Oil Sketch of a Mexican Girl in Polka Dot Scarf

Oil on Gessoed Hotpress WC Paper,
4" x 4 3/4" $60.00 go to eBay

Even though I absolutely love doing those pastel
drawings of classical images, it felt really good
getting back to oil painting today. It was slow
going at first - I feel kind of like the way a cat
or dog will circle around and around before they
find the right place to sit down. But I got some
much-needed encouraging words from a far-away
guardian angel that made a tremendous difference
in my day. I am very lucky.

I loved this image of this girl. While she is rather
melancholy in appearance, she has the most beautiful
eyes, and I loved the colors in her scarf. The polka dots
weren't there. I made them up, because I thought it would
liven up the composition, and counteract the pensive
look on her face.

When I was showing my work in New York, I was bascially
required to make the most detailed paintings I could. Now,
I don't really have anything against this (although it did
completely destroy the cartiledge in my right hand after five
years of day in and day out painting), but you can't do those
kinds of paintings in a day. So I have had to switch the way I
paint, and it has been a difficult journey for me.

It's funny, I have no trouble doing a twenty-minute gestural
painting of a figure model in class, but when I know I have
to publish it on a blog I think I get hung up about it. I need to
relax!!!! I love to paint. What's the worry?!?

Anyway, this is my offering for today.
Thanks for visiting. I am going to be painting
for the entire month of June, just oils - I've made
that commitment to myself....well. I may do an
acrylic underpainting.... or an occasional
pastel drawing......

Christina

Drypoint Etching , 4" x 5" $50.00
Click Here to Bid

This is a drypoint drawn on a metal plate

of my daughter's friend Christina. It is

wiped clean with no plate tone, because I

liked the lines, and tone clustered around

her head.

Tiny Pre-Raphaelite Sophie l

Oil on Board, 4" x 4" $50.00 SOLD

This tiny painting of my daughter was done from a

photo I took of her quite a few years ago. I manipulated

the photo in Photoshop - something I love to do - using

the lighting options, so that I vignetted her into this

circle. I just thought it had an unusual, "times past"

look. With her flowing hair, pensive expression, and

colorful kimono, she struck me as very similar to some

of the models used by the Pre-Raphaelite painters, who

seemed to favor extremely pale, long haired, pensive

women. My daughter is actually bright and and happy -

she's just a good model. I've done many paintings and

prints of her. She wanted to be an actress for a while,

and can be quite dramatic, which makes her a great

person to draw and paint!

This is just a quickly-done

painting, but there are things about it that I like.

Christina in a Chinese Jacket

Drypoint Etching printed on Archival
Printmaking Paper, image 5" x 7" $85.00 Go Here

I didn't have a chance to paint today, so I am
posting this drypoint of my daughter's friend,
Christina.

I drew it with a diamond point on a plastic
plate, which has several drawbacks. First
of all, you cannot correct any mistakes, so
every mark you make must be correct or
pretty correct, anyway. Also, it doesn't
tend to have the beautiful plate tone that
copper or zinc have because it is totally
non-porous.

One thing it does do well though is take marks
from roulette wheels. Those are tools used by
printmakers to create texture. They are literally
small barrels attached to handles that have different
types of texture on them, like lines, dots, sharp
points for roughing up the plate, etc.. The texture
that you see in the background of this print was
mostly made with roulettes. Everything else was
drawn by hand with my diamond scriber.

Once I finish my drawing, I ink it up with
etching ink, and run it through my press with a
piece of dampened printmaking paper.

I love drypoint! You can't get big editions,
as you can with etching, but what you can get
is unique and beautiful.