" Still Life with Yellow Warbler "Oil
25" x 38"
Wow, I can't believe how much time has gone by since my last post. It has been a bit of everything that has kept me away; family, procrastination, working on large paintings for summer shows, etc. But mostly it has been procrastination and perfectionism! I fight these two devils daily but some more than others. A bit of each is good and gives one time to reflect/work on other things. A quote I put in my April e-newsletter by Mark Twain "Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after tomorrow" makes me smile. I also mentioned that Leonardo DaVinci was a procrastinator. He created wonderful drawings of inventions while other work awaited his attention. I think it is human nature to procrastinate...might even be an inate self-preservation tactic.
The oil painting I posted here is several years old and still one of my favorite. I used information from several photos to created the design. It was fun to paint..I love the patterned fabric, old bakelite flatware and china plate.
Art tip # 12: This is helping my procrastinating: I bought my husband a new boom box (he listens to books on tape/CD) and now I have his old one that I can set next to me at my easel. I find that I can paint and follow the story just fine. When I tried to listen to books on tapes on my main stereo system (with great quad speakers placed in all four corners) I couldn't follow the story, I was too removed from the sound source. Now I get hooked on the story and it gets me to the studio and painting sooner and I stay longer, working through any rough spots in the painting process. I do listen to music, too, but getting into the story is what seems to be working for me now. I am thinking that one of the main reasons I am able to follow the story and paint is that I premix my colors for a large painting..those decisions are made ahead of time so I'm not constantly making color/value decisions as I paint.
If anyone is interested to learn more about premixing let me know and I'd be happy to elaborate.
Tomorrow I'll address perfectionism...if I can find the perfect words!
Posts
15 comments:
The warbler still-life is gorgeous! Reminds me of Janet Fish's work. I'm showing some of your 6" X 6" still-lifes to my class that is starting a unit using pastels. It will be great for them to see the works in person! S. Gutshall, Virginia
Hi Susan,
Yes, having the real thing to see, brush strokes and all is inspiring. The best reason to visit museums and galleries. Reminds me of my 5 months in Europe in my college days!
Stunning painting - so much to look at, I'd love to see it in real.
What audio books have you been enjoying? I've just about finished the Harry Potter series and am searching for something new - getting involved in a story really does encourage me to spend more time at the easel!
Thanks, Terry. I just finished the trilogy "All the Pretty Horses" and the next two..forget the titles. Read by Brad Pitt, abridged. Good stories. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
I listen to books while a paint also! I really love librivox.org, as it has tons of open source books as mp3 files.
The painting is also beautiful, I like the ordered chaos of the composition.
Thanks, E. Ordered chaos, I love that description! I do think what makes this busy compostion work is the bird...living things draw our eye to them and the bird does that here, even after roaming around the painting the eye wants to return to the bird.
this is so beautiful!
Oh, yeah, about P&P. They are two of my most constant companions. I, too, tend to drift off listening to books on tape/cd. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Mary. I always appreciate your input, too.
Hi Jennifer, your comment how living things draw one's eye and help maintain a compositional order has been on my mind all week. I think this is a helpful hint that can be applied in so many different situations.
Yes, E., it's like the photos we take on vacation..they tell more of the story if you or your traveling partners are in the photos. Sometimes you don't want that in a painting..it all depends on the inspiration or idea behind your painting.
Beautiful! Similar to Janet Fish's work, but you succeed in lending your unique personality to the painting. - Kathy
Thanks, Kathy. While I've known Janet Fish's work I wasn't conscious of it when creating this painting, just reacting to my own instincts of color and design. It's probably the use of depression glass that makes this reminiscent of Fish's work. I know there isn't anything new in the Universe, we are all influenced by what has come before us.
Love the quote.
I have a hard time listening to books while I paint. I concentrate too much on the book and not the painting.
I have a hard time even listening to music when I paint.
I agree about listening to music..after a while I realize it is making me tired. But, the books on tape seem to work during the preliminaries of block-in but the finishing-up needs my full attention, so no music or books! Thanks for stopping by! I will check in with your blog and see what you have been up to lately.
Post a Comment