Surprise Ending

Day 26 of 30 paintings in 30 days, and it started out  rough, but ended ok...

Acrylic, "A Pose",  10 x 8 inches on canvas panel

                                                                                         Available at DPWs
This painting started out life as a tree, a simple tree.  What started out as a simple painting tumbled out of control.  Got up early and had a small sketch I planned to quickly paint for today's painting.  It started out well but did that mistake that happens, went too far and lost the original idea.

where I started

Still interesting

A point to far

Should have stopped here, I wanted it abstract and colorful,  did I?  No...
Got to this point and just wasn't happy.  While it was still wet dumped some pinks and iridescent paints on it, scraped in some texture, and start over.  Love what I ended up with, so sometimes a failure and change of direction is a good thing!
Mary
Schiros_Art

Painting Mistakes

Sunflower Stages, Oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches

     There are tons of rules about painting.  You learn them in classes, from books, but the ones best remembered are from experience.  That is why I say every painting is a learning experience, no matter how long you have painted. 

    I am going to share one of these with you.  Yesterday the sun was shinning, the sky clear and my sunflowers looked great, time to set up the easel outside and paint.  I grabbed 4 canvases, a pile of brushes and paint and went to work.  Each canvas I used a different approach (yes I tend to multi task).  The one I am sharing today had a light green base color already on it and dry.  As I was looking at the sunflowers, I quickly applied some random strokes to the canvas. 

     Mistake #1, Composition, didn’t think about it at all.  Sometimes that works and it is pure luck, but most of the time if that basic foundation is skipped, like a house it comes crumbling down. 

     Mistake #2, rule of odds.  As I was working on it I put two sunflower buds in it, neither one worked as a focal point.  Oh that is right, mistake #3, lacking a focal point.

    Proceeded to try and correct this by adding a flower.  Mistake # 4, perspective, although they overlapped, the painting just looked flat, the clues to foreground and background were just not happening, they just looked bunched up.  So I removed a bud, better, still just not right.  At this point I had to set it aside and work on something else. 

That is why I always work on more than one painting at once. 

   Later I sat and studied my problem child and saw mistake #5, not taking into consideration focus.  In life when you are looking at something only one area will be in true focus, the rest is slightly out of focus.  This error was actually fun to correct, big brush mess up everything that that had too much detail; except for the area I wanted the detail. 

    At the end I am fairly pleased with this one, maybe because it was a great reminder of rules that need to be remembered.  So it doesn’t hurt to keep this things tucked in the back of your mind while painting, just remember to pull them out and use them once in a while.

As Robert Genn said: "I go from move to move--working out the puzzle--until it's either completed or abandoned."

    Next time I will share my other big mistake, from the same day, just another canvas.

 Mary

 Schiros_Art

From Pencil to Paint

20 x 16 inches oil on canvas

To follow up on my last post, thought I would share the first painting from my last sketching session.  I picked the drawing I liked the best, then drew a grid over it to help decide the lay out.

 From that I sectioned off the area I wanted to redraw on my canvas.  Then I did a quick acrylic painting to use as an under painting.  For the under painting I used Matisse back ground acrylics they are matte and have more tooth that regular acrylics.  When the under paint was totally dry (gave it 24 hours), I finished it in oil.  Used Weber water mixable oils starting with brush work then finished with a palette knife for a little more texture. 

 Mary

Schiros_Art

Preparing for Abstracts

"Secrets"  Mixed media 24 x 18  inches

 

 

"Rust and Steel" Mixed media

It often appears that an abstract art work is quick and spontaneous.  Sometimes abstracts do happen that way.  But often there is a lot of preparatory work going on behind the scene. 

For most of the abstracts I do in watercolor or acrylic I use some collage.  For collage I like to texture and design my papers.  This could involve textured artist tissue paper with gesso and paint, there times I use ink, and solvent on found papers, to get usual effects.

To apply my collage parts I use a mix of gloss and matte medium, fluid for thin papers, and gel for heavier ones.

The process of textured the papers to use take a few days and layering then into the work takes several days also, because it is best to layer thinly allowing each layer to dry before apply the next.  Any painting between layers and at the finish should completely day before finishing with varnish.

Yesterday I spent the whole day just making collage papers. Today I am sorting and figuring out which ones are best to use. Next will be laying them out on a gessoed panel and creating the basic design. That is the process I used in the paintings that I am sharing above.  

 

 

piles of ink textured paper getting sorted

close up of one paper

another example of paper

 Mary

Schiros_Art

Painting a Placemat

    Sometimes a painting just flows off the brush, other times not so much.  Today I painted with an attitude of stubbornness. 

    I could not decide how I wanted to represent this basic still-life, abstract vs. realism.  Not making that basic decision left me feeling incomplete, and the painting looks incomplete to me because of that. 

    But two good things about a session like this is, I learned something; either let a painting happen, which usually leads to an interesting abstract style, or plan for an outcome.  Planning for me involves doing some thumb nail sketches, then set out what my color theme will be. 

   This painting will most likely end up being sealed, then used a placemat for the kitchen table, (at least it will have a function). I will let it set for a 24 hour rest “time-out”, and then decide.  That doesn’t mean I won’t paint this basic little vase and daylily again, I will.  Today was just not the day I have a painting that will go in a frame. 

   I will share all the stages and changes this poor baby went through, why not, may give you some idea how much a painting can change in the process of painting.

