If you ever walk by me and see that I have red turp or any shade there of in my turp container, know that I am in over my head. I am a landscape painter so typically the turpentine in my container will be this wonderful earthy green or brown. When it is red or pink or peach I have crossed into uncharted territory for me. Such was the case this Wednesday.
I am part of a group of painters called the "Yonder Painters" and we meet once a month to paint figures in the landscape. I haven't painted figures since art school 30 yrs ago and this is my second attempt in that 30 yrs.
My turp was red.
I found everything about it difficult. There was so much there to paint I just can't get everything in the 3 hrs. we paint. They had tables, flowers, umbrellas, draperies, chairs, and, oh yeah, the model. I wanted to get into painting the figure again so that is what I concentrated on. And you can tell it is very unfinished. To have done it all at the speed I paint something I have little experience with would have required a week. And the worst part is as soon as you get that groove going or you get "in the zone" the alarm goes off to let the model know it's "break!" Mother nature doesn't need a break. She models as long as I need her. But she will throw ticks or lightning at you from time to time. Everything's a trade off.
When I peruse some of my art mags I tend to glimpse at some of the figure work and move on to the landscapes. I have said it before but if you want to develop an appreciation for something, try it. The figure work in these magazines now gets my undivided attention.
6 comments:
Not bad at all, Kevin. I understand what you mean when looking through art mags. I'm the other way around - I do enjoy the landscapes, but I really plunge into the figures. :) Nice work.
Were you able to attend the OPA paint-out? Wish they hadn't moved it. I wasn't able to make the rain date.
by the way, where can i get more info on this "yonder painters" group? Sounds awesome.
thanks.
Nice job! I really like the way you simplified the figure into the big planes.
Did you know that red turp tastes like strawberry. Nice painting. Excellent design.
Hi Kevin. That all sounds very familiar to me. My paintings don't usually have any people in them and I tend to turn to the landscape articles in magazines.
You've done a very good job here and there's no sign that you were struggling.
Taaron - Thanks. I still spend a little more time at the landscapes and I guess that will never change even though I enjoyed the figure painting. As far as the Yonder Group, it is a small group (8-10) of women from the middle Tennessee area that paint on a farm down in Chapel Hill. I met the lady in charge at Jason Saunder's and she invited me along. We have a couple of professionals involved but it is mostly enthusiasts with a tremendous love for the process of learning.
Jeremy - Thanks. Yeah, when you're in a hurry you tend to simplify. Glad it worked out on this one.
Jason - Yeah, I heard you could get it at the Bay Side Tavern. You in?
Tilleyman - Thanks for stopping by.
Apparently I was able to disguise the struggle I was dealing with on this one. I figure us landscape guys have to paint a figure from time to time just to let the figure guys know whose in charge.
How's the weather in Scotland? Any good snow scenes yet?
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