 |
| "Lemon Wedges" 5" x 7" $60 -- at the "Off-The-Wall" Fundraiser in Jaffrey, NH |
I posted over at DPW that I wanted to name this "Lemon Wedgies" just to be silly, but thought that people would think I just couldn't spell. I painted this for the DPW's "Yellow Challenge" and also as a donation to the Jaffrey Civic Center's "Off-The-Wall" Fundraiser to be held on Thursday, May 24th in the 2nd floor Cunningham Gallery at 5:30. If you are in the area and looking for original artwork and to support the arts, do stop by. All artwork is 5" x 7" and priced at $60. I've never been, but I've heard it's a great event.
And now I must get to bed. I went to a different class tonight at the gym: "Guns, Guts & Glutes" and nearly killed myself with an 8 lb. medicine ball. At one point we had the ball placed between our legs while we were lying on our backs and we were supposed to be lowering our legs to almost touch the ground then back up and stretched to the sky, lifting our bums off the ground (for what seemed like 100 reps but was probably only 10). I was really trying hard, but I just couldn't stop laughing at the thought of lifting what felt like an 8 lb. hemorrhoid wrapped around my legs. Luckily the woman next to me was amused by my pathetic attempts as she was having her own set of problems (but with an excellent sense of humor). Kudos to all the ladies (many of whom are older than me) in my classes who are AMAZING and to all of you out there that work out. I'm actually having a blast and determined to get back into some kind of shape . . . other than a giant rectangle. Hope you don't mind my little updates every once in awhile. It's really quite a comedic adventure. Tuesday at Zumba I was totally busting out my moves when I realized that everyone was facing forward while I was still facing the back wall. Good Lord!
Love this painting! And thanks for the chuckle...although, I too need to get back into some form of exercise other than walking!
ReplyDeleteUne très belle peinture encore une fois... j'aime les mots qui l'accompagnent.
ReplyDeleteRien à voir avec l'acidité des citrons !!!
En ce qui concerne votre peinture... elle est pleine de délicatesse. le travail des ombres est somptueux.
Gros bisous
Merci. Heureux que vous aimez la peinture. . . et mon "edgy" commentaire. :)
DeleteLove an artist with a sense of humor. Thanks for the chuckle! And great painting!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Karla -- I'm glad you found it funny too. It really was a ridiculous scene! :)
DeleteI love your lemons...but girl...I just got back from the gym and I almost was falling off my chair laughing at your blow by blow account of your 8 lb. adventure......omg.....thanks for making me laugh today:)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you wrote -- I was afraid that the "hemorrhoid" comment was a little too over the top! Glad you found it funny, I did. :) I'm cropping those photos into a prospective painting -- can't wait to get at it! Thanks again. :)
DeleteLOL.... Your zumba lessons reminded me of the limited experiences I had in gym doing aerobics... (which was by the way not half as hard, but I still ended up finishing each session feeling totally defeated... :-P) However, Kara, I can see you are keeping the spirit up! You are a good sport!... lol, again.
ReplyDeleteThe new lemon painting looks great. I love the subtle color temperature shifts in the background. Did you glaze the blue when the yellow is dry? I love this color scheme. I also like the slight value change on the plate -- which gives a spotlight effect. You pay so much attention to the details. One last small question -- did you actually paint around all the white dots in the background pattern? How do you do that without the wash drying halfway? If you used masking, which brand did you use and how did you avoid tearing the soft surface of Fabriano? Hats off again. Yellows are hard to paint...
Thanks for the comments Arena. I can't get my knickers in a twist over Zumba, I'm so horrible at it, it's like being the star of my own Saturday Night Live skit every week. :)
ReplyDeleteOk, so here's the "skinny" on the painting: I began with a wet-on-wet wash on the background with violet fading into white (upper right). This was for the changing value of the dots (and yellow part of the background). I fiddled with that, dropping in pigment where I felt I needed it and moving it around by tilting my paper. I let that dry. Then I masked all the dots. I used Winsor & Newton Colourless Masking Fluid (a brand new bottle which was so easy to use! I had been using an old one and it sucked, but I never knew. I just thought mask was supposed to be a disaster to use. Not so.) So then, after the mask dried, I put down my yellow wash. I was very careful not to disturb the violet too much -- I went wet-into-wet or that too. Truth be told, I took the mask off and thought -- "baaah I need more saturation and value on the 'light yellow' in the upper right, because the white dots weren't showing enough." So I re-masked the dots. (It sounds insane, but it really wasn't a big deal) So I then added some red (and yellow) to warm up the yellow and create more value difference between the color and the dots and fooled with that for a while. I also probably added some more violet in the shadows, yadda, yadda, yadda . . . until I thought I had the values right. (always a question for me -- I find them so hard to do). I finally was able to take of the mask. Things looked pretty good, but I punched up the rest of the painting with some little additions of cobalt to some of the shadows on the wedges, plate and background shadows. Even glazing over some of the dots. But it all worked out ok I think. I hope that helps. I used the Fabriano soft-pressed and had no trouble with the mask. I'm working on some Crescent cold-pressed watercolor board and HATING it right now. Talk about unforgiving! I'm plugging along, but there are times when I think I should just bag it. It's almost done -- will not allow me to pull out anything. UGH!
Thank you so much for your detailed explanation Kara -- you are really great.
DeleteSo I totally thought that I left you a comment before because I remember LOLing about your gym stories, but I don't see it. Chalk it up to a blonde moment. :)
ReplyDeleteAnywho, this is a gorgeous painting, really it is Kara. I am going to read through your comments and get the skinny on the painting. :)
Love the painting - truly - BUT - LOL - what a visual your story provided me with.
ReplyDeleteGood for the soul.. Thank
Wanted to let you know that I mentioned you in reference to your full page and fab artwork being across from mine in Carol's book. Hope you don't mind. I was only just thinking maybe I should have asked for permission?
Hi Kara, I found you via Julie Ford Oliver's blog. Your art is really beautiful and I look forward to following more. Congratulations on being one of the featured artists in Carol's book!
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Wichita, Kansas!!