Waiting for Sushi

Waiting for Sushi

 8x10” oil pastel on paper

I cropped the reference photo close in. And when I did, it somehow reminded me of Edward Hoppers "Nighthawks" ( a painting at the Art Institute of Chicago)

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/highlight_search?acc=1942.51&page=1&ArtistID=116


What I wanted to play up was the contrast of warm and cool, dark and light, and activity and waiting.

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The reference photo for this painting came from WetCanvas.com member Weckster, in a WDE.


Wet Canvas.com is an online artist community. A weekly event that happens there is something called “The Weekend Drawing Event” or WDE. For the WDE, one person provides about 20 reference photos for people to choose from. The object is to see how much of a painting you can do in 2 hours. Then share what you have done and see what everyone else has done. Since members of WetCanvas are from around the world, it is a great way to find painting subject that I had not thought of or would not have a chance to photograph myself.

Here is where this painting was at 1 & ½ hours:

It took another 2 & ½ hours to get to the finished painting shown at the top of this post.

Majestic -Sunrise or Sunset?

Majestic
8x10" oil pastel on paper



This is so different from what I've been doing.

I wanted a softer look and wanted to use a limited number of colors.

At first I didn't think I could get the soft edge look using oil pastels. Then I tried using a dark colored paper and blending with a dry brush.

Those two things made a huge difference.

This is a landscape from my imagination.

3rd Ave. Fruit Vendor

3rd Ave Fruit Vendor

12x12” Oil Pastel on canvas





(This photo of the painting has a bit of glare from the camera flash. Being winter, my preference of photographing in sunlight is not easy to do!)





This painting evolved so much from what I envisioned it to be when I started.





The reference for this painting is a photo I took in NYC when I went to LI to say goodbye to the family homestead.



The vendor in real life was on a busy street corner.

See the reference photo at right.



I liked all the visual activity of this busy scene but as I began painting I found that the busy background was too distracting.

But then a plain ground and wall were too, well, plain! So I added the torn sign on the wall and the trash can in the foreground.



I am happy with the way this painting turned out but I am still intrigued by the photo. Maybe I’ll make a series of paintings seeing how else I can depict this street scene…

A lonely endeavor? Not really

Creating art is and is not a lonely endeavor.

Only I know what it is I’m trying to make the painting do. (Although sometimes I’m not so sure!)

But when I’m stumped or having difficulties, I bring it to my weekly painting night for input or I post an image of the painting on WetCanvas.com for help and encouragement from the artists there. And in that way, it is not a lonely endeavor. When I get input from other artist in the creation process, my painting becomes so much better than it was. My painting technique has improved so much in the last few years because of wonderful artists both locally and at WetCanvas.com who have shared their insight and encouragement.



And it is not just other artists who have helped me along in my artistic journey. When I share my paintings with friends and family through this blogsite, hearing positive comments about my work just gives me so much joy. It also makes me want to paint more. And as with almost anything else, the more you do of it the better you can become. So the wonderful comments I have gotten about my work have made me want to paint even more.

As I reflect on this past year of painting, I feel that I have made great improvement. A lot of that improvement came from painting more. And the desire to paint more came from the encouragement and help I have received.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments.

Happy Holidays

"Our First Christmas Together"

8x10" oil pastel on paper

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The reference photo for this painting was taken in the lobby of the Luxor hotel on our recent trip to Las Vegas.

This double portrait was fun to do. I wanted to capture the essence of the two of us as a couple without getting caught up in details.