Not finished yet! Getting there slowly.

If you are wondering what I have been up to?.........this is the painting I have been working on for......weeks and it is progressing very slowly. I have had many interruptions, such is life. As you can see, I am in the process of finishing the "grisaille" stage and I should be able to start putting the colours in the next few days. However, I am going away to Sydney, for a  conference this coming week end so I will have to put my brushes away......and this painting is still far from being completed. Anyway, as far as this painting is concerned, I am making the pleasure last....or is it a way of procrastinating?
I wanted to post this, even if the painting is not finished yet. It shows how much work goes into each piece I create. There are no shortcuts and hopefully this painting will be finished soon.

Ski in the French Alps (photograph from Mageriaz)

I have been away for quite a few weeks......visiting family and friends in Paris and the French Alps and also doing some skiing in the magnificent French Alps in Savoie. That was simply wonderful and exhausting.....in a very good way.
Now back at work but more importantly back in my studio where I started painting again. It took me some planning to get me going but I am now getting back into the enjoyable and sometimes frustrating process of oil painting. I am working on a painting at the moment that seems to be testing my abilities as a painter/artist. It is difficult to explain but it is a bit like a relationship. One must work at it to make it work and that is what I am doing at the moment. Luckily there will be a finished painting in the next few weeks.

Zen Callas

 

I did this painting feeling......Zen! and am happy with the blue vase and the shadows. Painting always takes me to places......in my head that is. But like any travel, one must plan the journey and sometimes nice things happen, just like this painting. I do like this one a lot.

PS: Thank you SweetBaby from WetCanvas for the reference image.

At the lake

 

This painting took me several weeks to paint but it is finally finished. It is always a great feeling when a painting is completed, but not as great as the day when I was at "Lac d'Aiguebelette" with Marie-Therese. It was such a beautiful day and there she was....... what a glorious lady she was indeed!

Ella

 

There she is.....beautiful Ella. She is such a wonderful and loving cat. She has just turned 15 years   old. What a sweetie! I am glad with this painting and it was a challenge. I think now, I will keep it like that with the grisaille and not worry about adding colours. Anyway, I am done and happy!

Back to the easel

I got back a few weeks ago from my holiday and am slowly getting back into painting. Having had such a long break from my studio, I feel like a total beginner. I should try to do something easy to ease myself into oil painting but instead am planning to do the portrait of my cat "Ella". I am working from a photograph  and will be painting a grisaille first in order to work out the tonal values. This is going to be a great challenge and I will post the outcome in the next few weeks. Oh yeah, and this is going to be a rather large painting, 100X75cms. I will post as soon as the grisaille is done.

Pomology



I do find painting apples relaxing. This one is not a real apple but one of those fake ones that I have had for years in my studio. It was just sitting there, a little dusty and looking at me. So there you go, a deceptively fresh looking apple. I love the simplicity of this painting.

By the way, I am going to France on holiday next week for about a month so I will not be posting for several weeks. I hope to come back with renewed inspiration........