Painting books again

Well here I am again with the painting of the books. I tried to keep this loose and underworked but it still took a long time. The cat and the mouse did not take much time at all but they also aren't as loose as the books.

Not sure if it's done but I have an open studio coming up on April 23 and 24 and will have to break down the arrangement. That's the disadvantage of having shows in one's art studio, but perhaps it's more interesting for the visitors.

Looks a little dark here. I borrowed my friend Kathleen's cat for this one. The books are mainly design books and magazines.

I also have 4 new paintings of flowers.

Most of my recent creative effort over the past two years has gone into writing and drawing another book based on the life of a typical rabbit. I am almost done!! I have two drawings to do, the cover, and of course pre-press, but the book is out with a few friends for reading and suggestions. This book is long...something like 88 pages of color drawings. So I'll be really excited when it's out!!

I have also made a Kindle version of "Dumbunny" recently which took at least a week.

Getting ready for Open Studio

I'm in the middle of the seasonal race to clean up my studio for the big open studio event. With over 150 other artists opening their studios, it's a huge event. Also it's free, free parking, open to dogs, children, and used to be free booze – so we get large crowds.You can't imagine just how messy and hazardous most studios get. The Point Office is always after us to keep them clean and uncluttered and fireproof, which is good. Many of the artists are there late at night carrying boxes in and out of the building. I take boxes of unfinished paintings home, some of the artists store stuff in theirs cars for the weekend.

This year I have too much of my new series for the amount of walls. Can I hang from the ceiling? On the ceiling? But I guess it's not about quantity.

A friend advised me that my studio at the event always looks too much like a gallery. She advises to be like another artist who has paintings from floor to ceiling and in piles; lots of work; and says "she looks more eager to sell." So yesterday, I managed to precariously lean way over on the ladder and hang some small paintings way up near the ceiling. Looks cluttered. I'll take them down if I can get up there again.

In all my time painting, I have only thrown out one piece and that's because I thought it might be radioactive. I have destroyed many works by painting over them – what I call a "sacrifice" – my private, pagan offering. If the piece being sacrificed was quite good, it lends good energy to the new painting. When these paintings go to someone's collection, I know how much is under the surface and it feels like a multiple sale. 

We are asked to donate a piece of art for the auction. That causes me to go through a lot of older work hunting for something that is great but that I can give away. I get a lot of stuff out which needs work, or framing, or matting. Then I run out of time and shove it all back into the cupboards again. Once I choose a piece, it  simultaneously loses its value and goes up in value – which makes it hard to price.

20th and Rhode Island, 12"x16", plein air

I chose a really nice, little plein air landscape this year. It's a view of a steep hill. I was in an emotionally crisis when I painted it, but sat in the car on the corner all day painting for two days. The edge of the hill is a bit furry. I tried repeatedly to sharpen it but it kept going furry. Maybe it's the horror I was feeling right there on the canvas. And some idiot moved the car. (It's not their fault but still...) As a finished work, it an old-timey 1930s naive quality. I already regret giving it away, but maybe someone will love it as I do.

Going through all the old pieces I can't believe I still have so many. I love them all and I love their flaws. They record the feelings I had throughout my life and each one has a story.

People say "They're like your children, ha, ha, ha." They are the stories of my life – more like my autobiography. It's hard to think of an autobiography where each paragraph is being sent to a different home, forever.

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I bought a new (refurbished) camera to make videos but also shoot stills of my work. So far the camera has turned out to be so complicated and I can't figure out how to get a good focus on the stills. It's taking nice large images but not as sharp as I want. I have read all the directions many times and watched tutorials on youtube. I made my third test yesterday. Close to getting a focus on the smaller works. The big paintings have to go to a professional to shoot.

Anyhow, here is a bad photo of this large new painting, a still life of a pile of stuff with fake fur, animal print and feathers. Needs a title.

What should I call this one?

Painting in progress

painting in progress, early views, final at bottom:

I found these teddy bears in the free area and they reminded me of my best friend from childhood. I missed her. I put them on my sofa and tried to paint them. I knew a rabbit would end up there sooner or later. As it turns out she wouldn't pose long -- normally she is pretty good but she didn't like being up  on the sofa.

This painting has been sitting in my apartment for months. I worked on it a few times but could not figure out what to do with it. The actual sofa when drawn correctly went completely off the left and bottom side and just looked weird. So I redesigned it. 

I added nubby bits to the teddy bear, worked on pillow and couch, added darks, brightened the rabbit, fixed her eye. I work in thin layers and just keep going over and over areas with more color.

I dulled out shadow on sofa in the foreground, brightened sofa overall.

Added furry carrot and stripes on left. I have stripes on many other paintings. I like them. It flattens out the side of the painting. Originally I was going to cover up the left of the sofa with it. The colors are the same pigments used in the painting but mostly greyed out a lot. They still look super bright. At this point I thought I was done.

I decided the rabbit was too prominent in the last one and the sofa was too dark. Repainted lighter and more yellow (though you can't tell that in the morning light), repainted carrot, got rabbit back on the couch and redrew the leg area, darkened rabbit, lightened darks of rabbit in highlight areas, added shedding and fixed some of the spots.

This is the final painting at this point though it needs a better photo. The rabbit blends in better with the scene, carrot looks better. Yes, it's an odd painting for sure!

You'll be able to see this one in my two fall open studios in November -- one at G2 and one at Hunters Point.