the new piece i'm working on is proving very rebellious ... so while the paint is hardening prior to another attack, i climbed up a ladder in my room to fetch down a self-portrait that i have had up there since 2006 but have never photographed and so had no digital record. But it such an effort to get down, unframe, photograph, reframe, put back up. So now it it's sitting on the floor in a corner of my room stacked with several others.
I expect my story is not unique.
Indeed, so many pieces have disappeared - sold or out with the rubbish - of which i have no record. I really must be more systematic about this. But half the time i forget to sign things, and frame them only to have to pull it all apart again. I guess i feel that i'm not the important thing, the work is. It somehow comes to me from somewhere even though i can't draw or paint. So it often seems a bit presumptious to sign it.
And just to keep the pot boiling between actually having something to show, here is a photo i took the other day while trying to work out facial structure for my next study. But have decided next time back to contact lenses (so i can have more fun with the bags under my eyes). So won’t be using this photo series with glasses.
Hi Harry, yes, your story rings bells with me - but I am more disciplined with recording things since I started my blog. Your series of self portraits are stunning, especially the blue one which has inspired me to 'have a go'.
ReplyDeleteHi Harry, good self portrait in blue with touches of red - really works well - inspires me to 'have a go' particularly like the close up compositions you make. Your story also rings a lot of bells with me.
ReplyDeleteHappy, with the discovery,say thanks, to the digitale instrument!grtn Willy.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Harry, from a very cold and rainy Boston, MA!
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to look back, while at the same time we look forward, just as you are. Thank you for sharing!
Brian
hi Carolann,
ReplyDeleteyou're right about blogging imposing some semblance order. Trouble is i have to maintain a blog at the university, maintain a written journal of my experiementing, and now this blog as well which is only a partial mirror of the uni one (they seem to be gradually diverging). So anyway, i find so much time now goes into record-keeping, photographing, blogging, that i do precious little painting! Ya gotta laugh.
Harry,
ReplyDeletenice work, yeah it seems painters are always inbetween things...
we never done, untill its done, then to the next thing, I do a self portait every few years, just to see the diffrence I see in myself.
I may have to drag them out of the attic and line them up for a shoot
greetings Willy, yes, the digital camera really is a great tool. Sometimes when i don't quite understand what i should be doing next with a painting, i take a pic and look at it in thumbnail. Then on that tiny scale an unbalanced composition really shows up.
ReplyDeletehi Brian. Rainy day? Good time to blog then. Though when we spent a couple of weeks in Boston a few years back the weather was perfect every day. Had a great time, immersing myself in the founding fathers, visiting Harvard, Walden, Maine, New Hampshire. LL Bean. Ahh, you bring back memories. Happy painting on a rainy day.
ReplyDeletethanks JB. Self portrait in the attic? Sounds suspiciously like Dorian Grey!
ReplyDeleteBut hey, lining them up sounds like a great idea. As you say in your blog statement, painting is a journey. And Brian (Inkpunk) is right when he says it's good to take stock of where you've been now and then. Happy painting.
Love those brushstrokes!! Most of the time I intend to paint faces with this energy and thick paste, but I can't reach that goal.
ReplyDeletethanks Manel. I have difficulty the other way, getting an even blended surface! I dab and jab rather than stroke and poke. I mix on the paper, not the palette, so my paint is thick directly from the tube. The more i touch it once it's on, the more my peaks collapse (rather like making a souffle). So i leave it alone, probably too soon, and work lacks 'finish'. What wouldn't i give for the mastery of paint you show with that perfect orange!
ReplyDeletethe painting is really good . i like the monocromatic way you use to take .
ReplyDeletei like the pictorial values you get too .
the other 2 images are fantastic . couldn't be better .
ah, Melissa, you old smoothie. But hey, i'd better stop all this monochrome stuff for a bit. Ok, next one - color!
ReplyDelete