Current Paintings in Process...

I've been working on some more ambitious paintings lately. I thought that I would be further along than I am. Perhaps it is a lack of deadlines, or that I am bogged down by real life distractions (like trying to scrounge up some sort of income.) I think I actually paint more when I am employed full time. I know this is why I could never be a freelancer or small business owner-- I don't function with unpredictable schedules or high demand projects that compete for my attention. Initially I was going to start 5 large paintings, but now I'm focusing on 2 large paintings and 2 small. I'll probably start another large painting soon but after I get a handle on what I have already started.

My paintings are much more involved these days because I am making more detailed paintings and getting away from what I had been doing in the last few years (which had started to feel a bit formulaic.) I have been collecting and putting together my own reference images, often getting upwards of 30 images per painting, and 50+ layers in Photoshop as I collage them together. My themes are moving away from a desert feel and towards a distinct New England feel. That means there are more trees, and I struggle with trees.

I am also working to incorporate more figures/portraits. It is something I have always wanted to focus on more but somehow I moved away from it. Now I feel like I am learning how to paint faces all over again-- a bit rusty. I would love to paint figures like John Singer Sargent-- but I do not have the facility right now. I have this feeling that I will need to get a bunch of small canvases and do a portrait every day for a month for the purpose of practice and study. For now I started 2 small portraits with some promise of sucess-- but they are still overworked and not completely fresh and bold. I am not sure if they are done, but here are some images (not the greatest photos, but they'll do... until I finish the paintings.)





I think I need to do more of these, and I actually want to work on bigger canvases as I practice portraits. The close cropping puts more emphasis on composition and I would prefer to focus on the flesh itself without any needless restrictions.

Here is one of my large paintings in progress. I basically have the elements blocked out and am still moving things around and changing colors. I'm still a few stages away from doing fine details, and most of the color is brighter than it will be at the finish:



This pieces is called "Two Coasts" and is auto-biographical. Los Angeles is portrayed on the left side and Boston is on the right side. I want each side to feel like different worlds with different light-- and I'm still figuring out the balance so that it works together. It is 3x4 feet. Here are some close ups after I started working on the details of the figures. I blocked of portions of the painting in order to focus in on figures more (and not be tempted to keep messing with the background before solving issues I was avoiding....)





This is my other big one that is in process, "In a Forest in a Desert." It has a similar theme, with Southwestern mountains and deserts knit with east coast forests:





I am hoping to finish these pieces this month and move on to some new painting ideas. I am in the process of making preparatory studies for some new pieces, trying to work them out before I get too deep into them. Meanwhile I am hurriedly trying to squeeze in as many visits to the Titian, Tintoretto & Veronese exhibit at the MFA before it goes away-- it is the best exhibit I have seen! I went for the 2nd time yesterday and bought the catalog. I'm hoping to go a couple more times in the next week or so now that I have started reading the catalog and have more background information. Plus reproductions never hold a candle to the real things which I won't see again side by side like this.