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Jul
8
I’ve been busy and quiet lately! Having fun painting a couple of horses for the Mural Project for Le Cheval (”the horse”). Here is the first of two I’ve sent off to them, both are acrylics. The panels measure approximately 18″ on a side, and the artist must follow the guidelines for value and color to achieve the finished work. Mine was a challenge, but no more so than the others you can see here. Mine are not in place yet… numbers 136 and 216. Perhaps when you get this, the folks in charge will have put it up.
I know that I could not follow the Color System, or pull out the stops to make this painting my own, but I enjoyed the diversion from the other things I’ve been doing.
One of those things is to radically respond to the gas prices. I bought a smaller transportation vehicle–here’s an image of it, complete with the two Teddy Roosevelt terriers, Onslow and Sparky.
Getting 70 mpg is great! This was taken in our driveway.
And the other news is that I’m much thinner than what you see there–dropped 18 pounds, and still going. (Hey, that IS a helmet in my lap!!) I highly recommend the book, “Dr. Gundry’s Diet Evolution” to take the weight off and keep it off. He presents a logical reason why our genetic code makes us unhealthy and chubby as we age. I’m winning, and I hope you will too!
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©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Elin Pendleton’s website.
Jun
12
June 12 - June 12 - Rowdy’s Memorial Service, Later This Afternoon
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She may be gone from her friends and from this earth, but I know in my heart that she will be close for those who knew her and see this portrait. I’m through with it now, and it was as though in painting her, I was releasing my connection to my loss. That sounds selfish to say, but please know that to me, letting go is one of the most powerful and freeing events one can have. It’s a closure.
You can see from the finished portrait that I did nothing to erase the life she lived, and it is fairly easy to see her approximate age. This was intentional–Rowdy made no bones about her life and character, and my mission as an artist is to not gussie up the people I paint by doing the “cosmetic surgery” thing with my brushes. I painted her strength, and yet I think I also captured her gentle spirit.
I’m chuckling, though, because Rowdy would have hated to be painted and I have to say I thought I could hear her yelling at me while I was doing it! This painting will be publicly displayed only once, this afternoon, at March Field Air Museum, where her memorial will be held. She worked there as a volunteer coordinator and loved the planes!
A 20 x 18″ acrylic on canvas, it will be in the loving hands of Ruth and Ace Atkinson in their new home in Tijeras, New Mexico, next month.
For those of you who have lost loved ones, I offer a small book by Ted Menten, “Gentle Closings, How to Say Goodbye to Someone You Love” as a way to get through the hard times. It has helped me immensely in the loss of both parents, and allows me to gently understand what we feel when we’ve be left.
In talking about this portrait, the finishing layers of paint show best in the white garb of her “gi”, and in the layers that are in her hair. There truly isn’t a better way to see how I paint in acrylics if you’ll spend time seeing those layers that end up looking like hair and fabric.
Today I start the mural mosaic process for my two panels. I hope I can share the procedure with you, but I’ve heard through the grapevine that they are asking artists not to share early images. I’ll have to ask about that.
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If you need to email me directly, please click here.
©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Elin Pendleton’s website.
Jun
11
Well, she is coming along now… I’m building the facial planes with the correct values and colors, and starting to tighten down the smile she’d get just before starting an art on the mats.
She loved her sword, and showed it to us once, and that love of the martial arts of aikido comes through in this pose. As I build this composition, I also love the subtle changes I need to make to correct something that isn’t working right. The beauty of acrylics is that we have many opportunities for change by overpainting! I’ve corrected her sleeves, her hand positions, and especially her stance, yet there are just as many more to come.
For example, although her expression/essence is in her face, she still doesn’t have her nose and eyes “right”. And her white top doesn’t show the underlying form well. That’s coming with additional layers and glazes.
I have to laugh, knowing that my model for the fabric is Alberto, and the model for the hands on her sword was another black belt–but she was wearing rings and bracelets!! Of course, no jewelry is allowed on the mats, so I paint it out….(grin)
In a design sense, I’ve lightened the area on the lower quarter so that the shape of the stance she’s in will be stronger with the contrast between the dark hakama (skirt) and the lighter background.
