Painting revisions - something about green

Here is the painting again with the revisions.  I think the greens are OK and I like all of the roundness - in the cushions and in the model.  I won't go any further with this painting though, as I am interested in nudes only as a painting exercise.  I would love some input.

Trying to get comfortable with green

This painting that I did in a quick two hour session last week isn't too bad, but there are some changes that I want to make. Mostly, I will try to get a lot more green into the shadows.  I am not particularly interested in perfect skin tones, but in COLOR to convey mood and emotion.  I have been having a lot of trouble learning to use green, so I will try it here by adding it to the shadows and making the lower cushion green.  Also, I'm going to fatten up the legs and even out the breasts.  I'll post the changes soon - stay tuned.

COLOR FORWARD - REVISIONS

So here is the same painting again. What is different? The portrait is still all about color and any differences you see are due to the photograph. I have not changed any of the color tones. The previous photo is the more accurate. I did move the nose over about an eight of an inch - perhaps not quite enough - and I aligned the curves of the chair back and toned down the green on the forehead a bit. Except for moving the nose again, I am pretty well satisfied with this piece as it is. I don't feel any need to refine it further by tidying up the back ground or anything.

COLOR FORWARD

I saw a phrase on a bottle of wine describing the contents - "fruit forward". I have adapted the phrase to COLOR FORWARD to describe the work that I am trying to do in painting. This most recent portrait (oil on canvas - 20"x16" - 10-27-2014) illustrates it pretty well. No more searching for perfect skin tones. I want color - gobs of color. Yeah, there is a lot of orange and green in this. Cadmium green is my new "go to" green. As far as I am concerned, painting is all about color. And, oh yeah, I'm going to move the nose a little to the right. What do you think?

What is the point of art?

For several years now, I have just been posting images of my paintings without writing much about them. I think I need to change this. I need more writing. I haven't done much writing because I never thought of myself as a writer and imagined that my paintings spoke for themselves. But they probably don't, at least on the internet. I may start a whole new blog where I discuss color or try to figure out what the point of art is. The attached images are four 6" square paintings that I am working on. They are a departure for me - into the realm of abstract - with no source material outside of my own mind. Comment if you think you know what the point of art is. Ann

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #119 & #120

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #119 & #120 oil on linen 6"x6" 2014 These two little paintings are the last in this particular series of 6"x6" pictures of the lily pads in autumn. I am continuing to paint in the genera but next I will be doing some abstract works and some close up pictures of dead things on the beach.

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #117 & #118

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #117 & #118 oil on linen 6"x6" 2014 a celebration of autumn color in floating pond vegetation.

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #115 & #116

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #115 & #116 oil on linen 6"x6" 2014 This series is all about finding color and beauty in unexpected places. The water shield is a little floating plant in a pond near my house. I paint these pictures because I want to show everyone the beauty that I find there.

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #113 & #114

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #113 & #114 oil on linen 6"x6" 2014

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #111 & #112

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #111 & #112 oil on linen 6"x6" 2014

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #109 & #110

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #109 & #110 oil on linen 6"x6" 2014

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #107 & #108

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #107 & #108 oil on linen 6"x6" 2014

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD # 105 & #106

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #105 & #106 oil on canvas 6"x6" 2014

LATEST INCARNATION

I have now placed persephone back into the surreal landscape. She is climbing up out of the underworld. I think I will be happy with this version when it is done.

BACK TO SQUARE ONE

When something isn't working, it is time to paint over it and start anew. So now, I have painted the old Persephone out of the "emerging from the underworld" landscape and created a plasticine model that I can use as a reference when I put her back in. Back to square one.

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #103 & #104

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #103 & #104 oil on linen 6"x6" 2014 These two little red ones are among my favorites of the series.

Installation views

My show at Catamount Arts will be up for the entire month of August. The two large paintings are 36"x36". The group of paintings are 20"x20" on the top and bottom rows and 6"x6" in the middle.

AUTUMN POND ABSTRACT installation views

These are two views of my current show at Catamount Arts in St Johnsbury VT. They show 36"x36" paintings from the same Water Shield series that I have been posting lately. The show runs through the month of August.

WHO NEEDS ART

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #101 & #102 oil on linen 6"x6" 2014 WHO NEEDS ART? When I go out paddling on May Pond, I see all of the things that one expects to enjoy on a lovely autumn day in Vermont. There are the hills, brilliant in their fall colors, the sparkling sky, a loon or maybe two. At the very shallow end of the pond the depth diminishes and eventually the muddy bottom comes up to the surface and the kayak can go no further. It is here that I find the Water Shield plants (Brasenia scherberi). In September and October these tiny floating leaves put on their autumn colors. The leaves are riddled with the trails of leaf miners and spots of decay. All of this make for a stunning array of color and pattern. As I paddle among them, I am dazzled and completely absorbed by the beauty to be found in an unlikely place in an unassuming little plant. And I think to myself - with every square inch of the surface a study in abstract pattern and color, "who needs art, anyway?" - Then I finally realized that it is I who needs art. I need it so that I can have some means of conveying to other people what I have seen and rejoice in. These paintings are the reflection of that joy in natural color and form. I feel that my paint brush has been recruited into the service of a common, little water plant.

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #99 & #100

RESURRECTION - WATER SHIELD #99 & #100 oil on linen 6"x6" 2014