Brown Velvet, Oil Painting by Kim Blair

Brown Velvet

8x10 oil on canvas

Photo reference for Brown Velvet

Brown Velvet is another creation inspired by the same mass planting of Rudbeckias as my last post. The perky center of this flower resembles a chocolate gum drop with radiating petals that look like slices of dried mango fruit.   Too bad this variety of flower is not edible (at least I do not think it is)... but I know for sure my painting is not!

:0) 

SOLD 

Brown Beauty, Oil Painting of a Rudbeckia, by Kim Blair

Brown Beauty

8x10 oil on canvas

Rudbeckia Photo

Brown Beauty was inspired by this reference photo I snapped of some gorgeous rudbeckia flowers that were lovingly planted near a business a few blocks from our home, here in the Highlands... a few summers ago.   You can see where I made use of my artistic license by enhancing and changing a few areas... which re-enforces the concept that the reference material/photo is purely for inspiration and guidance.

Named after the Swedish botanist Olaf Rudbeck (1660-1740), these vibrant beauties provide nectar for butterflies during the summer and seeds for overwintering birds.

They add whimsy and interest to a winter garden when their petals have dropped and snow collects on top of their bulbous centers making them look like upside down exclamation marks!

SOLD

Golden Flags, Oil Painting of Iris, by Kim Blair

Golden Flags

30x15

Oil on Canvas

While cleaning up the garden this fall I realized that we are lacking this variety of iris.  For some reason I thought we had a clump of these rich yellow/burgundy specimens in the backyard... perhaps I gave the last clump away by accident thinking I had lots.  This older variety of iris offers a lovely display of summer color and can be found in most of the mature gardens here in the Highlands... except for ours.

So here is my request.  If any of my subscribers in Edmonton have an extra clump of this variety and would like to donate it to our garden I would be most grateful... in fact there would be a little gift of a few of my art greeting cards as a trade.

Any takers?

The first person to email me with an offer of a clump of these yellow/burgundy iris wins!

SOLD

On the Easel, by Kim Blair

On the Easel

Blue Wings and Blue Wings Too

Easels come in all shapes and sizes... from a simple table tripod to an ultra deluxe studio version that can hold more canvas than you might know what to do with.  

I recently read that the word 'easel' comes from a 16th century dutch word 'ezel', meaning ass... and the word 'horse' in English is used in a similar way to denote a supporting frame, such as a 'saw-horse'... you know those wooden frames or trestles that support wood for sawing.

Just a little painting trivia on a warm August day...

* (The large painting 'Blue Wings Too' is sold and living in a gorgeous little home in Lethbridge, AB, while the smaller painting 'Blue Wings' is on temporary display in Toronto, ON.)

   

Pencil Sketches, by Kim Blair

Focus on Features

Colored Pencil on Toned Paper

More homework assignments for my portrait drawing class...

Focusing on drawing specific facial features demonstrates the variation between individuals.  We only have to think of a loved one, or favorite celebrity to realize just how important individual features are in defining the certain 'look' of a person.

But, when someone says they can pick someone out of a crowd because of their uniqueness it is often the overall shape and size of the person that our eye picks up on when scanning a large group of people. 

The facial features are more important to confirm the identity of the person once we locate the individual within the crowd and are able to have a closer look at their face.

How many times have you been sure the person coming towards you is someone you know... you start trying to make eye contact, smiling as they get closer... and just before you say their name, you realize it isn't them?

Just one of life's more awkward moments...

Marian, pen and ink sketch on paper, by Kim Blair

Marian

12x9

 pen and ink sketch on paper

It was time to do some quick sketches from life in pen and ink as part of the homework assignment for a portrait drawing workshop I am taking... so I headed to a coffee shop where I could find a spot to sit and draw some of the patrons while remaining fairly anonymous.  Marian happened to sit down in the comfy chair next to mine and I boldly asked if she would mind if I tried to quickly sketch her portrait while she read her book.   After looking a bit surprised she agreed and was an excellent model!

Although I could only spend 20 minutes on this sketch (my parking meter was running out) I am pleased with the spontaneity of the mark making.  Pen and ink is permanent and therefore you must live with every gestural line you create, which was the whole point of the exercise.

(Click on the image for a closer look at the mark making)

Citrus Fruit Painting, A Slice of Lime, by Kim Blair

A Slice of Lime

8x10

oil on canvas

sold

I was having one of those 'fruity' summer drinks the other day, you know the ones with a slice of lime sitting pretty on the rim of the glass, and thought about the series of paintings I created of lime wedges.

All the paintings had the lime section(s) sitting on a piece of crinkled aluminum foil.

The reflective quality of the foil produced interesting shimmers of light that gave the whole setup a rather ethereal quality.  Perhaps it was my imagination running wild from the 'fortification' in the drink I was using to drown my sorrows about having a nasty summer cold... what do you think?

Anyway I am almost over my cold (hurray!) so time to think about picking of a brush again.  Maybe I'll treat myself to a new sheet of foil! 

Wonder what I'll place on it this time?

Life Drawing, Graphite and Ink Study on paper, by Kim Blair

Life Drawing Study 

Graphite and Ink 

on paper

9x7

Life Drawing Study

Graphite and Ink 

on paper

9x7

Life drawing is always an adventure... you never know what may show up in your sketch book by the end of the night.   Each of these twenty minute poses had me working uber fast in order to get something down before the model moved into the next pose.

It's funny how twenty minutes can seem like an eternity when you are waiting in traffic, but during a drawing session time collapses... and twenty minutes feels like twenty seconds.

Woad is Me, self-portrait, by Kim Blair

Woad is Me

12x9, oil on canvas

self-portrait

Every once in a while my Scottish heritage shows up... or perhaps some distant Celtic roots.  The Celts often painted their bodies with a bluish dye derived from the woad plant, and although this portrait leans more to the purple side it does have blue tones... the complement to my orange hair.  I like to think that my warrior princess alter ego is 'captured' in this painting...

Woad is said to have antiseptic qualities, which may be one of the reason the Celts liked to paint their bodies with it before heading out to war (although some sources say the blue woad painted bodies is a myth, but certainly makes for a colorful story and perhaps frightening sight to behold on the battle field.)   Like broccoli, caulifower and rape seed it belongs to the Cruciferae family and sports fragrant neon yellow flowers that appear in May.

The blue pigment from woad was the only light-fast blue dye available in Europe from before B.C.E. until the 1600's when Indigo was introduced from Asia.  I read that there is a resurgence of growing woad and perhaps this renewed interest in the plant is fueled by research suggesting that it contains 20 times more glucobrassicin ( a compound that is said to fight breast cancer) than broccoli.

I See You, Do You See Me?, Self-Portrait, by Kim Blair

'I See You, Do You See Me?'
Self-Portrait 

12x9 

oil on canvas

I must confess that I have been allowing Toulouse-Lautrec to influence my paintings lately... especially some self-portraits I have been exploring... but of course Van Gogh is still in the picture too (pun intended).  Creating a self-portrait is a fun adventurous experience because one never really knows where your brush will take you.  By choosing to utilize Vincent and Henri's influence I am able to play with reality... exaggerating color and perspective.

My portrait journey will include other people and each portrait will be an exploration... 

In 1886 Van Gogh became a fellow student with Toulouse-Lautrec in Paris at the Cormon atelier, and they participated in a group show at the Cafe du Tambourin.   This Cafe may be the setting for a portrait Toulouse-Lautrec painted of Van Gogh (pastel on board, 1887) in profile sitting at a table, perhaps caught unaware, deep in discussion.  Discovering that they studied together and perhaps (as some have written) they influenced each other's work makes their art all the more meaningful to my art practice.

Frank Milner's beautiful book, 'Toulouse-Lautrec,' has been entertaining me over the noon hour lately... and I was starting to feel a tad guilty.

Maybe today we can all have lunch together! 

After Van Gogh, Patience Escalier, by Kim Blair

After Van Gogh Patience Escalier

17x15 oil on canvas

by Kim Blair

This is the second copy of an Old Master that I created for the final project in my painting course at the university.  Vincent painted the original in August of 1888.  He wrote to his brother Theo about a new model he was going to use to portray a peasant... an old man named Patience Escalier who was formerly a cowherd in Camargue, and now a gardener in Arles.

Van Gogh was inspired to infuse his work with more symbolism and mystery through the arbitrary use of color and brush work.  He chose to render this portrait of Patience with deliberate crudeness in order to portray his ideal of a rustic rural peasant from southern France.

I encountered many interesting challenges trying to copy Van Gogh's Portrait of Patience Escalier.  Energetic brush strokes that seem random when you are experiencing the painting as a viewer, made more sense when attempting to follow the mark making trail with a loaded paint brush applying the pigment to the canvas.

As I tried to match his color choices I started to see the connections  within the hues... while attempting to replicate his brush work I began to achieve an understanding of the order within the seemingly chaotic marks... especially in the blue background/sky brush strokes surrounding the straw hat.

The crudely rendered paint application and brush work of Patience's weathered face is mirrored throughout the painting.  Via his deft mark making Vincent successfully portrayed how this peasant/gardener was completely integrated with his rural life/surroundings... he had essentially become one with his environment.

Symbolism at its best!

NFS

After Van Gogh, Armand Roulin, Oil Painting, by Kim Blair

 After Van Gogh, Armand Roulin

17x13

by Kim Blair

oil on canvas

After Van Gogh, Armand Roulin

17x13

 beginning drawing in black oil paint of my copy

One of the reasons (as many of you may already know) that I have been posting less often for the past couple of years is that I am taking classes at the University, so I need to conserve my painting time for mostly homework and assignments.

Our final assignment for the painting class this term was to copy an Old Master, so of course I chose Van Gogh... I know many of you are not surprised by my choice of artist but you might be interested to see that I chose to copy one of his Portraits (well actually I did two, but the other one I will post at a later date) rather than his sunflowers.

Van Gogh had a love of portraiture... 'modern portraiture' as he called it, and he wanted to capture the 'essence' of the sitter before him rather than a perfect likeness.

 Armand is the sixteen year old son of the postman Joseph Roulin ( Joseph's portrait with his heavy beard posed in his dark blue 'Postes' uniform is one of the more famous portraits by Van Gogh.)

Vincent chose to paint a portrait of each of the five Roulin family members using different colors and various poses in order to portray each individual within the family unit.  Always the fast painter, he completed the portraits during a fews days near the beginning of December in 1888.

One little tid-bit  of information from the book I used for my research (Van Gogh Face to Face) said that the Roulins were a poor family when compared to Van Gogh.  Joseph Roulin housed and fed a wife and three children on 135 francs a month, while Theo sent Vincent 250 francs a month to live on (Theo paid for and sent Vincent's paints and supplies on top of this amount.)  Vincent, a single man found it difficult to serve on 250 francs a month!

*I wonder what the equivalent of 250 francs would be today... anyone know?

NFS