Kiwi

11/12: Kiwi, oil on linen panel, 4x5 in.

I really love this green, really a blue-green before adding ochre. I can't get over its mystery, for lack of a better word. It truly still feels like alchemy: add a little white to it and it is like water, with yellow it is like a forest, somewhere in the middle it is the mist between land and sea. Some time I'd like to do longer pieces in which I can examine these effects more, not around a kiwi fruit.

Kiwis

11/11: Kiwis, oil on linen panel, 3x5 in.

I've been working "softer" the last couple of nights, almost layering like pastels or chalk (there should be less chalkiness after some varnish). And I worked a little slower here, ending up painting much longer than I meant to. Not sure if this muted coloring is really my thing but it's different, and I think these kiwis aren't too bad. Tender, sort of....

* * *

Yesterday being Veterans Day, let me say we shouldn't forget that we as artists (or musicians, novelists, etc.) couldn't practice our art without the people who voluntarily fight for us. We generally have the privilege of working in peace and safety, unlike those Dark Age English monks hunched day and night over their tiny illuminations, always with the fear of seeing Viking maurauders come one day from across the sea. Except one day in 2001 we saw how easily we could be attacked by a tiny band of modern-day pirates (or pilots), who did it not for plunder but for the joy of causing so many deaths. Whatever one's view of war, it is a fact that we now have to defend against a "culture" that seeks to destroy culture itself and take all civilization back to the Dark Ages, but Dark Ages without even a glimmer of individual expression.

I've grown to support the Iraq war more, recently, despite thinking it was badly planned, despite the tons of negative news coverage (which is aggressive and biased), and being sickened by the rising death toll. We're all sick of it, but let us keep open our eyes and ears to the good news that quietly makes its way back to us - it's not shown nearly enough. I never feel more hopeful about our world than when I see American soldiers being greeted with smiles, wherever they happen to be.

Lemon #3

11/10: Lemon #3, oil on linen panel, 3x5 in. SOLD

This was probably about 45 minutes if I remember correctly, more "finished" than I intended but some of the looseness is still there.

Banana #3

11/9: Banana #3, oil on linen panel, 4x5 in. SOLD

I feel I'm reaching a better balance (for me) between looseness and tightness. Many painters will say there's nothing "sketchy" here and what the heck am I talking about, but it's evidence of progress to me.

Red skin potato #3

11/8: Red skin potato #3, oil on linen panel, 5x5 in.

I don't know what's been going on with Feedburner's email delivery - I changed it to later in the day because I haven't been posting in time recently, but now it isn't sending the updates and probably has several backed up for several some reason.

The background got sort of muddled in this one, but some of the transparency in the potato feels right. These potatoes can get weird, and trying to keep that transparency "alive" can feel like juggling. Plus this one is a little oddly shaped (though I didn't quite capture it).

Red skin potatoes #2

11/7: Red skin potatoes #2, oil on canvas panel, 5x5 in.

I used just bristle brushes again, and painted thicker and drier than usual. A little different, but maybe a little too sticky. I like this linen; I ordered some Yarka extra fine linen the other day hoping it's similar to this stuff, so I can economically make more of these panels.

Lemon #2

11/6: Lemon #2, oil on linen panel, 5x5 in.

I tried to do better with the light transitions along the edges, and was reminded of the days I watched Markowsky paint, and how once upon a time maybe I actually "got it" - what's happened since? Oh yeah, I'd practically given up painting.... Painters and their damn "transitions," it's all they talk about.

I went to another craft store last night and found some #6 Arttec/Loew-Cornell bristle brushes for a dollar(!), so I got a few different shapes. Here I used some of those and a couple smaller ones like a cheap #3 round that I like, whose bristles are a great length for me (but which loses about 20 hairs and a brush size every time I use it so I'll soon have to find a replacement in a decent brand). Not bad for using only bristle brushes and some that I consider fat. Curses to whatever it is that makes me want to use tiny brushes!

Sketch of Hubbard squash

11/5: Sketch of Hubbard squash, oil on linen panel, 5x6 in. SOLD

This went beyond thirty minutes, but I probably managed to stop the major work around thirty and then add on the little shadows and such. I found some cheapo Loew-Cornell blunt-ended "scholastic"(!) bristle rounds on clearance at Michael's for between 50¢ and $1 each, and didn't use anything here except those and another cheap bristle round that can almost make a fat point.

From Wikipedia.org:

Hubbard squash is another cultivar of [the buttercup squash, Cucurbita maxima] that is usually a "tear-drop" shape. They are often used as a replacement for pumpkins. According to one source, the name comes from Bela Hubbard, settler of Randolph Township, Ohio, in the Connecticut Western Reserve. Many other sources list an alternate history. These sources state that the Hubbard squash (at the time nameless) came to Marblehead, Massachusetts, through Captain Knott Martin. A woman named Elizabeth Hubbard brought the fruit to the attention of her neighbor, a seed trader named J.J.H. Gregory. Mr. Gregory subsequently introduced it to the market using Mrs. Hubbard's name as the eponym. Gregory later bred and released the Blue Hubbard.

Granny Smith #3

11/4: Granny Smith #3, oil on linen panel, 6x5 in.

So I've been trying some linen by Old Holland that comes in sheets in a pad, which I've stuck onto a panel. I don't know anything about the different grains of linen, but this one says "Extra Fine" ("Excellent for Portraiture" etc.) so I guess it's like the smooth "type 13" that people swear by. I liked it the first couple of times I used it but this time it seemed too slick, like I had one too many wet layers on it or something, and I was fighting to keep the paint from lifting off entirely. Probably something I'm doing, because despite that it's pretty good stuff. If anyone has experience with the types "13" or "66" linen please send me your thoughts, it would be very much appreciated!

Small log #5

11/3: Small log #5, oil on linen panel, 5x3 in.

I guess I felt a bit more inspired this time - inspired to STOP before wrecking the parts I like. Man, I'm tired of coming up with some nice effects (accidental or not) then obliterating them totally because in some way it's more comfortable repeating crap brushtrokes that aren't working. So I left it this way, before filling it up with more brushwork of that type.