Day 47

Date April 10, 2014

Revisions Done….or at least until I see something else. I think it works better not being tethered to the bottom like it was. Feels much more like a phoenix metaphor with the asymmetrical flow and the separated color palette.

Next comes the varnish stage. It will make a difference in how some of the colors lay. When using oils as glazes they can become very flat and unresponsive to light until some gloss is added.This is especially apparent depending on the pigment, some pigments flatten more than others and this can throw of the vibrancy of a painting to a degree. All of this is less apparent through the photos than in person. So obviously the varnish stage is as much about color consistency as it is about protection.

Day 46

Date April 09, 2014

If I wasn’t as intensely anal about about details I would consider this work done. All that is really left is just a varnish coat and a shipping label. But, alas i am not able to walk away from a painting until i have attempted to overwork it.

At this stage all the black grounds have been repainted and tightened. I also Gradiated those areas instead of leaving them as solid cutouts. This helped set them into the work as opposed to making them feel like a removed area set behind the main plane.

Day 45

Date April 08, 2014

Big Day…. Primary work is done. All the major areas have been finished. I still need to redefine all the original black ground shapes that gave me a jumping off point. After that I need to step back and evaluate the any areas that may need to be reworked ( hopefully not many). Then it is just a matter of sealing it with some retouch varnish. Luckily working in such thin layers allows me to add a protective varnish layer much earlier than most painters. 6 months to a year for heavier work is the standard waiting time before sealing.

Worklights are really a pin to shoot under. It would be so much easier if I had the space to keep strobes up around the clock. Now that I have found 1000 sqft workspace is to small, I sure I would find 10,000 sqft lacking in options eventually. Ones needs always grow to fill and exceed the available options. Before this space I had a 100 sqft space and 24″X36″ was the maximum work size, then poof bigger space and 72″X72″ became the standard fare.

Day 44

Date April 08, 2014

Started using a focus grid to help prevent as much focus drift as I have had recently. It seems to have improved the shots and saved some retouch time that could be better spent painting.

Audio book note.. starting another multi book fantasy series. No matter how many times I have read/heard the same plot points… young man finds/given dragon egg/wand/ VD and then off to adventure with a kindly bard/hero/ Slave trader it never gets old. This time it is the “Eragon” series about dragon riders…Not a bad time waster, but generic is really pretty close to the mark.

Day 43

Date April 04, 2014

I am really struggling to take usable pix under the bright work lights. As the contrast between the white and black area has become almost zero, there is little for the camera to auto focus on. I may need to use a focus grid just to finish in the next few days.

I just finished the Cussler audio book. Even though much of his books are lacking in depth, this was as close to famine conditions as I have read /listened to in years. I know it was a co write book and that almost always is a cut rate special, but what is wrong with authors who cant find acceptable ending. I know summation and resolution is difficult, but tying up 300 pages in less than 3 is not the same ripping off a band aid. Just because its quick does not make it less of an impression.

Day 42

Date April 04, 2014

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Day 41

Date April 04, 2014

Almost finished.. or at least perilously close. The phrase “2 weeks” keeps being repeated in a similar mantra as the construction crew from the movie ” the Money Pit”.

Day 40

Date March 31, 2014

Even while working with 1/8th inch brushes, I can be blind to the complexity of some of my work. Im sure it has mostly to do with working so closely to the surface.. and self delusion. I keep trying to convince myself to loosen up my work an be less controlled. Every time I try and “Loosen up” the complexity escalates. Self fulfilling prophecy to prevent change, perhaps.

Audio book wise, Im now revisiting some old Clive Cussler books. Sometimes preposterous “Indian jones” mysterys are great junk food for the subconscious. I had an interesting conversation during the show about how audio books can help keep a right/left brain separation in place for increased times of creativity.

Day 39

Date March 31, 2014

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Day 38

Date March 30, 2014

Burnout after the show made it very difficult to get started again. Now that the blues have tightened up the red/yellow, I feel much better about the balance of the colors. Intellectually I know what will happen when the whit space is finally removed, but it still feels so overwhelmingly washed out.

