Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Tattoo

I was  so pleased to get the chance to sit in on a life painting class at Red Deer College. We were fortunate to get to paint a heavily tattooed model. It was a really fun challenge! I am happy with how it turned out. It was painted in about 3 hours.


Oil on canvas ~ 15" x 30"



One hour portraits: day 6 & 7



Carla

Sarah

Tamara

Wendy

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

In the meantime...

24" x 24" ~ Oil and Acrylic

In between one hour portraits, I am still working on another series of paintings. This the newest of this series. I just started a 4 x 6 footer. I can't wait to dig into it! I am doing 3 one hour portraits a day, so my other work is coming along more slowly.
 
The one hour portraits are proving to be challenging, but I am really enjoying the process and getting to know new people. I am finding little mistakes in my translation of what I am seeing to what happens on the canvas. It is a really good exercise in learning how to see subtle nuances, and practice proportions and colour. The paintings are somewhat recognizable to the sitter, but I am still working on getting the likeness in such a short amount of time. Practice practice practice!

One hour portraits: day 4

Spud

Emily

Lucas

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Night of Artists, round 2

Night of Artists is coming up next weekend. Check out the website for more info.

People, product, and projects

I've just finished the second week of my residency at Red Deer College. I am really pleased with my productivity so far. It's amazing what a comfortable room and positive atmosphere can do. I've gotten some great support and feed back from the instructors, students and random passers by. It's really nice to be back in a community of creative people.

16" x 20" ~ Oil and Acrylic on canvas

There are two other artists in residence at RDC; Michele Dupas from Proctor, BC who is a ceramic artist, and Andy Davies, from Lethbridge, AB who is a sculptor and performance artist. We are all RDC alumni. On Wednesday, we did studio tours with a group of third year students to talk about our art practices and the work we are creating during our stay at RDC. My studio visit ended up being a bit of a critique, which is great since I haven't had one since art school many moons ago. It gave me lots of ideas to consider, in terms of content, technique and efficiency.

Out of the visit, also came a project to work on for the rest of the residency, thanks to my friend Robin, who is one of the instructors/sharers/artists at the college. I have started one hour portrait sessions, where willing volunteers sit with me for an hour while I paint them. In return they get one of my yummy home made cookies. So far I have done two portraits and have about 6 other people signed up.

sign up sheet

Robin ~ one hour portrait

Layla ~ one hour portrait

I've given myself a couple guidelines: 
-All the portraits are done in oil on a 12" x 16" panel.
-All portraits must be done in one hour.

That's about it...






Sunday, November 6, 2011

New


These are a couple new pieces I've been working on at the RDC residency. I've playing with more colour and letting the underpainting show through. I tend to over work my paintings, so I am trying to pull back, and let them them be more suggestive and raw. So far I am excited about what is happening.

36" x 48" Oil and Acrylic

20" x 20" Oil and Acrylic

In progress

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Move on in

the studio at RDC

I started my residency at Red Deer College! 

Love having a sink in the studio!

The beginning of my new painting

More to come soon!