Day 5 of Phoenix Rising

I had a day off from work this X-Mas Eve and have spent some of it working on Phoenix Rising.  I used most of my time working on getting many of the forms back to their correct shapes and reestablishing rock edges.  I also filled in the main surfaces with some more basic washes to better their tones and forms.

I experienced the glare problem again during today's progress video even with all the shades closed, so I might try to hang an extra sheet up next time.  On the plus side, my new computer's updated MovieMaker program recognizes my camera's output file type so I no longer have to spend the extra few hours converting the files in order to edit them.  This also means that instead of purchasing a simple video camera in the near future, I'm going to hold off until I can afford a new dSLR camera with HD video functions.

Day 4 of Phoenix Rising

I didn't realize until after I had posted it, but my last post was my 100th for this blog!  And that would make this post my 101st...

It seems for now and until my work schedule becomes more consistent that I'll only be getting art work in during my days off from my "real" job (that's just a job for the bills, art is still my "profession").  So yesterday I was able to get a good bit of work in on Phoenix Rising. It was another "big brush" day for the most part and was again spent building up the forms and textures with various washes.  The piece is now at the point where I should be able to begin working on specific areas in more detail, but there's also a few areas that still need a few more basic washes.

The progress video for the day's work went smoothly for once, though I am seriously considering purchasing a camera that is primarily designed for video and not just using my digital still camera with a video function.  Not only will the video quality substantially improve, hopefully I could bypass the file conversion step which takes twice as long as the filming...

Day 3 of Phoenix Rising

I had a off day from work yesterday and was able to get some work done on Phoenix Rising.  It was another basic day of simply applying color washes throughout to help build up forms and hues.  I probably have one more day of working like this before I can begin to focus on establishing details, but things are certainly heading in the right direction so far.

My only concern is how the piece is gonna look once I'm finished and separate the canvases and get everything matted and framed.  I made some preliminary computer altered images to test my aesthetic theory before I began and they looked good but maybe after another few days of work I'll take the joining brackets off the canvases just to see if I need to alter my plans to make it appear as a single canvas and not two separate ones.

I produced a progress video for the day's work and like the previous videos, this one also provided a lesson through misfortune.  It was actually more like one and a half lessons.  The half lesson is a continuation from the last time dealing with the glare, which I made an effort to lessen by closing the set of blinds that lets direct sun in but there was still a fare amount of glare so I'll close even more blinds next time.  The main lesson was that my camera has only a 74 minute limit on its memory card, so the last 10-20 minutes of my work were not filmed.  For the last video, which is longer than this one, I filmed two 45-55 minute segments and combined them to make the full day's video.  I didn't want to go with that process because it more than doubles the conversion time it takes to convert my camera's output files into a Movie Maker friendly file type, but now I know it's the only way to reliably film more than an hour's worth of work.  

Day 2 Phoenix Rising

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Yesterday marked my first day off from my new job and I was able to get some work done on Phoenix Rising.  The more acclimated I get to my very early morning schedule and the more stable my overall schedule becomes, the more consistently I should be able to get work in.

I started my work with a semi repeat of Day 1, but instead of doing separate washes of Ultramarine Blue followed by Burnt Sienna, I used a mix of those two paints in an overall wash to help darken the shadows and give more substance to the forms.  I then moved to applying color throughout the canvas in an effort to establish base color tones.  I finished with washing in highlights with Titanium White.

I experienced another technical mishap in the day's progress video when a large amount of glare came in during the first half of my work causing the right side of the canvas to get repeatedly washed out with light.  Now that I know of its existence, I think I can adjust the curtains to eliminate the problem in the future.

Day 1 of Phoenix Rising

I spent the majority of my day yesterday finishing up Shine Over Mountains and got it complete, but due to light inadequacies for the final image I've put posting it off until later today.  I was able to get an hour of work in on Phoenix Rising yesterday evening and spent it building up the shadows and forms.  First, with a wash of Ultramarine Blue, then followed by a wash of Burnt Sienna.  I finished it off with washing in some Titanium White mainly in the light glare areas, but also on a few  rock edges to help define them more.  Now with things a little darker, the piece's namesake is more apparent.

