Unfolding Plans vs. Preparation

Here is an example of what happens when I don't thorougly plan a painting ahead of time.
     I loved the duo toned shadow under my own legs in a photo, and wanted to paint it. I wanted the legs to be substantial. I wondered what background might add to this and thought of a colloseum, you know something of visual weight.

I was bothered by the empty space on the lower left, and started wondering what, besides square pavers might fit into a square. I asked several people and got great input even though they weren't told what the squares were for. hehe.! I had to try the sink idea!

It was ok, I guess, but it put me in mind of bathing. I showed them the painting, and asked what they thought, and someone asked me it if went with my, "Theme."

"Theme." I quoted, "That would be a good thing to have!" I had no idea where I was going. I just wanted a painting of the shadow of the legs. I covered the sink and stared hoping something would mentally appear in that space. 

Someone suggested a water drain. I thought it appropriate. Surely this would be a good thing to have among pavers.....but it didn't work in my painting...

Sighs....I was "Back to Square One.".....

no..I covered this as well.

"Rats!" I thought. "I wish I'd had a theme to begin with!"......

There was my answer.

"Colluseum Rat"
16x20
Acrylic on Canvas

I figure, if I know where I'm going, enjoy the journey, but if I don't know where I'm going, enjoy the journey. hehe

tina jones

L'Etoile De La Matin

    Like all of us, I have layers. What is at first seen is me, and what is seen after time and upclose is me too. Glances at people reveal instant impressions, yet when savored.....looked at through eyes who have experienced the person, what is revealed can often be the beauty of time. Scars, wrinkles, marks of life show life lived, sometimes hard and sometimes peacefully.
   I hope today I can see beyond first impressions, beyond the stories of life's lines, through the glisten of an eye and into the universe of the soul. Therein, lives beauty all else merely tries to reflect.
   For today, I wish you a timeless moment, where you may catch your glance or get caught in the eternity of another's being, and see the most beautiful of things. You.

"L'Etoile De La Matin"

(Morning Star)

Self Portait

18x24

Acrylic on canvas

For a step by step photo montage of this painting, please visit my youtube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFIlA1vrq0k

tina jones

p.s. Title given by an anonymous soul who has loved me beyond comprehension.

   

The Dark Side of Beauty

The earliest records of painting on cave walls record the kill of hunt. Caravaggio presented his bodiless head on canvas to a pope, and Frieda Kahlo painted herself skewered by a rod through her abdomen depicting the most painful moment of life to her at the time. Then perhaps most gripping was "The Scream" by Edvard Munch.

 Beauty is sometimes in the countrysides, sunsets and billowing impressionistic parasols...

Othertimes it reaches into taboo, those things we'd alternately rather not think about, or we think about them when no one is watching....

"Kneeling Nude (The Prayer)"
11x14
Acrylic on Canvas

Horse Painting Tutorial

Following the same steps as my Dog Painting Tutorial, here is a slighly more advanced horse.
First, a word about your reference photos. I'm not the best of photographers, but I don't find it to be a great problem when working loosely in painting. The odd blurred photo can make the best painting reference. Here, I'm using a photo that has very dark shadow and very little detail, and I could have painted (for instance) the bulk of the neck in solid black as is shown in the photo. If it's believable in the photo, it is believable in paint. If more detail is wanted, online searches for anatomy of your subject or reference photos for artists can be searched and studied, but again, your photo is going to be of great value and help to you. Spend time with it. Offer it more than a passing glance. I'll often live with a photo, even three or more copies of it in my house to look at in the living room, kitchen, studio, etc. for a few days before I ever pick up a pencil or a brush. I want that photo imprinted in my mind.

My printed and gridded reference photo



The grid of squares on a grey painted canvas,  and a carefully drawn basic image in white charcoal pencil.




Laying in lights and darks broadly




Refining lights darks and midtones and double checking shapes






Laying in the background and glazing (using a very transparent layer of paint to cover the horse and unify it. The transparent layer (glaze) is made of very, very little black paint, and a lot of medium) Highlights were then added.

 


Finished Piece
"Big Black Horse"
11x14"
Acrylic on Canvas