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Sunday, February 15, 2015

New Work: Night Shipping


Night Shipping
Acrylic on watercolor paper- image size 10" x 13"


One of the things that I do before I start painting is to do a color rendition of my idea. (There are just as many ways to start a painting as there are painters. This is just how I do it.) The color concept helps me to get a handle on things sooner rather than later so that I don't spend forever fumbling around with the color relationships. Admittedly, this is just a starting place because once I get the paint going I do have to adjust as I go. No problem though. I want things to work. 

The first pic shows the finished painting. The second pic shows the sketch that I did in Microsoft Paint. What a nifty little program! I was able to draw the shapes and then fill them with colors. I could switch out the colors also which is some of the exploration that I would normally do with my pastels pencils in the initial sketch on paper. I like combining my drawing and coloring with this computer sketch. In the final piece, I switched the lower blue-green shape to push the limits of what I consider to be a blue-green. I also tried to push the limits a bit with what I consider to be a blue violet. I chose a golden yellow to represent my yellow-orange opposite in that pair. I like the results a lot.

The idea for this piece came to me last Thursday/Friday as I was driving to the Bay Area. (I went both days back to back.) The Altamont Pass, which I drive through to get to Livermore and beyond, really grabs my attention. Those voluptuous hills and curving roads are really something. There are a series of train tracks that run through this area and on one of the days I saw, out of the corner of my eye, train cars going by high up on one of the trestles. I imagined a train going by at night that no one would see or know about. It seemed mysterious and part of the past somehow. So, I tried to make some ambiguous shapes to represent several of the things that I saw. It was fun to put everything together, like a puzzle, and then to do the final sketch on the computer. I had an ah-ha moment where I said (out loud) that yes, I could actually do this. Good stuff.

OK, hope everyone is having a good Sunday. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Libby
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6 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 15, 2015 at 2:39 PM

    My next stop is going to be a search for Microsoft Paint! That sounds fun! I like your approach to your work, Libby. You're an inspiration! And today's pieces are very cool!

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  2. Debbie NolanFebruary 16, 2015 at 3:08 AM

    Dear Libby - what a super idea to work out the colors and shapes in Micro-soft paint. Am going to give this a try. It certainly looks like it works so well for you. Really enjoyed not only seeing your work but what inspired your painting. Hope you have a great week.

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  3. KayFebruary 16, 2015 at 4:42 AM

    Very interesting to see them side by side like that.

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    Replies
    1. Libby FifeFebruary 16, 2015 at 12:03 PM

      Thanks Kay! Having the colored sketch was certainly helpful.

      Libby

      Delete
  4. juliefordoliver.blogspot.comFebruary 16, 2015 at 10:25 AM

    LOVE the train represented this way.
    Glad you found an app which pleases you. The linear style works perfectly for abstracts like this. I do like your final version more than your work piece. I can see you responding to the paint colors and especially when you did the blue trestle...good choice. .

    ReplyDelete
  5. juliefordoliver.blogspot.comFebruary 16, 2015 at 10:25 AM

    LOVE the train represented this way.
    Glad you found an app which pleases you. The linear style works perfectly for abstracts like this. I do like your final version more than your work piece. I can see you responding to the paint colors and especially when you did the blue trestle...good choice. .

    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