Here’s an image of the March Air Museum and our mats. These four are the others with whom I train, Ron, Alberto, our sensei (teacher) Ace, and Steve. They all knew Rowdy well.
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©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Elin Pendleton’s website.
Jun
10
Here’s the painting completely in the “Uglies”. The features are not correct, the hair’s too yellow, the hands and sword aren’t realistic-looking yet.
All of this painting has been done with layers in acrylics, and it is mostly done with the cools in the cool box. The background, however, crosses over from the cools of ultramarine blue and burnt umber with the addition of thalo blue to give it some “oomph”.
I will continue to layer and make corrections, fixing the attributes of the face and start to tighten down the look of her humorous half-smile. She now has on the white “gi” and the black “hakama” of the aikido practitioner, and her hands are roughly in the position for drawing the sword.
I found it interesting that at this stage, Rowdy’s face seems to share the sadness of not being here–perhaps I’m painting her with my own sadness. This will evolve….
On another note, today we had triplets born to Uke, the young goat I shared with you last year. She’s now a momma, and with her first kidding, triplets are amazing! And what’s more amazing is how they are the spitting image of their grandmother, whom I still have. Got kids? Looks like I’ll be bottle feeding them, as first freshener goats don’t always have enough milk. So cute…
You can see my entire blog here.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.
©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Elin Pendleton’s website.
Jun
9
The aikido community lost a profoundly accomplished and funny woman on May 25, and I have offered to do a portrait for her memorial service and to give as a gift. Rowdy Arrington Twomey was a second level black belt in aikido, and has been involved in martial arts since she was seven and living in Japan.
This is the first lay-in, and is a tough painting to start–not only for the connection I have in painting someone who was a joy to learn with and whom I considered a friend. But also because she was intensely camera shy. The photos I have for reference are…well, blooming awful. And I want to put her in the traditional garb of aikido, and of course there are no images available for that.
I’ve asked friends to pose to get the hands right (they’ll be on her sword), and to pose her in the position of just drawing the weapon.
This is a 24 x 18 inch acrylic, and I’ll share its progress in the next few days. Her memorial service will be on the 12th.
After that, I’ll be working on the two mural panels for the Cheval mural mosaic.
Congratulations to Randy Smith on his acquiring the Amicalola River painting!
You can see my entire blog here.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.
©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Elin Pendleton’s website.
May
31
How fun to put the finishing details on a canvas that already is moving well! At this point in the painting project, I’m using my brush to bring your eye where I want it to go–having decided that the high contrast point where the big rock slips into the water is the most important place. The sharpest edge is there, the shapes of sun and shadow are repetitive (think light and dark side) and if you’ll squint at the composition, you’ll see that the highest contrast is at that point. Everything else is subordinate to that place–which also happens to be close to the “Rule of Thirds” (intersection of lines dividing the canvas into thirds horizontally and vertically).
The richness of the acrylics layered one upon another without negating the under layers is one of the reasons I love the medium. Just like the forest itself, made up of thousands of different layers of leaves, sunshine and shadow.
Perhaps you already see the tension created by the lack of vertical and truly horizontal lines in the composition? I wanted the illusion of time passing, and leaning diagonals create the feeling of movement through space and time, unlike strict verticals. Even the “flat” water doesn’t have any true horizontals!
This 12 x 9 acrylic is available from me for $275 via Paypal, delivered to your door.
Congratulations to collector Debbie Sullivan on her purchase of the acrylic “Playing Catch” (didn’t have that title back in Georgia!) depicted below.
You can see my entire blog here.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.
©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Elin Pendleton’s website.
May
30
May 28 - Continuing the Acrylic
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Here is where some of the subtle magic starts! With the additional layers of acrylic brushwork, the painting starts to get a feeling of three dimensions, much like the way we actually focus our eyes when looking at nature.
