Graffiti Face

The above painting, which I am calling Graffiti Face, is another painting I made from leftover paint on my brushes at the end of my painting sessions. There's actually nothing I don't like about this painting. The muted, dirty colors, the accidental nature, the patchwork-y deposits of color, the fact that to me, it's a face painted on a concrete wall.

I want to paint more like this, but whether I could do it again to my own satisfaction, I mean, whether I could reproduce this particular style and make not look contrived is questionable.

I also painted two limes tonight (see below). The very minor challenge was to paint them and retain the appearance that they were in a bowl, without painting the edges of the bowl. I'm pleased with the way it turned out. I bought these limes from my avacado man. I love limes. I love their thin skins and they way they fit in my hand. Unfortunately, I don't usually eat limes. I use them in drinks and in guac from time to time. I guess I'll have to use these in a beer.



I also painted the avocados I bought from my avocado man. They were delicious when the painting was done.

Stitches

I meant to go to bed early tonight. I just thought it would be nice. I guess I won't now.

I never meant to finish this painting...I was just trying to rub the used paint off my paintbrushes and onto a canvas. Then I started to notice a really beautiful shade of...I don't know what you'd call that color. Sand? Seashell? and gray-blue. Really soft, beautiful colors. Reminded me of land and water.

This painting is really delicate. I'm calling it "Stitches". It's different from anything I've done.



Stitches is a really small painting--4x5, maybe. No. It's 5x7.

Then, this was the painting that I did before the Stitches painting--I thought this was the last painting of the night. I just meant to rub the paint off my paintbrushes. I started to paint the wine bottle and goblet on the table. I've been wanting to try still life paintings, although I had imagined I would start with a more original/unique set up. Maybe I'll work on this again later. Maybe I'll just paint over it.






This piece is heavily textured. I painted it on an 8x10 11x14 that had like two or three paintings--and some big scratches--underneath it.

It's really hot here. It was in the 90's today. My apartment was stuffy most of the night, even with the air conditioning, and it's 1AM and I'm tired, but I really like that stitches piece. It looks so small, and fragile.

Blue Quilt

I decided I wanted to paint a series of illustrations of the Once And Future King. I chose a passage from the Sword In The Stone, at the very end, when the Wart had pulled the sword from the stone and his foster brother and foster father had bent down on one knee to hail the new king, and the Wart was overwhelmed with his fear. Actually, I chose a scene right before that scene, to be more accurate. And the sword was in the stone, and the three figures were standing beside it. The painting was very vague, mystical and weird looking, textural, I thought the colors were very beautiful, and I showed the painting to my painting-checker (family member, I have her look at all my work and she usually gives kind of vague answers like "it looks nice, I like it, what do you want from me?"), and she said something like, "it's three figures in a grave yard." I couldn't figure it out, at first, but then I realized the sword didn't look like a sword, it looked like a cross, head-stone fashion. That was when that painting died, right there. All the steam blew out of me. I had no desire to fix it--I wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible. I try very hard to stay away from obviously morbid subjects and morbid paintings. I like dark and edgy, yes, but I like to tease meaning from paintings, not to get hit by meaning as if from a blunt object. So, nevermind the fact that this was not meant to be a painting of three figures in a graveyard--I like unexpected, happy accidents. I just didn't want it to be so obviously bleak.

I left it to dry, then I turned it into this. The pastel reds and yellows show from beneath the new layers of thalo blue and burnt umber. The texture underneath pokes up from below like little mountains. I was very satisfied with the painting when I finished it, but the more I see it, the more I enjoy it. I find the blue very comforting.