7/8/09 -- Don't think I can stand more "rest" -- I miss my easel -- cleaned most of my cabinets, did the laundry, unpacked cartons -- settling back into my old routine -- and I NEED TO PAINT!
"ROAD TO WILDERNESS GATE"
"ROAD TO WILDERNESS GATE" - 24"x30" Oil on Belgian Linen - Work in Progress - The Glazes. Glazes are transparent, semi-transparent color which I apply over the underpainting. I believe this phase of the painting is essential to add depth and vibrancy to the final painting. After the painting is completed (the next stage is the application of opaque colors) the light enters into the canvas and is refracted back through the layers of color. Somehow this method has evolved over the years and seems to work for me. DC
"ROAD TO WILDERNESS GATE" - NEW WORK IN PROGRESS - My most favorite place in "suburban" Truchas, N.M. (UNDERPAINTING). Mixing all my colors (except for "cartoon" which is reinforced with Prussian Blue) with MG Underpainting White and turpentine. Sky: Thalo Blue - Thalo Blue Green with touch of Ochre to "gray" the colors. Clouds: White is mixed with just a small dab of Cad. Yellow - Grey is Payne's Grey mixed with the while. Middle Ground Greens: Prussian Blue, burnt Sienna, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque. Grasses: Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna. Foreground: Earth colors mixed with Dioxazine Purple.
"ANTEPASADO" - This week I found a real treasure - a portfolio of photos and sketches from Guatemala -- planning to do some new prints and paintings from this material and have begun a new web log - http://donnaclairguatemalanjourney.blogspot.com Stay tuned!
"NOCHECITA DE CHIMAYO" - Just published as a small-format Studio Edition print - 8"x10"; 9"x12" - On Ultra Premium Presentation paper with Ultra Chrome Inks -- hand-titled and hand-signed - $35.00, plus $5.00 S&H. To order, call my Taos Studio at (575)758-7454.
9 June 2009 - WORK IN PROGRESS - "FROM A SUNSET WALK" - 8"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen. This underpainting has been drying for a little over a week - My painting medium has turpentine in it, so the oil sketch must be dry, otherwise the color would be picked up. Now I can "lay in" the glazes -- the transparent dark colors, which is what I will do today. DC
1 June 2009 - "BEHIND ADOBE WALLS" - NEW 24x30" Underpainting. FYI -- While the large 48"x60" underpainting "Donde Nace la Vida" is drying, I am spending this week "blocking in" several more canvases. Sitting at an easel for long periods to complete a painting is not easy -- and there are days when I lack a certain enthusiasm. Usually five or six underpaintings (oil color sketches - MG Fast Drying White and pigment) sit all around me....and as long as they are "down" on the canvas -- I can paint them in my head anytime of the day or night. When I finally put them on the easel, the difficult work of planning the light and shadows, colors, etc. is mostly done -- the excitement has built to complete the canvas and my days at the easel go much more smoothly! DC
"YELLOW MUMS"
"DONDE NACE LA VIDA" - New 48"x60" Original Oil (Underpainting) - Here is the palette for the underpainting - using MG White with turpentine and mixing the colors. Sky: Davy's Grey, Payne's Grey, Cadmium Yellow. Middle ground: Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna. Trees & Foreground: Same colors as middle ground, adding Chrome Oxide Green Opaque and Prussian Blue. This canvas now needs to be set aside for about ten days to "cure". In the meantime I will block in several new underpaintings, which I plan to post here. (To keep track of my studio work, you are invited to become a Facebook Friend!) Stay tuned!
"DONDE NACE LA VIDA" -- Here is the "cartoon" for a new 48"x60" Canvas -- this begins a series of 12 large format oils titled "AMBIENTES" (Environments).
