How did this one happen? Well, I've been playing with my acrylics again. Backgrounds should have variety and it's often good for them to be dramatic. One of the painters who blogs, and paints daily said something I found I was about to realize myself, I'm just slower. Since you have to paint the background ahead so it can be dry and not just make mud when you start to paint, why not paint up a bunch of interesting, dramatic and colorful backgrounds. Then when you've got a moment to paint, grab one and paint!
It's easy to get into a rut, at least for me, I'd probably use the same two colors in every background if I allowed myself to do so. This pre-painted background method can change that. So starting with these 8X10 canvas boards and picking any color, always different, there are high hopes I'll spread my tiny wings and fly!!
OK, I do tend to favor warm colors, but I actually painted a deep gray background last night and today in class I made great progress by painting a partially peeled pomegranate on it! Wow, I'm (easily) impressed! Hey, this is a big step for me! Another big step was using a larger canvas (16X20), and I painted a BIG pomegranate on it, too! I'll try not to wrench my shoulder patting myself on the back. That one will have to be photographed because it won't fit on the scanner. The subject came from Paint and Draw Together, a "challenge" I love to participate in as often as possible.
Last month was spent doing intricate needlework for sale at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco. Boy did I need the money, and I actually made some! It made it possible to give Christmas presents and pay bills. I did a little sketching, but almost no painting. So, with all good intentions, I have started a class and found a great Drop In painting group which gets me out of the home studio at least twice a week.
On the Voice Over front, I just recorded a couple of parts in "Antony and Cleopatra" for Librivox as well as a few chapters of "Wylder's Hand," by J. Sheridan La Fanu. They were both very enjoyable, but I read the book's chapters "cold" and if I'd taken the time for scantion, they would have flowed better. It's a really funny book, very Victorian, and supposed to be a Psychological Thriller. It does have a certain leisurely suspense, but it is really hysterical in the subtext. For instance, there is the old uncle who thinks he's a ghost. I just came upon him in the last chapter I read. That took a lot of editing. The way it's written it was sometimes VERY difficult to tell who was talking. You get to the end of a long speech and find it was the hero, not the maid. You have to go back and re-voice the whole thing! That's what I could have taken care of in scantion, just hi-lite the the different characters in different colors and then I know who's voice I should be using! I think I even exasperated my laptop by the end of that editing session, it allowed me to convert it to mp3 for uploading, but it wouldn't allow me to save the original file. This means that if there is a problem, I have to go back a re-record the whole chapter. Serves me right it I didn't catch something in the editing process!
Another picture I just painted didn't get posted here. In November (I think) one of the Challenges was a nice stripey apple with a variety of leaves. I did it in watercolor (that one is posted) and uploaded it to the website. Unfortunately I didn't notice that there was a cut in the paper until I was finished! It isn't where it can be worked around either. The photo was wonderful, so I've re-painted it in acrylics. It turned out pretty good, but there was something not right about it. It was as though something was missing. Fortunately, the Tuesday class I'm taking has a critique portion and I got some great input. They helped me see why it bothered me. They had some great suggestions too, and I took some of them. Now I'm pretty darned happy about the picture. I'm thinking it can go on the website for sale!! Yippee!
Did I tell you what I got for Christmas? Well, I got the Traveling Monet French easel! Very Pretty and it rolls. It's better quality than my old one, but I should probably keep the old one for Period events where the wheels and handle would be too modern. I seem to be accumulating a lot of easels. I somehow ended up with 2 Feather easels, boy those are lightweight. We need an artists swap meet! Let's go for it.
More later!
