One Artist's Journey

Abstract Lakescape - 14" x 11" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $250

I am fortunate to live near a beautiful lake, and drive by it every time I drive down the hill. jIt is hard to find the perfect shot, because I am not a photographer, but I jog around it a couple times a week and capture the essence in my mind. This is an attempt to capture the qualities of the lake in an abstract way. It wasn’t turning out the way I envisioned it until I went a little crazy with the colored pencil and put some energy into the painting.

Alley #1 - 16" x 20" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $400

PAINTINGS COMPLETED TODAY: 1
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TO DATE: 43

I really like the painting I finished today. I think, however, that it is a little dark because of how I have started doing my paintings. I draw on the gessoed board with a woodless pencil. The I start to paint with gesso to cover up lines I dont’ want to show.

There is so much graphite on the board that it gets picked up with the gesso and paint and I think it makes the painting a little dingy.  What do you think? Is the painting clear enough to tell? I like the picture, I like the composition, I like the colors. I just don’t know if I should use fixative to lock the graphite down before I start painting.

Me teaching my first art class in a school

Today I taught an art class in my 2nd grader’s class. I had spoken with his teacher during our parent/teacher conference. I mentioned that I was an artist and could teach a class. She took me up on the offer and today I taught my first real school art class.

I did the second exercise in Steve Aimone’s “Expressive Drawing” book. We did some automatic drawing with a little “veiling.” the kids did a great job and I think I blew it when I said “OK kids you have 2 minutes left…” because they just started whiting over everything and scribbling over everything they had just done. There were a few really nice pieces.

I told them their parents just might not understand what they were doing because it wasn’t really a picture of something. So they should just tell their parents it is “Expressive drawing.”

One little girl was crying because she scratched her paper and the teacher wouldn’t let her get a new one. I asked her how she felt and then told her to draw how she felt on the paper. She started scribbling within the lines she had just drawn and it looked really cool.

One boy's "Expressive Drawing. I like the use of color to add a focal point to the drawing.

I will have to try this again if the teacher will have me back!

Abstract sketches based on photographs

I was thinking about it and I like doing abstractions. When I start adding too much detial, I get messed up. What if I take a photo of a scene and break it down into its largest groupings and treat them like geometric or abstract shapes?

I have tried painting outside, but have had trouble. I try and add too much detail and it becomes too realistic. I don’t like that. So, maybe this abstraction idea will work.

I tried it with a magazine of photos I have and really liked the results. It is kind of how I draw anyway, so I think it is a good fit. I can sketch the pictures and abstract them out, but I will have to wait till tomorrow to see if I can paint them in practice. Here is an excerpt from my sketchbook.

Abstract # 12 - 12” x 16” Acrylic on Masonite - $200

Finally! I closed my eyes, pictured what I expected the picture to end up like based on the expressive drawing (bottom left corner) and started working. I didn’t over work it and came up with this. I am very happy with it. I would like to continue exploring shapes in space.

I like the dwellings series, but I think what I am shooting for is a cross between this one and the dwellings. I have to continue to loosen up and abstract the building shapes so that they end up as “boxes in space.” Roofs make triangles, walls and windows are boxes and rectangles. Hills and plants are organic shapes.

Abstract #11 - 16” x 12” Acrylic on Masonite - $200

This is the next one. It turned out with smaller boxes. I don’t think I like that as much and I added boxes on the insides of a few boxes. It started getting to ornate and patterned. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It just isn’t my style. Hmmm. It is getting farther from what I saw in my mind’s eye based on the expressive drawing. How can I get back to what I really liked about the expressive drawing?

Expressive Drawing #2 used as idea for abstract series # 10, 11 and 12. I really liked the bottom left corner.

PAINTINGS COMPLETED TODAY: 3
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TO DATE: 29

Today is Saturday. Soccer games are over. Everyone has gone somewhere. I think I have about 4 hours alone today and I am in the studio. I’m excited. Here we go!

I started the day working on an expressive drawing. I don’t really like it, but then I wondered if I could learn something from it.

I looked at different sections and realized I really liked the bottom left corner. I then took that idea and made a series of abstract paintings. I am happy with them and I really like the last one. Here is what happened…

Kanji #5 - 12” x 12” Acrylic and Ink on Masonite - $200

I really really like how this one turned out. First I wet the board with a spray bottle, then I used a big sumi ink stick to draw the kanji. Then I went ape and painted the color around it. I didn’t like all of it, so I stood up the board and used the spray bottle to remove some of the paint. I think it turned out really nice. I like the dry and wet ink look.

Expressive #1" - 30" x 40" House paint and gesso on paper - NFS

I have been reading the Expressive Drawing book and have been anxious to start drawing. I bought a roll of white paper that I will use on my plywood easel. I taped a large 30″ x 40″ piece up on the board and went at it.

I scribbled with a 1″ house paint brush. I even used house paint because it is more liquid and flowing. Then I “obliterated” or “erased” with gesso. I think it turned out OK.

It was fun to do.

"Dwellings Series #1" - 14" x 11" Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas board - $100

Went shopping today.

Went to Barnes and Noble and got an ARTnews magazine. Paid $6 so I can subscribe for $20 and get a whole year. I should have just take the subscription card! Oh well, it gives me something to read in the bathroom.

Then I saw another book, Expressive Drawing: A Practical Guide to Freeing the Artist Within by Steven Aimone and just had to get it. I am going to use his lessons in the book as my assignments and perhaps that will get me rolling. I owe Christina a new pair of pants now because this wasn’t on my shopping list.

Then I went to Michael’s and they were having a sale. 40% off stretched canvas. I almost bought armloads of them but then reminded myself, I paint to roughly to use stretched canvas. And besides, I don’t have that kind of money. You know, starving artist and all. I ended up with some woodless pencils, woodless color pencils and watercolor pencils. And a few of those canvas panel boards to get started with. I plan to get some masonite because it is cheaper and I can cut a bunch out of a 4′ x 8′ piece.

It is a 30 minute drive for me to go shopping, so I looked online and found a place called Dick Blick Art Supplies. They sell art supplies and will pay your shipping if your order is big enough. I haven’t compared prices yet, but it looks like they have some pretty good specials. If you want to check them out, you can here.

I went to Lowe’s to get the masonite or “hard board.” $12 bucks for 4′ x 8′ piece. I got two and had the guy chop them up into managable pieces that would fit in my car. I don’t know what sizes I will chop them up into when I get home. I guess I should look at standard frame sizes, so I don’t make it too hard for my customers and force them to get custom frames.

Got home and started painting. First time in years. It is slowly coming back to me, all the techniques I used in college. I really like some of what I did back then and I will try and incorporate that into what I am doing now. I will let you know how it goes.

My first piece is of a village in Italy. I am going to do houses for a while, using the forms in the house as shapes for an abstracted piece. What do you think of “Dwelling 1?” Please comment below. I would love to hear from you.