Even the Little Brown Bird......Final

Here is my solution as to how to display this multi-panel painting. It was accepted into the Utah Arts Council tri-annual show, "Utah '08: Painting & Sculpture". The panels are mounted on a wood grid, made by me. When you use a non-conventional format like a multi-panel painting, you have to be creative as to how to display it. It's asking a lot of the organizers of a show to place nails in the wall in just the right configuration to satisfy your design! Best to do it for them.

Even the Little Brown Bird......

Finally, this is the multi-panel painting I've been working on for so long. Submitted it for a Utah-wide show. We'll see whether it gets in the show.

Total dimensions: 36"H X 42"W

Shoulders and Necklace

8" X 8"

Another installment for my nine-panel painting. Within a few days I'll be able to publish the whole thing.

Black Cropped Pants

Another panel for my multi-panel painting almost done. I'm feeling obliged to post paintings to my blog, even though I'm no longer on a schedule to produce daily paintings. This one reflects a second day of work on the painting. It, again, may undergo some adjustments later. I found it very hard to work with black (or, dark darks). It wasn't so much finding the variations on black that worked, but the application of the paint itself. It was very hard to paint the darkest darks into the painting without accidentally lightening them too much with the surrounding lighter shades. Every painting is another lesson learned.

Sandalled Feet

Doing "more serious" paintings, i.e. paintings that I spend more than a single day on, as with my daily paintings, is reminding me of how much I enjoy finishing off a painting. This one may not be quite done, but I've spent two days on it, now. I like the much greater control I have putting down a second layer of paint over the first one. This is one of the paintings for my larger grouping of paintings (including the flowered dress and the green sweater).

8" X 8"

Flowered Dress - Third Day

I wasn't happy enough to post the "second day" version of this painting. For once I was smart enough to hold off on publishing my latest effort until I had a chance to evaluate it with the benefit of time having passed. This is close to, if not, the final version. Of course, I need to see it with the other six more or less finished panels of this work to feel confident it's where I finally want it. I have until Sept. 25th to finish the whole work.

Green Sweater - Third Day

I'm happier with today's effort. There are still a couple of details that need to be worked on, but this is better. Back to the dress tomorrow, or on to another of the panels.

Green Sweater - Second Day

I had a tough time yesterday with this painting. I covered the surface with Liquin, and then wiped it down before painting, a practice I've not had trouble with before, but this time made the second pass at the painting very difficult. The paintbrushes just seemed to drag across the surface and I couldn't put down a nice flow of paint. i felt like I had very little control over the brushes' application of the paint. I'll post it anyway, but I don't think there is much noticeable difference between the first day and this one. I'll go into it again without the Liquin and see how it works for me.

Green Sweater - First Day

First pass at a second panel for the new multi-panel painting. 13 1/2" X 10".

Flowered Dress - First Day

First day's effort. This is the first panel of a multi-panel painting.

30" X 10"

LBB #3

For now, this is the last of my series of Little Brown Birds.
If you are interested in bidding on this painting, click here.

Another LBB

I never thought I would be painting birds, but yesterday's experience was so satisfying, I've done another one. These little brown birds (LBBs) do of course have formal names, but I'm ignorant of them, and I like it that they are rather anonymous to most of us and therefore still have a freshness that other, better known, birds don't have.

Little Brown Bird

My bird-watching friends call these little no-name birds, "LBBs". I think they deserve a proper name. I've never painted a bird before, but am planning to include one in a future painting, so this was practice. I liked doing it. Maybe I'll do more.

Her Shoes, Her Life

This is my composite shoe painting - so far. No doubt, I'll modify it slightly as it sits on my wall a few days, including perhaps going back into individual paintings as well as organizing them somewhat differently.

Revising the Image

These are revisions of prior daily paintings. Sometimes I can't resist, when a painting sticks around for a while, going back into it. Today I went back into all three of these paintings, muting the background, changing the colors of shadows. It is all part of a plan to modify several of my shoe paintings to become part of a larger, multi-image painting. I like them better with the revisions. But you can be the judge, if you like, by comparing them to the original images on these dates, from top to bottom: "Arm Candy" on May 1st, 2008; "No Shoes" on May 20th, 2008; and "Serious Shoes" on May 9th, 2008. In a couple of days, I'll display the completed work.