 Mary

Schiros_Art

What you see and more

Red Vase III,  16 x 12 inches, Acrylic on 300 lb watercolor paper

     I will often mention that the painting I enjoy the most is painting what I see. 

That can be outside or a set up on a table.  But having said that, those paintings will not be photo like images in paint of what I see.  I may paint the subject, but change the color, mood, even leave out some of the content.

     This is an example, the set up contained more objects than I thought were needed.

The color changes were due to necessity, because on site I had a limited choice of acrylic paint colors.  But, I think that a limited color range is just a fun puzzle to figure out, and enjoyed this one even more because of it.

   So remember you’re the artist and that give you “artistic license”, use and enjoy that license.

Nice set up, but like my version better;)

Mary
Schiros_Art

One good goal

  
  This is one of those simple ideas that just has to be shared.
Never have an empty easel.   I just realized that this simple fact is one that keeps me painting everyday.  Always having a painting to work on is one of those things that I just do, and never think about.  Today I was cleaning up my picture file on the PC and noticed there were a lot of easel shots, various works in process, and had a DUH  moment.
   So thought I would share some inspiration .....

 
 Now go get something to paint on 
Mary
    Schiros_Art

A Flower for You

6 x 6 inch oil on canvas

                                     Available on DPW

I thought I would share the process of making this painting.  This is another in my small character still life paintings.  I have a collection of odds and ends, including some beanie babies that I use for set ups.  This one is a simple set up just the stuffy and a flower.  I set up the objects to paint on a surface that has some shine, so I get reflection and shadow to incorporate into the painting.  I use a goose neck lamp to get a direct light on the set up, moving the light around until I like the shadows.

Set up to paint

Then I do a quick drawing on paper as a reference for the painting.  I do not draw on my painting surface.  

quick sketch

Next, I do a rough, almost abstract under painting, using a dark oil color thinned down a lot with odorless thinner. In the under painting I am looking for a few main things; lights, shadows and lost edges.  The lost edges are places the outline of the object merges with either the light or dark around it.

The thinned paint is easy to correct because it can be wiped off if needed and adjusted.

not the best photo but here is the under painting

After that dries over night I proceed to finish the painting with color and details.  This isn't the way to do all oil painting but this method works well when doing still life painting for me.

 Mary

Schiros Art

The Look

Completed oil on Ampersand panel 14 x 11 inches

                                            Available in DWP auctions

Painting involves a lot of time spent just looking.  Looking at the subject, understanding the light, shadows, shapes and colors, because after all those are characteristics make a good work of art. 

    Often, after finishing a painting section, I set the painting somewhere to view easily.  And after looking at it for awhile,  I decide it is done, other times there is a growing feeling something is missing.  Having the painting somewhere I can view it at different times of the day, under different light and with different moods the missing part becomes obvious.

   This painting is an example, I loved the subject and the colors and thought I was done, but after a few days got that feeling it was missing something.  Then it became obvious the composition was missing something…balance.  I added the flower and it felt complete.

   So take time and really look at your work, it sometimes has more to tell you.

Before...

and after.

   Here are the before and after pics...

Painting and Dance

10" x 8", oil on canvas panel, still life, price $40

I had an interesting insight today, while reviewing one of my latest paintings.

This is an oil painting, so it is easy to make small changes during the long drying time.

I softened a few hard edges, and added a little bend to a few lines.  While doing that, my mind was wandering of to memories of dancing.  I studied Ballet for about 15 years (many years ago) and small moves were very important.  The tilt of the head, the bend of the back, or just the way fingers touched each other, all added to how graceful a move looked.  I guess it doesn’t matter which art form it is, little aspects accumulate to strength the overall quality.  

 Just my thought for the day. 

Mary Schiros

 

The Process

Oil 16 x 12 inches

Ink 7 x5 inches

    Art is always on my mind.  And the only way to deal with an obsession like that is to learn to live with it.  When the TV is on, I am doodling, when I go out there is always a small sketch pad with me.  Even when I get ready to sleep there is a sketch pad near the bed, for those times a picture pops in my brain just as my eyes are closing.

     Because I have learned to grab ideas when ever they happen, I always have a source to work from when real time allows.

   Thought I would share the start of one of these ideas.  The sketch is on a small 5 x 7 drawing pad, one of many I did while pretending to watch TV with my husband.  When I had the time to get some oil paint out, instead of sitting and trying to think of something to paint, I accessed the nearest sketch pad and picked the first one that caught my interest.

   The Painting is on watercolor paper 140 lb that was gessoed with orange colored gesso.  I keep a small pile of prepped paper handy.  This is a working idea now.  The small painting is complete, but also may lead to a larger work.  

   Mary Schiros

Art Series

the 3 completed, lined up out on the patio 

  

I made a resolution this year to paint in series of three.

Some times I end up with 3 paintings that are wonderful and go well together.

Other times it takes 3 tries to get what I want.  So far I am learning a great deal from painting this way and plan to keep working with this practice.

   With my last series of three, I ended up two that are perfect together and one that got painted over.  But even with the one that didn’t work out, it started me in another direction. 

  The two I like I call more sky writing, the idea that everything about the world is there before our eyes, only in a language we can not read yet.  The one that I painted over fell away from that direction and frankly reminded me of a bad Bob Ross painting.  But after painting over about 2 thirds of it I saw an ocean pattern developing and decided to start writing by waves.

    

Mary's websites:

Artavia       Fine Art  

   Artmajeur

 Zazzle

the 2 keepers

 

last look before saying good bye

painting over what I did not like

the remake in process