Googling Google for Google Bugs

So after spending a couple of hours trying to get Analytics working on this blog I'm ready to post something. You'd think that since Google owns both Analytics and Blogger that they would work seamlessly but you'd be wrong. After much Googling of Google to find Google answers to Google bugs I FINALLY think I got it to work. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

Back to the painting. This was my first large canvas and it was in February. Abby (painting teacher) wanted us to try going big so this canvas is probably 2'x4'??? (guessing). We had to do the whole painting in a couple of hours. I had been too nervous to paint on a big canvas before that (there's that stupid fear thing again) and it turned out to be really freeing. You have to use a lot of paint so you get less finicky, and because it was so much bigger I was much looser. Also, since I knew I only had a short amount of time I went fast which also made it looser and more spontaneous.

I was told that the vase was a "breakthrough moment" and I have to agree with her. Because I had to go so fast, I couldn't agonize over the reflection and the transparency and I laid the paint on quickly. Most of all, I didn't have time to go back and over work it. There are issues (of course) the background is a bit muddy and I'm not crazy about all the vertical brush strokes.

Before this painting the biggest I dared go was about 16x24 - now I actually prefer large canvas.

The Backlog - need to catch up

I'm going to post a couple of paintings at once since I'm posting stuff that I've done over the past year. These two paintings were independent studies I did for class - the first in February and second in March. They are both about 16x20. The first one isn't finished - I got bored with it. The little white things are marbles that I didn't complete. I really should finish it I guess. My favorite part is the pink vase because I like the way I applied the color and the paint strokes. Least favorite is the red cloth background and the pewter vase.

The second one is better. I like the warm glow. The coffee cup is a bit distorted and I broke it before I finished the painting. I'm just going to leave this alone, flaws and all. But I think that there is definitely progress between the first and second. One of the reasons I think for the improvement was a workshop I took in March from Carol Marine - I'll post something about that tomorrow or later today. Hopefully I'll catch up soon :)

Name that animal

This little creature was munching on grass across the canal from my studio. I really hope this isn't a giant rat because it would lose the cuteness factor immediately.

What is this?

UPDATE: 3/19 - It is a groundhog - thanks Vicki and Mary - here's the official-it-never-lies-source-of-all-truth-Wikipedia description.

Amaryllis

I started an oil painting class at the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) in Boston in January 09. It was a great class and I got so much out of it. My teacher, Abby Zonies is a fantastic teacher. I had done one oil painting years ago, before my son was born, in one of my attempts to get back to art but I really didn't know what I was doing.

I can't say enough good things about Abby's teaching - she is positive, but gives solid critique and teaches the basics really well. She has a good sense of how much each student can really take in, and tailors her individual comments to the student's level.

This is the first painting I did in my studio after my first class. I really thought it was terrible the day I did it, but when I looked at it again a few weeks later I saw things that I liked.

I've discovered that I do this with almost every painting. After about 3 hours I start getting frustrated and think that what I'm doing is a piece of crap. Sometimes it is, but most of the time if I just walk away and come back the next day I can see it more realistically. There have been times when I don't do that, and then I either over work it, or get so aggravated that I destroy it with big sweeping paint strokes.

The background on this painting is a problem - but I like the vase and some parts of the flower.