Day 37

Date March 30, 2014

Sunday morning. Cant say I got a great deal done during the 1st show day. But, painting was better than drinking and snacking to pass the time during 8 hours of socializing. I was so burned out this morning that I took the photo without removing my mahl stick from hanging on the canvas. I raqrely overlook moving things out of the way… oh well.

Shows over. I realized I misprinted a tag on a painting and several inquiries people were interested in the work. The little details can always bite you when al the responsibility is yours. This is another reason to have outside reps… someone else to bear the blame at the end of the day.

Day 36

Date March 30, 2014

This is just before the Spring Open Studio show. Even though many of my older painting took between 5 to 9 months of consistent work, I really am feeling the pressure to finish this one. I found myself working during the show for the first time in several years. It is nice to have something at hand to do when the crowds are sporadic, but it can be difficult to engage with collectors also.

It can be a nice ego boost hearing the praise during a show, but malaise afterwards when the crowds are gone can be a bit postpartum. Saturdays turnout was somewhere in the 470 area, which was a reasonable number considering the traffic issues that were occurring that weekend.

Day 35

Date March 18, 2014

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Day 34

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Day 33

Date March 18, 2014

Day 32

Date March 16, 2014

Mid blues are tightening up a lot. These are difficult stages to gauge the color effects , especially when comparing massive shifts from cool to warms.

Lots of Hours is letting me work through another large audio book series. this time it is the “Mistborn” Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.

Day 31

Date March 14, 2014

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Day 30

Date March 14, 2014

I have been to overwhelmed by lifes obligations to finish my work on this painting recently. As long as nothing else apocalyptic happens ( knock on wood) I will have it finished by the upcoming open studio date March 22-23rd. The mantra for the next week, as an Everett climber would say is “Press-on”.

Day 29

Date February 5, 2014

The Right side Red balance is starting to work better now that I am expanding it.

Day 28

Date February 5, 2014

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Day 27

Date February 5, 2014

Flu season is making work go ponderously slow.

Day 25-26

Date January 29, 2014

I got too engrossed in work and forgot to delineate one day or 3 from the next. Im seeing a lot of whirlpool like eddy movement that is really exciting, at least it is when I step back and look at it in large scale.

I really need to start working on the cadmiums. The blues are now overpowering everthing, but such is the nature of working in large scale. Small changes can create larege echoes across an entire surface.

Day 24

Date January 23, 2014

Still focusing on the yellow/orange areas. Saw Rigoletto last night at the Seattle Opera. Cast was excellent with really strong sopranos and tenors in the lead roles.

Day 23

Date January 23, 2014

Why cant yellow pigments be opaque….. When trying to match the vibrancy of the Cadmium reds and the Pthalo blue it can be ohh so frustrating. Sometimes the only way is to paint a base of white mixed yellow and do the blend then glaze afterwards.

Day 22

Date January 21, 2014

I am really starting to feel the colors working together. It can be an issue seeing the relationships beyond the intellectualized vision in the beginning. Not much narrative that the power of blues doesn’t show.

Day 21

Date January 21, 2014

Putting in the hours is showing a good deal of results at this stage. Hard to say a lot about the task of repetition, so ill talk about my latest Audio book series.

I just finished re-listening to Neuromancer by William Gibson. I have real soft spot for the early Cyber fiction from the Late-eighties early nineties. Now I am onto some nice Tween Fantasy fiction. Very much like the harry Potter books is a trilogy by Kerstin Gier called Ruby Red. A very pleasant Time travel series that really makes the hours go by.

Day 20

Date January 15, 2014

Blues are blocking in nice. I had to modify the easel… again to get better access to the edges. Ive modified that easel as much if not more than some of the showcars I did during the 80’s. Catch phrase like modify became a dirty word, due to the path it inevitably led to. Or of course if the first modification didn’t work then there was no going back… at that stage all that was left was to “re-modify”

Re-modify also describes the work I did on “Calling all Boys”. That one was done during a bad stage of insecurity.. The audience never seemed to get the the original version. So I of course repainted it entirely “over the original” changing it from a monochrome to a palette derived from military colors of the Luftwaffe in 1944. Cant get much more esoteric than that. Except for work dedicated to the genius of Barnes Wallis.

