Carmine Street
80x120 cm
oil on canvas
I've been painting like a fiend to finish this before some sun at the beach near Cannes. I thought that I could cheat some and use the palette knife then ended up scraping off almost a days work. After I projected the photo onto the canvas, (yes, I do that) I realized that the only part of the photo that struck me originally was the part on the left with the three guys in the sun but I wasn't about to cut the canvas — not those wonderfully lightweight Italian imported ones from Pieraccini.
Here it is, thirty or so hours of painless brushstrokes, a labor of love; more for the canvas than the subject. Part of the difficulty in painting this was due to two things: I prepped the canvas too light in color and then when I opened the new tube of Mars Black it wasn't black, it was a bizarre red-brown.
Instead of wasting time looking for the invoice of purchase and trying to exchange the rotten tube, I squeezed a gob on to my palette and added Ultramarine Blue. To my delight the color is not only unusual but rich and lovely. Now I want more of it but don't know what color it truly is. My companion told me it is probably the end or the beginning of the mix that mistakingly was packaged.
Really, really like this one Ang. I am amazed at the shadows, capture of light and shadows. Love the buildings on the right and impressed at the diff and varied points of perspectives. I have been re-learning about 2,3 and 3D points of perspectives and became discouraged...so, to read you project images made me inspired again to try! Don't know why I feel like I'm cheating if I did. I was seriously thinking just last night when I was reading about this "how the heck does Angie remember all this math from Mr. Memmi's class and use it now in her art??" And, I was seriously intimidated as I flipped right through those pages of explanation of right angles, elipses, blah, blah where to put the POP and then there are the pages of elipticals and the section of measuring them for perspective!! haha So, you have inspired me again knowing it's OK to project. I really, really don't draw well. My 'old age eyes' get in the way too. I painted a tomato with an interesting stem the other day straight up using tubed water colors, no drawing first and it came out way better than drawing an outline. I just don't draw well. I remember now those few paintings I did in HS were all sort of impressionistic sytle probably because I couldn't draw then either. So, I'll take my hubby's encouragement and your nod to go ahead and project then paint. :)
ReplyDeleteOh...I know it's prolly a pain in the patoot, but would you consider setting up a video cam while you paint something like this when you do the details in shadows and light and explain what you are thinking or how you choose to put things where you do??? Kind of like that Bob Voss guy with the 70's afro that used to paint on PBS with the spatula... haha Would love to hear you teach. :)
ReplyDeleteThere is amazing activity in this painting ! I can almost hear the noises. Fantastic.
ReplyDeleteHelen
Hi Debbie, Many artist project their images. The projector is a tool of the trade. I know how to draw so don't have to prove it to myself nor do I want to spend my time mixing my own paints or stretching canvases. There are lots of videos out there that can show you light and dark. You could take a painting workshop. There are two artists on the left of my blog, Carol Marine and PAtti Mollica that would be well worth studying with.
ReplyDeleteHi Helen,
Thanks
I got this comment by email:
ReplyDeleteHi,
Love your painting Carmine Street! Also very pleased to hear you project your photo onto the canvas, have been feeling rather guilty about using similar methods, but NO MORE!!!
Onwards and upwards.
Happy painting, regards Barbara, Dublin Ireland
Whew! What a relief...So glad Barbara in Dublin admitted some of the guilt I was feeling. (though I cannot draw well or better don't likely have the eye at this time- but could with practice my husband says so kindly). Angie- see there? You just may've released a creative freedom in many folks!! Thanks for teaching us tools of the trade and showing us freedom of expression comes in many forms!
ReplyDeleteBTW- another novice question of curiosity...is there any particular reason why oil seems the preferred medium vs. acrylic? Is it because you can futts with it as it doesn't dry so fast? Is it easier to blend? Curious since most of the paintings seem to be in oil.
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie, sorry I never commented back. I've been out to lunch this summer with my kid. I tried acrylic but it doesn't talk to me. As far as projecting images, why bother drawing if all you want to do is paint. I have a friend that shows in gallery Xippas, Chuck Close's gallery. She never draws but uses something else to create lines.
ReplyDeleteArt is free expression, there is no cheating.