Oil Painting Revisited

I am an associate member of the Arizona Artists Guild. To become a juried member, you have to be accepted into 3 of their juried art exhibitions. An associates only juried show is coming up, so to prepare for it, last Monday I attended a session that discussed artwork presentation and included a critique of artwork. I had brought along 2 oil paintings; “Monument Valley” and “Map Reading Gone Wrong”. To make a long story short, in the critique many problems were identified in both paintings along with suggestion for improvement. It was also stated that without making the improvements, the artwork should not even be entered. That left me in a quandary as the artwork was due today and that gave me only 4 days to make corrections on an oil painting, and the paint would need some drying time. I decided to rework “Map Reading Gone Wrong” and just not enter “Monument Valley”. My first step was to tone down the violet shadows with warm tones. I pretty much eliminated the violet hues throughout the painting. Next, I needed to dull the two figures in the painting to make it look more as if they were standing in the shadows of the hillside. The final adjustment was to bring some detail into the foliage that was close to the viewer. I finished these changes over the span of 2 evenings. Next, I bought a frame and today I framed the painting and delivered it to AAG. It felt like a whirlwind this past week! I also matted and framed a pastel drawing from one of my life drawing sessions to enter into the show. Below are images of the before and after “Map Reading Gone Wrong”. What do you think?

3-15-12, “Map Reading Gone Wrong” (original), 24″ x 30″, oil on canvas

9-29-12, “Map Reading Gone Wrong” (revised), 24″ x 30″, oil on canvas

Via Air Mail

This past week was not my most productive as I was pretty worn out each day. I thought that by the second week of being back in the classroom, I would have more energy. Unfortunately that did not pan out. I made this collage early in the week. I wish I had kept up throughout the week and perhaps I would not have felt so let down each day. I will try harder in the coming week to get in my studio at the end of each day!

8-14-12, “Via Air Mail”, 6″x6″, mixed media on board

Where Has the Summer Gone?

It has been quite a long time since I blogged….it has been a busy summer for me with lots of traveling and exploring the western states. On my travels, I didn’t make much art, but I did take hundreds of photographs that have the possibility of being used as reference images for future artworks. I have made a few collages based on places I visited. The ones below are just a sampling of the flora and fauna that fascinated me on my journeys.

7-1-12, “Deep in the Woods”, fabric and paper on board

7-2-12, “Berry in the Woods”, 6″ x 6″, acrylic paint, fabric and paper on board

7-3-12, “Pink in the Woods”, 6″ x 6″, acrylic, fabric and paper on board

More recently I completed a collage and a watercolor of a man surf fishing at Buccaneer Beach in California.

7-19-12, “Surf Fishing”, 6″ x 6″, acrylic and paper on board

7-20-12, “Surf Fishing”, 11″ x 14″, watercolor

I have another watercolor in progress and am contemplating starting an oil painting. Next week is a short week at school as I have meetings on 3 days. I have been making plans for the different classes that I will be teaching and am actually looking forward to being back in the classroom. I will have to make a point to work on art in the evenings once school starts. I need to get some better lighting in my studio so that I can make it happen.