Blah Humbug 2016-W07

Hi all. A bit of a ramble today, but at least it's a short form!

Don't quote me, but I seem to recall a weathercaster pointed out that the rate of increase in day length accelerates around mid-February. I know I've been waking up earlier, and these days night doesn't fall until sometime around 5:30 (even though my living room lights still come on at 4:30). We got tame little snowfall beginning yesterday afternoon, which should melt off in a day or two as our temperatures climb.

I'd say Spring is trying to spring forth.

Which is backed up by recent groundhog observations. Normally I feel like if I make it to Valentines Day, then I've won another round of David vs Winter. Consequently I should be a little more chipper lately but I can't seem to muster enthusiasm. I'm having a case of the blahs.

Only this weekend did I finally get back to my painting work-in-progress, and I didn't accomplish much. I can lay 20% of the blame on the terrible paper... it doesn't behave well when it gets very wet, which is fairly unavoidable when laying down a wash. Paint a little, wait a lot.

But mostly I think I feel paralyzed by a myriad of things competing for my attention.

Last week I unconsciously opted to ignore them all rather than pick something and move it forward. Not that I didn't have good intentions. Never short of those, and now that I think of it, I did accomplish some goals on the health and wellness frontier. I've gotten back to my workout regimen after nearly 9 months and definitely feel the benefits already. But on the whole, I squandered a lot of February so far.

So, once again, I begin a week with good intentions: trying to clear chores off my to-do list and working more earnestly on my job search. My hope is that the outcome will be like quitting smoking. Difficult, but every time you make a try, your odds for success increase. Wish me luck!

Super Borewl 2016-W06

Other than the nominally surprising (to me) outcome of Superbowl 50, the whole show left me wishing I'd opted instead to work on my in-progress painting. Or mop floors. Anything. Some people enjoy defense vs defense matches, though I imagine they are the minority. Along with the game itself, the sides were just as lackluster. Unimaginative (or creepy) commercials, blase halftime show. Snore. If nothing else, I guess the game did demonstrate that you can win a Superbowl without a quarterback.

As the hoopla slowly unfolded yesterday, I thought back to when the whole shebang was a lot less gaudy. Superbowl 1 is a vague memory; I only remember that my grandfather passed away 3 days later. Superbowl 2 day is clearer in my mind. My brother and I got dropped at the local theater to occupy us during game time, so we watched Doctor Doolittle and whatever else rounded out the double feature.

So I missed SB 1 & 2 — which is fine since Green Bay won both (boo hiss) — but who could forget Joe Namath in Superbowl 3? Which by the way was the first actual "Superbowl", the first two just being titled "AFL-NFL Championship Game". Since then, my relationship with the big game runs hot and cold. Occasionally I skip altogether and most years I head for home as soon as the halftime show begins.

Anyway, enough of me stalling by way of reminiscing... I had to dig back in the vault for a previously unseen painting, since there was no progress on the work-in-progress. My hope is to finish that painting by next week's post so that, unlike last night's SuperBore, it doesn't seem to drag on foreeeeever. Our subject today is an Old English breed rooster, which I named after another old English rooster. Enjoy!

The Duke of Edinburgh   (2010)

Get'ur Done — Within Reason 2016-W05

This week I elected to tackle a more involved painting and so I started but didn't finish. As expected. Here's a little teaser of the underpainting/highlights. There's a lot of fiddly bits in the area that still shows paper white, which informs on how I decided to call it a day.

Yet I am pleased to say that I did work on it both days this weekend. Though I haven't formed my 2016 resolutions yet, I plan to include "FINISH" as one of the points.

I'm excellent at starting and I often have the discipline to finish, but sometimes not — especially when it comes to artworks. So this year I am hoping to circle around to assorted artworks-in-progress and see about dragging them across the finish line.

I guess that's just enough words to qualify for this week's blog post. As for the teaser painting, I'd like to finish it up this weekend in time to post for Week 06:  (a) to get it done and (b) because I hate this paper and want to get one step closer to never using or buying it again!

And while I will be making good faith efforts to finish the painting, I'll also be keeping in mind another piece of old-fashioned wisdom:  Haste makes Waste...

