Sunday 23 March 2014

Observation #14 Followup to Old Joe's Barn

March 23-spring ? still winter here                                                                                                             
This 'should ' conclude the painting- of Old Joe's Barns. It has taken longer than I thought -and although the photograph of the finished work may not look a lot different than the original, I assure you it is ....
This shows the first step in eliminating  that fuzzy edge and the first step in reducing the size  of the bit of                                                                              hanging red vine.
this may be the solution but it still seems too large....
....so....
                                          paint it out and put in something smaller Other changes
                                         may be seen but It would take too long to mention them all.
                        Its been so long since I did this I have the feeling that I have already included this one.
...if so here it is again....
with more shape changes....the rail brought in from the edge of the canvas
adjustments to the green were next
there has been changes to both roof areas and the sky

During these long cold winter days Ruth and I have had a few games of scrabble/
 I have only used all the letters a few times in the 47 years we have been playing the game so this game was an unusual one with two occasions to use all 7 letters-in one game!
To be fair  on the same day in another round,  Ruth used all her 7 letters -but only one time !!
-she won that game handily.....

back to what is close to the end. When I was thinking about lightening up the foreground and adding more contrast I painted some not quite opaque white over parts I thought could be lighter.

at this stage I lost the edges of the rails on the ground so...notice at the end they weren't quite so obvious.

Finished (for now). Ruth says she thinks this one 'could sell' (a rare compliment) she likes it !

a sense of the scale (size) 3 ft. X 4 ft.



a look at Tonal Values


There have been lots of changes since I started to work with the camera beside me but they didn't seem to be worth mentioning .That's it for now. As usual I feel like I have had enough of whatever the subject was-
-more than enough in fact-but knowing as I do, that that feeling is only temporary, I now just wait for the
dust to settle, -the dust of my realizing how far short of my goals I fall. So far some friendly Muse 
has always come along and landed on my shoulder. After 6 weeks of this I don't know what's next.
Maybe more landscapes , maybe Inglis Falls, maybe something from Leith, maybe some straight Drawing-
It would be a treat not to have to struggle with colour  ...I'm looking forward to seeing new work by an old friend Barry McCarthy April 26. If it's not snowing I plan a trip with my son Dennis to Barry's exhibition at the Loch gallery in Toronto. His work has always inspired me- google his name...
...maybe Spring .








3 comments:

  1. Oh Brian, your paintings are so beautiful. I wish I could win a lottery and buy every one of them from you. I would fill my walls with your talent. I am truly awe struck.

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  2. I agree. I always loved your barn works. Your grays are so true, and the detail makes me think I could rub my hands across the wood and feel its textures and even get a splinter. It also makes me think of that old abandoned barn smell, of old hay and leather and livestock that lingers on.

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  3. So recently I saw a little piece of stitchery - with the accompanying:

    Oh, Tiger Lily,” said Alice, addressing herself to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind, “I wish you could talk!”
    “We can talk,” said the Tiger Lily, “when there is anybody worth talking to.”
    Alice was so astonished that she couldn’t speak for a minute; it quite seemed to take her breath away. At length, as the Tiger Lily only went on waving about, she spoke again, in a timid voice—almost in a whisper. “And can all the flowers talk?”
    “As well as you can,” said the Tiger Lily. “And a great deal louder.”
    — Lewis Carroll, Through The Looking-Glass
    http://www.sewmamasew.com/2014/05/alices-garden-pdf-pattern-from-little-dorrit-co/

    and at a local quilt show this past weekend, there was a quilt project inspired by a photo - just like I have often seen you do - create art with a photo as inspiration and guide....I may post on my blog for you to see. http://starry-night-quilter.blogspot.com/

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