Coming Soon....

I received an email the other day from Blogger telling me that I should log on to my "Encaustic Remarks" blog. I believe they may have been warning me that it will be deleted if I don't use it.

This is understandable. It's been FOREVER. The warning was a reminder. I like painting. I need to paint. I need to paint something I LIKE. I've painted a few things since moving to DC, I just don't feel good about them.

Here is my vow. I will paint something in the month of September, 2009. Not only will I paint it, I will document it so you can see. The ultimate goal is to paint something I like and feel, if not proud, at least unashamed of.

And also to keep this blog from being deleted.

:-)

I believe it may actually be finished.

and so ends the 2 year saga.....as soon as I go get it framed.
It's what he asked for, my Dad. He asked for a field of tulips with old-fashioned windmills marching off into the distance with one modern windmill thrown in. I'm not sure I'm happy with it, but after 2 years it's time to let go. Off to get it framed....

Anatomy of a FINISHED Project!

I never did figure out what that thing is. I originally painted the box as empty. I thought it looked good and spoke to Vincent's life, but Todd says I can't mess with the original. Purist.

Whatever it is, I think it's o.k. I didn't make it look like his, mostly because I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS, but also because I tried to blend it in with the background more. Hopefully it won't take away from the focal point....unless I've just drawn your attention to it. :-) I think it'll look good in a big, dark brown frame but that'll be up to it's owner.

Now all I need to do is finish Dad's painting. No. Really. It's only been 2 years. That's not excessive, is it? 8^o

Anatomy of a project 5 and 6

Closer and closer we creep.



From here on out it's about adding details and refining what's there. Eventually you just have to let go, but we're not to that point yet. First we have to figure out what the heck's in that box so we can paint it.

Anatomy of a project 4

I really do love painting. At several points throughout tonight's foray into art I thought, "I should stop and take a picture right now," but I just couldn't stop myself. It's 11pm right now so I decided I'd better let it go for a while.
P.S. The hardest part of encausticising a VanGogh is the outlines. If you ever get a good look at his work, notice the outlines. He outlines everything. If you can make it work it gives the piece a nice "coloring page" feel while you're working, but making it work is tricky. Looking at this photo, I can't even see all those outlines I just spent so long on. But I know it makes all the difference in the painting.

A few more days and I may actually finish this one.

We'll see.

Anatomy of a project 2 and 3

School is out! Well, preschool is anyway and to celebrate, I worked on my painting this afternoon.

Here are two more steps in the making of an encaustic painting.

After covering the canvas, or board, or whatever with a smooth layer of beeswax (or sometimes before) I try to sketch some of the subject out, usually with crayons. Like so:

Then it's pretty much just fill-in-the-blank. Like so:

Yes, I know. But it's the way he painted it. It's not supposed to have truly proper perspective. ....and if anybody knows what the HECK is in that box in the background of this painting, please let me know. It's so much easier to paint if you know what you're painting.

8^)

Anatomy of a project 1

First, you have a friend tell you that he'd really like a painting of VanGogh's Pipe and Chair. Then you think about it and fret about it and put it off for 6 months or so. Then your friend puts a guilt trip on you. Then you clean off your art desk and start to begin to prep for doing this painting.

Like so:

Then you stop to finish work for the end of the school year.

Hopefully, you do more work on it when your school projects are done.

This is a painting I've done before and for some reason that makes it harder for me to do. Once I've done it and liked it I'm always afraid to attempt it again. What if I totally screw it up this time?....or something along those lines. I'll try to keep the blog updated as I work. If anybody's out there reading this and you see that it's been an unreasonably long time without an update on this painting, drop me a line via the Comments and nudge me with a little guilt. It's good for me.

Onions

I have a friend who recently promised to keep reminding me to paint. When I received a card in the mail from her the other day I hopped out into the garage and painted this. It's a tiny piece of a Renoir that I really like. It's also one of the few Renoir's I can actually make work in wax.)