Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Protrait of the Artist!
Photo by Jake Provonsha
My friends Jake and Patti came by the studio on Sunday. He had a new camera and started taking pictures of this painting on my easel. I was trying to be funny by sticking my head in. Then we decided it really tells the whole story and we took a few more. I'm pretty camera shy so this was my cup of tea! Get it? As my little "Daily Paintings" aren't coming off the easel on a regular basis lately, I'll post a few more of this painting in process. That's my premixed palette and I use Liquin for the medium. As you can see, the tulips in the set-up are spent, but I took a photo of the set-up and use that for reference. There is a light to the left of the set-up and I let some filtered day light fall on the set-up as well. This is day two of actual painting (I start with a toned canvas, yellow oxide acrylic)
Questions? Email me

12 comments:

Susan Carlin said...

This is so great to get to see your still life and painting all at once with a little Jennifer thrown in there! That's some big painting you're working on. Do you often work in this scale?

Jennifer Bellinger said...

Hi Susan,
I always liked working large so this 34" square is average. I rarely did small paintings until the Daily Blog craze. Now its gone from 75/25 to 25/75. On the satisfaction meter I would say the little ones do it for me. But the biggist pay off is how much my painting has improved in a very short time. It would have taken me years to accomplish what I've done in 6 months of painting small. One brushstroke says a lot on a 6x6. It is more difficult to make things happen the bigger you go, but not always. Can you think of any other profession that has so many variables to keep us hooked? Thanks for visiting my blog!

georgiana ewing said...

Jennifer, thank you for the photo of your still life set up. I still struggle with my set ups, lighting, etc.--------so it is helpful to see how you do it. I'm learning more from reading these artist blogs than I ever learned in a class!

Love your work. Thanks for so generously sharing it.

georgiana ewing said...

jennifer, thank you for showing us your still life set up. Very helpful. love, love, love your blog.
georgiana

Jennifer Bellinger said...

Thanks Georgiana,
What doesn't show well in the photo are two sheets of black foam core, taped at right angles to form the backdrop that I can then tape various colored papers to or fabrics. I have a low stool also that I can move the setup box to for looking-down-at views. You can use a large box with three sides cut out or tape three pieces of cardboard to. For my daily paintings I use a box that is 12x16, so colored construction paper fits perfectly. Off camera is a drafting lamp, the cheap $12 kind that articulates, clamped to the table. That's about it.

Christine Mercer-Vernon said...

jennifer, this is too funny! at first i didn't see you and thought maybe you posted a photo without you in it, then i saw you peeking around the painting, i never laughed so hard!! i'm really enjoying your work in progress view of this one. interesting to see you block in the fabric!

Jennifer Bellinger said...

Hi Christine,
I am trying to be even looser than normal with this fabric. Think I will leave it as is until I bring some of the other objects to a finish. Hope your painting is going well.

theresamillerwatercolors said...

Hi Jennifer! It's huge, your work, and beautiful! Looking forward to seeing more of it. Theresa

Jennifer Bellinger said...

Hi Theresa, I have been working on another painting, letting this one rest/ferment/jell. I have to accept that this is my process,but it will be done for my show in mid July. I have custom cornerless frames ordered for it and other paintings in process. I like to have the frame to put on the painting before its finished to adjust colors a bit. Framing can be tricky. Thanks for visting my blog.

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

I very much like the way you break up your background into a trio. Makes a more interesting composition.

Jennifer Bellinger said...

Thanks, Mary. I added a shadow over the upper right corner so that corner wouldn't be the same value/color as the upper left corners. I have been paying more attention to corners lately. Like, maybe having three similar and the fourth different..definately trying not to have four corners similar..boring!

Jennifer Bellinger said...

Thanks, Mary. I added a shadow over the upper right corner so that corner wouldn't be the same value/color as the upper left corners. I have been paying more attention to corners lately. Like, maybe having three similar and the fourth different..definately trying not to have four corners similar..boring!