Another Daily Painter Blog

Keep it simple

2009-06-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

about 5" x 7" acrylic on canvas paper
$80 to purchase, email jjwoodee@gmail.com
Paypal accepted

When I first started painting still lifes, my tendency was to grab as many unusual objects and cram them into a composition(the canvas). Take this example:

Each object in a still life is an actor in a play. Now that I look at this piece,the objects are competing. They could be supporting each other in more pleasing aesthetic way. One artist's feedback at acritique mentioned how the piece as being a bit busy. He was right.

Our culture says if you have a space, fill it with as stuff much as possible. Billboards, plates of food, sodas, and items your house are a few examples . Fill, fill, fill. I raise my hand in guilt. But is more better?

My latest painting features a more simplistic approach featuring 3 main elements. A dark background a daisy flower and bottle. Also, dont forget the highlight. The bottle cap is a supporting actor or faithful sidekick.

It's a struggle to think simplisticly in an ever busier world. I hope this work offers a bit of tranquility or reminder to slow down and think - it's good for you.

Random sketches

2009-06-16T06:08:00.000-07:00

Since I'm crunched with time taking care of Clara, I have been faithfully sticking to keeping a sketchbook. This is something every artist should do. An hour a day to simply clear the mind, record ideas or just draw things around you. Of course drawing is fundamental basic block of painting. With good drawing, usually comes good painting.

Bowl with yellow rose

2009-06-11T19:19:00.000-07:00

about 7" x 5" acrylic on canvas paper
$80 to purchase, email jjwoodee@gmail.com

Here's another painting. Of course, there are few things I'd like to change about the piece now that I see it on the monitor but I'd rather not go back and tweak it. Sometimes in a piece or in life for that matter, you just have to move on.

I like to paint flowers in the state of wilting, hence the separate rose petals. The shape of the wilted rose was hard to capture and I'm not quite sure I pulled it off to my satisfaction. I'm hardly statisfied, however with any work I do.

Bottle in the shadows

2009-05-22T06:25:00.000-07:00

5" x 7" acrylic on canvas paper
$80 to purchase, email jjwoodee@gmail.com

I managed to complete this bottle painting. Now that I'm surrounded with various baby objects around the house I thought this made a good subject. Lord knows that this bottle has saved me from screaming baby many a time.

Show in couple of weeks

2009-04-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

All my "little" paintings or rather 34 of the good ones will be on display at Artist Under Ground May 9th, 7 to 10:00 pm.

Here's a youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT_nuUY_xGc

Daffodil out of the darkness

2009-04-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

I plucked this daffodil from my garden. It's wonderful flower that brings color especially on those early spring, colder days. But now, at least today we may have turned a corner with the weekend weather being in the 70's. The daffodil blooms will soon fade, but this painting will not.

SOLD

Between diaper changes

2009-04-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

There's a new addition in my life and that is the birth of our new daughter. To see feel, hear, and listen to this little human being is surreal. The journey with her in my life has just begun.

Finding time and thought to devote to painting is more difficult these days, but I managed to complete this picture between all the mayhem and the calls of my wife.

SOLD

Back to painting

2009-03-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

Well my wife is due today, and I finally finished the baby room. I have my set up in the basement area of the house where I can control the light in my still life set ups. This piece is titled "Forbidden Fruit".

2009-01-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

"The Truth is simple, avoid complicating it." -random man at Jack in the Box, Seattle's Univeristy District

I came across an old sketchbook while cleaning out my studio. As flipped the pages this drawing grabbed me as I soon remembered hanging out on the ave seeking out something to draw. I came across this street musician and absolutely needed to capture the moment.

Green Pear on side

2008-12-23T16:52:00.000-08:00

I don't know if this painting reads as a pear, but I like the confident stroke and marks I am making is this piece.

Recovering

2008-12-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

I had surgery last Friday, and I'm finally getting back to normal. It is going to be month before I can do any lifting over 10 lbs. Thankfully my wife has been great helping me to recover. It humbles you to be so in need of physical help of the simplest things. But I'm seeing an increase in movement and desire to do more that should put me back to 100% soon. So, I havent been painting in the meanwhile. And since we have baby due in March, I made the desicion to take on the task of cleaning out my studio a week prior to my surgery. I want to repaint the room, so I have taken down the old plaster. This involves a ton of scraping and steaming but its fun. I plan to paint the room a cheery welcoming yellow, with some artsy paintings of Panda bears for the new one which arrives in March.

I'm still deciding whether or not divy off the room as 1/2 my studio and the other 1/2 nursery. If I can get the basement cleaned out, I may have to paint down there.

Cleaning out my studio

2008-11-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

I've been busy cleaning out my studio room in the upper level of our rowhouse. Amazing what two years of "stuff" an artist can accumulate. The room needs to be cleared out and become a nursery to make room for for a new addition to our family. We don't know the sex of the baby. It will be a surprise.

Title: Blue stone necklace and candle Holder
5" x 7" acrylic on canvas paper
$100 to purchase + shipping and handling, email jjwoodee@gmail.com

Switching hosts

2008-11-03T08:55:00.000-08:00

I apologize for some of the broken links....I recently switched web hosts so there are some technical issues to be smoothed out.

spotlighting

2008-10-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

I've been experimenting with spotlighting within my still life set ups. I use a light source and piece of contruction paper folded into a cone form. This cone from is then taped onto the light source. The light source now acts as a flashligt of sorts and helps add drama to the still life set up.

