May-En Pottsburg
8x10x.75 The Edge canvas
Pitiful? Absolutely! I'm only showing it because it taught me a lot. First and most important, DON"T TRY PORTRAITS WITH ACRYLIC! Maybe with the right lessons or a ton of failed attempts, I could get there. I did like my acrylic of Diane Sawyer and one self-portrait but mostly they have been dismal failures. However, I felt this one had elements of things I've observed in the last months of studying. Another interesting finding was on the first day, I thought I was finished and liked it. I can't remember now what I wanted to re-work but was really reluctant to do it as I was afraid I'd not like what I changed. It was so much better that I had to laugh that I had thought I was done. Goes to show what I read artists saying all the time: how to know when to quit. I guess you could just keep going and going not unlike the energizer bunny. In my case, that would probably have been a good idea, but this is where I finished!8x10x.75 The Edge canvas
Nigrini Brown8x10 acrylic on canvas board
I have long admired artist Michèle Nigrini from Rosendal, Free State, South Africa. Her use of color fascinates me. I painted big blotchy splashes of color under my painting and then "tried" to let the color float up through the painting. You can see I didn't come anywhere near the color use that Michèle accomplishes but I did see a looser style for the first time. It was a fun project, I'd like to try it again sometime.Michèle Nigrini - 2008 Elke Dag Se Berg
Little Metal Mark Butterfly 1 of 28x8 acrylic on canvas board
In my normal "tight" style
Little Metal Mark Butterfly 2 of 28x8 acrylic on canvas board
Attempting "looser" style
The above 2 painting were done side by side. My goal was to really loosen up. As you can see, I really did not accomplish anything. I did, however, study butterflies and decided to concentrate on Metal Mark's. There are so many species, you have to start somewhere!
Lilina Metal Mark Butterfly8x8 acrylic on canvas board
This was a beautiful butterfly on a white flower. I liked the way it turned out.
2 comments:
Spatially your May painting has a lot going for it. Eyes are swimming but so is everything else.
Well Dan, WOW!
BTW, May-En is the "baby-talk" abbreviation I use when I tell the dogs that my daughter Mary Ellen is coming over - I have to be careful not to say it unless she is almost here as they will jump around, cry & sit by the door for 30 minutes!
Thank you, I'm encouraged & have several more to post this week.
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