Summer's End

Not sure about the title as it is only the end of spring when they fall apart but it does take a few months to get the big fuzzys...so the title is not definate yet. I just could keep picking away at it I know and it would never get done but I really need to get this one behind me and move on! I think it turned out well considering it began as a demo and so many things went wrong...I just cannot paint and talk at the same time! Ha!

Dahlias Updated

Well I might be slow but just like a turtle I keep moving along! Summer has arrived and with it brings many interruptions when you live at the lake...and then the heat comes and it is all hard as we do not have air conditioning...only need it a few weeks out of the year so just do not get it...but boy there are days!!!!
So this is where I am at on the dahlias. I still have alot of edges to work on and light against dark areas to stress...there is still a few things in the flowers that have not even been painted yet but all of this will begin to take shape now...I am hoping that it will become a garden flag and rug but we will see...they have to like it first!

Dahlia Beginnings

This is a full sheet painting but I just took a close up of the one flower I have started. I have been sick so this is going very slow but at least it is moving forward! I am using Indigo from Daniel Smith which is transparent and non-staining. I usually mix my own grays but being I feel tough I thought why not. It is a wonderful color as it can be completely lifted! So I am not a fan. This painting has 3 more dahlias and several buds and two fledgling sparrows. I think at the pace I am moving this will not be done until April! Ha! Hope I am wrong...I do like the composition but did spill some pomegranate juice on it...just one drip and boy that stains! It was in the sky too where I was going to do a flat wash...now there may have to be a leaf or something happening there...perhaps a bud...I nearly had a heart attack! Maybe that is why we should not paint when we are sick!
Since I have been sick all week I have played with Photoshop a little to try get the coloring more true...and this is where it is at..it is a little light in some of the grays but more true to the picture I hope.

Getting Closer!

This stage is always very time consuming and challenging...but this part also reveals whether this is going to be a good painting or not so it can be exciting. I am glazing up the colors as I go to try create different values using the same colors. Hopefully you will see what I am doing...if not...ask questions!

Demo of Purple Waterlily step 3

I have begun to lay in the water in this case, blues as I would like the blues to move through the last layers of gray that I will be adding. This has been a difficult piece because I am straying from my resource material and plan which is one of my first rules when I teach a workshop! I am setting myself up for failure. Not a complete failure but that it will not be the best it can be because I have no plan and I could make a big mistake in color choices at this point. I always work from the back to the front so I am trying to lay in any background colors and to find shapes before I proceed.

Purple Waterlily Demo

This will not be a complete demo telling you colors I use etc but rather one of solving a problem. This painting first of all has been on hold because of Christmas, company and then a friend moving. Now the days are mine again I need to get back to work. The problem is that I would like the water to express more blue of the sky rather than the grays that my photo is showing. It actually was very gray water that day but I want this to be more colorful. I run the risk of course of making it look unrealistic so I will proceed carefully. I have decided that I now have a few of my darks in and before I go any further with the flower, I want to see what the values of the water will do. It might alter what I think I will do with the flower...so it is essential to see this large mass filled in so I can more accurately gauge what to do with the flower. I could go to far with the flower and have a very dark painting. I want the flower to stand out so that is why I choose to now switch to the background to help me make some decisions. They might be wrong...but I find this lessens my chances of error. So the stage you are looking at now is before any water goes in. Hopefully having shown you this will spur me on now to work faster and get the water in to show you how this will progress! I just peeked and of course I loaded the picture sideways!!! Leave it to me...but the rest will be the right way I promise! HA!

Newest Painting

I have just completed my newest painting for my book. I have titled it "Prize of the Patch" for now unless you have something marvelous that you think works better! I think naming a painting is the hardest part sometimes because there is often the obvious but boring titles and to come up with something different seems impossible. I know one person who actually visits the lipstick counter to seek out titles which maybe is a good solution! HA! They are very creative I suspect as well as fingernail colors. Well, I think there might be a better way but have yet to find it. I now have only 7 more mini demos to go and some rewriting and if I am lucky, I might get one more full painting in as well. It all depends on how the writing goes from now on. I have to teach one more workshop in Redwing, Mn and a small family reunion, otherwise the calander is clear and hopefully things will wrap up on Oct 9th right on schedule! I will keep you posted.
I wanted to mention that sometimes people ask me questions on this blog but I am unable to answer that way so if you have a question please email me through my website at www.janefreeman.com Thanks!