SOLD

A mug

2008-10-06T07:44:00.000-07:00

I've been painting steadily each day, although not sharing each one. I need to get better at that. Time within hte day seems to slip by so fast - an hour of this and hour of that along with walking the dog, and the day blurs into evening. Oh, and my wife is 4 1/2 months pregnant she reminds me today so the feelings of anticipation and fear linger within me. 5" x 7" acrylic on canvas paper
$100 to purchase + shipping and handling, email jjwoodee@gmail.com

A meditative change of pace

2008-09-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

So here's a small study inspired by the work of Rothko. A voice my head tells me I'm abetter abstract artist than what I believe. When painting abstractly you are not confined by many of the rules of observation to make something look believable. However you still have to understand principles of composition, colr, line, and all the umpteen relationships that make an artwork successful. And even then, the battle to make something look truly beautiful to an artists internal liking is elusive at best.

Peach in a bowl

2008-09-12T07:12:00.001-07:00

I like how the bowl turned out in this piece. In a forum I often post in another artist commented about how the piece had a melancholy feeling. I consider a piece successful, despite the level of technical expertise, if it can communicate an emotion.

5" x 7" acrylic on canvas paper
$100 to purchase + shipping and handling, email jjwoodee@gmail.com

Faded Daisy and medicine bottle

2008-09-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

I feel good about this piece. The more I do these studies, the more I find the hard work comes in the planning aspect. What to paint, arranging the composition, and value study is more difficult than the painting part. By the time I get to painting, that's easy.

Japanese Teapot

2008-08-26T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a piece recently finished in my ongoing 1 a day, 120 paintings series.

A lamp painting

2008-08-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

I felt inspired one late evening to paint this lamp. I had a bit of energy left in my tank, and knew I wouldn't like myself the next day if I didn't attempt to paint it. As an artist you have to pay attention to those moments that strike you and even if it makes you uncomfortable. This is done on cardboard.

Observations on Vermeer

2008-08-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

c. 1665-1666
oil on canvas
17 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. (45 x 39.9 cm.)
The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Gift of Harry Waldron Havemeyer and Horace Havemeyer, Jr.
in memory of their father, Horace Havemeyer

I was able to pay a visit to the National gallery last Sunday for couple of hours, not near enough time to see everything so I focused on the Dutch Masters. Perhaps one of the most famous is Johannes Vermeer. His work is shrouded in mysterious settings with figures and lighting.

I had my (I know this is going to sound hoaky) pictureperfectviewfinder, that has this transparent red film that easily allows you to distinguish values. So when looking at a picture you hold this device up , sqinting one eye, and look through the window. It minimizes detail and allows you to see shapes based on value, which in turn you can easily match up on a value scale.

In most pictures the area that is the lightest in value or shows the greatest contrast between light and dark is where your eye goes. A clever artist, familiar with this concept composes his picture utilizing this method and Vermeer is no exception. When you look at this picture you might think the point of interest or the lightest light is within the face, but after you hold up the pictureperfectviewfinder(what a mouthful) it becomes evident that the arm sleeve is where the lightest value is located. Also, the arm is closer to us than the face so this would make sense of why the light value is lighter. But whats even more unusual, is that the color of fabric on the arm sleeve is lemon yellow. In terms of paint, there is a concept of warm versus cool. Warm colors advance, cool colors recede is the general rule.

A cool yellow is typically a lemon yellow, and a warm is cadmuim yellow medium. Sunlight usually is warm and will cast a warme color. So, the current school of thought is to paint objects in sunlight warm colors. But Vermeer in this piece uses a cool yellow in the fabric of the sleeve(it's more apparent when you see the piece in person that from the digital image of reference in this post) and effectively creates the feeling of light.

So you have the cool light and face that is subdued in this piece, which breaks stride with the works of other Dutch Masters in the period. Maybe I'm off on my thoughts but it was my observation...

sensitive grapes

2008-08-12T15:31:00.000-07:00

I didn't know how difficult grapes were to paint. I feel this is successful composition. You need a light touch to capture the essence of a grape.
5" x 7" acrylic on canvas paper
$80 to purchase, email jjwoodee@gmail.com

Japanese Vessel with None-so-Pretty or Catchfly

2008-08-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

Here's another study of this favorite form of mine. I enjoy how there is just enough information to convey the vessels presence.
5" x 7" acrylic on canvas paper
$80 to purchase, email jjwoodee@gmail.com
or

Japanese Vessel with cosmos

2008-07-31T07:33:00.000-07:00

Here's simple little study of my favorite Japanese Vessel.

5" x 7" acrylic on canvas paper
$75 to purchase, email jjwoodee@gmail.com

The Purple Pill

2008-07-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

I'm finding the bathroom of all places within our house one of the best places to paint. We have a skylight that allows wonderful natural light that hightlights for a good part of the day the top of the toilet tank. I set up this scene up, and darkened the background a bit.