THE SHAPE OF WORK

My plan for this current series of paintings is to move to a different shape and size canvas with each painting.  Currently on the easel is a 48x48' canvas; the square shape lends itself to large sky landscapes, although I seem to find a way to do that regardless of the shape of the canvas.  I enjoy working with a square canvas, almost as much as I do with the horizontal ones (24x48 or 16x40).  The most challenging, and often the most fun, is the extremely horizontal 12x48'.  (I work only on pre-stretched canvases - have no interest in stretching my own)  The one shape I have not been able to handle is the extreme vertical.

48x48...in progress...the next step - work on the foreground, then render the focal point of interest, once I decide what that will be and where it will sit on the horizon.  I don't always have these things worked out before I start; I like having the painting show me the way.  It's great when it does, and very frustrating when it doesn't.

Here are 2 details from yesterday's painting, Dark Sky:

TUSCANY IN PROGRESS

As these pics will show, I prefer to paint from the background forward, even if it means significant areas of the canvas remain blank. Today I worked on the architecture and am not satisfied with the colors; they don't capture the patina of age. I'll work on correcting that and completing all but the small details, before moving forward toward the foreground.




I'm painting with acrylic on a 24x48" wood panel

NOW WHAT?

This is what I have to show for my efforts of the past week. I've reached the stage where I need to spend some time just looking at this. My original idea was for another element (a large gnarled fence post with dangling barbed wire) to be added to the right of the barn, looming close in the foreground. But now I''m not so sure. At this stage I don't want to add or do anything that does not significantly improve or enhance the painting.


detail of barn

ANOTHER TOBACCO BARN

Tobacco Barn acrylic 24x24 $1200

This is the fourth in this series of western KY tobacco barns. It measures 24x24" and will remain on the easel for a few days to see if there is more to be done with it.

I may do a few more in this series, but first need a break from the subject. Below is my effort at this break. Don't know yet where this is going, but I will keep you posted of it's progress.

WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE

This is the first stage in this painting, and I'm seriously considering making it the final one, a far cry from bold, colorful painting I originally planned.



I started this painting with a fairly clear idea of what I wanted, and have, to a large extent, been able to stay on track. As usual, the painting itself has dictated a few changes, the main one being how I will treat the light source and how I can manipulate that to create the drama that I want. I think this will not be decided until the final stages. The next step is to add several more large trees in the foreground.

SOME DAY & NEW WORK IN PROGRESS

SOME DAY

We all know about “some days”. Some day I will buy a small mobile home and travel the country with my sketch book and camera. Or, some day I’ll have a small cabin on a lake in some remote area where I will spend quiet days and nights with my books, writing the novel that I know is there, waiting for me to deliver it to the world. I’m assuming that we all have our dreams for ‘some day” and they are as varied as we are.

My own “some days” have always involved my art in one way or another. Some day the demand for my art will be great enough to support us in comfort. Or, some day I will be invited to have a solo show in a prestigious gallery in major city USA. A “some day” has always been there for me, a place to look for comfort and assurance when needed, and where dreams and aspirations could be safely stored. My “some days” have provided an endless source of hope.

Of all the changes that aging exerts upon us, a most difficult one for me has been the threat to my “some days”. This is not to imply that I’m living under a cloud of gloom and doom, with my demise imminent. To the contrary, I’m counting on a minimum of 15 to 20 remaining productive years, but I know that there are no guarantees, and at this age anything is possible. At age 30, “some day” was light years away. At age 69, “some day” becomes today or tomorrow. Thus I am faced with the necessity of doing something I have never been very good at doing...living securely in the present. If I don’t do it today, it may never get done. Not a bad way to live. I will give it my best shot.

NEW WORK IN PROGRESS


Fist stage acrylic on 36x48" canvas


At the end of yesterday