Friday, July 31, 2015

Late Afternoon After The Snow, Bay and Queen

24 x 30 oil on cradled panel
I almost had this painting ready to recoat with gesso when I decided to take another go at it. The original painting was very "brown". I was using a lot of transparent red oxide at the time I did the painting and I have since taken it completely out of my colour palette. I am not a big fan of orange unless I can control the coolness or warmness of it. I mix most of my oranges and browns with alizarin, cad yellow dark, and blue (with touches of white as needed.)
This was an extremely challenging picture, as so many urban street scenes can be. It is all about what to leave out of the details and what to accentuate.My brain definitely is on overdrive with all the decisions to be made, as with all paintings.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

March Sun on Queen, Toronto

24 x 30 oil on panel
This painting is another "repaint". I think it sat in the studio for two years. I wasn't crazy about the composition, but I did like the scene and I particularly liked the post snow storm sun that illuminated the snow in late afternoon March. But I couldn't figure out the colours. The buildings were dull and in shadow, and the building on the right is a dirty yellow and in shadow. I worked away at it. Basically the painting "beat me up and left me by the side of the road". 
Sometimes paintings are a "fight" to the bitter end. Some paintings paint themselves, and that is so amazing when it works. Other paintings resist and fight back. I think I have made progress on this one, but it still needs something..... as Jazz legend Clark Terry says, "Keep on Keepin' on." Check out the movie by the same name . It is an amazing story of perseverance and sharing of knowledge.
 

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

January Snowstorm, Spadina Avenue, Toronto

12 x 12 oil on panel
 I have some shows coming up and I like to have a mix of subjects and seasons, so I'm sorry for the snow storm at this point in our short summer season.
I've wanted to do this scene for awhile. I like the composition with the streetcar, shelter, and people dominating the foreground. I wanted to keep the feel as realistic as possible, including the dirty messy snow and the refuse container that shows up in so many Toronto scenes. (I often take them out). No matter how often I paint snow, I'm still learning. 

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Repainting a finished painting...why we do it.

36 x 36 oil on panel
Lets talk about repainting an already completed painting. From my experience, if a painting sits out after completion, visible on a daily basis, it will get some corrections, or in this case a major repainting. I didn't like the middle area (marked this area in the original painting) and I also thought the painting lacked atmosphere. The colour temperature was wrong, especially in the said middle area. I couldn't remember my original colour palette, so I went ahead with the one I have been using lately. Ultramarine blue, alizarin, touch of ivory black, cadmium yellow, touch of cerulean hue, titanium white. The retouches became a major repainting because ALL of the colour temperature was wrong. Richard Schmid says that when paint looks like dirt on a painting, it means the temperature is wrong. So, here is the new with the old one as comparison. I didn't hate the umbrella painting so some of that remained unchanged.
Which one do you prefer? Just a warning, if anyone likes the old one better, I may have to stop painting forever. (Just being dramatic, I appreciate all comments.)

Do you repaint finished paintings, and if so, what inspires you to do so?