Monday, May 18, 2015

New Work: From Here to There

From Here to There
Image size 11" x 14" matted to 14" x 18"
(image based loosely on a sketch from the Putah Creek at UC Davis)
Over the last several days I have been slowly picking at this piece. I had a hard time to begin with not being able to nail down the shapes and colors. That mostly has to do with muddy thinking and inattention on my part. (I do so wish I could blame the materials!) For me, there is most definitely a point during the painting process when I feel that I have nailed down what I want. It can take awhile though but it includes colors, shapes, and values. The remainder of my time is spent carefully mixing each color to ensure that I have the hue that I want as well as the value. It's always a happy moment when I have that "ah ha!" feeling and I know that I can wrap things up.

For anyone interested, I used a new tool for this piece to create some of that texture. 
Catalyst Blades
See that little orange tool that looks like a fork? That is the one I used. The link for the info is here. After I saw the marks that it makes (see the green shapes above) I realized I may have been able to use a plastic fork. I could use a toothpick too I suppose. Any number of pointy objects would do. I like the uniformity though of the "fork" tool. If you scrape hard enough you will go through to whatever color is below. I haven't quite thought out the solution but it occurs to me that you could easily create tone-on-tone texture. Very exciting.

OK, I am off today to pick up my entries from the Calaveras County Fair. I saw on Sunday that one of my paintings received a blue ribbon. The day that I don't get excited about something like that is the day that I chuck my brushes and paint!

Hope everyone's Monday is off to a good start. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Libby
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

4 comments:

  1. Carol FlattMay 20, 2015 at 10:06 AM

    Congratulations on the blue ribbon, Libby. It feels so good when one is acknowledged for their work!! I'm so happy for you!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. juliefordoliver.blogspot.comMay 21, 2015 at 1:00 PM

    Great news about the blue ribbon, Libby. Which painting won the award? Don't forget to let us all know.
    I like the shapes in this one and I think the pale pink mountains at the back are a rather brilliant touch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Libby FifeMay 21, 2015 at 3:35 PM

      Julie,

      Thanks on all counts! I did have difficulty with this piece. In general, I have trouble using the color red and the few other colors that surround it. Not sure why but I am slowly working on trying to use those colors.

      I updated my blog to show the piece that won. Thank you for catching that:) Don't know what I was thinking!

      Libby

      Delete
  3. Debbie NolanMay 22, 2015 at 12:17 PM

    Libby- what great texture you have in this piece. Very interesting and fun to use different tools to get a certain look. Thank you for the link too. Hugs! I

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it! I reply back in an email if you are signed in and I can see your address. Otherwise I will post the reply here under your comment. I tend to cut and paste my emails too so that others can experience the back and forth which I think is integral to blogging.
Libby

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)