Day 19

Date January 14, 2014

A couple long days filling in some blues have shown a good deal of improvement. Only thing on my mind at the moment is studio costs. What is a reasonable cost per project in materials. Obviously paint is a consumable and is very finite. Without just being sloppy and overloading the palette and letting it go off there is little to be done with these costs. Between sessions I spray my palette with a “Anti Drying Oil” used for printing inks and cover with plastic wrap. Keeps a palette open for 5-6hrs even after an alkyd medium is added. This is less about costs and more about the tedium of reloading a full palette…. which is between 5 and 20 colors at a time.

This line of thought is mostly about brushes. I hate thinking of brushes as consumables. But the reality of fine line oil brushes is that the hairs are fragile under the conditions. Once the go off the painting suffers as does the amount of time required for each step. I guess it is false conservatism to try and eek out a few more days and lose hours of time for the want of $30.00 in new brushes. I really wish I could buy them somewhere other than Utrecht though. I will be so screwed if they ever stop making them.

Day 18

Date January 14, 2014

I am out of sync on daily updates. Replacing some plumbing and the rearrangement of the studio made it very difficult to photograph the work.

I know where most of the color is sitting except for the mid left to right connections. Without a connecting thread I start seeing nothing but a circular motif creeping in again. I have explored circles far more than I wanted to recently.

Day 17

Date January 07, 2014

Apply Day 16 to Day 17 in entirety.

Day 16

Date January 07, 2014

Slow but sporadic process. Real life has made only short intermittent work schedules the norm. Here is an approximation of the time for a reasonable day of work for day 16.

I really need to address the middle of the painting and decide where the reds are going to focus. Depending on which edge I have at the bottom while rotating the canvas changes that moments propensity towards finalizing the mids. Sometimes its a toss-up between the desicions of the moment or ensuring the painting reflects the intended viewing position. Bob Ross’s happy accident may rule the day in the end…… lovely tree(w/ dappled highlites) in the foreground with a fan brush.

Day 15

Date December 30, 2013

Very little progress made in the last few days. The work has been so sporadic that I didn’t take individual images, but considered it a single work days worth. After New years Ill be able to focus on work once more.

Now that I look at this image compared with the last one, I feel better about the amount of progress.

Day 14

Date December 19, 2013

Frustrating day. Not getting much real progress done. Im sure the needs of the “Conspicuous Consumption” holiday gift frenzy is part of my lack of focus for today. Last minute buys without overnight shipping costs….. the Economy is a weighty mistress.

Day 13

Date December 19, 2013

More long days trying to balance the warm and cool tonal ranges. Every time I step away makes me change my mind on which is dominate. One second the blues are overpowering and the next the reds are shifting the balance. The white ground really throws perception off when making global choices. Unfortunately I cant use another colored ground due the transparency of the vibrant tones. I t is the white reflecting through that gives them the ‘POP”. One of these days working on a black ground with only opaque colors might be a nice experiment.

Day 12

Date December 16, 2013

Ive been putting in some long days to get to this point. When working on the monochromatic sections of a painting, vs a more confettish construct, it can be difficult to control the color and tonal variations simultaneously.

Day 11

Date December 16, 2013

The cool side of the spectrum finally sees it’s day. I am always amazed how much the tonal feel of a painting changes as soon as a major secondary is added. With all the white area the effect is still somewhat muted, but when viewed in close proximity the efect can be astounding.

Day 10

Date December 16, 2013

Not much to add for this day. Continuing to work on the warm spectrum side of the painting.

Day 09

Date December 12, 2013

Really starting to see the red and Yellow/orange divergence patterns. Kinda feels like tattooish in the art nouveau like flow of movement. My first thought was the tree of life inlay on a Steve Vai guitar.

I also found some new info that needs to be added to the sketch. Obviously I cant list it but Aug 25th is a landmark date that should be remembered. Kinda gunpowder plotish…. alan moore would be proud.

