DCAC WALL MOUNTABLES

I have taken 4 of my recent paintings to the gallery in Adams Morgan. The exhibition will be open till August 29. The opening reception is tomorrow 7-9pm.

Here are the pieces if you can't make it to DC Arts Center:


'Worn Out' 16' x 20'





'Underwater' 16'x 20' each






'Flowering' 16' x 20'

More Figure Drawings

Male figure sketch in charcoal




Portrait in charcoal and conte crayon

One Hour Figure Studies

Pencil on paper





Conte crayon on paper

My First Experiments with Oils

Last week I was so excited to start my experiments with oils. They are so different to acrylic paints that I am used to. The drying time is very long so there is plenty of opportunities to improve the colors as well mess things up. I felt that one has to have more of a clear intent from the beginning about compositions as it's easy to muddy things up. Even the feel with which the paint goes on a canvas is so different. I would have to work for longer in this medium to see when I am to use oils versus acrylics. One thing is for sure though, I will be buying oil paints as the ones that I am using now are borrowed from a friend. Here are a few studies that I did last week in chronological order:

Reflecting Pond and Its Source of Inspiration

I have been working on 'Reflecting Pond' on and off for 2 weeks. I split the process of its creation into 5 steps. It was a difficult painting by I enjoyed the journey, for the most part.

Step 1



Step 2



Step 3



Step 4



Step 5




Step 6
Reflecting Pond, 32'x 32'

This painting was inspired by Monet's waterlilies and 'Orange Grove in California' by Arthur Dove. Here they are for your reference.




I started painting keeping those two pieces in mind but the process took me to a different path so one would probably not find any resemblance to them in my work. Although, I guess, I do have a reflection in the water.

It was a challenging process as my ideas kept changing. One of the struggles was that the lower part with reflections was not coherent with the rest of the painting towards what I thought were final stages. It is especially apparent in step 4. It turned out that way because I was using different brush strokes and color handling. After quite a few hours of trying to solve this puzzle even with advice from my painting buddies and a teacher it was still not working for me. Finally, what seems to have done the trick was using connecting lines sewing two parts together and then extending some of the movement into the lower part.

Female Nude

Today was my last figure drawing class and the teacher was commenting how far I have moved along which obviously I was pleased about. I still feel that I can do better and get frustrated if I can not get a line that I want.

The method I used for the picture below is drawing on a medium value paper with graphite adding highlights towards the end with white chalk. I found it hard to use white for lighter areas. It just doesn't have the same appeal to me somehow.

Exploring dance theme

I found a book with photographs from ballet performances. This was before my trip to London where one of my friends really likes ballet so I thought I would do a painting for her. I have chosen a picture to work from and here is the initial result:


Dancers 20' x 24'


It turned out ok but I just wasn't happy with it. I made it too literal. It didn't communicate the energy of it. So I have started a different canvas taking a new approach. I have a posting of this work earlier this month but it changed since then and here is the pre-final version.

Female Model Drawing

During my last class I had just over an hour to complete this drawing. It's done in graphite with some blending achieved by the use of toilet paper, that a teacher distributed at the beginning of the class. Who would have thought that it might be useful in drawing.



I have to admit to being helped with her face.

Dance

I have worked on this piece trying to communicate the energy of a dance. My initial drawings were based on ballet movements.


Dance 30' x 30'

In the Woods

In the Woods 36' x 24'

I have completed another painting that went through a lot of transformation before it got to this stage.

Male Figure Drawing

In my figure drawing class today we had a male model doing a long pose for over an hour. Here is a result that I am reasonably happy with. This drawing was done on a paper that I toned before starting.


It's the first time I worked with this technique which I liked as one starts with mid tones and develops the drawing from there. This was a really hard pose because of the foreshortening that I was dealing with.

An Interesting Fact about Paint Storage History

I have just learnt that before the invention of metal paint tubes in 1841 by John Rand, paints were stored in pieces of pig's bladder and could dry up even before the bladder was pierced. The invention has allowed an artist to work on their own without a need for a workshop to prepare materials estimating how much paint is needed and when.

Art Exhibitions in London

I just returned from London where I had a wonderful time not only catching up with my friends but also spending hours at art exhibitions. I think I squeezed in as many as possible and in the end I was so saturated that I felt dizzy looking at some of my favourite paintings during my last gallery trip. In a week I visited National and Portrait Galleries, Tate Modern, Royal Academy of Art, Royal College of Art and the Courtauld Gallery.

Van Gogh's exhibition was particularly outstanding. I have seen a lot of his work in Amsterdam and other museums including a big exhibition in New York but this one has really given the most rounded view of the artist. It included a vast selection of his drawings, studies, paintings and letters with sketches, some were on public view for the first time. There were rooms and rooms filled with his works where one could see how he was developing his vision and painting skills. He wrote a lot to his younger brother Theo about his work including new techniques, color theory and other concepts. He often made a drawing in a letter of the painting that he was working on. Here is one of the examples when in November 1888, Van Gogh wrote to Theo to tell him about his recent painting of a sower:




































And here are some other paintings from the exhibition:

Vincent van Gogh, 'Still Life with a Plate of Onions', Early January 1889



Vincent Van Gogh, 'Cypresses', June 1889.

Another interesting exhibit included works of Arshile Gorky. Many are not familiar with this artist who immigrated to America when he was still a child and grew to become a key figure in the New York art world during the 1930s and 1940s. His name is homage to a Soviet writer Maxim Gorky allowing people believe to be his relation. I saw a big Kandinsky influence in a lot of his works. Here is one painting that my friends two year old son especially liked and kept coming back to.


Arshille Gorky 'Waterfall' 1943

I was also amazed by an exhibit of Michelangelo's drawings that were new to me. The Dream is part of the drawings presented by Michelangelo to Tommaso de'Cavalieri, a young Roman nobleman with whom he had fallen passionately in love. Here is a fragment of the Dream.

Painting Transformation

I was working on this painting for a while, or should I say a little over a long period of time. I was just not happy on how it was turning out so here is a sequence starting from the first recorded version:

Step 1

This image was influenced by one of the Diebenkorn's paintings from his 'Clubs and Spades' series and that's how it started. Well, almost, because it was painted on top of a canvas where I had another idea that I didn't like.





Step 2





Step 3





Step 4



Can you see a peacock somewhere nearby?

Colored Pencil

Back in December I did a portrait of my husband in colored pencils. It was a Xmas present for my mother-in-law so I didn't want to post it before giving it to her.


Joel, 5'x7'


And here is one also in pencil of a butterfly for my sister-in-law. I forgot to photograph it before framing so it's not as good of an image.

Thank You!

Thank you for all the comments that you have emailed me. I am really glad that you are enjoying my art work.

I have a lot going on this year. I am taking 3 classes at Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria. One is 'Developing the Narrative, then 'Figure Drawing' and 'Abstract Painting and Beyond'.

Here is a sample of my work from the 'Narrative' class:




This was my first time working from the model. I do have some drawings to post as well both in charcoal and conte crayon.

Reworked Image

I have been working a lot this week. Here is a painting from my previous post that I have reworked. It just needed some taming.


Forest, 36'x20'