"Paintings With Personality"

"It's Always Nice to Share" 18x24

The book I have a drawing appearing in is now out and sold by North Light Books. The book is titled “Art Journey Portraits and Figures: The Best of Contemporary Drawing in Graphite, Pastel and Colored Pencil”. It includes some wonderful works of art and I am honored to be a part of it.

The painting I’m describing below isn’t finished but I have high hopes of posting the completed image on Monday. It is always difficult to make painting a priority and almost impossible in December.

This is a very detailed drawing on 18x24 watercolor paper of a painting I am currently working on. I’m still experimenting with pattern, color and texture. I drew in much greater detail than I normally do, but wanted to make sure I got the leaf pattern I was looking for.

The subject made me think of the book by Sandra Haldeman Martz and Jenny Joseph, “When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple”, so I had to use purple in my painting.

Generally, I work all over the painting surface but the detail involved in the pattern forced me to work top to bottom. I began with Winsor mauve and dropped in some orange to tone it down. The woman's face is vermilion and raw sienna. I quickly decided I didn’t like the leaf pattern I had so meticulously drawn and began painting over all the lines. I scrubbed out some trees on the upper left and liked them so much I put them in all across the top. By this time, my detailed drawing of leaf patterns and a little house at the very top were totally gone.

I was still attached to the idea of creating a pattern in the painting, but the little leaves I had drawn were ordinary and uninteresting. Here, I have put in ENORMOUS leaves to be the pattern and began some of the texture detail on her skirt. So far I have used only three colors, mauve, orange and a little yellow green. On the woman’s outfit I break away from those three colors and add vermilion to catch my viewer’s eye. The t-shirt underneath her blouse is back to mauve and orange. I plan to lead the viewer’s eye through and back using the red.

I saw this woman at an outdoor concert in Woodstock, NY and, am thinking about Woodstock Diva as a title. As stated above, it is unfinished. I hope to get another chance to paint on Friday.

Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah to everyone. Please comment below.