More fun in color-town

I'm enjoying the oil paints. I'd forgotten how much fun they could be to work with--aggravating too, but that's partly because I need to learn patience. I'm also working with a limited set of colors, which is good since it keeps the color compositions unified. But now that I'm getting into this more I want to expand my colors just enough to have a wider range of cool and warm basics. Currently I have a warm red and a cool blue. Mixed together they make a dead-ish purple that just sort of lays there. I need a cool red and a warm blue to balance things out.

These two little fantasy goofs use nearly the last of my 3 x 3 canvases. (By goof I mean fooling around.) I have one more underway, and have started in on the 4 x 4s. I also have a few 6 x 18 ready to go, once I figure out what the hell I want to put on them.

One more from last week

We recently found a patio fire pit in our size and price range (both small) and have been enjoying it. Finally, we get to use some of the oak and plum and pine trimmings we've been stockpiling over the years. There is something primally satisfying about poking at glowing embers, putting another few sticks on, and seeing the flame come alive again. Although being a genetic worrywart I spend most of my time during the initial burn with a hose handy, watching to see that the little sparks escaping from the screen don't land anywhere they shouldn't. Ten years of drought will do that to a person.

An artistic bonus is that I get free drawing charcoal out of it. The morning after a fire I can poke through the leavings and find some lovely pieces in a variety of shapes that work just fine as drawing charcoal. I'm learning to pick out the harder pieces for best results; some of the chunks crumble as soon as any pressure is applied. But they make a lovely mark!

For this drawing I pulled a photo from my art morgue. I used some compressed charcoal for the deepest shadow blacks and details--otherwise it was drawn entirely in home-burned charcoal. (12 x 18 on charcoal paper.)

November art goal

Since Gary is doing NaNoWriMo this month, I pledged to take time each day in November to work on my own stuff, art division. So far, not bad. I'm still not jumping into it each day with joy and abandon--more like reluctance and low-key despair--but once I sit down and start doing something it starts being fun. And frustrating, but that's normal. Maybe I can finally learn some patience, at last.

My largest block is the lack of any clear idea of what I want to do. So I'm trying a combination of finishing old things in limbo, looking through my file of commission ideas from friends, and generally just fooling around. If I can get through this month and establish a work pattern, I'll start refining my goals. I hope.

I blew this past weekend, using the excuse of a trip to PHX to see old friends. But here are two pieces I did late last week. Both are oil on 3 x 3 canvas, with a blue ground under the raven, and a red ground under the hippo.

Raven is from my head, on a whim. I was originally going to do a face-on dog portrait coming off the corner, but when looking at the blocked-in canvas later with just the background roughing in the portrait area, I thought it looked like a raven's head in profile. And so it was.

Hippo is from a photo reference, probably an old Nat'l Geographic. The image is angled awkwardly--maybe I'll try this again on a larger surface.

bantu in the grass

bantu in the grass
Originally uploaded by colorfauna

I did this one on Monday. This one is small, acrylic on paper, based on a photo of a beloved kitty of days gone by. I really need to buy better brushes. Or work bigger. For which I need more space to work in.

Sigh.

red rocks

redrocks
Originally uploaded by colorfauna

Worked on this the past few days. It was a half started piece from many months ago, and part of my rust-scraping plan is to finish up unfinished work, even if it turns out looking like dreck. Which this one did, but hey, at least it's completed dreck.

Acrylic on masonite, 6 x 12", based on a photo taken in Sedona.