Marie Fox

Press Event
7x5 - oil
© 2009 Diana Moses Botkin

Serving Spoon
8x10 - oil on canvas
© 2009 Silvina Day

Gravy Boat and Cherries
8x8 - pastel
© 2009 Mike Beeman

Steel Cut Berries
12x6 - oil on board
© 2009 Vicki Ross

What happened to the lazy days of summer?

2009-06-13T14:52:00.002-05:00

Trip to Ohio last weekend. Visitor here this weekend. I have a cold and I have yet to get back to my studio! I'm really missing my old life! Remember when I used to paint?

Juror

2009-06-01T09:17:00.002-05:00

Today, I am going to jury the New Braunfels Art League's show "People and Places."
I've never done this before, but I am excited to have the chance. Its a big responsibility I think. Having exhibited in a number of juried shows, and having not even been juried into many more, it will give me a taste for what a juror goes through in making decisions on the merit of the work entered. I know its all very subjective, so when my work is not chosen, I have learned not to take it personally. I can just accept that my work was not pleasing to that particular person/s. Sometimes its a matter of subject, or execution, and sometimes its not a great painting and somehow flawed. But entering shows and being accepted to exhibit and possibly winning an award is good exercise for an artist. Both for the bullet points on your resume, as well as for the feedback you do get.

I went to the Salon International show awards dinner so that I could hear Daniel Greene talk about the winners and what he saw. All the work was amazing, but I would have made different choices for the award winners. It all boils down to personal experience and tastes. That is the beauty of art though, it means something different to each person experiencing it and to the creator. So, never give up expressing yourself.

Renaissance Men

2009-05-29T13:38:00.005-05:00

12x12 oil on panel

This was done last week. I have been painting some, in snatches. I don't know the lady in the portrait on the wall...reminds me of Lady Macbeth. Anyway, the subject is from the National Gallery of Art in D.C.

In the free time I have today and this weekend, I am going to try to organize this awful mess I call a studio. Didn't I just do this?

My Palette

2009-05-29T09:11:00.005-05:00

I've thought I'd share my colors, especially those that I use as substitutes for cadmiums and other heavy metals.
In some case, I find that the "hue" is nearly as good as the real thing, though maybe not as vibrant or intense. And who knows about longevity as of yet. I admit trouble with intense reds... I was painting a woman's red shirt recently and found that if I wiped it back and left it slightly transparent, I got the best effect. Otherwise it just wasn't bright enough.
My palette is heavy on the warm tones. They are always there while the cooler ones, aside from alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue, vary. Also, I've been told that I set my palette up "backwards"... but this is what works for me.

The colors that are always found on my palette are:
Titanium white, or quick dry white (combo of titanium and zinc) (Classic or Gamblin)
Hansa Yellow (Classic Artist Oils or WN)
Indian Yellow (WN) -- that brand is the best!
Permanent Yellow (Rembrandt)
Cad Red Hue (Sennelier)
Alizarin Crimson (Classic Artist Oils or WN)
Ultramarine Blue (Classic Artist Oils or WN)
Sap Green (Classic)
Mars Black (Classic)

Frequently used colors are:
Asphaltum
Raw Siena
Prussian Blue
Warm Grey
Royal Blue or Violet Grey (depending on brand)

The brands I gravitate towards are WN, Classic, Rembrandt and Gamblin. Gamblin especially makes some fun colors in their "radiant" series. Classic oils come in large tubes, like caulk tubes, and they are so buttery and rich. Really nice to work with, but not great for travel. I love the large tubes though, they make me feel less frugal about squeezing paint onto my palette.
The palette I prefer is disposable paper palettes which I close up in the Tupperware-like Masterson box.
My paints dry quickly here in Austin. Its so dry and hot that I almost always have to start with fresh paint daily. The box helps some, but many colors will form a shell overnight in the summer.

ok - that is that. Now for a health update. Obviously I have not been painting/posting again. Ben's dad is home in Indiana and mending. Ben is up and down... down this week unfortunately. As if things couldn't get more weird he now has vertigo. I'm rolling my eyes. What's next?!

His Space

2009-05-22T09:13:00.004-05:00

5x7 oil on panel
click to buy

This young man seems to be marking out a nice circle of protection around himself. Maybe that is my point of view at the moment as I settle back down to my work - reclaiming my space. My in laws left this morning and are on their long drive home. Father in law is recovering well enough. He will likely heal quickly as he's in very good physical shape but its not any fun in the meantime.

So its back to "work" for me! I am so glad.

Moses Botkin Monthly Challenge

2009-05-15T08:27:00.003-05:00

This month's challenge was "Pig Party" - and I was not quite sure what to do with that. But my little scene involves two pigs harassing a hippo. To be honest, I just sort of threw this together today while I had an hour. You wouldn't believe the week we've had here. Read my post below for the update.