Prime for a Study 2016-W04

For the first time in a long time, I got the post ready by 2pm on Saturday. When I realized: still week 3. To keep things tidy I've set it to post for your Sunday breakfast as the sun rises on week 4. Let's see if I can compete with the New York Times for clicks.

I want to call today's painting a study, but then I thought every painting is a study and vice versa. It was a learning day, about a new type of watercolor paint that uses some space-age polymer for a binder. I can't say how I find the new paints different, but suspect maybe they aren't best for portraits. Time will tell.

Besides the new paints, we also have a 'study in red yellow & blue', which can be tricky. I think that part went okay tho. If the subject's identity is eluding you, I'll offer a hint: Our banshee today is only just emerging, so her hair hasn't yet turned its customary ashy brown to match her brows. And whatever else...

Surprise, it's Carly! I don't think many people pay attention to her so we probably won't get to enjoy her antics much longer (darn it). Who but she could surround herself with adorable puppies and still come off creepy? Not many, I tell ya.

Enjoy the study and come back next week — I'm attempting something adorable. But for now I'm just off to take a painterly nap.

Banshee VI

More like W03.5? 2016-W03

My only excuse for being late with this week's posting is that I spent the weekend in Maine with that half of my family, and it was fantastic! This week's painting dates back to sometime last April or May, and with this week's post I have exhausted my small stash of backup paintings. Consequently, you can most definitely look forward to a freshly painted work on the week 04 posting. Hurrah! Meanwhile, a few brief thoughts about this week's painting:

I include her in the Banshee series (even though the figure is fully corporealized) because she fits in the spirit of the series... people who talk a lot but without something worthwhile to say. (Though I do applaud the ever-angry Ms Tantaros for defying Fox News' blonde manifesto.)

As depicted here, she would make a fine and fitting figurehead for the hypothetical S.S. Banshee — if ever all these horrible people gather on one ship. God bless her and all who sail upon her...

(Corporealized) Banshee V

Back in the Saddle, Again 2016-W02

I painted this weekend, only the 2nd time in a long spell. It was comforting to spend time with an old friend. Even though I tried a thing that I later regretted, it felt great to be painting. While I was cleaning house, all kinds of thoughts popped into my head about what to write in the blog, but now all escape me entirely. <emoticon for mind-blank>

What I painted was a banshee emerging from a miasma, as one does. Already crazed and ashriek. I love a hard worker! In my original concept, she had green octopus arms of her demon self that would be withdrawing into her new corporealization... but I decided less green was more. I have been enjoying looking at this painting and I hope you will too.

Banshee IV

The Commisioner 2016-W01

New year, clean slate. With this post, I'm batting 1000 on posting every week in 2016. We shall see if I can maintain a perfect record, as I have done in years past. Let's get started!

When I was a lad, I loved watching the iconic Batman (as portrayed by Adam West) with my dad. And sure, it would be nice to live in stately Wayne Manor, but I always thought Commissioner Gordon held the job worth having. He had nice suits and a pretty fancy office, and yet his job seemed to consist mostly of pushing the button on the bat phone and clucking at/with Police Chief O'Hara. I bet that do-nothing job comes with a pretty sweet paycheck attached, and what a title: The Commissioner. No further information available... or needed, evidently.

Speaking of commissions, I don't actively seek painting commissions but I generally accept them when asked. A work colleague faced with the task of getting a nifty gift for his first wedding anniversary, the dreaded "paper", adroitly noticed that most watercolors are painted on paper and thus would be suitable.

Oddly, when I accepted the commission I expected to be painting the happy couple. Portraits are mostly what I do and show. When the reference photo hit my inbox, surprise! Basically a landscape, backlit and some other art challenges. But what good is an artistic license if you don't wield it as needed? So after a consult with the client, I got to painting.

The result was a little tighter than I would wish. It seems that "commission nerves" still can inhibit me somewhat, but in the end we got a good result. The image coincides roughly with the time of a certain question popping, and of course we know how she answered. I'm told that on receipt of the gift, the bride cried... so mission accomplished! Please join me in wishing them many happy anniversaries to come, and thank you for stopping by.

As One