The Green Painting: Stage 1
Sorry for the link, instead of a photo, but my photos of this project are all over the place, and it is either link or no blog post, in all reality. Besides, you’re the curious type aren’t you?
As in – “no more 100/100 type projects”.
At this stage of life, with little kids who need corralling, feeding, boo-boos kissed etc and a husband who needs corralling, feeding, boo-boos kissed and all the other important things involved in the care and feeding of husbands… life is busy. And he’s not all crazy – my plans and projects list is long enough for two lifetimes – at least it feels like it some days.
So what’s an artist to do when my to-do list and reality live on different planets?
What indeed.
I’ve switched projects, naturally.
Instead of daily short projects I ripped the plastic off of a 4×4 foot canvas I have in the studio and started to work. Large can be intimidating – what if I screw up this big, expensive canvas? But I’ve realized that gesso covers a multitude of sins if it comes right down to it! With the commissions that have been coming in, I don’t always get much time to do my own work. So this project is a nice one for me.
How do you put a painting together? I didn’t have plans for a 4×4 canvas in my sketchbook.
Sometimes I have a plan, but in this case, this painting is a collection of ideas and much more autobiographical than usual. It is kind of scary actually, putting so much of myself in the art. I’m honestly not sure how much I will explain about them… I guess we will find out.
In truth – this isn’t exactly Stage 1, stage 1 was where I puddled and dripped and ran watercolor paint all over the surface of this canvas. I laid it flat to see how it would dry. The beginning was an experiment, and so far it seems to have worked. The watercolor lifts if I work it with a brush, but on the flip side of that- I now have the background colour in any new colour I introduce which lends harmony to the composition.
I’ll see you Friday for what happens next in this painting. Since we are in progress I won’t be blogging about this painting everyday. I have to have some time to think of what needs to come next… Ciao!