From Bad to Worse

Remember the two little dark clouds problem? Well, now it is one big cloud problem. Did the fix, left the room and then returned to find that Zorro had been at work on my painting. Oh Shoot, I will fix it tomorrow. Today I am pruning shrubs and then painting a Jack Rabbit on the Mercury painting.

Minerva Finished?

Well, I think I have finally finished Minerva. I toned down lots of areas, including the easel, most of The Thinker and did a tad more work to the blue dress and her hand and arms. I really took down the value of the highlights on her dress. Later, after looking at her for a month or two, I may go back in and add some shine to the highlights on the dress. I see them on the actual cloth here in the studio, but felt they looked overdone on the painting. I will remind myself to use restraint if and when I put them back in. I love painting transparent objects, but this cloth was a tough one. I will set up a still life and use this cloth again, just for practice. Of course, only after I finish up three or four of my current projects. Focus, Linda, Focus

Finished Spec Piece and New Job

Since my little gallery closed and since the art commissions have dried up along with the economy, I decided to get a part time job to help me over the slump. Also, I reasoned that since my eyes pop wide open at 5:00 am (I am definitely a morning person) I may as well do something productive and not wake my husband who is not a morning person. It just so happens, Gusto Di Vita in Warrenton was hiring. It is the cutest little coffee drive-thru and now I am learning how to be a first rate Barista. It's only part time in the mornings and I still have 75% of my day left for the art studio. It has been a positive thing for me, I am eating less, getting more exercise and I have lost 10 lbs as of yesterday. I also finished the spec piece I started while sick. Feeling good, it turned out beautiful. OK, off to paint now. Ciao!

Ailing Artist-Ailing Art

OK, so I got sick Saturday night, layed in bed or on the sofa all day Sunday. Yearning to paint, I decided to draw, since that can be done in the living room from the sofa. I was wanting to do this spec piece of illustration work since Saturday, so today I proped up my drawing board on a tv table and sat on the sofa in my bathrobe drawing. Not Too Good! Although the pencil drawing came out half decent, when I tried to transfer it to illustration board and ink it in, I totally destroyed any charm the original drawing had. Thankfully, I still have the original drawing and can try again. I am definitely waiting until I am no longer under the weather. The moral to this story is, Healthy Body-Healthy Art!!!

Not A Daily Painter Site

Welcome Brenda Doolittle to Monthly Masterpiece. You will find that this is not a daily painter website, but more of a how to site, with a bit of junk and day to day life sprinkled in. My goal is to take a step by step approach to a painting I am working on. I am presenting it here for any and all wanting to improve their own works. I don't always paint "daily", but I do work towards a monthly finished piece. I don't profess to be an expert, but I do hope to gain a better knowledge, and improve my own work by disecting what I do.

Proof of this was yesterday. I had a pieced of art to drop off at the City Hall in Alexandria for a show entitled, Art in City Hall. By the time my running around was finished and I was back home, most of the day was gone. And so I did not paint. But I did draw a bit.

More Minerva

Here is the photo of Minerva I had promised a few posts back. The books and Mona Lisa have been glazed darker and this tones down their importance in the painting. The Thinker still needs work in a few areas and I want to push him back into the background more. All that I think is needed after that, is to refine the portrait and the arms more. At this point the actual portrait is more Walt Disney than Linda Lawler in style. I don't know why this happens in my portraits, but from time to time I get a definite Disney look instead of the realism I achieve in other portraits, such as the one of my husband on my website. Oh well, sooner or later I will figure this out. Focus Linda, Focus!!!!

Off to a Nice Start

I have gotten a nice start to the face of Mercury/Hermes. I continued to work on it after this photo was taken and today I think I may have overdone his nose in relation to the rest of his face. I always feel as though my portraits go from great to bad and then back to almost good, but never back to great.