Listening to myself

 A while ago I began to listen to my automatic inner chatter, that constant
judge and jury of what I'm doing and how I fall short. As
a creative person I also have a harsh art critic busily undercutting whatever
I'm working on. When I began painting dogs I wanted to learn more
about painting technique. This is happening slowly. But also I've been
able to clearly hear how active this critical voice is.

 Why has concentrating on dog images, trying to make
them come alive with paint on a panel, softened my inner critic?

Dogs bring out unconditional love from my heart. They do not complain
that we're wasting time especially when we give in to the urge to play. They
are on our side, on our team, happy for our happiness! If our plan is
different from what happens in paint it isn't a horrible failure. We're learning.

So it's no wonder that I'm letting up on myself and talking back to that unhelpful
chatter. We're here to learn and help one another. Except for dear Roger Ebert,

how many critics do we look up to? My job is to make mistakes and learn.

New challanges

I'm going to be very brave and show some little paintings at the awkward

stage. You can see how much I need to work on color...

 

...and to make it harder I've combined old B/W photo people with color photos

to collage a picture.

 

 

I can see that I need to go looser or more realistic but first must sharpen my skills.

 Perspective brush up. I'm inspired by so many artists online and how brave they

are in showing all stages of their creative skills...even the awkward, growing stages.

Sheep roundup

Last night was the big sheep roundup so they stay dry until shearing day.

As usual one didn't want to follow the flock which made for some drama.

They're in the barn and the fields look empty.

I'm taking reference photos for painting later. The barn is very noisy.

This is an unknown type of lizard who lives in the pile of slate out back. The

grand boy likes to visit the 'lizard house'. Sure would like to know what kind

he is (the lizard). Looks more like a west coast lizard than our smooth

gecko types around here.

Reptile activity is high out here as it warms up. Driving our country road home the other

day I saw a diamond back stretched across the road. Makes me appreciate all the

black snakes on our property.  Black snakes run off other snakes and keep the rodents down.

So that's all the exciting news here. Looking forward to some painting days starting 

tomorrow.

Animal Aid yard sale

Animal Aid is having a big yard sale next Sat, June 7, from 8 until 2.

Here is Kerri, the newest addition to the fine dogs and pups there. 

 

 

Here's Hale, who has already found a new family.

And here is Brooke who has also found a new home.

Several of my 5x7 paintings will be at the sale. So if you're in the

neighborhood stop in for the sale and maybe meet a new best friend!

Home made easel/desk

Tuesday I stopped by a thrift store and this had just been donated.

I'd been looking at easels and none of them are in my budget. This was...six bucks.

It even has storage inside. From the words scratched and written over the top

 I guess it was made for a young person in the hospital for a bed desk. I like that it still carries these words, its own secret history. That hinge is alligator jaw strong. 

Some days I get lucky at the thrift store.

 

Priming and ground color for oils

I find that I read/watch what artists have learned, apply it and see results. 

An inching forward then pausing to learn. Here's Hershey, a real dog at Animal Aid.

I found a couple of good books at our library. This first one is packed with

information. I learned about primers (the surface you prepare before applying

oil paint) and coloring grounds (covering the white surface so you can better judge tones 

and values). I took this chunk of info and applied it to my painting this weekend.

I had been painting on illustration board primed with gesso. The surface was

gritty and too absorbent, pulling paint right off of the brush. Stiff application=stiff results.

I switched to priming with airbrush (acrylic) medium...

recommended on a youtube video (I'll link it here later).

After fixing my preliminary sketches with workable fixative spray, I chose four

thinned down colors for several primed boards. I tried to match the ground color

to the mid tones in each dog's coat.

I made a note of the color on the back and added it to my palette. 

In this case, thinned Gamblin Chromatic Black.

I was able to skip a layer of painting by starting with a colored ground.

This will need about 2 more painting sessions. The surface is smooth doesn't

pull the paint off the brush. A much better surface for me.

Also trying to work on backgrounds which work with the dog's colors.

 I see a big difference here. Put away that Portland Cool Gray.

This week I'm working on brushwork and this book covers it better than any I

could find. Also looking at Impressionist brushwork. Amazing. This is my

next challenge, to make the marks more interesting and powerful.

Speaking of marks, look at the result of steaming the buttercup tamales for

one hour. Mother nature is always the best artist. Hope you had a lovely Mother's Day.

Life is good

 This lovely painting arrived and I'll frame it tonight. 

The artist is Lisa Graham, a talented person I follow online.

Check out her art blog.

Lisa's generous in sharing her knowledge of mixed media

and a very cool person, very kind.

 The front yard is turning green fast. Tomatoes and herbs planted. 

Birdsong is constant. I love the light right before dusk.

This is Traveler, a new Animal Aid pup. 

Several paintings sold this past week!

I need to paint other things but am following this

preoccupation with dogs for now.

The feeders near my desk are busy all day.

No snow in sight-all is well.