Sunday, February 7, 2016

New Work: Running Through It

Running Through It
12" x 16" painted acrylic papers on wc paper
It doesn't bother me anymore when Rich walks into the studio to look at my work and make comments. I want him to say what it is he sees. If nothing else his observations provide for some good comic relief. It's not possible to take myself seriously these days. So, he walks in and I ask him what he thinks of this piece shown above. He says, "Oh, the balls now have caps." Fair enough! (Though I prefer to think of them (the balls) as heads with safety helmets but that is just me!)

Some Composition Issues:
I used similar colors for this piece as I did for the last one. I decided to emphasize the warmer colors though and play down the blues. I sort of did that I think. There is more of a warm feeling for me anyway. Something interesting though that I learned had to do with colors being dispersed throughout the piece. Originally I didn't have any yellow strips on the right side and there were no yellow shapes either. Those orange red bars seemed to be screaming at me. It seemed like kind of a contrast/saturation issue but then I thought that it was more of a color distribution/dominance issue. I decided that the yellow needed to be the dominant color and be placed throughout the piece in varying amounts. It is like Carol's mention in an earlier post of the "mother color" in a way. And I think this would apply to those of you who would be painting landscapes. An overall color feeling is very unifying. For me, I think it was a good solution. I also like the shape that was created with the addition of the yellow on the orange-red bars.

The Title:
Originally for this piece I had been thinking about the phrase "x marks the spot" in reference to the men who went out to find the best location for the placement and building of Hoover Dam. (I think I read in one of my books that as the dam was nearing completion some workers found the original stakes/markers made by that survey crew.) When I was about halfway through the piece I began thinking more about how the Colorado River drops in elevation as it progresses through the various sections of land and canyons. I also considered how the river is over allotted and over used. (So far as I know this is still the case to this day.) The title then has a dual meaning. It refers to both the river running through the land and also the way in which we as a population are running through this resource. And I am OK with people not getting that from looking at the painting itself. Whatever anyone gets out of it is fine and if you are reading and would like to say what it is you see then please leave a comment. I want to know.

I learn something small with each of these pieces that I make. It isn't painful anymore either when I make blunders (knock on wood) and maybe that is because I have made them so often now! That sense of being able to fix things or at least muddle through is invaluable. It makes the process much more enjoyable. 

OK, I hope everyone has had a good weekend. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Libby

10 comments:

  1. Love the warm colors, love what the yellow did for the piece, love the balls and their caps! Smile!

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    1. Thanks Barbara! I thought his comment was pretty funny. Still chuckling about it:)

      Libby

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  2. Wonderful color harmony, Libby. I also was taken with your clever use of arrows. I saw the two blue ones on the left right away, and then saw the two blue ones on the right. The right ones were integrated a bit more into the design so not so obvious to me. Then, you have the brown ones also guiding the eye. Excellent layout!

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    1. Carol,

      Thank you so much for the nice compliment on the color harmony. I wasn't too sure about things as I got going but as I worked on the piece things started to make sense to me. And the layout ended up working very nicely. I mentioned to Julie that the 7" x 9" sketch didn't tell me much. It wasn't until I started to add the details that I thought things might actually work. Funny how that happens.

      Thank you as always for the visit. I hope you are doing well.
      Libby

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  3. We all like different things...I think the addition of the yellow spot in the middle is what makes it for me! It gives me a central settling point in a busy story.
    Your warm blues look cooler against the warmer yellow, golds and red.
    The wonderful thing about your hubby is that he participates with an opinion. Lucky you. I teach people who have spouses who never say a word or show any interest.

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    1. Julie,

      You are right about that-I am lucky. Rich really keeps everything grounded:)

      That yellow spot was an addition and not in the original plan. It's funny how it pulled things together. There is such a world of difference between an 7x9 sketch and a larger piece with actual colored paper. The sketch just didn't tell me a lot of what I eventually found out:)

      Thanks as always for your visit and observations. It helps:)
      Libby



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  4. Had to laugh at the balls now have caps! hahaha! I like that you don't take any offense. I wouldn't either. Not everyone gets what is what--that's ok. I love the colors and the directional bits in this. Very engaging.

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    1. Thanks Celeste,

      I figure that as long as I am happy with things then funny comments like my husband made are just fine:) And thank you for the complements on the design. I wasn't really sure things would work.

      Thanks for the visit!
      Libby

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  5. Dear Libby this really entertains the eye. With the colors you chose it keeps everything moving. I adore your figures with their caps. Your hubby's remarks made me smile. As I've said before my husband has honest comments too. What would we do without them.:)! Great piece friend.

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    1. Thanks Debbie!

      Thank goodness for husbands and spouses/partners in general. It's good to have someone who can provide some comic relief:

      And thank you for the comments about the colors and my strange little figures. I really like them too and hope that they keep showing up:)

      Take care. I hope your week is going well.
      Libby

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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