The layers of brush work over the water area are now horizontal, indicating the flow of the surface. You’ll remember that first I laid down the vertical strokes to indicate the reflections on the smooth surface–now I put in the actual movement of that water with the horizontals.
Still no details… Remember, the painting has to be interesting at every stage (except for the “Uglies” when a painting has a large focal point awaiting an appearance!). This painting never had an “Uglies” stage, because there is no really strong focal point to create confusion.
On other news, I’ve decided to not do the June workshop here at my studio–I’m finding I need some more time to adjust to schedules and demands… I am working on a painting of a recently departed aikidoist and friend, as a gift for my teacher. I am also working on TWO panels for the Mural Mosaic project, in Canada. You can view the panels that have already been submitted for the Horse mural by visiting their site. It is fun and I’ll post the project as it unfolds. I’m working on General Lee’s horse Traveler as my subject. I visited his grave in Virginia a couple years ago, and really liked that horse.
And then there’s the 24 x 36 waiting to be started!!
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If you need to email me directly, please click here.
©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Elin Pendleton’s website.
May
28
Here’s the next step in the painting on location of the rocks in the Amicalola River in Dawson National Forest. In the upper tree area, I am scumbling the paint onto the dry layers to give me reference for the details that follow. I like to make large shapes and then drive them down into the smaller shapes when I use acrylics. Heck, I like to do that with oils, too! Acrylics’ ability to separate the layers does create a good deal of excitement in the textures that show up as one layer goes over another. I don’t like to completely obliterate what has happened in those lower layers.
The energy of the brushwork is still quite alive and well at this stage. I have not done any glazing yet. Glazing (using paint thinned with medium) will bind and unify the composition, and also tie together areas of the painting that might not be unified without it.
Notice how my brushwork direction makes pathways for your eyes to follow. Mark-making is how we as artists give the viewer much more than a source photograph.
Congratulations to new collector Fran Carson of Grand Island, Nebraska on her purchase of “The Kind Eye” (Clydesdale).
You can see my entire blog here.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.
©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
May
24
How important is the surface on which you paint? Does it have to start out white? I think the surface preparation is very important–equivalent to a foundation on a house. The energy conveyed in the earliest brush marks target the forms that will come later. This canvas was started on location at the Amicalola River a week or so ago, while I was teaching the workshop at Fay’s farm near Dawsonville, and I painted it in one standing (vs. “sitting”, which I don’t do much). It is a 12 x 9 acrylic, and this first pass puts down the masses of the abstract structure of the painting. I’ll add many layers of paint to bring it to a finish, coming in three lessons (I think–forgot how many pictures I took!) I’m quite pleased with the painting, sitting right by my computer here. There is a great deal of energy in it. Those brush marks from the get-go have that same energy!
Here is the source material–morning light on the river, with spring leaves on the forest trees. North Georgia is surely beautiful!
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©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
May
21
The soft evening light of Georgia plays across one of the many flower beds on Fay’s farm becomes the subject of this plein air 7 x 5 acrylic. Using the layering that makes acrylic painting so wonderful allowed me to set up and complete this work with no additional touch-ups later in the workshop.
First placing the large dark shapes of shadows and deep shrub coloration, it was an easy matter to add additional layers, keeping the values close until the final accents were added in the iris blooms and sunlit rock wall.
I used filbert brushes to paint the entire subject. Those brushes allow such flexibility in marks to make the trunks, the broad brushwork on the foreground, and the calligraphic marks of the fence posts. They are Ruby Satins by Silver Brushes, and I really do love them!
This painting is already in the collection of Sam Gullo of Cleveland, Ohio.
Here’s another view of the lovely area of the North Georgia Mountains… beautiful! Right before haying season, the fields are lush with new growth. That’s one of the farm’s hay storage sheds in the distance.
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©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
May
20
Back in California again, and after a couple of days of untangling knots and watering, petting the critters who didn’t get to go along, I’m ready to bring out the work that was done in the workshops in Georgia last week and earlier.
