ACT…My PAINTING JOURNAL

let me start off by saying:

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!!

I keep repeating this to myself trying to find comfort in time lost…it is that dramatic! Well, not that much, but I think that I have found the root of my habit of leaving tasks unfinished: I HATE ENDINGS, to me, there are no happy endings, and end is a door that closes, yes I know JUST TO GIVE WAY FOR ANOTHER ONE TO OPEN…yes, but what about the sentimental attachment I form with EVERY &^$##@ THING? aaaaaa, this drives me crazy about myself…

Anyway, sigh! My painting teacher has made a very incisive recommendation that we KEEP A JOURNAL of our painting projects. Not just a PICTURE ALBUM of our studies, but a highly detailed recount of EVERY step in the process of creating a new piece.

And DAMN IT, here is where the saying takes center stage:

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER! yeah, I should’ve started my JOURNAL a year and a half ago…at this moment I feel so dumb, I was so living and enjoying the moment (oil painting class) that it never crossed my mind that sooner rather than later I would have to leave and make due without my teacher’s guidance…

I NEED A PAINTING CADDY…you know, someone who’ll give me the best advice and pointers: go one shade lighter, that’s not enough depth, take a step back, evaluate proportion, ETC, ETC…

the voice inside my head insists:

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, damn it woman!!

OK, OK…So it’s LATER…and I’m starting my journal with my last pieces…the study of THE WATCHER by Paul Henry and MY JACARANDA based on a photograph…

DISCLAIMER (btw, I am not particularly fond of disclaimers it’s like apologising when you don’t even know if you’re offending, anyway…) this post may not interest you one bit and I completely understand, but this blog is my CATCH-ALL for life’s bits and pieces and THIS IS A HUGE BIT OF MY LIFE, I can’t think of a safer place to put it…thanks for understanding…

so , THE WATCHER…a lovely, dramatic, emotional piece represented by simplicity: the simple nature of NATURE (huh?!) in the fact that we don’t have to do anything for it to BE, we just have to stand still and admire it and the simplicity of the woman depicted in her (I imagine) work clothes looking out into the horizon of a very AGITATED sea…I love all the possibilities in interpretation, from looking at it in a historical/geographical context to seeing in it a reflection of one’s feelings…then comes the color impact…Oh that dark red skirt flowing in the wind of the storm that’s approaching in all it’s shades of grey, from the pink-ish to the blue-ish to the green-ish tones of grey…aaaaahhh, breathe in the ocean’s breeze, feel the cold air as it hits you and goes through you carrying away the storms of life…oops, back to reality!

Ok, so getting to work on my study…

I am using an 80cmX100cm, that is 31 1/2″X 39 3/8″, canvas completely primed (homemade)…it is my largest canvas yet!

Step 1…represent depth by using three different blue-ish grey tones taken to their whites degree (7,8,9 CERULEAN+WHITE) in varying levels of intesity and tranparency…the farthest point is barely visible but it serves as a background and will eventually help colors POP and give it dimension…

AGRISAMIENTOS (have no idea how this translates) chart by ME

this is how it looked…

STEP 1…yesterday in class I started defining shadows in tow tones of grey…a pink-ish/purple-ish grey and a green-ish grey (#6,7,8 + lots of white)

and this is how it’s looking right now…

OK…the end of semester expo is coming up and there’s limited space so my teacher has chosen my blue ceramic bowl with silver spoon to be in it…of course I HAVE NOT FINISHED IT but the spoon is turning SILVER…

this is how it’s looking right now… (I think I need a camera!!)