New Zealand as Inspiration

New Zealand has no shortage of inspirational sites for artists. Papamoa Beach in the North Island is quite beautiful. Close to the beach, this grove of trees caught my attention and resulted in the impressions of "Papamoa" series in acrylic on canvas.

Papamoa

Papamoa Evening

Papamoa #2

Papamoa #3

   

Papamoa #4

Papamoa #6

Papamoa #5

     

Papamoa Dunes

                

     

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I finished the "Swimmer" series

In an older post I talked about a series of narrative paintings in acrylic that I had started. The first of the series was a redo of an old watercolour painting. It's subject had always haunted me. From there I continued to add to the theme, very much influenced by the colours ,mystery and ambiguity of Peter Doig's paintings. After discarding one painting, the tale has now ended at number five.

Steps

The Swimmer

The Plunge

The Boat

Aboard

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Paintings too bad to throw away

Sometimes there are embarrassing paintings - impossible to leave in the garbage, identified as yours!
There are options:

- if on canvas then good old gesso cures all ills
- if paper and watercolour, then a dunk in a sink might remove most if not all and the process can begin again
- if paper and acrylic, good old gesso can come to save the day again or even gesso over watercolour to scrape out colours and images
- if paper, interesting pieces can cut out for a later collage
- if paper, the painting can be cropped to leave a smaller but more interesting composition
- of course, yupo and terraskin allow more flexibility in removing an wiping out images.

This painting is a good example of a rescue of a painting gone wrong. This is acrylic on terraskin, and renovated with the inspiration of a very good teacher, D.D. Gadjanski. See her work at www.ddgadjanski.com/‎  and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/DDGadjanski‎

Lonely Beach

The lightbulb series continued

How many modern artists does it take to change a light bulb?
Four. One to throw bulbs against the wall, one to pile hundreds of them in a heap and spray-paint it orange, one to glue light bulbs to a cocker spaniel, and one to put a bulb in the socket and fill the room with light while all the critics and buyers are watching the fellow smashing the bulbs against the wall, the fellow with the spray-gun, and the cocker spaniel.

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It Really is "Time for Art"

A Gala Evening of Art

This is your personal invitation to attend the North Toronto Group of Artists' Opening Gala:
Friday evening, November 8, 2013, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Blessed Sacrament Church,(basement)
24 Cheritan Avenue - Yonge Street just south of Lawrence

Please email me to register (free). We require registration due to liquor laws.
Wine and light refreshments will be served and jazz music will be part of the atmosphere.
22 local artists will be showing their work - all media including oil, acrylic, watercolour,  photography, digital.

  If you are unable to attend on  Friday night:

The event is open to the public on Saturday, November 9, 2013 from 10:00am to 3:30 pm.

 Go to My WebSite    or    to  North Toronto Group of Artists

Limited Palette Part One

I have wanted to experience the oft-touted joys of a limited palette. What an interesting exercise!  I used the same acrylic colours in a group of six paintings. The first three are here for comments.  I used quinacridone burnt orange, anthraquinone blue, white, and a mere suggestion of  cadmium yellow medium.  I used a  light glaze of burnt sienna in some areas to create more warmth.

Papamoa Evening

Charlevoix

On the Beach

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All Brushed Up

The first attempt at using dry brush technique with acrylic paint on canvas is finished and ready for comment! I found the soft misty quality of this painting appealing, but did add some texture with a knife on the flowers. I can see how that kind of atmospheric quality might suite my "old man and dog"series. I won't "brush off "this technique and think it deserves more practice!

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My Brush with Dry Brush

I have used dry brush technique in watercolour painting, usually combined with wet technique and occasionally for the complete painting. I have had little experience with using dry brush in acrylic work. Follow me, and comment as I hash my way through a "dry" painting.

Here is the inauspicious beginning.

