A 3-hour Painting

Lately I’ve have had the urge to do some figurative work, so Thursday evening I decided to do a quick painting, mentally limiting myself to spending only three hours on it altogether. The idea was to have fun with the painting and work as quickly as I could. The first evening I spent one hour on it. The first image shows where I was at about fifteen minutes, then I let that dry a wile and went back to it later and spent another 45. That’s when I took the second image. Didn’t look like much was happening, but I know that the exciting stuff starts to happen about two hours in.




The next image shows where I was at after spending another hour on it last night. Now she is starting to take shape. I was consciously trying to stay loose, not getting too hung up on the details and letting myself be okay with the brush strokes showing.



This last image is where I was after spending another hour (and a half, I guess I’m cheating a little here). Now she has really come together, but in some areas I’ve worked it a bit hard, smoothing out the face and losing the brushwork effect. In truth, this painting could use more work, the background is quite nebulous. It could be worked further but I am posting it as is. Maybe I’ll go back and work on it some more but for right now, here is my latest painting, Girl in a Hat, 14” x 18”, acrylic on canvas.

I just finished these…

…and I am very pleased. It's funny, when I started them earlier this week I thought it wasn't going well and even commented to a friend that I'd had a "bad painting day". But when I returned to them yesterday, a couple of glazings seemed to coax them into something I liked, even though the composition and color scheme hadn't changed all that much. Sometimes I think it's as much my state of mind as it is what is actually happening with the paintings. I know this because there have been many past paintings that I have disliked, and sold without much thought only to (years later) come to appreciate them and wish I could do more like them. Anyway, these two didn't have to wait years for me to get excited about them, they will be included in my submission to the Emerging Artists' show. Here they are in their completed state. And below are a couple of pictures of them in progress, during the texture phase.

I haven't officially titled them yet. For now, they have been tagged Reclamations 34 and 35, but I only designate numerically for commissioned pieces. These two deserve titles, I just haven't come up with the right ones. They measure 18” square each and are acrylic on cradled hardboard.


In the photo below, you can see the circle masks that are in the process of being laid down.


This next photo shows the complete texturization with masks removed, revealing the circular "debossed" areas and the assemblaged domed circular pieces.

New Paintings

These were commissioned by Corporate Art in West Caldwell, New Jersey. This is the third set that Corporate Art has ordered. I think these two are the best pair yet.

Reclamations 32 and 33