Too busy to reflect or report?

It’s been a couple of months since I’ve posted because I’ve been busy but maybe not more busy than usual. I seem to fill hours more quickly these days. Don’t know why. I could have posted about learning how to create a floating mount for paintings whose edges need to show in the frame (because they’re deckled and purdy or because I painted to them) OR about the many ways to mess up when framing one’s own work (with photographs of screw holes for the mounting hardware that came through to the front of frame, etc.) OR about the new-to-me drafting table that Fred and a kind co-worker brought me to replace the old laminate-countertop-across-two-file-cabinets work surface OR an update on that to-do list I generated back in January (finished 5 of the 10 projects, have abandoned a couple others). Then there are the Daniel Smith paints bought last month that deserve their own experiments. Oh, and the bird clinic is open again with its fledglings, an endless source of fascination, as are the birds that visit our backyard more frequently now that we pander to them with numerous feeders. Did I mention the iris bloom? Putting in the summer garden?

It’s troublesome when I don’t post because I lose some of the information I’m trying to retain. I just looked back at the entry about digital grounds and realized why a later attempt to transfer an image to mylar didn’t work: I’d forgotten some of the instructions. The unexamined life is not worth living because it’s impossible to learn from one’s mistakes and thereby avoid repeating them unless one stops and reflects, records.

Back from a week in Chicago with Fred and an earlier visit to my brother in Fort Worth, full of ideas (and photos) for future use in paintings, but I set up a simple still life this morning because I was on duty at the co-op  and wanted to draw something simple.

The colors are the primaries, of course, and the bowl of cherries is both a literal cliche and a visual one. But it was a good exercise in drawing. The bowl was a challenge. I improved my lines some by taking a photo of my drawing with my cell phone and looking at the photo on the screen; some errors were thereby quite easy to see and fix. I’ll do some more adjusting before working up a painting.

What became fascinating were the shadows on and reflections from the glass table top. I may try to keep them.

 

 

 

Am also painting on aquaboard for the first time–this because matting and framing are such a pain I’d like to avoid these processes altogether. The first brush strokes were fun; they were also loose background washes. Now that I’m working on the main subject, it seems a slow, tedious process. Paint soaks into the surface, but the color is unclear until it dries because the water itself creates a temporary discoloration. I thought I was a glazer, but this slower glazing is testing my patience. Will share results in future post.

Despite frustrations with mat cutting, I bought a new mat cutter that can handle 8 ply mat board (standard is 4 ply)–the problem now is finding a source for this thicker board. NVAS doesn’t stock it and hasn’t called me back with info on a special order for it. Just as well, for now. I’ve spent far too much money on this hobby already.