What I liked about these little creatures are the open mouths... like they are all howling or singing. I should mention that the choice for this theme was made long before the swine flu craze hit the states. :-)

Hog Wild
5x7 oil on panel
© 2009 - Robin Cheers

Party Ears
12x7 - oil on panel

Piggy Bank Picnic
6x6 - Oil on canvas
© 2009 Marie Fox

Piggie Party of Five
4x6 - Oil on board
© 2009 Diana Moses Botkin

Swine Barrel
5x7 Pastel on Cansen paper
© 2009 Mike Beeman

Pig Party
11x14 oil/canvas
© 2009 Silvina Day

News from the Studio

2009-05-14T19:08:00.002-05:00

The news from the studio is that there isn't much news. Not as far as painting goes. "Downstairs" however, all hell has broken loose. Excuse my language.
Let me start at the middle. Ben has been getting infusion therapy of IViG for his autoimmune disorder. Its working. Good news. It makes him a little sick for a couple of days. Not so good. His parents came down from Indiana to help us out some. Good news. His Dad, an avid cyclist, FELL Wednesday and broke his hip and had surgery last night. BAD news. So he is in the hospital now recovering and we (mostly me - because I am the only one operating at 100% still) are all scrambling around. He is recovering nicely so far - so I think all will be well soon. I am extremely grateful for our wonderful neighbors though.

So - I think I am going to just write off the rest of May and maybe try to focus on June for getting back to the studio. Wish me luck!

Fluffy

2009-05-04T09:05:00.003-05:00

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $6 s/h

Poodle Pup

2009-05-01T11:35:00.005-05:00

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $6 s/hI started a short series of dogs last week. Sort of a tribute to the one thing that is keeping me somewhat sane and relaxed lately in these rather trying times. My little Macy sits in my lap and lets me pet her as long as I want. Its a sacrifice on her part, I am sure, but she tolerates it very well. Dogs are always so happy and easy to please. I think God really blessed us with their companionship. Isn't there a saying that we should try to be as good as our dogs believe we are?

This is a friend's puppy who drew lots of oohs and ahhs when we painted downtown a few weeks ago.
Kim, I hope you don't mind my using him as a model.

The Road Less Traveled

2009-04-28T08:46:00.003-05:00

12x12 oil on panel

Rather a philosophical title. The Road Not Taken is a favorite poem of mine. That and Stopping by a Snowy Wood... but that wasn't so fitting for this scene.

My husband really loved the previous version I did of this horse and rider. But he wished it was a sunny scene. So, I made it so. The result reminds me of a colorized black and white photo. It has rather an unreal quality. On one hand, that is cool, and on the other, its unnatural.

I've forgotten to tell you all about the place these paintings are drawn from. It is the Dixie Dude Ranch in Bandera, Texas. If you remember, we went there just over a year ago during spring break. I had done some sketches which I posted here at that time.

Rider Approaching

2009-04-27T19:29:00.004-05:00

12x12 oil on panel

Continuing my theme here with riders and cowboys. I wonder if one of my galleries will want any of these? Ah well... I'm enjoying myself.

I thought I'd update you about my husband's health. We did finally get a diagnosis - CIDP, though we don't know if the (C) is for sure (chronic) until it happens again. What it is is an autoimmune disease where the myelin sheath that protects your nerves are being attacked. The treatment, which he begins tomorrow, is IViG (immunoglobin) which hopefully turns off, or gets rid of the bad antibodies. Its all a bit more complicated than this, but this isn't the time/place for lengthy medical analysis. We are hopeful that the infusions will help and he will soon feel better. He has two in a row this week, and then we wait and do another session in two weeks, and so on. Thank you to all who have expressed your concerns!

Passion for Painting Blog Award

2009-04-27T09:31:00.006-05:00

I thought I had better thank some fellow artists who have been so kind as to mark my blog as one they find inspiring. I'm rather behind on these things... so I'm sorry if I have not responded sooner. Most recently, the very talented Sally Tharp and Dale Blodget tagged me.

I can't say enough about the blog world of art. I am so happy to have made so many friends around the world - its wonderful to be able to connect about our passions, to share ideas or frustrations, to get inspiration and to challenge one another to do more.

As part of this award I am to list 7 things I love and tag 7 other artists for this award.

1. I love artist blogs and can spend a lot of time linking from one site to others and just seeing what I find.
2. I love my family. And my dog. I couldn't be half so productive or good a person without them.
3. I love ETSY! I am routinely blown away by the creativity.
4. I love music - most all types and hearing it live.
5. I love peeking in on my daughter when she is asleep.
6. I love the beach.
7. I love the smell of oil paint.

Now some artist's blogs who really make me happy.
1. Robert Joyner
2. Keiko Tanabe
3. John Fraissinet
4. Kathleen McElwaine
5. Sherrie Russ Levine
6. Laurel Daniel
7. David Lloyd

Weather Beaten

2009-04-24T18:00:00.004-05:00

14x18 oil on linen

I really wanted to capture the effects of our Texas sun here. Not just in the glare of the barn yard, but in the worn and weathered look of the woodwork, the baked earth and the cowboy's features. I had a lot of fun with this painting. I think that painting something I would not normally pick was a good excuse to push myself and to take some risks. I put in heavy thick strokes of pure white, left the intense blue in the shadow and had it bouncing in other areas and I put my focal point rather far left in the painting. I like it.

Trail Boss

2009-04-23T16:38:00.004-05:00

30x36 oil on canvas

I really have no idea what came over me today. I painted two small paintings of dogs then began to look through my photos for more. I came across some ranch dogs. And the ranch horses. And the next thing I knew I wanted to paint a large horse. Talk about something completely different. I have always loved horses and spent most of my youth doing anything I could to be around them. I had a nice looking chestnut quarter horse like this. Actually, Tasha was bigger and less elegant looking. Horse and rider are on the trails out in Bandera on a crisp March morning.