Skip to main content

Monochrome

On the way to my usual jogging spot, I picked up this peculiar object. I stared at it for the rest of my trip and even beyond that. I could tell I was looking at a pine cone that had fallen from one of the trees in the neighborhood; but I pretended I had no idea what I was looking at or where it had come from. It was interesting to think of this object as some sort of egg or vessel. Beyond that, it was more interesting to stop thinking of it as anything in particular: to simply see it and address it as a form made visible by light and defined by shadow.
This time around, I decided to devote my painting to creating a monochromatic piece. I mixed some emerald green with alizarin crimson and attempted to paint what I saw using only the resulting color. I am becoming more comfortable with my painting by making things uncomfortable. I really had to psyche myself up for this painting, but I am really pleased with the result.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ferret

Trying out a challenge to myself - to create "finished" pieces with a limited color palette on a consistent schedule. I am still working out the final guidelines. I think I would like to challenge myself to use a new texture in each piece as well. I've had this unfinished sketch in my sketchbook forever. Even though I'm not entirely happy with it - it feels great to finally have it done!

A Competent Profile

As I start to become more familiar with proportions and measurements for the various faces I attempt to draw, I am starting to wonder how to make a more complete portrait with my limited time. Do I stick to lines? Do I bring a brush and some ink? Which lines should I include? Which shapes are important to represent? Maybe this is a good time to look at the work other artists have done and try to work out some of their methods.

Rules and requirements (mostly for me)

Initially, I was taking a look at my scanner for the maximum dimensions of a painting. I realize now that archiving paintings is a bit more involved than posting 300x300 pixel GIFs. So, some of these pieces will need to be photographed. Others will be scanned (provided the paper doesn't curl too badly). Here is the rough draft of my proposed project: I will create 2-3 finished watercolor pieces every week for the year 2014 The minimum dimensions for each piece will be 4x6" (no maximum) Materials list: Watercolor paint (in tubes or cakes), watercolor pencils, brushes, India Ink, bamboo pen, white gouache, and gold paint pen. Subject matter will change with every painting. I know there is a lot a person can learn from painting the same subject over and over, but this is not that project. New paintings will be posted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Expect extra posts to occur between those days. Since the whole purpose of this project is to learn, I plan on reading and resear...