As a demonstration of both back light and morning light, I painted this 12 x 9 oil in a 40 minute demonstration to share how the Color System works to depict these attributes in a canvas that’s both flat and without luminosity.
It’s hard to compete with Nature, when Nature brings us such beauty! While on Fay’s workshop farm, several of us would go out at 7 a.m. and walk the fields and woods, bringing back beautiful source material such as the image below. Those morning walks set the stage for the long hours to follow, filling our eyes with beauty and brightness we would later transfer to canvas.
Having such a gorgeous area for a workshop is one of the reasons I’m so grateful to Fay for opening her heart and farm to the “Boot Campers”, many of whom actually staying on the farm for the duration. They would paint well into the night–working hard to settle in the guidelines of the Color System before their five short days were over.
This painting is in the hands of new collector Beth Haislip from South Carolina.
You can see my entire blog here.
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©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
May
14
What a great group of returning “repeat offenders” coming back for this week of art “camp” (AKA BOOT camp~!) that are here this week. Today is the day that it either starts to sink in, or at least they find one time of day that really works. We’re sliding toward the inevitable Friday, where we have to go our own ways, and hopefully have enough of the Color System to be able to paint with better color, every time! (At least that’s my hope.)
I do have a wonderful bit of image to share with you–one of last week’s Boot Campers stopped by to say “hi” and meet the repeat offenders this week, and she shared with us the work “before Color Boot Camp, and after”. The still life on the left is before. I’m so pleased to see such growth in a student’s work in such a short time! She really was ready for Color Boot Camp!!
Now, for my demonstration of moonlight for the boot camp attendees, I painted this 8 x 10 oil of round bales of hay in moonlight. You can see it below–it is an oil. I hope you’ll enjoy it! I have many more, including a lesson painting in acrylics for morning light on the Amicalola River from yesterday. Thanks for reading!
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©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
May
13
May 11 - Between Georgia Workshops
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Here’s an acrylic demonstration piece I did, 9 x 12 inches showing a cow in evening light. A quick study with lots of loose brushwork, this was done in the first Color Boot Camp last week.
I’ve been enjoying my stay in Georgia for the past ten days, and have begun the second Color Boot Camp for “repeat offenders”–another group of folks with a passion for getting color right, right from the start, using the Color System. I’ve done some demonstration paintings, and will share them with you here.
Georgia is full of gorgeous scenery, not the least of which is the Amicalola River in the Dawson County Forest. This is not far from where we are holding the workshop–and I’m holding Sparky as he looks at the enticing water movement! Bringing him along on the plane trip and having him as my shadow/companion has been a pure joy. Many painting subjects abound in the area, and I can hardly keep my brushes still! I’ve done eight paintings so far, and in the morning I’m taking the class down to this river again for an on-location lesson at 7 a.m.
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©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
Apr
9
April 8 - Taxes Done and the Vertical from the Floral Exhibit
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This is another “plelin air” acrylic, a 12 x 24 canvas, only placed vertically for visual interest and design. The exhibit I chose to paint in the Riverside Art Museum was set up with mirrors and tiered glass shelves with these vases of live flowers… I had such fun creating a good design with the division of space to create interest. Only the brightest orange captures the eye after the journey through the scrollwork and vertical/horizontal lines. The orange is set off with the light tourquoise vase to create harmonious color tension.
As one looks closer, there appear to be beads of some sort in the paint surface, and so there are! These are the glass beads that come in many of the Golden Paints mediums for use with acrylics. I love experimenting with visual and actual texture, and these uniformly-sized beads in the painting surface unify the whole.
The other great piece of news is that the painting “To the Ring” which is featured in my DVD on painting Noon Light and Evening Light has been chosen for the image to represent the 2008 Menlo Charity Horse Show up near Sacramento. Appearing on the program, on the goodie bags for the sponsors, and also on many other trade items for sale, the best part is that I have had a giclee made at 27″ by 36″ to be used for the gala charity opening night auction. The original is only 12 x 16, and I still have it in my collection. Here’s a small image of the painting selected! Again, the web sites are working their magic!
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©Copyright 2008 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
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