recent studies

There is a young-ish artist in south London who paints copiously and continually.  One of his mantras is "paint quick, think slow".  Another is "just keep painting".  I am trying to follow his mandate by making quick studies without worrying too much about "finish".  Here are two - one started in London and worked on back home in New York, the other, all New York - a bouquet of lovely roses from the corner bodega.

day 2 - morning painting

I was going to paint this same subject abstractly this afternoon, but realized I really don't want to paint in an abstract way, much as I admire the work of a number of painters who do.  So I think I am going to do an hour long self portrait this afternoon using the little dabs of paint left on my palette from this morning. I got that idea from the artist Ben Hope who paints in an almost pyrotechnic way with the Dulwich Art Group. He said his motto is "paint quick, think slow" which I have to rephrase to myself as "paint quickly, think slowly".

start of a daily practice

This is a quick, two hour still life, painted while I listened to The New Yorker Radio Hour and Wait, Wait. It has its flaws, but what pleases me is that it is looser than the small daily still lifes I used to paint and sell on Etsy.  That era - the painting a day thing - was very useful to me in that it supplemented the on and off classes I was taking and in some ways was the best teaching tool of all. But I don't want to paint so "tightly" any more.  And I feel this is a start.  It is 8 x 10 on a linen covered wooden panel - I may just leave this set-up in place and try to loosen up even more tomorrow!

the London edit

I made these paintings at the Dulwich Art group studio in Denmark Hill London. The lighting there is interesting - sometimes a little harsh  - but bright and illuminating of the model's skin tones to the point of brilliance.  Among London artists, the buzz and the work happening is decidedly more "modern", more inventive than the sometimes dreary classical realism which seems prevalent in NYC 

at the moment and I feel like I profited somewhat from the influences around me in the studio. Whether I want to continue in this particular vein, I am not sure, but I have come back to Brooklyn with lots of ideas and a determination to be less precious about my work and more brave in trying new things.

recent studies

I made the top painting yesterday morning - I had some flowers and I also had this sweet little vase given to me as a Christmas present - so a still life seemed in order.  My intention is to give this little study to the person who gave me the vase.  What goes around comes around - or meta - or something.  I painted the portrait in November at the Dulwich art group in London and I have been looking at it since, wondering whether to paint in the entire background or leave it as is.  I think I am leaving it as is.  She was a cool model - with attitude - and somehow the loose, slightly scraggy marks surrounding her reflect what seemed to be her elusive personality.

pink background experiment

While I am in London, I paint a few days a week with the Dulwich Art Group in south London, who have been most welcoming to me.  During the model sessions there, I have been forcing myself to paint much more quickly than usual and therefore much more loosely.  I read somewhere that  - in any endeavor - if you aren't making yourself uncomfortable, you aren't working hard enough.  Working quickly makes me uncomfortable. so I guess that here in London, discomfort is my goal!

This quick morning study is an experiment with a colorful background, in this case pink.  The first paint strokes were difficult to read because they slid around on the rather smooth surface and the skintones were the same sort of color and value as the background.   But I think it got better with thicker paint. I had a dark shadow color at first, but in the end I wiped it out and let the pink show through. Definitely an uncomfortable choice.

experiment with gouache wip

I have been looking around at the blogs of friends - and others - who make artwork and I love reading a little something about their work or life on each post.  So I have decided to do the same.

The painting above is done in gouache - a medium I used to use to create textile designs, but haven't touched in many years.  Living in a rented flat in London at the moment, I am hesitant to paint with oils for fear of making an indelible mark on something, so I bought a few tubes of gouache, which is water based and easier to clean up. The painting above is a first effort.  The scene is in Ruskin Park, South London at sunset.  I made an effort to use the gouache as much like oil paint as possible, given their differences, and found that apart from the globs of paint drying too quickly on the palette, I could actually layer and manipulate it in a way that felt rather painterly.

quick portraits

afternoon study

red barn

morning studies

studies

le petit chapeau, poster study

Salt Pond

pentimento

morning light study

another study

very fast late afternoon study

defeated by the changing weather

outdoor poster study