New work and SOLD WORK!

I worked on that new burnt sienna, crimsonish piece for about 4 hours yesterday. I'm having trouble with this work because I'm not sure I want to fill the entire canvas with the speckled bits like I have been doing in the past works. I will put up a new photo sometime this weekend but so far I've made sure to have the entire canvas have the same amount of activity, and not completely fill the darkened areas. I'm not sure I enjoy it aesthetically yet, and there is some improvement to be made, but I am trying to find a balance currently with the layers that's just not there yet.
On a better note, I sold my first oil painting!! I have a piece in a show back home in St. Louis, at the Art Saint Louis Gallery off of Washington Avenue. The show opened halloween weekend and will be up until the end of December. I have sold work before but never an oil painting since I just started oil painting about 2 years ago so I'm very excited. I have a picture of the piece already on the Blog, but I'll post it again so as not to go back and blah blah blah. This is also very good because I contact the buyer and create connections which is ultimately what I'm trying to do. It also is a boost because I was beginning to feel like my work was not reaching people and the enjoyment was only mine. There's apparently hope out there :)


30X40

Photos of recent work!

These photos honestly do not to the work justice, and the site I think alters the color a bit. Some of the pieces look a lot lighter or darker than they actually are... Sorry for that :( But enjoy.

This is the first piece (show-and-tell type work) 12X24, study.

This is a close up of that work

First layer done summer 2011

Finished product, 24X24

First layer of 16X24 brown study

Still a work in progress, colors need work, two much differentiation between the darks and the lights, but this is also just a study so I can learn from my mistakes before working on a larger piece. This was study for this next piece:

This piece is 36X48, working on bringing in variations of a color and really focusing on lights and darks and the way they intermix. I also have been working on my luminosity and conveying it in a striking way. I feel that the orientation might change, not sure if I like horizontal or vertical yet. I figure I'll wait till the end and figure out the presentation for each piece and how they all come together.

This is a close of up part of this new painting. Hopefully I'll finish this painting this week and have a photo to post. :) So far things are going well and in the right direction I think. We'll see!

Extremely MIA on Blogging!!

I have been extremely MIA on my blogging life, for which I am really sorry! Since I last blogged I've completed one of my new large scale paintings. This piece is 40X30 and is a pthalo blue exploration. I am currently working on an even larger canvas now. I've finished the first two smooth under layers, and am beginning to place down the swatches of color overtop. I've worked about 15 hours total on this piece thus far, and it will probably take about another 15 to complete. My goal has been to keep a steady pace on creating actual work by working on two pieces at once. This not only has allowed me to produce more work, but has also kept my mixing very steady since I have to mix twice as many colors. While I work on one, I let the other dry. This sort of methodical procedure is beginning to take shape in my work I feel.
My camera has been dead for about 2 weeks now, and I keep forgetting to bring a charger, BUT I finally brought one today, and plan to charge it up over night, and come back and take photos. I submitted my new piece to the all student show, so I won't have it back until that is over, but I plan on just taking a photo of in in the gallery. I also hope to start another new painting today, the color being a violet/crimson mixture. I think for these next few paintings I'm going to work on placement of material, and also blending of colors to make the barrier between the "blacks" and the luminous part not as noticeable. I also want to work on the conversation that happens between the two layers and weather it works with less overlay vs more (like what I have on the pthalo piece).
I also started looking a lot at American Abstract Artist, Ad Reinhardt's work these past few weeks. I'm really intrigued by his use of color, and this idea that nothing is really as it seems. I want to enforce this idea with my viewers as well, that the need to exploration is high with my work, and colors that may seem to be one color are actually another when examined. His use of subtle color change, placement and mixing in his work is just amazing. I want to go check out his book "Art as Art" Here is some of his work that inspires me: