
imaGINAtion ART
DAILY PAINTING: Yesterday, I thought this painting was about memories, and that was the genesis of the idea for me. But I realized that all kinds of things come at us--not just unwanted memories. People are blind-sided every day by illness, money problems, job loss, relationship issues--just to name a few--so I've decided to call this "And Then Suddenly" which is how life can change. My husband saw this and said, "That's a nice kite you've made." That was unexpected too!

imaGINAtion ART
DAILY PAINTING: You know that I'm nearly ready to begin on the three canvases that I've been preparing, but I wanted to get this abstract done first, knowing the 3 new ones will take some time to complete. I haven't shared this painting with you yet. I call it "Memories Intrude" because of the way memories can be triggered by something and jump from the past to the present--whether we want them to or not. See if I can finish it in the next day or two.

imaGINAtion ART
DAILY PAINTING: Since I know the canvas size is 16" x 28" (proportions I like), I have made a series of small, scaled drawings in marker. This is my way of "thinking on paper." These small drawings are 4" x 7", which means they are one quarter the size of the canvases. So I can work out shape relationships & proportions in a manageable size. Then just blow it up.

imaGINAtion ART
DAILY PAINTING: My goodness, I'm exhausted! Yesterday, I built the 3 stretcher frames you see here (16" x 28"). What a job that was! The pieces fit together so tightly, and the glue is drying every minute, and hammering the corners square and fitting them into clamps--wow! I prefer to stretch unprimed canvas, so today's job was to apply 2 coats of gesso, and then, when that was dry--with my last ounce of strength--I threw down some acrylic in a watercolor effect, as you

imaGINAtion ART
DAILY PAINTING: Very subtle changes at this stage, but I can see that glazing over the pure white with yellow green was a good idea (leaving hints of white still there to add sparkle). I declare these portraits done at last, and I'm more than ready to move on to the next paintings, for which I've already got sketches done. These finished paintings will be uploaded to purchase by themselves or as a pair (see my Saatchi site or etsy).

imaGINAtion ART
DAILY PAINTING: I let the painting sit over the weekend, and it has helped me to see that I needed a value shift. You can see that I've added some white to the upper portion, and that helps to better separate the figure from the ground. The white looks a little stark, but the value is correct, so a slight glaze of color over the white should be the final fix. But that's a job for tomorrow!

imaGINAtion ART
DAILY PAINTING: The paintings are really coming along and are close to being finished! Remember that stencil I cut a while back? Well, here it is, finally applied to the paintings, just as I had envisioned it. I'm really happy about how they have progressed & will consider for a few days before I decide whether or not they're finished. Sorry I cannot place the images side by side (no technical skills!).

imaGINAtion ART
DAILY PAINTING: The two portraits are nearly complete and work very well as side by side paintings, or by themselves. Let this dry and then only the finished touches remain. Very nice!

imaGINAtion ART
DAILY PAINTING: It's really starting to come together. Just a few changes yet to be made to the background, then I can finalize the figure himself. It's a challenge, as an artist, to see the painting in your mind's eye in layers that are not yet painted--like a chess player who knows which moves will get him to checkmate.

imaGINAtion ART
DAILY PAINTING: I got another commission on Friday (yippee!), so I've spent a lot of time and effort on that, of course. I've had only limited time to devote to this painting, and I'm not sure if you can see the difference yet. I'm starting to tie the background together. There's a great deal of work left to be done (simplifying, selecting, balancing), but at least we're still making forward progress.