Monday, December 26, 2011

A New Series

I have six canvases started. I have pondered the next step for months. There is only one way to move forward. Move. So I began to play. A little gold, a little tissue paper, a whole lot of imagination. I put in some transfers from my collection of life drawing. I am considering clothing the images. At the moment the main considerations are value and repetition. There are circles within circles and a strong horizontal line. I know what the painting is about. I know what I wish to create in the way of mood. In the end I may have less control than I think I do. All I know is that I am on the right path. There is a certain excitement that tingles through my body as I shape the movements, stand back and contemplate. This is fun. Definitely fun. I will keep moving, following the inspiration and I will let you know where it leads me.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Hotels

Architecture is not my favorite subject. Everything has to line up just so and follow the rules of perspective. It is very time consuming. With the deadline looming I was wondering if I had chosen too long a process when I had decided to transfer the photo images. I took the original photographs and I enlarged them on a photocopy machine. One was just large enough. The other two needed to grow by using the grid system. I could not find my plastic sheet with the grid but in my search I found a forgotten piece of plexiglass which I quickly gridded up and threw the maquette under it. The enlarged photocopies went under the grid as well and I was soon satisfied with the shell of each structure. My light table is very useful at times. I turned it on and stood on the stool. Too short. The only horizontal surface in my studio that can accommodate the light table is about five feet up. The one foot stool got my head just over the rim…. Out came the two step stool. Just right. All I had to remember was not to step off of it thinking it was the floor… Once the shells were traced on the back of each sheet (the images were going to be reversed in the transfer so this was a necessary step) I began to add the details freehand. I stopped in and had a photocopy made of each drawing before I went back to my studio and then pasted them to the surface of the vignette. As I waited for that to dry I began to labour over the other structures at the bottom of the piece. I took a break and added the sky. This was going to work! The next day I scrubbed off the paper, touched up the drawings, finished the lay in  and began to paint the bottom. One more day. Yes, I was going to meet the deadline. I like being on time. I like it when my customers are pleased too. All in all this was a very satisfying challenge.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Third Vignette


I knew I was supposed to do something last night. I have this habit of keeping a daytimer which is quite detailed and accurate. There is another habit I will develop to make it effective….I will read it! Our routine is a little disrupted again. I came home to a dark apartment. Martin is gone to a funeral. My daughter suggested a movie after supper. I am addicted, I admit. Then I finished a sudoku…. Well, I am feeling great this morning and anxious to get into my studio. I plan on driving as the sun comes up. It is so beautiful in the morning. I hope to get most of the painting done today. What you see is the third small panel, about three feet by four feet. I know it does not look very close to finished but, hey, the deadline is Thursday. The white squares are transfers. I took quite a while to do the drawing on the buildings and I was impatient to see how it would look so I took the first layer of paper off the top rectangle. It just needs a little scrubbing. Much to my surprise a cheap plastic scrubber, one that can be purchased at any supermarket, is the perfect tool to lift the paper residue…. And what is a transfer? Trade secret! Not really. I do not believe in secrets. There are several ways to do a transfer. My preferred method involves drawing in the dimension I wish to place on the panel or the canvas then having a photocopy made. Usually the drawing is too large for ordinary copy machines and it needs a blueprint copier instead. The paper is thinner, so much the better. I put a layer of gel medium on the surface of the panel and carefully place the copy with the print down on the surface. Using a rag I press out the extra gel and remove the inevitable wrinkles. Leaving it usually overnight, I wet the surface in the morning and gently scrape the excess paper off with my fingernails, finishing with a scrubber. Fun!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Time to March

Here it is Tuesday evening and I have a definite intuition that it is still Monday. My husband assures me that my notion is erroneous.  I am very thankful that when I pulled up the blog site I had installed a photo at least. I know what to talk about it! This is the second of three panels I am painting for Morinville’s St. Jean Baptiste Park. Parades. I had no idea how many different parades they could be. I have led a sheltered life…. The one that interested me most was the oldest. At one time there used to be a procession from the church, through the streets with stops at each house that had requested a blessing. Lots of kneeling, lots of prayer. As we move closer to our era there is less about prayer and more about food, finishing with a pancake breakfast. Lots of fun and sometimes lots of indigestion.  I had completely forgotten to sign my work as I slapped on the varnish. Leaving one small corner for the finishing touch I walked away to let paint  dry. I have learned, the hard way, that it is best not to rush things. Varnish has a tendency to take metallic and felt pen off. It needs to be protected by a coat of gel medium and gel medium removes writing too if it is not allowed enough time to stabilize or  it is rubbed to vigorously. Everything in its own good time