Sunday, April 11, 2010

Back Home--Get Started !

Sometimes, after being away, it is hard to get back into the routine or pattern of things, even things you really want to do ! I have unpacked my suitcase (always satisfying to do after a trip) and done lots of laundry. I wanted to paint...so why did I procrastinate and do everything except paint ? And then why the deep contemplation and indecisiveness about what to paint ?

Finally after chores, a walk and lunch, I just picked up a photo from a flower photo shoot I did in December...and grabbed a 36 x 24 canvas and just got started. Though I dawdled a bit in getting going, watering the african violets on the porch...choosing some music to listen to, opening the windows for the cats to enjoy afternoon fresh air. And then I committed and just made a super quick sketch in charcoal to get my bearings. Sprayed fixative on that, picked out lots of yellow and orangey paints and just got started. There's something to be said for just getting on with things !

This is the first underpainting (above) and it is painted loosely, just to capture the feelings and messages I am getting from these flowers. I was not sure if it would come together...in fact, the first half of this painting session felt a bit "off", but maybe it has just been too long a break. In any event, after a couple of hours, it came around and I am pretty happy with the start on this at today's stopping point, and have good navigation points to pick up from next painting session.


While I am painting from a photo, I did a big photo shoot with these stunning David Austin yellow roses--they were really fantastic to shoot from every angle and the light in my living room in afternoon was fabulous too. I took several hundred photos and had prints made up of a handful of the best compositions. Most of the best ones were close ups of the bouquet you see at bottom right.

Here is Pookie too, who "helped"...well, kind of. That sort of help around flowers is not always what one most wants or needs. But he did look cute. Though this photo is not his best pose with the yellow roses, it shows good cattitude nonetheless.

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