A Slow Studio Sale...

As what often happens with artists, at some point one needs to have a studio sale.  And while I don't really have much of a studio to speak of, there is nothing else to call it.  I could use a little space cleared up for new work that is in progress.  So I am going to slowly go through some of the old stuff and one by one offer them at a bit of a discount.  Sale prices do not include any shipping costs.

The first piece up for sale is one I did in 2006.  I have always found it a bit weird, the tree seems kind of flat to me, but the textured background is nice.

Title:  "The End"
Size:  14" x 18"
Regular price:  $202.00
Sale price:  $151.00
Oil on canvas

This piece will be for sale for the next few weeks only.  Please make any inquiries via email...  cocke.jm@gmail.com

Nap time....

A working title for this little piece, but one that just may stick.  When the ornamental cherry tree outside went dormant this winter a few of the dead leaves clung to it, refusing to drop.  Their orange / brown colour providing some nice contrast against the sky.  A good subject for trying out another palette knife painting.  Now if only the visiting chickadees and juncos didn't move so fast ... I'd like to use one of them as the next painting subject.

Two more new pieces....

Here is another new piece, "Carrion", that was recently completed.  For inspiration I began with a photograph of some trees, one almost completely bare and probably dying, which started me off for the tree in this painting.  I then began to add a couple more trees lower down on the canvas only to realize that they didn't fit and had to remove them.  I still felt that there was something lacking so I added two crows circling the tree.  The title, while a bit morbid, fits with the presence of the crows, the dead tree, and makes further suggestion as to what could be lying at the base of the tree if only we could see it.

This piece, "Path Around the Rock", was actually begun ages ago and got pushed aside for some reason.  I decided that now was the time to finish it and am very happy with the end product.  I am always a bit taken with the patterns that I can find in the sand made by water and bits of debris, this painting is representative of those patterns and the small disruption of them made by the rock.

Finished project

Here are the finished pieces to the blossom panels that I have been working on.

Commission continuation

Now that the branches are complete for the four panels that I am working on I can begin the blossoms.  I prefer to wait until the branches are finished and dry to the touch as this makes it easier from my end to work on the flowers.  I don't have to worry about putting my hand on the canvas to steady my brush, or that I might accidentally smudge something.

This is an example of how I start each individual blossom.  I use a purple / blue to divide the inside of the flower by marking off the edges of the petals, the dip in the middle of each petal and the centre.

I then use a cleaner brush to gently blend the white of the petal with the purple of the divisions.

I will then go back and add more purple to the original divisions.  I may do this process a few times, gradually darkening the centre area of each flower.  Most of the time the resulting blossom looks quite messy close up, but once I back up a few feet that messiness is not noticeable.  I have to keep this in mind when working on these as I can get in the habit of working very close to the canvas, trying to make the flower perfect from a few inches away.  This is not realistic for a painting as the viewer is likely to be standing at least a few feet away, so while I am working on it I must repeatedly back up and view the work from a distance until I am satisfied with the detail and depth in each blossom from that distance.

Commission work in progress

If you take a look on my "Paintings" page you will find 3 narrow pieces with branches and blossoms on them, years ago I made four similar pieces and decided not to sell them.  Recently I was asked to do some commission pieces which are very much like the four blossom panels that I have.  When I make one of these blossom pieces I progress in a specific way, first the background colour, then when that is dry to the touch I paint the branches on in black.  Each of the four panels have their background colour finished and I am at the branches stage.

In the above photo is a section of one of the branches, I have just begun to add a bit of dimension to the uppermost tip with some white paint.  You should be able to see that I have left some of the black paint for the branch in chunky bits, I like to do this to add dimension to the painting and give the branch the effect of coming up off the canvas.  These chunky areas are made by twisting the brush as I move it along the branch, squeezing excess paint out and leaving it on the canvas.  These pieces also work as a nice guide as to where to put some white paint for more dimension as seen in the next photo...

Much of the white highlights are added using a fairly dry brush and done when the black branches are dry to the touch as I don't want too much mixing of the paint.  The blossoms will be added once the branches are finished and I will update that process in a later post.