Lunch with the CSOF and IL/WI SAQA reps

Yesterday my friend Trish Williams and I drove out to the burbs to have lunch with Laura Wasilowski, Frieda Anderson, Anne Lullie and Emily Parson. Laura, Frieda and Trish are the new Illinois/Wisconsin SAQA reps., so it was part meeting and part social time. Most of us haven't seen each other since spring, you would think we would all see each other a little more often but with everyone's busy schedules it's hard to find a time when everyone is in the same place at the same time.

Laura's birdhouse and hollyhocks taken with Toy Camera iphone app.

On the easel: The Unikoi

I have spent most of the week on this and still have more to do......it is quite tedious. Water and fish now top my list of most challenging things to render in paint.

I was walking Reuben today and listening to Shearwater, an endless source of imagery for me, and I had a vision for the ongoing "baboon" painting. Yes, that baboon painting hangs in my house and is STILL unfinished. I will have another go at it today after a haircut. I am beginning to look like Billy Idol.

Richard J. Bailey: "In the Museum" book

My friend Richard J. Bailey has put together a book called "In the Museum." Richard is a creative genius with a magical ability to concoct images into a perfectly balanced expression of wit, atmosphere and form.

Oil Pastel

This oil pastel is almost 20 years old. I have never had the heart to part with it, so it hangs in my studio. It took many years later to realize that it is a self portrait. I caught a peripheral glimpse of it today while painting and am thankful I have held onto it....

Worked on "Unikoi" today... all those underwater scales.

Tsukineko Inks with Ink Potion No. 9 Tutorial

I just bought a relatively new product from Tsukineko Inks called Ink Potion no. 9 to find out how it works with the All Purpose Inks. One purpose of the solution is to help blend ink colors. From my estimation this could be a good alternative to working with aloe vera gel to lighten and blend colors.

I began this painting by lightly tracing the outline of a goldfish from a copyright free image onto white cotton fabric and gave the fabric a light spritz of Ink Potion.
Using the Lemon Yellow ink and the brush tip Fantastix pen tool, I painted in all the light and dark areas of the fish.
Next I used the Tangerine ink in the areas that are to be the darkest and used a very light touch to blend it with the Lemon Yellow in the lighter areas.
Using the yellow ink again, I painted over the image to blend the colors and to deepen the golden hue.
Next I used the color Autumn Leaf to deepen the darkest areas and help create more dimension by pushing up the contrast.

I used the Tangerine ink again to blend with the Autumn Leaf, making a smoother gradation and used a black fabric pen to add black to the eyes. At this point I heat set the fish with an iron set on cotton with a press cloth on top.
For the water I used Tropical Lagoon, sprayed some Ink potion onto a tray and dipped the fantastix pen tool into the ink and then into solution on the tray. I noticed that this had the effect of lightening the ink color the more solution was mixed in and also making the ink cover a larger area of fabric with less stroke marks.
I lightly spritzed the white fabric where I was applying the blue ink to help the color cover the area smoothly.
I was working quickly and not too carefully and it ended up a little streaky, but I don't mind because it does look a little like there is movement in the water.

Manet

The National Gallery of Art has a really cool feature about Edouard Manet's two paintings, "The Dead Toreador" and "The Bullfight", and the story of how they were at one time one painting:

Fragments of a Lost Salon Painting Reunited , then click "start tour."

On the Easel: (wt) The Landlord

Often, I wake up in the morning with a sense of unease at approaching the easel. Some of it comes from perfectionist tendencies (and therefore, unrealistic expectations) but I wonder about sitting with that feeling......reframing it. Since I believe the gift I have been given is not to be handled lightly, there is a rightful sense of trepidation when I approach painting. If I can exchange the unhealthy one for the good and right one, I think I do well. This is tricky, because I don't mean at all that I should take my work "seriously." This is a quick way to kill creativity, and after all, it is only a painting. But the privilege of having the opportunity to paint daily, to hone the gift is serious. Maybe I can remember that tomorrow morning.