Robin Cheers - A Painter's Journal: June 2011

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Boarder

5x5 oil on panel - sold

This week I was nearby V....Vaughan's studio so I dropped by and painted with her. It was nice to have some company and to try to focus a little bit on art. So far, summer has been far from easy livin'. Between travel, shuttling to camps, household chores, physical therapy and so many other things, I haven't had the time or energy to paint. And I'm missing it.
I decided I'd try some small panels. I actually find them rather hard to to. Its hard to paint very small. The subject has to be simple for my brushwork to work.

And since I'm not getting a break from the usual routine of life, I took myself to the beach in my painting time. I ended up doing several small panels in a series... so keep watching!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Moses Botkin Monthly Challenge

Self portraits. I'd rather be tied to a fire ant hill, I've decided. There couldn't be a less interesting subject for me. I started with the best of ideas and enthusiasm. But after 3 false starts, missing a massage appointment and sweltering in my hot studio space (need to move downstairs), I finally made one that was tolerable. But I still didn't do what I wanted to do. Maybe I will keep working on it. But I doubt it. I was hoping to paint myself doing what I do - sketching in a cafe. Then I would have had the cafe scenes that I love to paint, and me as the near subject... but the size of the panels I tried made the other elements much too small. I am at a weird angle too, owing to it being a photograph I set up with the camera balanced on my yogurt cup. And my red color is my heat rash that I've been enjoying for a week or so. I'm guessing on that... could be that I did lay in fire ants.

Anyway - this was a challenge in every respect. When you paint a face that you are so used to seeing, I think it is almost impossible to see it just as shapes of color/value... I couldn't see the forest for the trees so to speak. I think the others did beautifully creative paintings. I'm most impressed.

Today I'm going to work on a scene from Lake Michigan where I could barely dip my toes into the frigid water. But how yummy that would feel today in Texas.