Keeping with my plan, I filmed the day's work and compressed its length to make another short movie.  Unfortunately, I forgot to turn off my camera's continuous auto-focus setting, so things occasionally go out of focus for a second or two.  I will try not to repeat this mistake for future videos. 

Phoenix Rising Projection

It's finally here, the painting I've been mentioning about starting for a while, the second slot canyon painting.  I'm trying to expand my visual aesthetics by creating a split canvas design, but for ease of color matching and continuity I chose to bracket the two canvases together to make a single large working surface. Once I've finished the painting, I'll take the brackets off and custom matte and frame the work.

The image used comes from the lower portion of Antelope Canyon and features a unique light glare that gives the piece its name.  For the projection process, I simply used Burnt Sienna and water.

I filmed the projection process with intent to make another fast paced movie short, but the required darkness for the projector made the film quality absolutely too poor to see anything, so the end result is all that remains for now.  I hope to film at least the first hour of each day's work, hopefully more if my camera battery can handle it, and turn each day's progress into a short movie, then once the painting is completed, whenever that may be, I'll put all the footage together to make a final beginning-to-end production video.

On a side note, a movie that I'd like to see titled '127 Hours' opened last week telling a true story about a hiker trapped in a slot canyon who eventually had to amputate his own hand to survive.  I thought my desert experiences dealing with a centimeter long wooden peg in my pinky for two weeks and loosing my keys in a slot canyon were bad, but I was wrong.

Day 7 of First Vision

Today was just a work on everything kinda day.  No real focus, nothing really finished, but things are coming along.  I dunno about having this painting totally completed in another two and half weeks and I really don't want to rush myself, so for now I think I'm actually going to try to go ahead and finish Shine Over Mountains in the next few days and use another smaller work for my second entry for the upcoming show.  Also adding to this plan is the very strong desire to get started on the new slot canyon painting, which if begun leaves no chance of getting anything but Shine Over Mountains complete anyways.  I have a feeling impatience is going to get the best of me...

Day 6 of First Vision

I was unable to get any work done Friday on account of a job interview in the early afternoon and a photography show opening that evening.  Well actually I did get the canvases for my next slot canyon painting gessoed on Friday, but that doesn't really count.   I was also only able to get a half day in yesterday because I spent the first half preparing entries for a fundraising project for the Panama City Artists called "Cloud of Ideas."

While attending the photography opening, I learned that the show I was preparing Shine Over Mountains and First Vision for has its entry date about two weeks ahead of what I anticipated.  This shouldn't pose a problem for Shine Over Mountains, but First Vision may not be complete in time, especially with the hope of employment on the horizon.  However, in an effort to get First Vision complete in time I'm gonna put the majority of my focus on it for the time being and see how far along I can get. Since Shine Over Mountains is so close to completion I can just work on it in the evenings or times when I only have a limited amount of time to work with.  And unfortunately, I'm going to need to put any further work on the new slot canyon piece on hold until I have a better idea of how things are gonna work out with job scheduling and what not.

My work on First Vision yesterday started with an effort to reestablish the shadows and cracks of the upper central rock section then moved to building up the middle-left rock "flipper."  Can you tell it's hard for me to describe specific areas of this piece?  Towards the end, like it has done each day thus far, my focus shifted to applying washes throughout the entire piece.

Day 5 of First Vision

Today, I began my work on First Vision with a focus on the top central rock section.  I've got the highlights pretty well established (to the point of kinda being washed out in some spots), but I need to reestablish the shadows and cracks.  I later began applying broad washes across the rest of the piece to continue with the building up of forms and textures process.

Day 4 of First Vision

After my work today I believe I got things back on track for First Vision.  I kinda went back on my statement not to focus on a certain area or use small brushes, but it was for the best.  Today, I focused on the furthest back/most central rock section but also did a number of big brush washes throughout.  The back section is at the point where I think I can move to other sections to focus on.  Once I get everything to that point I plan on trying to finish it off using my overly water diluted wash method to see if a interesting rock erosion effect can be created.  We'll see...

