After two and a half mornings of painting at Dexter Creek off Hwy 550 just outside of Ouray we have a finished painting.
After two and a half mornings of painting at Dexter Creek off Hwy 550 just outside of Ouray we have a finished painting.
I'm in Ouray, Co. for a couple of weeks. I'm hoping to get in some plein air painting while I'm here. I will post works in progress soon.
Several months ago I entered my first exhibit and came away with Best of Show, 1st place, and 2nd place. I was hot, right? Last month I entered my second exhibit (LSAG Artwalk in Conroe, Tx.) and did not fare so well. This was a show open only to works that had won an award in the last year so the competition was stiffer. This time I had two out of the three pieces I submitted win Honorable Mentions. Not bad, I know, but humbling nevertheless.
The woman who swept it this time - Ann Walker - certainly deserved it. Congratulations Ann!
The process I go through for my paintings are eerily similar. For this next one I will start as I usually do with a 'vision'-in this case the idea was inspired by Isabella, a family friend who I 'saw' sitting alone in a dark Gothic-style church, deep in reverie, and backlit by a stain-glass window.
I then took several photos and settled on these two:
Photo #1 Photo #2
I like the dress in Photo #1 and the way her hands are holding the bible but I like her expression in Photo #2 so I will combine them in my sketch. I then found some reference pictures for stain-glass and church interiors:
From these I will cobble together the sketch that will be the foundation for my painting....
After several attempts at placement and scale, I settled on this image. Initially I had Isabella larger and up close. However, this did not give me the sense of being a small girl in a large church that I wanted. Here it is just her and Mary alone in a vast space. I base-coated my gessoed canvas with a gold color that will hopefully give me the "glow" that I am after. I then transferred my sketch using white carbon paper.
ISABELLA
This is the finished piece. The photo is a poor one as it does not give a good representation of the warmth and intensity of the colors, but you get the idea.
"Chairman of the Board"
"Mother and Child"
"Shock and Awe"
Wow. What a day! I entered my first art show and came away with "Best of Show", 1st Place, and 2nd place in the Professionals category. I had hoped, of course, going in that I might get a ribbon or something but THIS.... well, all I can say is thank you Lord.
This was the award presentation. The painting is "Your Move" and not the one I necessarily would have thought would win "Best of Show" but what do I know? I thought "Tree of Life" would have gotten something but... nothin'. 1st place was "Solitude". And second place was "Shock and Awe".
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