52 paintings?

It's been five months since my last blog, much to my chagrin!
Lack of photos to base my writing on began to seem really confusing.
So now I am happily able to add pictures any time I want.

I mentioned painting 52 paintings (1 each week for a year) from one photo. What was I thinking?? My attention span isn't long enough for that - or at least I don't think it is... But I do plan to sketch and/or paint a series of paintings from one photograph. I like to do this because it pushes my brain into seeing possibilites I otherwise wouldn't.

Next I am going to put up 4 images of one location in St. Paul. They are examples of how I use my camera to record a scene I think I want to paint. You saw this one in my second blog. It has lots of things going on in it, and has a wonderful complementary color scheme.

The next three photos are variations of this one. I took a vertical image, and then two closeups. If you have only one photo, print it off and manually focus on various areas that you think might make good paintings. Or, do several drawings from that picture.

In essence, I have done a lot of composition variations with the camera. But I could focus in on still more areas in all of these photos.

Take the bottom photo just above. First I would think about what I like about this composition.  I like the darks under the bench and up almost to the top of the photo. I like the color of the bench and the orange of the the figure and the darker orange strip above him. And I like the orange wall on the left.

The man is interesting all by himself, but if I cover the top half of the photo, I have another viable composition.

Looking back at the balloons in the top photo, I see another composition. How about adding a figure sitting on one of those chairs?

In the second blog you will see a couple of drawings next to the photos. I think I will do some value drawings or paintings next. I do love strong values and rich colors and here I have both.

You are welcome to paint or draw from these photos. If you do, I would really like to see them.  Judy

Many Paintings From One Photo

You will know by now that I am a teacher at heart. But I am also an artist. I am considering doing one small painting a week from one photo. By the end of the year I will have 52 paintings, drawings, collages, etc. based on that photo. 

The last time I did this I used a photo of a barn which had flowers around it. I did at least ten paintings of this barn, changing colors, making it mostly dark, then mostly light.I moved the barn around, and then the flowers. I changed the seasons, I changed my painting style,
and, well, you get the idea.

I kept them a quarter sheet or smaller and used several brands of paper. If you haven't tried yupo paper, now's the time.

Doing 52 paintings, however, is a little more daunting. I am going
to choose a photo with lots of things going on in it. I think it will be
a city scene with lots of people, cars, signs, etc. I'll let you know when I decide.

Hope you are painting. Judy Blain

about painting from photographs

I was going on about digital photos in the last blog.
Now that I have so many and see no sign of stopping taking more, I am thinking a lot how best to use them without ending up with dead paintings. Oh, and I have started using my old camera to take slides along with the digital camera. I remind myself that I will probably get 40% or less, of usable slides, but some may be wonderful.

Resource material collecting is like going to the library and coming back with lots and lots of books. If you don't like one, you can go on
to another. And another...Of course, if you are not a reader you could substitute chocolate. Or do both.

Anyway, now that I have identified the problems that lurk in digital photos, I am working on finding the best way for ME to use them.
You have to find your own way to use them.  Sorry.

I have decided that I am going to have to do sketches before I paint.
I never used to do this, but the time has come. I work on good paper, and different surfaces. And different sized paper as well so that I am pushing myself. Besides, I really like some of my drawings and may want to mat them up.
First, above all, I simplify. One way I do this is to make L shapes
out of old mats and move them over the photo to find an area you like. That's not a new approach, of course, but I am always surprised at how many painting ideas pop up. I use 8x11" photos - or larger -to do this. I am also doing this on old paintings...more another time.

about watercolor painting

When I got my first digital camera I was thrilled. In fact, I am still thrilled.  So easy, every detail in clear focus, who could ask for anything more?

I have been taking pictures - and slides - for years. I started taking slides so that everyone in my classes could paint the same subject.
This was great for critiques. Of course the room had to be dark enough to see the slide, but we worked that out.

Then came the digital era. I was teaching less so I didn't have to think about mutiple prints for students.  Running off prints - 8 1/2 by 11" - is really fun and quite addictive. My photos became more about details and less about painting.

But wait a minute.. isn't painting the whole point? The paintings that I like are loose, with few lines indicating form, and there is lots of opportunity for making changes. I went with the flow, so to speak.
But I had ceased to work that way. I dropped my style for all those fascinating details.

It's taken a while for me to realize all this. Then I happened to look through some slides of subjects and paintings from before "Digital" took over. Wow. I really liked those paintings. They were better than
what I am doing now. Has any of this happened to you?

Stay tuned for my efforts to turn all those photos into My Style of painting.   Judy