Day 3 of First Vision

I spent all my time yesterday working on reestablishing the correct shape of the sky/sun and trying to work with small brushes and strokes on the section of rock located from the 3o'clock to 5o'clock position of the sun.  Both of these areas took way more work than I expected and the rock section is now way too washed out and still requires a lot more work.  Given the amount of work I put in and my dissatisfaction with the limited results of trying to work with small brushes and strokes, I think I'm going to go back to using bigger brushes and more pronounced strokes while focusing on the piece as a whole and not just one section.  I might try to go back later with the smaller brushes to try and get a more crisp and realistic painting, but I was really liking the way things looked in the beginning with just the basic shapes and shadows and highlights, so for now I'm just going to keep progressing in that direction.  However, any input as to what you the viewer would find more appealing would be more than greatly appreciated.

  

Day 2 of First Vision

I took a break working on Shine Over Mountains yesterday and spent the day working on First Vision.  My work was pretty much the same as the first day's and was spent painting basic washes to help establish forms, shadows, and highlights.  Hopefully the next day I work on this piece I'll be able to begin focusing on specific areas to work through in more detail.

Day 1 of First Vision

I began my art adventures today with a little work on what I am now calling First Vision, which is based on a photo of Antelope Canyon. It's been about four years since I attempted to paint a color landscape in acrylics, so I began the day a little nervous. I decided to try and combine what I learned from oil painting and my work with watercolors to help create this piece. So first I'm just putting in layers and trying to build up the forms, textures and shadows. I began by painting in a Ultramarine Blue wash over the Burnt Umber projection, focusing on darking and deepening the shadows. I then followed this with another wash of Burnt Umber to further the process. I then set the piece aside to get my work on Shine Over Mountains in, but later returned when I had my fill with that one. For round two of First Vision, I first repeated the washes of round one and then used varying washes and wash mixes of Brilliant Orange, Cad Yellow Hue, Burnt Sienna, and Light Red to really develop the forms, again just trying to get paint on the canvas to help build up the depth and mass. I finished off with washing back in some details and highlights with Titanium White.

First Vision Projection

I'm probably getting ahead of myself, especially with the hope of starting a job soon, but I started another painting today. I've been debating on what direction I wanted to take my art for the time being and finally made the decision by starting on this painting. What I plan to focus on now is using acrylics to paint a couple of images from photos I took in Antelope Canyon near Page, AZ, and maybe when I am finished I with these I will be ready to return to all those oil paintings.

I began today's work on the first of these new paintings by putting four layers of gesso on my canvas, a process that took a few hours due to having to allow for drying time in between layers. After getting the final gesso layer on the canvas I was ready to project the image. For the projection process I used a sepia toned print (to help me focus on just establishing the darks and contours) and painted with acrylic Burnt Umber using water to thin it. The image I am using is from the lower portion of Antelope Canyon and features a very strong sunbeam coming in. Given the color saturated nature of the original photo and the generally abstract nature of slot canyon forms, the finished product of this painting should be quite interesting.

Antelope in Dioxazine Purple

Earlier in the week I finally got back on the painting horse and did two more projector paintings, but I used a slightly different method this time. For one, I got a low-definition digital projector for Christmas that allows for a slightly brighter and clearer projection. Secondly, instead of projecting on a sheet of paper that I primed with a dark shadow mix, I primed each canvas with a very light shade of the pigment I was to paint the picture in. Then as I projected the image, I used the chosen pigment to establish the darks and thinned the paint out with water for the lighter values.

The first of these new projector paintings was of Antelope Canyon and I used Dioxazine Purple to create the work. As with my previous slot canyon projection of Spooky Gulch, this work appears rather abstract to those not familiar with slot canyon formations, and to those who are, it can still yield a number of interesting interpretations.