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Acrylic vs. Watercolour

I am often asked which medium I prefer- acrylic or watercolour. My answer is that it depends on what I am painting at the moment. Both are water-based media, but the technique and effects are quite different.
Acrylic paints are very versatile. They can be diluted and used as washes and glazes like watercolour on watercolour paper. They can also be used straight from the tube and applied to canvas and so behave more like oil paints, especially when used in an impasto technique. They dry quickly, which can create problems if brushes are not cleaned immediately. A variety of materials can be applied to the acrylic canvas to  provide texture and to create collages. I find that acrylic provides the freedom to experiment, as you can cover mistakes or change your composition.
Watercolour on the other hand is basically applied to paper, although additional surfaces are becoming available, such as watercolour canvas, clay boards and terraskin.  The painting must proceed in layers and from light to dark. There is a luminous transparent quality to watercolour painting which is impossible to completely duplicate in  acrylic.There is little ability to correct mistakes and that has given watercolour  the reputation of being difficult to master.
I have always been thankful that my first exposure to painting was in a watercolour workshop. I feel it is much easier to move from watercolour to acrylic than the other way around. Since I have been doing more acrylic painting recently, I found it quite a challenge to return to watercolour. I became so frustrated that I repainted over three watercolours in acrylic. Ultimately I  went back to a familiar scene and plodded along. The initial effort, in images one and two, as you can see was a complete failure. Finally things began to click, in images three and four. More watercolour painting needed!!



#1



#2



#3

#4

This process only confirmed my belief that if you use more than one medium, you need to vary your painting techniques in order to maintain the skills unique to each.

Welcome a New Decade

I mentioned in a previous blog that I would think about "creativity resolutions" for the new year. This list will probably haunt me by next year and it  is not world- changing, but you have to make an effort.
In  2011
 I will paint more watercolour on Yupo paper, continue exploring abstract painting, particularly abstract landscapes, investigate the creative possibilities that collage offers, continue my series of "old men", try new acrylic techniques and look into all the options for watercolours without glass and frames.
PS. Visit more art galleries.

Good news for the new decade! According to Robert Genn, a Canadian painter who produces a regular newsletter called Painter's Keys, about art and other arty thoughts - "Fine art is on the way in. In our gadgety, thing-happy society where Walmart and creeping meatballism threaten, painting is hot. Old fashioned as the shoeing of horses--about the same methodology for the last six hundred years--art fills a vital human need for life enhancement. Art reboots the cerebral cortex, teaches new skills to underutilized hands, arouses dormant sensitivities and promotes latent passions. If need be, art gives us something to talk about besides the kids, grandkids and celebrities, hence making us more interesting people. And it's cheap--a month of art supplies for the average Daumier is about the same as a round of golf."

Think about art and click on this video link. The paintings of Van Gogh are set to music, the lyrics of which have been changed to reflect the art. Enjoy and happy new year!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM

Time for more art.

I am still on an interstellar trip! One more effort on that theme and another abstract.  This is a series I feel that I can continue with at some point, until I am "spaced out" - a good starting title for the next one.

Galaxy

I am back for now to acrylic. I paint in watercolour or acrylic depending on the subject, the mood of the painting, or my mood at the moment.  (There is no clue to my mood in the medium, just so you know)
I just got back from Haliburton and am reminded again about the beauty of cottage country and the inspiration it provides. I photographed an old cottage which I have painted before for a friend, and now see other beautiful possibilities as it settles even more into the surrounding landscape like a grand dame. I have done about five landscapes from that area, and realize one could go on forever, as many artists do.
It is difficult to focus on one area of interest, when there are so  many fascinating subjects. Speaking of fascinating subjects, I am starting on my "nuns." Yes - sisters of the cloth. I did say I had trouble focusing, but so little time, and so many great potential ideas for paintings. My sisterly ideas came seeing some wonderfully human moments involving nuns from Rome and Quebec City.

Thought for the day: "Abstract art is a product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered."   Al Capp

Please comment - I have very thick skin!