Austin Summer Blues

Oil on canvas, 30" x 40".

Last summer in Austin, from my memory and imagination.

NATURE WATCH:

Austin goes to the dogs.

Champion

Champion is Tombow marker and pan pastel on sanded paper, about 9"x12".

Drawn May 30, from life.

The model, Jean-Pierre, is also an artist.  One of his striking paintings (simplified here) forms the backdrop for Champion.

 

NATURE WATCH:

A doe alone.

Sad Woman With Red Hair; Woman With Red Hair, Reading

 Drawn this morning, from life.

Pastel and charcoal on 12"x16" pastel paper.

It's very cold today; in the 20s (F).  So cold that the model wore clothes and a coat to pose (normally, she'd be naked)--and the few artists who showed up wore coats to draw.

Woman Waiting On A Sunny Morning

Painted this morning, from life.

Oil on 30"x40" canvas.

The figure in the foreground is the figure I painted today.  I painted her on top of an old painting (actually one of my first tries at oil painting on a large scale), probably painted three or four years ago.

Today is unseasonably warm, expected to be in the 70s (F).  We were able to have windows open while we painted.

Crying Woman

 Painted this morning, from life.

Crying Woman is oil and oil pastel on 12"x12" canvas.

Woman With Cowlick Holding Rose; Woman Holding Rose 2

 Painted this morning, from life.

The top painting is oil on 16"x20" canvas.

The bottom painting is oil and oil pastel on 12"x16" canvas.

It was overcast this morning when I started the top painting.  Just about an hour later, the sun had come out, just in time for the bottom painting.

 Both of these started with underpaintings. The top painting had some light blue and some yellow and burnt sienna acrylic paints rubbed on the canvas first. 

The bottom painting has a canvas that was started in oil pastels a couple of months ago at Rutamaya, so the background that shows represents the walls there, with some oil paint added on top.

What I had on my palette for the top painting was titanium white, ivory black, cadmium yellow light, cadmium red light, and alizarin crimson.  Basically, a version of the limited Zorn palette, which I've been using lately for my paintings.

For the bottom painting, I added a little ultramarine blue to the palette.

The model was actually wearing a simple black knit hooded pull-over.

Young Woman Looking Down

Painted yesterday morning, from life.

Oil on 24"x36" canvas.

Despite it being so large, this is a quick--under two hours posing/painting time--sketch.

Woman With Red Stripes

Painted this afternoon, from life.

Oil on 14"x18" canvas.

I don't know if I'm done with this, or not.  I need to give it some time, and then look at it again.

Woman Falling Asleep While Reading; Woman Sleeping Sitting Up

 Painted this morning, from life.

Woman Falling Asleep While Reading is oil on masonite board.

Woman Sleeping Sitting Up is oil on canvas.

The model this morning posed reading a book.  It was warm inside and the book got dull, so she kept drifting asleep.

Woman In Grey

Painted this morning, from life.

Oil on 24"x36" canvas.

The light this morning was strong.  Blue sky, clear, cold weather, fairly calm.

The model posed in front of a large window, with extra light coming from her left.

Monday Morning Woman

 Drawn from life, yesterday morning, at Ruta Maya.

Tombow marker and ink, with water and brush, on Bristol.

The smaller sketch can serve as a thumbnail, with sufficient light and dark information, if I decide to paint this.

It was very dark inside the cafe yesterday morning.  And it was crowded with holiday get-togethers, including one revolving around a doula and her clients and their small children.  Several of the children came by to watch me paint the portrait and ask questions.

Reclining In Lavender; Reclining In Blue; Artist And Model In December

The top two drawings were drawn this morning, from life.

They are pastels, on approximately 9"x12" card.

The model was in a single pose.  The figure in blue is a mirror image, from a different place, of the figure in lavender.

Do I even need to say I was late--almost an hour late?  In this case, it's because I forgot the time while painting earlier this morning on the canvas below.

Artist And Model In December is oil on 20"x24" canvas.  It was painted from life Monday morning.

Yes, I was late.  And all that was left was a "less desirable" profile view of the model, plus the mirrored image of another painter.  We were painting indoors because the weather was cold that morning.

I've been working on it intermittently at home since.

It's probably not complete, but it's far enough along that I'm willing to share.

Woman In Autumn; Back In Purple; Woman In Blue And Red; Woman In Blue And Yellow

 I painted these yesterday and today, from life.

Woman In Autumn is oil pastel and oil paint on 11"x14" canvas.

Back In Purple is oil pastel and oil on 12"x16" canvas.

The two small sketches are oil pastel on papyrus, for the Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project.


About Woman In Autumn:

These are the colors of the leaves on the ground this morning.  Although it is a warm windy day today, it looks like and feels like winter is coming.  And that is what I painted.

Woman Among Marigolds At The Eastside Cafe

Painted outdoors, from life, yesterday morning.

Oil and oil pastel, 20"x24" canvas.


About this:

We were outdoors, in the middle of the most marvelous organic garden, with chickens, at the Eastside Cafe. (Check out the Eastside story portion of the Eastside website for more about the garden.)

The day was kind of cool and windy and threatening rain at first, then it warmed up and got sunny and windy. This was a three-hour long session, with breaks.

I painted the dark and threatening part of the morning.

The model, also an artist, was shivering at first, then closed her eyes and kind of sunbathed, fully clothed, once the sun came out. And we enjoyed our cold drinks--our model had root beer-- and painted some more.

Woman In Red Glasses, Reading; Woman In Red Glasses And Blue Scarf

Painted/drawn this morning, en plein air (outdoors), by the lakeside.

Woman In Red Glasses, Reading is oil pastel on 11"x14" canvas.

Woman In Red Glasses And Blue Scarf is oil pastel on approximately 12"x20" card.

The model, a dancer, was reading an art theory book, courtesy of one of the painters. Her glasses, highly decorative, are purely a fashion accessory.

In the background you can see a white swan and several black coots.  Coots are funny ducklike creatures with chicken feet and loud querulous voices.  Don't know if any of these coots are old.

I expect to paint the background and leave the foreground pretty much as is shown, here.


The drawing of the face will probably change a bit, as well.

Woman In Torn Jeans

This morning's plein air oil painting.

A bit about this painting:  This is painted from life, a 30 minute pose.  The model is lying on a blanket covered with a white sheet, on the grass. The time was close to noon, on a  hot day which started out clear. Dark clouds were moving in. Then, later in the afternoon and evening, came thundershowers.

I need to look at it again in a few days to see what still needs doing.  Already, parts of it stand out as needing repainting/reshaping.

One thing I learned at the Art Institute of Chicago last week  is that I now appreciate Gauguin.

When I first saw his work in person, it was at a special show of many of his works that traveled to the LA County Art Museum when I was about 11 years old.  I didn't like it at all.

This time, I visited a couple of his paintings at the Chicago Art Institute and I loved them, especially Day of the God, a dream/memory painting. ( For a good explanation of the painting, look here.)