Birthday Portrait

This is a little aceo sized (2.5" x 3.5") portrait of my niece for her birthday. My sister-in-law had everyone in the family draw a picture of her that she will frame up all together in one frame. She did it for my other niece and it turned out really fun.

& yes she is really that pretty!

Art History around town

I don't think this is the post you would guess it is from the title. The other day I jogged down to a local park in Keene, NH - and was admiring the park's carved wooden sign. We have a couple of very talented sign makers around here but I don't know what their names are. I've just seen their work around town. This sign is beautiful and this photo doesn't do it justice as it was just a camera phone. There is line work carved into the wood resembling the woodcuts from old books and then there is paint washed over it all which has worn off over time leaving almost a metallic look. The rippling water is just beautiful in person as are the trees in the background. That's not really why I'm posting this though. I was staring at this sign for a while with this niggling feeling that the people just seemed so familiar when it dawned on me! They are the people in one of my most favorite paintings of all time - Gustave Caillebott's Paris Street Rainy Day which I had the pleasure to see every day one summer when I worked at the Art Institute of Chicago where the massive painting hangs. You can even see that the woodcarver left a bit of the man's umbrella in there.

I'm not sure how much artwork I'm going to get to do this week as I have more gardening and more walls to paint inside but I'm hoping I will get to do a bit.

Banana: Illusion in Yellow and Blue 2

OK you asked for it! I tried to add more color in the clouds this time but it is not showing up too well in this photograph. This is the fourth piece I've done of hanging fruit in front of a sky. The influence for this little series is from two sources: The Dutch painter Juan Sanchez Cotan and surrealists Rene Magritte. I also borrowed the arched shape of the "portal" from Dutch still-life paintings most notably the florals set in arches or still-lifes in niches. Isn't this one by Bosschaert the Elder lovely of a floral set in an arched window with a small bit of landscape at the bottom http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Ambrosius_Bosschaert,_the_Elder_03.jpg

I went to see a Magritte exhibit while in high scholl at the Art Institute of Chicago and have always loved the humour in his pieces. The Dutch still-lifes are an interesting mix as they are seen as being the iconic still-life but when you look at more and more of them - the Dutch still-lifes were not shy at all about humor and especially illusions. These are a bit off from my traditional scenes of lots of white on white with just a pop of color that my most successful still-lifes resemble, but they are just plain fun and something that I will continue to play with in between my other still-lifes.

I wanted to put a link to the type of light bulbs I use in my tree lamp for my still-life reference photographs. See 2 posts ahead. I use GE Reveal light bulbs because they are supposed to filter out the yellow light you get from most light bulbs. The other reason is they are cheap and fit into a regular lamp. I really like our tree lamp which I got at Target but I also have used clip on lamps from Home Depot before.

Illusion in Yellow and Blue finished

Thanks for the comments on the photography post. I just wrote a few things I have learned since I've been trying to make my own reference photographs. Its one of those things where you try something and it works so you add it to your usual way of doing things. I'm sure there are more professional and tidy ways of doing things if you have a dedicated space for setting up still-lifes to photograph, but this way works very well for me. I do always have to fix things here or there or omit things I can't get out of the way like the shelf in the background on the photo of the pitcher, but the lighting and colors work which is the most important thing in my opinion for reference photographs. By the way the light bulbs that I used in my pole lamp are simple GE Reveal light bulbs I picked up at Home Depot which are supposed to be closer to natural light than regular light bulbs but are not expensive like OTT type bulbs.

So here is my finished hanging apple piece which I'm naming "Illusion in Yellow and Blue" which was influenced by the titles that Whistler used such as "Arrangement in Black and Grey." As I said before this piece was made for a show I am in with my friends from Fine Line Artists. Gordon Leverton is hosting a show of our works at the Jitterbug Cafe & Roasting Co. Waterdown, Ontario, Canada in the month of June. We are doing a theme of Portals: or windows and doors if you will. Of course it is any interpretation of this theme. I so enjoy doing these hanging fruits. They turn out very decorative with the bold colors as well as surreal. They also are a very good study - as yellow fruits I always find difficult. I need to send two pieces in to this show so if I have enough time I'm going to make a matching piece that I can further practice doing yellow fruit on... I'm thinking a banana... I've always wanted to draw a banana so why not a hanging one?!

Photograph References Tips for Still-life

I am getting myself ready for the workshop I am doing on the Alaskan cruise. I've actually been getting ready for months now. See, my husband is coming with me on the cruise and the kids will be staying at our house. My mother will be flying out from Illinois to babysit them. She'll be here 9 days, in my house without me. So I have not only been cleaning... I've cleaned out every cabinet, the pantry, the garage, everything. I've also painted most of my walls and completely painted and cleaned behind the washer and dryer in the laundry room, and redorated it complete with a hanging shelf where my mom can hang the clothes when they come out of the dryer. I know it sounds crazy... I'm not sure if I'm doing all of it because its spring, my mother is coming and will see ever bit of my house since she will be there without me, or if I'm just nervous about being away from the kids for so long. I have to admit to having nightmares of hitting iceburgs in the cruise ship.

I've also been getting things ready for the workshop. We will be working from a photograph I made of a still-life. I usually work from photographs as I don't have a designated space to work on my art and therefore haven't anywhere to keep a still-life that won't get disturbed. The more I make my own reference photographs the more I learn though to the point that I enjoy both creating the reference photographs as much as drawing from them. I see it as part of the creative process and not a crutch if you make your own reference photographs.

So I thought I would share with you all some tips on making good still-life reference photographs. If you are going on the cruise you will be getting a print out of thi information!

Photographing a Still-life Some Tips!

First off, if you are going to be working from a photograph, it is important to have the best photograph you can. It is a tool, and you want to use the best tool that you can get!

For this still-life reference photo I used:
-Tripod
-Digital Camera
-Lamp - A lamp that can be directed or pointed as the primary strong light source.
-Window - Soft Light from a window for secondary light source
-Books to raise the still-life to the level needed for the lamp and window.

You don’t need a fancy set up or a box for your still-life. Just strip away the clutter behind the still-life.

I have neutral colored walls/furniture which is good for getting natural colors. If you don’t have neutral surroundings you can enclose the area with some neutral fabric. You should also wear neutral colored clothing.

If you want a certain color to be reflected on the still-life, have different colored cloth at your disposal that you can hold near the still-life to get subtle colors reflecting. I use this technique to achieve desired color combinations. For example I used this technique when I had an all white backdrop and oranges as the subject. To get the oranges to pop, I wanted the white linen to have the orange’s complement reflected on the white linen, so I hung a piece of blue fabric near the still-life.

Take more photos than you think you can possibly use. I usually start with the arrangement or two I had in my mind before the photoshoot and then alter one thing at a time to get unexpected compositions. A good starting point is to put the main subject at the 1/3 mark going horizontally and moving things around from there. Use your viewfinder and move the camera up and down on the tripod to see it at different vantage points.

Take several photos of each arrangement before moving objects, as often the photos will be blurry.

To minimize photographic distortion from a wide angle lens (which is what most digital cameras come with) back up from the still-life and crop in later using a program like Adobe Photoshop Elements.

EDIT: I wanted to put a link to the type of light bulbs I use in my tree lamp for my still-life reference photographs. See 2 posts ahead. I use GE Reveal light bulbs because they are supposed to filter out the yellow light you get from most light bulbs. The other reason is they are cheap and fit into a regular lamp. I really like our tree lamp which I got at Target but I also have used clip on lamps from Home Depot before.