A Little Color

Lit Up Lily (WIP)

by Carol Adamec
Original oil, alkyd on panel
6" x 8"

Well, I think this painting is beginning to look like a lily (rather than a Rorschach inkblot) now that there's some color worked in.

Thanks for taking a look. Have a great weekend. See you Monday.
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Artwork and text ©2009 Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.

Rorschach or Lily?

Lit Up Lily (WIP)
by Carol Adamec
Original Grisaille rendered in gesso & acrylic
6" x 8"

Here's the beginning grisaille of a new flower painting that I mentioned starting last Thursday. Right now it looks like more like a Rorschach inkblot than a lily!

First I laid down a medium gray gesso over an entire canvas panel, which is labeled on the image shown. After that, I mixed up lighter grays to render the lighter values, and then applied a black acrylic for the darkest background areas and the flower center. As you can see, most of the values range towards the lighter end of the scale, since the finished painting will depict a yellow lily in bright sunlight.

It will start to look more flower-like, once the different grays are converted to color...maybe by Thursday, even!

Thanks for taking a look. Have a good week!
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Artwork and text ©2009 Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.

Morning Glorious...Almost Done

Morning Glorious
by Carol Adamec
Original: Oil, alkyd on gessoed panel
6" x 8"

I worked on this painting late into the night yesterday, so I am posting late today (on Thursday).

This painting of morning glories is very close to completion. I have the center stamens to add. Some of the green leaves seem a bit to dark, and I'll probably light them up a bit.

I have a couple of other small floral closeups that I am looking forward to getting underway this weekend. I have prepared canvas primed with a neutral gray gesso, so this is another new approach for me. We'll see how that turns out.

Have a great weekend. See you Monday.
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Artwork and text ©2009 Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.

Morning Glorious Progress Report

Morning Glorious (WIP)
by Carol Adamec
Original: Oil, alkyd on gessoed panel
6" x 8"

Well, I didn't go to Santa Fe this weekend. Fortunately, the show at the O'Keeffe Museum runs into May; so I intend to see the exhibit in a couple of weeks.

However, I did work in the studio on my new flower painting, Morning Glorious. It's still "rough." Although I want the blue of the morning glory to "sing" right now it's screeching! The bloom also feels very dense, rather than fragile and translucent. Obviously, I have my work cut out for me.

Many thanks to those of you who commented on Morning Daffodils, too. I sincerely appreciate that you took the time to give me your opinion and response.

Thanks for taking a look today. See you Thursday.
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Artwork and text ©2009 Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.

Morning Daffodils...done!

Morning Daffodils

by Carol Adamec
Original: Oil, alkyd on gessoed panel
10" x 8"

And here it is....the Morning Daffodils painting all done.

I'm taking a break this weekend by going to Santa Fe on the Railrunner this Saturday. I want to see the current show at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, "Modernists in New Mexico."

If I don't have a new painting/finished piece to share with you on Monday, I'll still have a report on my trip to Santa Fe. It's always a fun adventure to travel north to "The City Different."

Thanks for taking a look today. See you on Monday.
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Artwork and text ©2009 Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.

Just Started

Morning Glory (WIP)
by Carol Adamec
Original Oil, alkyd on gessoed panel
5" x 8"

I was hoping to have the Morning Daffodils painting completely finished by today. However, there were still some reworks and details to do, and then painting was too wet to put on the scanner. So, look forward to seeing the "all done" version on Thursday.

Although I woke up on Easter Sunday to cold weather and fresh snow on the mountains, I'm ready for Spring! So I started another small flower painting of a morning glory, close up. I've blocked in the basic shapes with flat colors. You can still see the burnt sienna underpainting (the reddish brown color) peeking through here and there. I'll be working on this new piece this week and will post its progress, too.

Thanks for taking a look today. See you Thursday.
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Artwork and text ©2009 Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.

Full Color

Morning Daffodils (WIP)
by Carol Adamec
Original: Oil, alkyd on stretched canvas
10" x 8"

As you can see from today's post, this painting is coming along, with all the major areas and colors well defined. I see a few changes I'd like to make, such as decreasing the size of the kitchen window in the background, and altering a few angles to improve the perspective.

The last stage will be to coordinate all the colors and their "temperatures" so that the light has a consistent feel and "morning" quality as it falls on the various objects and illuminates the space. I look forward to completing this painting over the weekend and posting the finished work on Monday. I hope you'll take a moment to see it next week.

Thank you for taking a look today. Have a great spring weekend, and to those of you who celebrate the holiday....Happy Easter!
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Artwork and text ©2009 Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.

First Colors

Morning Daffodils (WIP)

by Carol Adamec
Oil, alkyd on stretched canvas
10" x 8"

As explained in last Thursday's post, I am sharing the day-to-day stages of my working process, from the underpainting to the finished painting, of a new piece "Morning Daffodils."

Today's post shows the first colors I've applied to the light areas, while maintaining the values (the light and dark areas) of the overall image. These first colors are loosely painted into the appropriate shapes...no details or defining hard edges yet. Since I am working from a photographed image, I have also done some re-drawing of the composition.

One lesson to be learned from translating a photographic image into a painting is that the viewer will accept, without question, the "truth" of a photograph and will compensate for any distortion created by the camera lens or angles. At the same time, the viewer is far more critical of the "reality" presented in a painted image, even if the painting is a faithful rendering of the photograph; i.e., it's the artist's fault if it doesn't look "right."

With this awareness, the painter must frequently adjust a painting's composition (and other elements) to resolve those visual distortions in the photographic image. Otherwise, the painter is simply rendering the photograph rather than recreating the reality of what was actually seen at the moment of inspiration.

Well, that's your art lesson for today! Check in on Thursday for Stage 3. See you then.
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Artwork and text ©2009 Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.

Spring Daffodils

Morning Daffodils (WIP)

by Carol Adamec
Oil, alkyd on stretched canvas
10 "x 8"

It's spring in New Mexico.... one week the weather is sunny with balmy temperatures in the 70's; and then the next week it's cold and snowing! The daffodils came out a few weeks ago, and I photographed a small bouquet of them basking in the morning sun on my kitchen table.

This week I've started two new paintings, one being Morning Daffodils, based on the photos I took a few weeks ago.

Some of you have mentioned that you enjoy seeing a painting "unfold" from start to finish. So, I will take photos of this piece as it develops and post the pictures of the process.

Today's post shows the underpainting, where the composition and basic values (lights and darks) are defined. You can see the table edge and flowers in front of a chair, with a window and cabinets on the right side, and on the left, a bright rectangle of light on the refrigerator in the background.

On Monday I'll post the next stage of the painting. See you then.
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Artwork and text ©2009 Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.