Day 08

Date December 11, 2013

Continuing with the same work flow as the previous day. Most interesting thing I can talk about is the Audio book series I’m listening to during this phase. I have gone trough many phases of required listening. I did enjoy the PG Wodehouse ( Jeeves) time, but now I am back to my favorite. Long drawn out Fantasy epics, nothing moves the time like character heavy mythology. Currently it is “The Enduring Flame Series by Mercedes Lackey” , which is very much in the typical Tolkien quest style. But enjoyable none the less.

Day 07

Date December 11, 2013

Since this is the first time I have painted a 6×6 since adding the pivot function to my easel, I have ran into a problem not apparent with 4×4’s. I cant raise the center point high enough to work around the edge anymore. Of course I’m just winging about it,but the extra time is apparent once you start working. What is the solution.. surprisingly enough it’s too hack a hole in the easel cross bar. This was the first big expenditure that I made when I decided to start working big. It does seem a bit sacrosanct at times to modify it. Obviously I will modify it, but it takes a bit more self delusion to make the first cut.

Now as for the painting. I’m just trying to define the flow of the Reds. I don’t have a distinct graphic composite that I want to force into the foreground like I did in “Megatherion” so I need to force a bit of it in the beginning until it starts to gain an identity.

Day 06

Date December 08, 2013

Color oh wondrous babyfood like colors. The only way to try the movement is to get some sort of color onto the canvas. My that sounds deep and very zen like in the most atrocious way. First stage of color when a clear plan is not in place needs to be somewhat timid. Starting with the most easily disposed of or at least assimilated colors helps prevent locking things in too early. Although whenever I think the word Assimilate I cant prevent the Borg voice from resounding in my head.

Day 05

Date December 08, 2013

Still trying to decipher the movement in the sketch. Far more time spent staring at the canvas than finishing up the phase 1 black outs. I did find myself adding a bit more to the sketch in areas that seemed to be needing more content.

Day 04

Date December 05, 2013

Blocking in some blacks. I’m very much back to techniques I was using a few years ago. Once the sketch is on the ground( Surface) I need to try and find someway to define the movement of the drawing. Jumping in with both feet seems to be the best way to prevent over thinking the process. I have tried ruminating over the complexity of the choices for many days before making a first mark and I have tried haphazardly choosing by random instinct. Random instinct is a lot less stressful, plus it makes changing course much less traumatic if Im not so invested in the initial decisions.

These initial blacks are done with acrylic on the acrylic gesso surface. Everything will be repainted in oil as things progress, but using acrylic to sketch the movement quickly with minimal cleanup is very helpful.

Day 02-03

Date December 05, 2013

The stress and tedium of projecting the images collected for each project is the break in a dam of anxiety that is rarely fun or pleasant, but a necessary step. I gathered and printed over 60 images and bits of text, but luckily stopped at 39. Sometimes it is really hard finding the saturation point when sketching the theme. I always want to fit everything I have found into it no matter how obscure or overly complex it makes the final artwork. I often become to attached to the research stage and find every offshoot of interest far too precious to leave out.

I often liken it to a detective( TV style) connecting all the suspect photos with bits of conspiracy yarn while trying to solve the ever more elaborate serial killer case. How can you discount a suspect until the very end….. Thus a convoluted analogy, just like my thematic research.

Here is Day 2 and 3 showing the final layered sketch on the canvas surface. Full size and close up.

Day 01

Date December 05, 2013

I have been incredibly lax at posting new project info for the last few months. This project is a bit of old home week alongside some new ground. For the first time in 3 years I am returning to the 6’X6′ format. Until was in front of a 6by canvas again it didn’t hit me what a idiot I had been for considering this my default size for so long.

Now for the new ground. This is a commissioned painting with a semi locked palette. The color choices are somewhat identical to those used previously in” Megatherion” several years ago. The subject matter is very different from “Megatherion”, this is not a autobiographical piece but more of a thematic concept similar to “Dread-Not”.

Day 1 Mount a big damn canvas and be overwhelmed by the albino in a snowdrift anxiety of a new project.